The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 23, 1980
Filed:
Mar. 09, 1979
Raymond B Kummer, Norcross, GA (US);
Stephen C Mettler, Decatur, GA (US);
Calvin M Miller, Lilburn, GA (US);
Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
A device (70) for switching optical signal paths of the type utilizing a plurality of light-transmitting optical fibers (40, 50) comprises a flexible elongated sleeve (20) having a longitudinally continuous interior cross section (24) with a plurality of corners (30) forming fiber-aligning grooves. The sleeve loosely receives a first fiber (40) from a first sleeve end (26) and a plurality of second fibers (50) from a second sleeve end (28). Each second fiber has its coupling end biased against an assigned corner. Also, the ends of all the second fibers are contained in one transverse plane (23). The coupling end (46) of the first fiber adjacent the transverse plane and a portion (42) of the first fiber, remote from its end, is fixedly secured to the sleeve. Coupling of the first fiber with any of the second fibers is achieved by flexing the sleeve to move the first fiber end to the corner containing the selected second fiber.