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. 30, 1980
Filed:
Dec. 23, 1977
Lyle E McBride, Jr, Norton, MA (US);
Richard G Delagi, Sharon, MA (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A connector assembly comprises a lead frame mounting one or more semiconductor chips, having optically active areas, a fiber guide and optical fibers held in optical communication with the chips. The fiber guide is formed of a plate like member having two or more reference points, in order to precisely locate the fibers relative to the chip. Several embodiments of the guide are shown including a plate having fiber receiving bores extending therethrough as well as a plate having fiber receiving grooves extending along sides thereof preferably used in conjunction with a bar biased against fibers disposed in the grooves. The bar, which may be made of elastomeric material is shown having a straight edge facing the grooves while a variation of the bar is provided with an additional set of grooves. The lead frame mounts a relatively large thermally and electrically conductive pad which in turn mounts the semiconductor chip having optically active areas. Fibers are trained through respective bores or grooves and epoxied in alignment with respective optically active areas. The connector is adapted to be mounted on one side of a backplane while the electronic components such as drivers and amplifiers, associated with matching electrical characteristics of transmitting and receiving circuitry to those of the photo emitting and detecting elements of the chip are mounted on a second side of the backplane. A single connector may contain either or both photo emitting and photo detecting elements.