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:
Mar. 24, 1992
Filed:
Feb. 09, 1990
Jack P Blomgren, Red Wing, MN (US);
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, Saint Paul, MN (US);
Abstract
An optical fiber switch has a substrate with a straight groove into which the free ends of two optical fibers are pushed into abutting relation to permit signals incoming on one of the fibers to be transmitted to the other. Preferably, the switch is a 2.times.2 fiber array. In one 2.times.2 switch, a substrate has two mutually perpendicular surfaces, each formed with a pair of grooves, and all four optical fibers are simultaneously pushed into one set of grooves to connect the fibers in one way, or pushed into the other set of grooves to switch the alignment. In a different 2.times.2 switch, a substrate has a central, longitudinal passageway that is square in cross section, and the grooves are provided by the four corners of the passageway.