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:
Apr. 08, 1997
Filed:
Dec. 29, 1995
Wilton W King, Chamblee, GA (US);
William R Lambert, Chester, NJ (US);
Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
An optical terminator 100 is designed to make end-to-end contact with an optical fiber 31 whose end portion is held within a cylindrical ferrule 400. The optical terminator minimizes reflections that occur when an optical path encounters an abrupt change in refractive index (e.g., when the end face of the optical fiber encounters an air gap). The optical terminator comprises a solid cylindrical structure, molded from a polymeric material (e.g., a methylpentene copolymer) having a refractive index similar to that of the optical fiber. The proximal end of the terminator abuts the cylindrical ferrule and is solid for a predetermined distance `d` along its longitudinal axis in order to provide at least 20 dB attenuation. The polymeric material is moldable and exhibits minimum indentation creep under a compressive load at elevated temperatures. In one embodiment, the terminator 100 is installed in a plug configuration. In this configuration, a coupling apparatus 20 is needed to interconnect the connector 40 that holds an optical fiber with the plug terminator 10 that holds the terminator. In another embodiment, the terminator 100 is installed within a receptacle configuration. In this configuration, the connector 40 that holds the optical fiber can be directly attached to the receptacle terminator 50.