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:
Nov. 06, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 23, 1999
JDS Uniphase Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A mini-bend optical arrangement and an associated method are described. This arrangement is designed to change the directional orientation of a light path using optical fiber. A first and a second fiber optic member define first and second light paths, respectively, which first and second members include a numerical aperture and which introduce substantial bend losses upon being bent at less than a predetermined bend radius. The first and second fiber optic members are arranged along the first and second paths preferably bent by less than the predetermined bend radius. A bent fiber optic member including a numerical aperture that is greater than the numerical aperture of the first and second fiber optic members interconnects the first and second fiber optic members so as to define a continuous light path including the first and second light paths with the bent member defining a curved path therebetween such that the bent fiber optic member has a bend radius which is less than the predetermined bend radius but which avoids introducing substantial bend losses. The mini-bend arrangement is useful in highly advantageous miniaturized device configurations. As a first example, a miniaturized add/drop module is introduced. As other examples, miniaturized tree couplers, EDFA modules and WDM modules are introduced.