U.S. patent application number 16/840623 was filed with the patent office on 2020-10-08 for module and assembly for fiber optic interconnections.
The applicant listed for this patent is CommScope, Inc. of North Carolina. Invention is credited to Richard L. Case.
Application Number | 20200319421 16/840623 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000004914879 |
Filed Date | 2020-10-08 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200319421 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Case; Richard L. |
October 8, 2020 |
MODULE AND ASSEMBLY FOR FIBER OPTIC INTERCONNECTIONS
Abstract
A module for interconnecting fiber optic cables and/or cords
includes: a housing having a rear wall; a plurality of MPO adapters
mounted in the rear wall; and forty-eight fiber optic adapters
mounted to a front portion of the housing, the duplex adapters
being operatively connected with the MPO adapters.
Inventors: |
Case; Richard L.; (Omaha,
NE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
CommScope, Inc. of North Carolina |
Hickory |
NC |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000004914879 |
Appl. No.: |
16/840623 |
Filed: |
April 6, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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15888835 |
Feb 5, 2018 |
10613285 |
|
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16840623 |
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|
14995966 |
Jan 14, 2016 |
9885845 |
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15888835 |
|
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62103850 |
Jan 15, 2015 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02B 6/4452 20130101;
G02B 6/3897 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G02B 6/44 20060101
G02B006/44; G02B 6/38 20060101 G02B006/38 |
Claims
1. A module for interconnecting fiber optic cables and/or cords,
comprising: a housing having a rear wall; a plurality of MPO
adapters mounted in the rear wall; forty-eight fiber optic adapters
mounted to a front portion of the housing, the fiber optic adapters
being operatively connected with the MPO adapters.
2. The module defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of MPO
adapters is three adapters.
3. The module defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of MPO
adapters is four adapters.
4. The module defined in claim 1, configured to be oriented in an
upright or an inverted orientation, and further comprising a
faceplate indicating the upright and inverted orientations.
5. The module defined in claim 1, further comprising latches that
are configured to enable the module to be snap-mounted to a
shelf.
6. The module defined in claim 1, wherein the forty-eight fiber
optic adapters comprise 24 duplex fiber optic adapters.
7. An assembly for interconnecting fiber optic cables and/or cords,
comprising: a 1U telecommunications shelf; and two fiber optic
telecommunications modules mounted to the shelf, each comprising: a
housing having a rear wall; a plurality of MPO adapters mounted in
the rear wall; forty-eight fiber optic adapters mounted to a front
portion of the housing, the fiber optic adapters being operatively
connected with the MPO adapters.
8. The assembly defined in claim 7, wherein the plurality of MPO
adapters is three adapters.
9. The assembly defined in claim 7, wherein the plurality of MPO
adapters is four adapters.
10. The assembly defined in claim 7, wherein each of the modules is
configured to be oriented in an upright or an inverted orientation,
and wherein each module further comprises a faceplate indicating
the upright and inverted orientations.
11. The assembly defined in claim 7, wherein each module further
comprises latches that snap-mount the module to the shelf.
12. The assembly defined in claim 11, wherein the shelf includes at
least one window with side edges, and wherein the latches of the
modules engage the side edges of the window.
13. The assembly defined in claim 7, wherein the forty-eight fiber
optic adapters comprise 24 duplex fiber optic adapters.
14. An assembly for interconnecting fiber optic cables and/or
cords, comprising: a 1U telecommunications shelf having a window
with side edges; and two fiber optic telecommunications modules
mounted to the shelf, each comprising: a housing having a rear
wall; a plurality of MPO adapters mounted in the rear wall;
forty-eight fiber optic adapters mounted to a front portion of the
housing, the fiber optic adapters being operatively connected with
the MPO adapters; and latches that engage the side edges of the
window to snap-mount the module to the shelf; wherein each of the
modules is configured to be oriented in the shelf in an upright or
an inverted orientation, and wherein each module further comprises
a faceplate indicating the upright and inverted orientations.
15. The assembly defined in claim 14, wherein the plurality of MPO
adapters is three adapters.
16. The assembly defined in claim 14, wherein the plurality of MPO
adapters is four adapters.
17. The assembly defined in claim 14, wherein the forty-eight fiber
optic adapters comprise 24 duplex fiber optic adapters.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application is a Continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 15/888,835, filed Feb. 5, 2018; which is a
Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/995,966, filed
Jan. 14, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,885,845; which claims priority
from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.
62/103,850, filed Jan. 15, 2015, the disclosures of which are
hereby incorporated herein in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is directed to datacommunications
equipment, and in particular datacommunications equipment for fiber
optic interconnections.
BACKGROUND
[0003] A network patching system is typically used to interconnect
the various communication lines within a closet or computer room.
In a conventional network patching system, the communication lines
are terminated within a closet in an organized manner via one or
more patch panels mounted on a rack or frame. Multiple ports are
included in the patch panel, typically in some type of organized
array. Each of the different ports is connected with a
communications line. In small patching systems, all communications
lines may terminate on the patch panels of the same rack. In larger
patching systems, multiple racks may be used, wherein different
communications lines terminate on different racks. Interconnections
between the various communications lines are made connecting patch
cords to the ports. By selectively connecting the various
communications lines with patch cords, any combination of
communications lines can be interconnected.
[0004] It may be desirable to provide different devices for
interconnecting datacommunications lines.
SUMMARY
[0005] As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed
to a module for interconnecting fiber optic cables and/or cords.
The module comprises: a housing having a rear wall; a plurality of
MPO adapters mounted in the rear wall; and forty-eight fiber optic
adapters mounted to a front portion of the housing, the fiber optic
adapters being operatively connected with the MPO adapters.
[0006] As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are
directed to an assembly for interconnecting fiber optic cables
and/or cords comprising a 1U telecommunications shelf and two fiber
optic telecommunications modules mounted to the shelf. Each of the
modules comprises: a housing having a rear wall; a plurality of MPO
adapters mounted in the rear wall; and forty-eight fiber optic
adapters mounted to a front portion of the housing, the fiber optic
adapters being operatively connected with the MPO adapters.
[0007] As a third aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed
to an assembly for interconnecting fiber optic cables and/or cords
comprising a 1U telecommunications shelf having a window with side
edges and two fiber optic telecommunications modules mounted to the
shelf. Each module comprises: a housing having a rear wall; a
plurality of MPO adapters mounted in the rear wall; forty-eight
fiber optic adapters mounted to a front portion of the housing, the
fiber optic adapters being operatively connected with the MPO
adapters; and latches that engage the side edges of the window to
snap-mount the module to the shelf. Each of the modules is
configured to be oriented in the shelf in an upright or an inverted
orientation, and wherein each module further comprises a faceplate
indicating the upright and inverted orientations.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0008] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a module for
interconnecting fiber optic cables and cords according to
embodiments of the invention.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the module of FIG.
1.
[0010] FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial front perspective view of one
of the latches of the module of FIG. 1 used to attach the module to
a fiber shelf.
[0011] FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial front perspective view of
another of the latches of the module of FIG. 1 used to attach the
module to a fiber shelf.
[0012] FIG. 5 is front perspective view of the module of FIG. 1
attached to a fiber shelf.
[0013] FIG. 6 is a front view of a labeling plate attached to the
front side of the module of FIG. 1.
[0014] FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of an alternative
embodiment of a module for interconnecting fiber optic cables and
cords.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] The present invention is described with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the
invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in
many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the
embodiments that are pictured and described herein; rather, these
embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough
and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to
those skilled in the art. It will also be appreciated that the
embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in any way and/or
combination to provide many additional embodiments.
[0016] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms
that are used in this disclosure have the same meaning as commonly
understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this
invention belongs. The terminology used in the below description is
for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is
not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in this
disclosure, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to
include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that when an
element (e.g., a device, circuit, etc.) is referred to as being
"connected" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly
connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements
may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as
being "directly connected" or "directly coupled" to another
element, there are no intervening elements present.
[0017] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a telecommunications module
for interconnecting fiber optic cables and cords, designated
broadly at 10, is shown therein. The module 10 includes a box-like
housing 12 with a ceiling 14, a floor (not shown), side walls 18,
and a rear wall 20. The housing 12 is sized to mount on a shelf
sized at 1U (i.e., approximately 1.75 inches in height). On its
front side, the module 10 includes two sets of 24 duplex fiber
optic adapters 22. Each set of fiber optic adapters 22 is arranged
in upper and lower rows of twelve adapters each, with the sets of
adapters 22 being side-by-side across the front of the module 10.
The adapters 22 are conventional fiber optic adapters and need not
be described in detail herein.
[0018] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, the front side of the module
10 also includes features that enable the module 10 to be attached
to a 1U fiber shelf 50. A pair of snap latches 24 are located
between the sets of adapters 22 and project forwardly. Each of the
snap latches 24 has a hook 26 and an opposed shoulder 28 that
enables it to receive a vertical edge of the shelf 50. In addition,
a latch 30 (FIG. 3) projects forwardly from each of the lateral
edges of the module 10; each latch 30 includes a hook 31 and a
shoulder 32 that can receive a vertical edge of the shelf 50.
[0019] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3, the front side of the module
10 also includes two latching projections 34 that are located on
opposite sides of the sets of adapters 22. These latching
projections 34 enable the module to mount a kit for "intelligent
patching" (i.e., a system that can track connectivity of cords and
cables connected to the adapters 22). An exemplary system/kit is
the iPATCH.RTM. system, available from CommScope, Inc., (Hickory,
N.C.).
[0020] Referring now to FIG. 2, three MPO connectors 36 are mounted
to the rear wall 20 of the housing 12. These MPO connectors 36 are
sixteen fiber connectors that receive a sixteen fiber MPO attached
to a fiber optic cable.
[0021] The housing 12 protects optical fibers (not shown) that
extend between the MPO connectors 36 and the adapters 22. There are
multiple arrangements of such fibers known to those of skill in
this art that need not be described in detail herein.
[0022] FIG. 5 illustrates the module 10 mounted in the shelf 50. As
can be seen in FIG. 5, the shelf 50 includes four windows 52 with
vertical side edges 54 (only two windows 52 are visible in FIG. 5).
The module 10 is mounted on the shelf 50 by inserting the adapters
22 through the windows 50; the latches 24 contact the side edges 54
and deflect, then recover, as the module 10 is moved forward to
snap-mount the module 10 on the shelf 50. The side edges 54 of the
window 50 are captured between the hooks 26 and the shoulders 28 of
the latches 24. Similarly, the latches 30 engage respective side
edges 54 of the window 50 and deflect, then recover to capture the
side edges 54 between the hooks 31 and the shoulders 32. The
latching projections 34 are free to receive an intelligent patching
kit if desired. The resulting assembly 56 comprising the shelf 50
and two modules 10 can be mounted within a 1U space on a
conventional telecommunications rack or cabinet.
[0023] FIG. 6 shows the module 10 with a faceplate 60 attached
thereto for assisting with orientation of the module 10. As
discussed at length in U.S. Pat. No. 7,416,347, the disclosure of
which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety, fiber optic
modules often have an "ALPHA" or "BETA" orientation in order to
provide proper connectivity for the fibers connected thereto. The
faceplate 60 includes indicia 62 that is oriented so that an
operator can quickly discern an "ALPHA" or "BETA" configuration of
the module 10 irrespective of whether the module 10 is horizontally
or vertically oriented.
[0024] FIG. 7 illustrates another fiber optic module 110 according
to embodiments of the invention. The module 110 includes three TAP
connectors 136 on its rear wall 120.
[0025] It should also be noted that, because the modules 10, 110
include 48 fiber optic adapters 22, they are configured to be able
to receive either three 16-fiber MPOs or four 12-fiber MPOs. As
such, the modules can be employed through transitions between
12-fiber based systems and 16-fiber based systems. Thus, as higher
data transmission speeds (such as 40 Gb, 100 Gb, or even 400 Gb)
become more standard and/or commonplace, the modules can be
modified to address the changing needs of end users.
[0026] The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and
is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although exemplary
embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in
the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are
possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing
from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention.
Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included
within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. The
invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of
the claims to be included therein.
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