Patent ID: 9507095
Filing Date: 2016-11-29
CPC Classification: G02B

Claim Text:
1. An expanded beam optical connector comprising: a connector body, an optical element in the form of a waveguide or active device, a beam width altering optical lens, and a transmit/receive window, wherein: the optical element, the beam width altering optical lens and the transmit/receive window are arranged and structurally configured such that optical signals propagate between the optical element and the transmit/receive window via the beam width altering optical lens, wherein the beam width altering optical lens alters a beam width of the optical signals; the transmit/receive window comprises an optical medium that forms an interior surface of the transmit/receive window, an optical transition layer bonded to the interior surface formed by the optical medium, and a protective layer forming an exterior surface of the transmit/receive window; and the connector body is structurally configured and arranged to place the exterior surface of the transmit/receive window in close contact with a mating exterior surface of a mating transmit/receive window of a complementary optical device to define a close contact portion on the transmit/receive window and the mating transmit/receive window.