Abstract:
An optical transceiver module comprises a circuit structure, an optical fiber, a fixture, an optical transceiver and a cover. The optical fiber transmits optical signal. The fixture partially or completely covers the optical fiber, wherein optical signals are transmitted in the optical fiber. The optical transceiver is coupled to the fixture and connected to the circuit structure, and is for receiving/transmitting the optical signals. The cover is connecting one end of the optical fiber to the optical transceiver.

Description:
This Non-provisional Application claims priority under U.S.C.§ 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 094110424, filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Apr. 1, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The invention relates to an optical transceiver module, and in particular to an optical transceiver module with simplified manufacturing process, and easier assembly and low cost. 
     In  FIG. 1 , a conventional optical receiver/transmitter module  10  includes a planar light wave circuit (PLC)  1 , a ceramic plate  2  having an opening  3  and an optical fiber  4 . The PLC  1 , disposed on the ceramic plate  2 , has an incident light inlet corresponding to the opening  3  of the ceramic plate  2 . The optical fiber  4  is inserted into the opening  3  of the ceramic plate  2  is and is fixed at the incident light inlet of the PLC  1 . Thus, assembly of the optical receiver/transmitter module  10  is completed after the ceramic plate  2  is fixed on a printed circuit board (PCB) via leads. However, it is necessary to use the ceramic plate  2  for the described optical receiver/transmitter module  10 , and thus the manufacturing cost is high. 
     In  FIG. 2 , a conventional optical receiver/transmitter module  100  includes an optical fiber  102  having a core  120 , a ferrule  104  made of Zirconium Oxide, a flange  106  made of free cutting copper, a PLC  108 , a ceramic plate  110 , a fiber cover  112 , a plurality of legs  114 , a base plate  116 , and a PCB  118  having a V-shaped slot. The optical fiber  102  passes through the ferrule  104 , and the ferrule  104  is coupled to the flange  106 . The PLC  108  is fixed to the ceramic plate  110 . The core  120  of the optical fiber  102  placed on the V-shaped slot of the PCB  118  corresponds to a waveguide incident surface of the PLC  108 . The fiber cover  112 , placed on the core  120  of the optical fiber  102 , is thermally fixed to the PLC  108 . The PLC  108  is electrically connected to the ceramic plate  110  by wiring. The ceramic plate  110  and the flange  106  are adhesively coupled to the base plate  116 , to position the optical fiber  102  and the PLC  108  and prepare for the next connection. Thus, the optical receiver/transmitter module  100  can be completed after the legs  114  extending from the ceramic plate  110  are electrically connected to the PCB  118 . 
     Although the utility amount of ceramic material can be reduced in the described optical receiver/transmitter module  100 , it is still necessary to use the ferrule  104 , the flange  106  and the ceramic plate  110  so that the corresponding manufacturing costs cannot be reduced. Further, the optical receiver/transmitter module  100  requires at least three steps more than the optical receiver/transmitter module  10 , which increases the time and complexity of the manufacturing process. 
     SUMMARY 
     The invention provides an optical transceiver module without using high-temperature resistant material to connect the optical fiber to the optical transceiver, whereby simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing production costs. 
     A main feature of the optical transceiver module of the invention is that the optical fiber of the optical transceiver module is enclosed by flexible or soft material, to absorb vibration and pressure on the optical fiber and to prevent shifting, deformation and cracking of the optical fiber. 
     The optical transceiver module includes a circuit structure, a fixture having a recess, an optical transceiver and a cover. The circuit structure is embedded in the recess of the fixture. The circuit structure is connected to the recess by adhesive material, resilient material, stuffing material, flexible material or soft material. The fixture encloses or partially or completely covers the optical fiber, wherein optical signals are transmitted in the optical fiber. The fixture is connected to the optical fiber by adhesive material, resilient material, stuffing material, flexible material, or other soft materials, to prevent shifting, deformation and cracking of the optical fiber. 
     The invention further provides an optical transceiver module including a circuit structure, a fixture partially or completely covering the optical fiber, an optical transceiver coupled to the fixture and connected to the circuit structure for receiving/transmitting the optical signal, a housing having an opening for fixing the optical fiber therein, and a cover connecting one end of the optical fiber to the optical transceiver. The optical signals are transmitted in the optical fiber. 
     The optical fiber of the optical transceiver module of the invention is enclosed by flexible or soft material, to absorb vibration and pressure on the optical fiber and to prevent shifting, deformation and cracking of the optical fiber. The optical transceiver is directly connected to the circuit structure and receiving/transmitting the optical signals via the optical fiber. The cover connects the optical fiber with the optical transceiver by glue adhesion, dot welding, or laser welding. 
     The optical transceiver and the cover are disposed on one side of the circuit structure, and the optical transceiver is set between the cover and the circuit structure. The optical fiber is connected to the optical transceiver to form an electrical connection. The circuit structure includes at least one pin connected to an external system to form an electric connection. 
     The optical transceiver is a planar light guide, a laser diode, a vertical cavity surface emitting laser, a light emitting diode or a photodiode. The cover is made of plastics, metal, alloy, stainless steel or ceramics. 
     The optical transceiver is directly connected to the circuit structure, i.e., using the circuit structure as a carrier instead of using the ceramic plate to connect to the circuit board of the related art so as to simplify the assembling process and to reduce manufacturing cost and time. 
     Additionally, instead of using thermal bonding to connect the optical fiber to the optical transceiver and using the high-temperature ring to position the optical fiber, the bonding material between the optical fiber and the optical transceiver of the invention do not require application of the high-temperature resistant material, so as to simplify the manufacturing process and reduce production costs. 
     The invention uses different methods of glue adhesion, instead of the ceramic base plate, to connect the cover to the optical transceiver. The gluing material can be a cold Epoxy resin or other cold resins, so as to reduce thermal deformation of material. Preferably, the fixture can be made of cold metal. 
     Additionally, instead of using thermal bonding to connect the optical fiber to the optical transceiver and using the high-temperature ring to position the optical fiber, the bonding material between the optical fiber and the optical transceiver of the invention do not require application of the high-temperature resistant material. 
     Additionally, the optical fiber of the optical transceiver module of the invention is enclosed by flexible or soft material, so as to absorb vibration and pressure on the optical fiber and to prevent shifting, deformation and cracking of the optical fiber. 
     Further scope of the applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will become more fully understood from the subsequent detailed description and the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitalive of the present invention, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a conventional optical receiver/transmitter module. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic sectional view showing another conventional optical receiver/transmitter module. 
         FIG. 3A  is a top view of an optical transceiver module of the first embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3B  is a schematic sectional view of the optical transceiver module along line (a 1 —a 1 ) of  FIG. 3A . 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view of an optical transceiver module of the second embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5A  is a top view of an optical transceiver module of the third embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5B  is a schematic sectional view of the optical transceiver module along line (b 1 —b 1 ) of  FIG. 5A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In  FIGS. 3A and 3B , an optical transceiver module  300  of the first embodiment of the invention includes a circuit structure  301  having an outer surface  3010 , an optical transceiver  302  having an opening  308 , a fixture  303  positioned to the opening  308  of the optical transceiver  302  and having a recess  309 , a cover  304  and an optical fiber  306 . The conjunction between the optical transceiver  302  and the fixture  303  is covered by the cover  304 , and the edge of the cover  304  disposed within the outer surface  3010  is fixed securely to the optical transceiver  302  by glue adhesion (e.g. UV glue, cold Epoxy resin or other cold resins), dot welding and laser welding. The cover  304  is preferably made of plastic, metal, alloy, stainless steel, ceramics or other rigid materials. 
     In the first embodiment, the optical transceiver  302  can be a planar light guide, a laser diode (LD), a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), a light emitting diode (LED) or a photodiode (PD), for receiving/transmitting the optical signals via the core  307  of the optical fiber  306 . 
     The optical fiber  306  is partially covered by the fixture  303  and has a core  307  with a totally reflective internal structure, e.g., solid or hollow totally reflective internal structure so as to conduct movement of the optical signal along a desired path. The optical fiber  306  passing through the fixture  303  extends outwardly from the fixture  303 . The fixture  303  and the optical fiber  306  are assembled by adhesive material, resilient material, stuffing material, flexible or soft material, so as to absorb vibration and pressure on the optical fiber  306  and prevent shifting of the optical fiber  306 . 
     The circuit structure  301  is embedded in the recess  309  of the fixture  303 . A connecting material such as adhesive material, resilient material, stuffing material, flexible material or soft material is applied between the circuit structure  301  and the recess  309  of the fixture  303 , so as to stabilize the connection between the circuit structure  301  and the fixture  303 . 
     In this embodiment, the circuit structure  301  is preferably a printed circuit board. The circuit structure  301 , controlling or controlled by the optical transceiver  302 , has a plurality of pins  310  connected to an external system (not shown) to form an electrical connection. The optical transceiver  302  directly connected to the circuit structure  301  can receive and convert the optical signal into an electrical signal or other formatted signals, and the optical transceiver  302  can receive and convert the electrical signal and other formatted signals into an optical signal. The optical transceiver  302  is preferably connected to the circuit structure  301  by wire bonding or embedding, or the optical transceiver  302  and the circuit structure  301  can be integrally formed or assembled into one unit. 
     In  FIG. 3B , the optical transceiver  302  and the cover  304  are disposed on one side of the circuit structure  301 , and the optical transceiver  302  is set between the cover  304  and the circuit structure  301 . 
       FIG. 4  shows an optical transceiver module  400  of the second embodiment of the invention. The second embodiment differs from the optical transceiver module  300  of the first embodiment in that the optical transceiver module  400  further includes a cap  305  to enclose the fixture  303  so that the circuit structure  301  is embedded in the fixture  303  by the cap  305 . Preferably, the cap  305  and the fixture  303  can be integrally formed or assembled into one unit. The cap  305  is preferably made of plastics, metal, alloy, stainless steel, ceramics, or other rigid materials. The cap  305  can be connected to the fixture  303  by adhesion, engaging, embedding, fitting or clamping. 
     The optical transceiver  302  is electrically connected to the circuit structure  301  by wire bonding. The fixture  303  and the cap  305  can be relatively positioned by engaging, embedding, welding, clamping or adhering. When the fixture  303  encloses the optical fiber  306 , a flexible or stuffing material can be disposed between the optical fiber  306  and the fixture  303 , to fix securely the optical fiber  306  disposed in the fixture  303 . 
     The circuit structure  301  is embedded in the recess  309  of the fixture  303 , and the core  307  of the optical fiber  306  is disposed in the opening  308  of the optical transceiver  302 , so that the core  307  contacts an input port and output port (not shown). The cover  304  covering the opening  308  is fixed securely to the optical transceiver  302  by glue adhesion, dot welding or laser welding so that the optical fiber  306  is fixedly clamped between the cover  304  and the optical transceiver  302 . 
     In the described embodiments, allocation and alignment between the fixture and the optical transceiver can be rapidly accomplished, and the combination of the fixture and the optical transceiver does not require a high-temperature melting process. Specifically, some components of the described optical transceiver modules can be made of low cost plastics, whereby reducing costs and simplifying the manufacturing process. Further, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments of the assembly method. 
       FIGS. 5A and 5B  show an optical transceiver module  500  of the third embodiment of the invention. The optical transceiver module  500  differs from the optical transceiver module  300  in  FIGS. 3A and 3B  in that a housing  501  is further provided as a shield for the optical transceiver module  500 . The housing  501  includes an opening  502  in the optical fiber  306 , for outputting the optical signal from the core  307 . 
     The housing  501  is fixed securely to the circuit structure  301  by adhesion, engaging, clamping, fitting, embedding, stuffing or using at least one pin  310 . The optical fiber  306  is connected to the housing  501  by adhesive material, resilient material, stuffing material, flexible material or soft material. The housing  501  preferably has a cylindrical, pillar, polygonal or rectangular shape with an engaging portion. 
     Note that the optical transceiver of the invention is directly connected to the circuit structure instead of using the ceramic plate to connect to the circuit board of the related art, to reduce manufacturing cost and time. 
     Additionally, instead of using thermal bonding to connect the optical fiber to the optical transceiver and using the high-temperature ring to position the optical fiber, the bonding material between the optical fiber and the optical transceiver of the invention do not require application of the high-temperature resistant material, to simplify the manufacturing process and reduce production costs. 
     Additionally, the optical transceiver and the cover of the invention can be assembled by UV glue, cold Epoxy resin or other cold resins under low-temperature atmosphere, to reduce production costs. 
     Additionally, the optical fiber of the optical transceiver module of the invention is enclosed by flexible or soft material, so as to absorb vibration and pressure on the optical fiber and prevent shifting, deformation and cracking of the optical fiber. 
     While the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but, on the contrary, is intended to accommodate various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.