Patent Publication Number: US-2022236491-A1

Title: Fiber optic connector

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 110200830, filed on Jan. 22, 2021. 
     FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to a connecting device, and more particularly to a fiber optic connector supporting a four-channel interface. 
     BACKGROUND 
     With the increasing advancement in data transmission technology, fiber optic connectors for high-speed fibers are matching up with new specifications, such as Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) interfaces, while also striving in the direction of form factor miniaturization and component simplification. However, taking into account the capacity of accommodating two ferrules and the requirement of the ferrules being detachable, conventional fiber optic connectors on the market have to include three or more detachable components, which results in inefficient processes of installing and removing the ferrules. Thus, the conventional fiber optic connectors are still in need of improvement. 
     SUMMARY 
     Therefore, the object of the disclosure is to provide a fiber optic connector having minimized number of detachable components. 
     According to the disclosure, the fiber optic connector includes a front casing and a rear casing. 
     The front casing includes a front stopping portion defining and surrounding a receiving space which extends along a front-rear direction, and two side stopping portions extending rearwardly and respectively from opposite sides of the front stopping portion which are opposite in a left-right direction transverse to the front-rear direction, and each being formed with an engaging slot. 
     The rear casing is disposed behind the front casing, is provided for the front casing to be detachably connected thereto along the front-rear direction, and includes a main body portion defining and surrounding two through slots which are in spatial communication with the receiving space, and two engaging portions protruding outwardly and respectively from opposite sides of the main body portion which are opposite in the left-right direction, and each engaging the engaging slot of a respective one of the side stopping portions and disengagable from the engaging slot of the respective one of the side stopping portions through manual operation. 
     The advantages of the present invention reside in that the fiber optic connector is designed as two engagable pieces, i.e., the assembly thereof requires only engaging the front casing with the rear casing. The resilient plate may be omitted in the embodiment, and even if the resilient plate is included, the resilient plate is connected integrally to the rear casing without additional assembly. Thus, the invention is still a simple design having two engagable pieces, which reduces the number of detachable components to a minimum, and a similar effect of accommodating respectively a plurality of ferrules in the through slots can still be achieved. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view, illustrating an embodiment of a fiber optic connector and two ferrules according to the disclosure;  FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view, illustrating relationships between each component of the embodiment and the ferrules; and 
         FIG. 3  is atop sectional view of the embodiment and the ferrules. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 , an embodiment of a fiber optic connector according to the disclosure is adapted to be installed with two ferrules  4 . It should be noted that, a front-rear direction is defined in reference to the direction of insertion (i.e., plugging direction) of the fiber optic connector, and a left-right direction is defined as being substantially perpendicular to the front-rear direction. 
     The fiber optic connector includes a front casing  1 , a rear casing  2  that is disposed behind and detachably connected to the front casing  1  along the front-rear direction, and a resilient plate  3  that is obliquely and integrally connected to the rear casing  2 , and that extends upwardly and rearwardly from the rear casing  2 . 
     The front casing  1  includes a front stopping portion  11 , two side stopping portions  12  and a dividing portion  13 . The front stopping portion  11  defines and surrounds a receiving space  111  extending along the front-rear direction. The side stopping portions  12  extend rearwardly and respectively from opposite sides of the front stopping portion  11  along the left-right direction, and each of the side stopping portions  12  is formed with an engaging slot  121 . The dividing portion  13  is disposed in the receiving space  111  and extends in the left-right direction. The engaging slot  121  of each of the side stopping portions  12  extends through opposite surfaces of the side stopping portion  12  in the left-right direction. The dividing portion  13  divides the receiving space  111  into two through holes  131  that are arranged vertically and that are in spatial communication with the external environment. 
     The rear casing  2  includes a main body portion  21  and two engaging portions  22 . The main body portion  21  defines and surrounds two through slot  211  arranged vertically. The engaging portions  22  protrude outwardly and respectively from opposite sides of the main body portion  21  which are opposite in the left-right direction. Each of the engaging portions  22  engages the engaging slot  121  of a respective one of the side stopping portions  12 , and is disengagable from the engaging slot  121  of the respective one of the side stopping portions  12  through manual operation. The through slots  211  are in spatial communication with the through holes  131 , respectively. 
     The resilient plate  3  is integrally connected to a top surface of the main body portion  21  of the rear casing  2 , and includes a plate body portion  31  that is connected to the main body portion  21  of the rear casing  2 , and two inclined block portions  32  that extend outwardly and respectively from opposite sides of the plate body portion  31  which are opposite in the left-right direction. Each of the oblique block portion  32  has an oblique surface  321  that faces away from the main body portion  21  of the rear casing  2 , and that is inclined rearwardly and outwardly relative to the plate body portion  31 . 
     When assembling the embodiment, the ferrules  4  are first disposed respectively in the through slots  211  of the rear casing  2 . Then, the rear casing  2  and the front casing  1  are moved toward each other, such that each of the engaging portions  22  of the rear casing  2  extends into the engaging slot  121  of a respective one of the side stopping portions  12  of the front casing  1 , and a front portion of each of the ferrules  4  extends out of the respective one of the through holes  131  in the front-rear direction, such that the assembly is completed. 
     When the fiber optic connector is to be disassembled, it is only necessary to press the engaging portions  22  in the engaging slots  121  inwardly, such that each of the engaging portions  22  no longer engages the engaging slot  121  of the respective one of the side stopping portions  12 . Then, the front casing  1  is moved forward such that the front casing  1  becomes detached from the rear casing  2 . As such, the fiber optic connector is quickly disassembled. Furthermore, the design of the oblique surface  321  of each of the oblique block portions  32  of the resilient plate  3  is adapted to create a guiding effect during insertion of the fiber optic connector into an adapter (not shown). 
     In sum, by virtue of the fiber optic connector of the present disclosure being designed as two engagable pieces, the assembly thereof requires only engaging the front casing with the rear casing. The resilient plate may be omitted in the embodiment, and even if the resilient plate is included, the resilient plate is connected integrally to the rear casing without additional assembly. Thus, the invention is still a simple design having two engagable pieces, which minimizes the number of detachable components and reduces space occupied thereby, resulting in simplified configuration and miniaturized form factor. 
     Since the assembling and disassembling processes of the fiber optic connector are quick and easy, the purpose of the invention can indeed be achieved. 
     In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure. 
     While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.