Patent Publication Number: US-2022236494-A1

Title: Fiber optic adapter

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to Taiwanese Utility Model Patent Application No. 110200828, filed on Jan. 22, 2021. 
     FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to an adapter, and more particularly to a fiber optic adapter for a fiber optic connector. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a conventional fiber optic adapter  1  adapted for connection with a fiber optic connector with a four-channel QSFP (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable) interface is shown. The fiber optic adapter  1  includes a housing  11 , two flanges  12  respectively protruding outwardly from left and right sides of the housing  11 , a partition wall  13  disposed inside the housing  11 , a mounting seat  14  protruding from one surface of the partition wall  13 , and a fixing seat  15  disposed on another surface of the partition wall  13  and projecting from the partition wall  13  toward a direction opposite to the mounting seat  14 . The flanges  12  may be installed on specific locations through bolts, or for connecting with the flanges  12  of other conventional fiber optic adapters  1 . The mounting seat  14  defines a plurality of through holes  141 . The fixing seat  15  defines a plurality of bore holes  151  that are in spatial communication with the through holes  141 , respectively. The fixing seat  15  includes six base walls  152  arranged in pairs, and twelve clamping walls  153  disposed correspondingly to the base walls  152 . Each base wall  152  and two corresponding clamping walls  153  surround to form a ring-shaped structure with three gaps, and define one of the aforesaid bore holes  151 . The conventional fiber optic adapter  1  is used for insertion by at least one corresponding set of two of the fiber optic connectors therein, so that the two fiber optic connectors of the at least one corresponding set are optically connected to each other through the through holes  141  and the bore holes  151 . 
     However, when the conventional fiber optic adapter  1  is formed in a mold during manufacture, the ring-shaped structure, formed from the each base wall  152  and two corresponding clamping walls  153 , makes the conventional fiber optic adapter  1  not easy to demold, so that it is necessary to forcibly demold the conventional fiber optic adapter  1 . The clamping walls  153  needs to be forced apart during the forcibly demolding, and the clamping walls  153  will not be restored to their original configuration until after demolding. The aforementioned procedure is likely to cause the clamping walls  153  to deviate from its original position and generate errors, thus there is still room for improvement. 
     SUMMARY 
     Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a fiber optic adapter that is manufactured without being forcibly demolded. 
     According to the disclosure, a fiber optic adapter includes a shell body, a dividing wall, an installation seat, and a securing seat. The shell body defines an inner space that extends in a front-rear direction. The dividing wall is disposed in the inner space and divides the inner space into two receptacles that are arranged in the front-rear direction. The dividing wall is formed with a plurality of bore holes that communicate with the receptacles. The installation seat is disposed on a surface of the dividing wall, is located in one of the receptacles, and defines a plurality of through holes that respectively communicate with the bore holes. The securing seat is disposed on another surface of the dividing wall and is located in another one of the receptacles. The securing seat includes a plurality of base walls that are connected in pairs, a plurality of pairs of clamping walls, and a plurality of clenching walls. Each one of the base walls cooperates with a respective one pair of the clamping walls and a respective one of the clenching walls to form a ring-shaped structure, with each adjacent two of the base walls, the pair of clamping walls and the clenching wall defining a gap therebetween. The ring-shaped structure defines a communicating hole that communicates with a respective one of the bore holes of the dividing wall. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a conventional fiber optic adapter; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of another angle of the conventional fiber optic adapter; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a fiber optic adapter according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the first embodiment taken from a different angle from  FIG. 3  in a front-rear direction; 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional side view of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the fiber optic adapter according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the second embodiment taken from an angle different from that of  FIG. 6  in a front-rear direction; 
         FIG. 8  is a front view of two of the second embodiments coupled together; 
         FIGS. 9 and 10  are perspective views illustrating another form of the second embodiment; 
         FIG. 11  is a front view of a plurality of the fiber optic adapters of  FIGS. 9 and 10  coupled together; 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the fiber optic adapter according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 13  is a side view of the third embodiment; and 
         FIG. 14  is a perspective view, illustrating another form of the third embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Before the present disclosure is described in detail, it should be noted that similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals in the following description. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 , a first embodiment of the fiber optic adapter  2  according to the present disclosure is shown. First a front-rear direction (A), an up-down direction (B), and a left-right direction (C) which are perpendicular to each other are defined. The fiber optic adapter  2  includes a shell body  3 , a dividing wall  4  disposed in the shell body  3 , an installation seat  5  disposed in the shell body  3 , and a securing seat  6  disposed in the shell body  3 . 
     The shell body  3  defines an inner space  31  that extends in the front-rear direction (A). The dividing wall  4  is disposed in the inner space  31  of the shell body  3  and divides the inner space  31  into two receptacles  41  that are arranged in the front-rear direction (A). The dividing wall  4  is formed with a plurality of bore holes  42  that communicate with the receptacles  41 . The installation seat  5  is disposed on a surface of the dividing wall  4 , is located in one of the receptacles  41 , and defines a plurality of through holes  51  that respectively communicate with the bore holes  42 . The securing seat  6  is disposed on another surface of the dividing wall  4 , and is located in another one of the receptacles  41 . The securing seat  6  includes a plurality of base walls  61  that are connected in pairs, a plurality of pairs of clamping walls  62 , and a plurality of clenching walls  63 . The base walls  61 , the clamping walls  62  and the clenching walls  63  are all extending forwardly from the dividing wall  4  in the front-rear direction (A) (see  FIG. 3 ) with a curved cross-section. Each one of the base walls  61  cooperates with a respective one pair of the clamping walls  62  and a respective one of the clenching walls  63  to form a ring-shaped structure, with the respective one of the clenching walls  63  being disposed between the respective one pair of the clamping walls  62 . The ring-shaped structure defines a communicating hole  64  that communicates with a respective one of the bore holes  42  of the dividing wall  4 . In this embodiment, the number of the base walls  61  of the securing seat  6  is six, each pair of the base walls  61  that are connected to each other are arranged in the up-down direction (B), and the pairs of the base walls  61  that are spaced apart are arranged in the left-right direction (C). 
     Each adjacent two of the base walls  61 , the pair of clamping walls  62  and the clenching wall  63  defines a gap therebetween. In the first embodiment, the ring-shaped structure has a three-bladed design with four gaps. By having the gaps, the clamping walls  62  and the clenching wall  63  have comparatively higher elastic flexibility, and can therefore reduce the force required for demolding, making the fiber optic adapter  2  easy to demold without resorting to forcibly demolding which forcefully pulls the mold away, thereby ensuring that the clamping walls  62  and the clenching wall  63  will not be deformed after demolding. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 , a second embodiment of the fiber optic adapter  2  of the present disclosure is shown to have substantially the same structure as the first embodiment, except for the following: The shell body  3  includes a main wall portion  32  surrounding the inner space  31  and having two opposite sides in the left-right direction (C), and a plurality of guiding rail portions  33  protruding from one of the sides of the main wall portion  32 . The guiding rail portions  33  are spaced apart in the up-down direction (B), and each of the guiding rail portions  33  is elongated in the front-rear direction (A). In addition to this, the main wall portion  32  is formed with a plurality of guiding grooves  321  in the other one of the sides of the main wall portion  32 . The guiding grooves  321  are spaced apart in the up-down direction (B), and each guiding groove  321  is elongated in the front-rear direction (A). Unlike the conventional fiber optic adapter, the second embodiment is not disposed with flanges for connection on both sides of the main wall portion  32 , but instead, the guiding rail portions  33  are adapted to be engaged respectively with the guiding grooves  321  of another fiber optic adapter  2 , and the guiding grooves  321  are adapted to be engaged respectively with the guiding rail portions  33  of another fiber optic adapter  2  as shown in  FIG. 8 , to connect a plurality of the fiber optic adapters  2  in a parallel connection in the left-right direction (C). Through the guiding rail portions  33  installing into the guiding grooves  321  without occupying any additional space in the left-right direction (C), the main wall portions  32  of the fiber optic adapters  2  can be placed side by side for a closer arrangement, so that it can be applied to narrower spaces. Referring to  FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 , it should be particularly noted that, when the fiber optic adapter  2  is adapted to be connected to a structure which has a flange, as shown in  FIG. 9  or  FIG. 10 , the fiber optic adapter  2  may be provided with a flange  35  on one side, and the guiding rail portions  33  or the guiding grooves  321  are disposed on the other side. The different configurations of the fiber optic adapter  2  are interconnected to each other through the guiding rail portions  33  and the guiding grooves  321  that are disposed according to different requirements to enhance universality. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 12 and 13 , a third embodiment of the fiber optic adapter  2  according to the present disclosure is shown to be generally identical to the structure of the second embodiment. 
     The differences are that the shell body  3  includes a plurality of clasp portions  34  protruding from two sides of the main wall portion  32 . In the third embodiment, the shell body  3  further includes four clasp portions  34  in two sets of two. The two sets of clasp portions  34  respectively project from two opposite sides of the main wall portion  32  in the up-down direction (B). The two clasp portions  34  that are disposed at the same side of the main wall portion  32  are spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction (C), and each clasp portion  34  is elongated in the front-rear direction (A). When it is desired to mount the third embodiment in a slot of a computer case or other device, the clasp portions  34  may push outwardly on a surrounding wall which defines the slot when the main wall portion  32  is inserted into the slot, and an auxiliary supporting effect can be achieved. In doing so, the third embodiment does not need to rely on any flange for securing, thereby achieving the effect of having a compact configuration. Referring to  FIG. 14 , the third embodiment may be designed to have a reduced width in the left-right direction (C), if the through holes  51  (see  FIG. 4 ) of the installation seat  5  and the communicating holes  64  (see  FIG. 3 ) of the securing seat  6  are designed to be fewer in number to correspond with the amount of required connections. 
     In summary, the present fiber optic adapter  2  does not need to be forcibly demolded, thus ensuring that the clamping walls  62  and the clenching walls  63  are not displaced, thereby ensuring that the molded communicating holes  64  are standardized in size and not offset in position. Furthermore, various configurations are also provided and a compact arrangement can thereby be achieved. Therefore, the object of the present invention can certainly be achieved. 
     However, the above is merely an embodiment of the present disclosure, and certainly should not be limited to the scope of practicing the present disclosure. Any equivalent variation and modification made according to the claims of the present disclosure and the content of the present disclosure should still fall within the scope covered by the present disclosure. 
     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 embodiments. 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 are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments 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.