Patent ID: 7706645

Claim:
An optical communication system for transmitting light between a first housing and a second housing of a device, the first housing and the second housing adapted to move relative to one another a distance corresponding to a travel distance between a plurality of usage positions, the optical communication system comprising: a first optical communication element capable of emitting the light, the first optical communication element being coupled to one of the first housing and the second housing; a second optical communication element capable of receiving the light, the second optical communication element being coupled to other one of the first housing and the second housing to which the first optical communication element is not coupled; and an optical waveguide capable of conveying the light emitted by the first optical communication element to the second optical communication element; and wherein the output light from the optical waveguide is capable of being received by the second optical communication element at each of a plurality of different laterally offset positions of an end of the optical waveguide, relative to the other one of the first housing and the second housing to which the second optical communication element is coupled, as the first and second housings move between the plurality of usage positions.