One-piece SC fiber optic connector and method of terminating optical fiber using same

Claim 2

A fiber optic connector comprising: a back body having a first opening and a second opening and a bore aligned along a longitudinal axis of said back body and extending between the first and second openings, said back body further including: a back body locking member disposed on said back body proximate the first end of said back body; and a first shoulder region extending into the bore of said back body at a first predetermined distance from the first opening of said back body; and a front body having a first end having an aperture therein and a second end disposed in the bore of said back body, said front body further including: a back post projecting from the second end of said front body into the bore of said back body; and a front body locking member provided as a flange projecting from an outer surface of said front body wherein said front body locking member and said back body locking member engage to secure together said front body and said back body.

Claim 3

The connector of claim 1 further comprising a spring having a first end and a second end, said spring disposed about said back post with the first end of said spring disposed against a first surface of said front body and a second end of said spring disposed against a first surface of said back body.

Claim 4

The connector of claim 2 wherein: said flange is provided having a ring shape; and said back body locking member is provided as a second shoulder region projecting into the bore of said back body wherein said first and second shoulder regions of said back body are spaced by a predetermined distance.

Claim 5

The connector of claim 3 wherein said back post is provided having a first region with a first diameter and a second region with a second diameter, and wherein the diameter of the first region of said back post is selected to provide an interference fit with the first end of said spring and an outer diameter of the second region of said back post is selected to be less than an inner diameter of said spring.

Claim 6

The connector of claim 4 wherein said spring provides a force which maintains a contact region between a first surface of said front body locking member and a first surface of said back body locking member.

Claim 7

The connector of claim 5 further comprising a ferrule disposed in the aperture of the first end of said front body.

Claim 8

A fiber optic connector comprising: a back body having a first opening and a second opening and a bore extending between the first and second openings; and a front body having a first end having an aperture therein and a second end, said front body further including a back post projecting from the second end of said front body; wherein said back body further includes first means for engaging said front body and said front body includes second means for engaging said back body; and a spring disposed against a first one of said first means and said second means, said spring for providing a force which maintains a contact region between said first means and said second means.

Claim 9

A fiber optic connector comprising: a back body having a first opening and a second opening and a bore extending between the first and second openings; and a front body having a first end having an aperture therein and a second end, said front body further including a back post projecting from the second end of said front body; wherein said back body further includes first means for engaging said front body and said front body includes second means for engaging said back body; and a spring disposed against a first one of said first means and said second means, said spring for providing a force which maintains a contact region between said first means and said second means.

Claim 10

The connector of claim 7 wherein said spring has a first end and a second end, said spring disposed about said back post with the first end of said spring disposed against a first surface of said front body and a second end of said spring disposed against a first surface of said back body; and means for coupling said spring to said front body and for centering said spring about said back post such that said spring and said back post are substantially concentric.

Claim 11

The connector of claim 8 wherein: said first means is provided as a ring shaped member projecting from an outer surface of said front body; and said second means is provided as a shoulder region projecting into the bore of said back body wherein the shoulder region projecting into the bore of said back body is spaced a predetermined distance from the first opening of said back body and engages the ring shaped member projecting from the outer surface of said front body; and said means for coupling said spring to said front body is provided as a step region on the surface of said front body from which said back post projects, wherein the step region has a diameter selected to provide an interference fit with the first end of said spring and an outside diameter of said back-post is selected to be less than an inside diameter of said spring.

Claim 14

The method of claim 10 wherein the spring is engaged on the step region of the back body by an interference fit.

Claim 15

The method of claim 11 wherein the step of coupling the back body to the front body further comprises the steps of: sliding the second end of the front body into a bore of the back body; compressing the spring between a first surface of the front body and a shoulder region of the back body; and engaging a first locking member of the front body with a corresponding locking member of the back body such that the spring is compressed and the front body is secured to the back body.

Claim 16

The method of claim 12 wherein the step of engaging the first locking member of the front body with the locking member of the back body includes the steps of: inserting the front body into the bore of the back body a predetermined distance; aligning the relative positions of the first locking member of the front body with the locking member of the back body; and releasing the front body such that the spring maintains a force between the first locking member of the front body and the locking member of the back body.

Claim 17

The method of claim 13 wherein the front body locking member is provided as a ring shaped member projecting from an outer surface of the front connector and the back body locking member is provided as a shoulder region projecting into the bore of the back connector and wherein the step of aligning the relative positions of the front body locking member with the corresponding back body locking member comprises the step of: rotating the front body such that a predetermined region of the ring shaped member is aligned with a predetermined portion of the back body shoulder region.

Claim 18

A fiber optic cable assembly comprising: a fiber optic cable, said fiber optic cable including: a shield provided from aramid fiber; a buffer; and an optical fiber; a connector coupled to said fiber optic cable, said connector including: a back body having a first opening and a second opening and a bore extending between the first and second openings of said back body, a locking member disposed on the first end of said back body and a first shoulder region extending into the bore of said back body at a first predetermined distance from the first opening of said back body; and a front body having a first end and a second end wherein the first end of said front body has an aperture therein, and the second end of said front body has a hollow back-post projecting from a surface thereof and an outer surface of said front body has a locking member projecting therefrom, and wherein the second end of said front body is disposed in the bore of said back body and the front body locking member are engageable to and the back body locking member secure together said front body and said back body; and a ferrule, having a bore therethrough, said ferrule disposed in the aperture of the first end of said front body with said buffer and said optical fiber disposed in the back-post and said optical fiber extending through the bore of said back post and into the bore of said ferrule.

Claim 19

A fiber optic cable assembly comprising: a fiber optic cable, said fiber optic cable including: a shield provided from aramid fiber; a buffer; and an optical fiber; a connector coupled to said fiber optic cable, said connector including: a back body having a first opening and a second opening and a bore extending between the first and second openings of said back body, a locking member disposed on the first end of said back body and a first shoulder region extending into the bore of said back body at a first predetermined distance from the first opening of said back body; and a front body having a first end and a second end wherein the first end of said front body has an aperture therein, and the second end of said front body has a hollow back-post projecting from a surface thereof and an outer surface of said front body has a locking member projecting therefrom, and wherein the second end of said front body is disposed in the bore of said back body and the front body locking member are engageable to and the back body locking member secure together said front body and said back body; and a ferrule, having a bore therethrough, said ferrule disposed in the aperture of the first end of said front body with said buffer and said optical fiber disposed in the back-post and said optical fiber extending through the bore of said back post and into the bore of said ferrule.

Claim 20

The cable assembly of claim 15 further comprising a spring having a first end, a second end and a predetermined length, said spring disposed about said back post with the first end of said spring disposed against a first surface of said front body and a second end of said spring disposed against a first surface of said back body.

Claim 21

The cable assembly of claim 16 wherein: said front body locking member is provided having a ring shape; and said back body locking member is provided as a second shoulder region projecting into the bore of back body wherein the first and second shoulder regions of said back body are spaced by a predetermined distance.

Claim 22

The cable assembly of claim 17 wherein said back post is provided having a first region with a first diameter and a second region with a second diameter, and wherein the diameter of the first back post region is selected to provide an interference fit with the first end of said spring and the diameter of the second back post region is selected such that the spring is spaced from the second back post region.

Claim 23

The cable assembly of claim 18 wherein the first surface of said front body is spaced from the first surface of said second shoulder region by a distance less than the length of said spring and said spring provides a force which maintains a contact region between a first surface of said front body locking member and a first surface of said back body locking member.

Claim 24

The cable assembly of claim 19 further comprising: a frame disposed about said connector; and a holder disposed about said frame.

Claim 25

A fiber optic connector comprising: a back body having a first opening and a second opening and a bore extending between the first and second openings; a front body having a first end, a second end, and a pair of shoulder regions, said front body further having a back post projecting from the second end thereof; a locking member disposed in the bore of said back body for engaging the pair of shoulder region in said front body; and a spring disposed over said back post, said spring for providing a force which maintains a contact region between the shoulder regions of said front body and the locking member disposed in the bore of said back body.

Claim 26

A fiber optic connector comprising: a back body having a first opening and a second opening and a bore extending between the first and second openings; a front body having a first end, a second end, and a pair of shoulder regions, said front body further having a back post projecting from the second end thereof; a locking member disposed in the bore of said back body for engaging the pair of shoulder region in said front body; and a spring disposed over said back post, said spring for providing a force which maintains a contact region between the shoulder regions of said front body and the locking member disposed in the bore of said back body.

Claim 27

The connector of claim 21 wherein said spring has a first end disposed against a first surface of said front body and a second end disposed against a first surface of said back body.

Claim 28

A fiber-optic connector comprising: a back body having a first opening and a second opening and a bore extending between the first and second openings; a front body having a first end and a second end disposed in the bore of said back body; a back post projecting from the second end of said front body into the bore of said back body; a spring disposed about said back post with a first end of said spring disposed against a first surface of said front body and a second end of said spring disposed against a first surface of said back body wherein an outer diameter of said back post is less than an inner diameter of said spring; a shoulder region formed in an outer surface of said front body; and a locking member projecting into the bore of said back body wherein said locking member is spaced a predetermined distance from the first opening of said back body and engages the shoulder region formed in the outer surface of said front body.

Claim 29

A fiber-optic connector comprising: a back body having a first opening and a second opening and a bore extending between the first and second openings; a front body having a first end and a second end disposed in the bore of said back body; a back post projecting from the second end of said front body into the bore of said back body; a spring disposed about said back post with a first end of said spring disposed against a first surface of said front body and a second end of said spring disposed against a first surface of said back body wherein an outer diameter of said back post is less than an inner diameter of said spring; a shoulder region formed in an outer surface of said front body; and a locking member projecting into the bore of said back body wherein said locking member is spaced a predetermined distance from the first opening of said back body and engages the shoulder region formed in the outer surface of said front body.