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CN-122029466-A - Cleaning tip for non-contact cleaning of fiber optic connectors and endfaces

CN122029466ACN 122029466 ACN122029466 ACN 122029466ACN-122029466-A

Abstract

A cleaning tip (30) has a spacer tube (32) with an open terminal end (32 a) and one or more exhaust openings (34). The cleaning tip (30) is easily mounted to and removed from a mounting base (44) on a nozzle (40) of a cleaning device (38). The various sizes and cleaning tips having different configurations of exhaust openings may be interchanged to ensure effective cleaning of differently configured fiber end faces and connectors by a cleaning device (38) utilizing a coanda effect air flow (118) obtained by flowing a cleaning fluid through a tapered needle plug (42) contained within a needle housing (43).

Inventors

  • Jay S. Turini
  • John T. Doti

Assignees

  • 齐农科技有限责任公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20240930
Priority Date
20231002

Claims (14)

  1. 1. A cleaning tip for a nozzle of a cleaning device, the nozzle having a nozzle outlet from which cleaning fluid is ejected for cleaning an optical fiber endface juxtaposed with the nozzle outlet, such optical fiber endface being disposed in a housing member having a housing member contacting face, the cleaning tip being sized and configured to flow such cleaning fluid therethrough, the cleaning tip comprising: A spacer tube having a tube wall, the spacer tube having an open terminal end and an opposite base end, and a mounting base disposed at the base end, the mounting base being sized and configured to mount the cleaning tip on such a nozzle in fluid communication with such a nozzle outlet, whereby such cleaning fluid discharged from such a nozzle outlet flows through the cleaning tip to impinge such an optical fiber end face; The tube wall having one or more exhaust openings therein to provide an exhaust outlet for such cleaning fluid to exit from within the cleaning tip, and The spacer tube is sized and configured to form a predetermined separation distance between such nozzle outlet and such fiber end face when the terminating end of the spacer tube is placed in contact with the housing member contact surface.
  2. 2. The cleaning tip of claim 1, comprising a plurality of exhaust openings disposed circumferentially around the spacer tube.
  3. 3. The cleaning tip of claim 2, wherein the spacer tube has an external surface area and the total area of the one or more exhaust openings comprises about 30% to about 70% of the external surface area.
  4. 4. The cleaning tip of any of claims 1,2, or 3, wherein the cleaning tip is sized and configured to be removably mounted on such a nozzle.
  5. 5. The cleaning tip of claim 4, wherein the mounting base is threaded and threadably mounted on the nozzle.
  6. 6. An assembly comprising (a) a cleaning device nozzle having a mounting base thereon, and a nozzle outlet through which cleaning fluid impinges an optical fiber end face juxtaposed with the nozzle outlet, the optical fiber end face disposed in a housing member having a contact surface, and (b) a cleaning tip mounted on the nozzle; A needle plug movably disposed in the nozzle outlet to regulate the flow of such cleaning fluid through the nozzle outlet, the cross-section of the needle plug tapering in a direction of flow outwardly from the nozzle and terminating at a point; The cleaning tip being sized and configured to pass such cleaning fluid therethrough and through the needle plug, the cleaning tip comprising a spacer tube having a tube wall with a terminating end and an opposite base end, and a mounting base at the base end, the mounting base being mounted on the mounting base, wherein the needle plug is disposed within the cleaning tip and the cleaning tip is disposed in fluid communication with the nozzle outlet, and The tube wall has one or more exhaust openings therein to define a flow path for such cleaning fluid from the nozzle outlet through the cleaner tip and out the exhaust openings.
  7. 7. The assembly of claim 6, comprising a plurality of exhaust openings disposed circumferentially around the spacer tube.
  8. 8. The assembly of claim 7, wherein the spacer tube has an external surface area and the total area of the one or more exhaust openings comprises about 30% to about 70% of the external surface area.
  9. 9. The assembly of any of claims 6, 7 or 8, wherein the mounting base is removably mounted on the mounting base.
  10. 10. The assembly of claim 9, wherein the mounting base and the mounting base each have complementary threads, and the mounting base is threadably mounted on the mounting base.
  11. 11. The assembly of any one of claims 6, 7 or 8, wherein the nozzle further comprises a needle plug housing within which the needle plug is disposed within the spacer tube to block at most a portion of the exhaust opening.
  12. 12. The assembly of claim 11, wherein the needle plug housing is slidable within the spacer tube.
  13. 13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the needle plug housing is a close-fitting slidable within the spacer tube.
  14. 14. The assembly of claim 11, wherein the nozzle outlet is sized and configured to flow such cleaning fluid through the needle plug housing and through the needle plug.

Description

Cleaning tip for non-contact cleaning of fiber optic connectors and endfaces Cross Reference to Related Applications The present application claims the benefit of U.S. application No.63/587,342, entitled "CLEANING TIP for Non-Contact Cleaning of Fiber Optic Connectors AND END FACES (clean end for Non-contact cleaning of fiber optic connectors and endfaces)" filed on month 2 of 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field The present invention relates generally to a cleaning tip for non-contact cleaning for use in fiber optic connectors and fiber optic endfaces. The ferrule end surfaces may be effectively cleaned whether exposed or fitted into a ferrule connector, such as a plug or bulkhead for interconnection with another optical fiber or optoelectronic device. In fiber optic networks, bundles of optical fibers, typically about 8 microns in diameter, are connected by wrapping the bundles in a protective jacket (not shown) to form a cable and inserting the two cable ends together in pairs. For this purpose, the ends of the individual fiber optic bundles 10a, 10B, 10C (fig. 1A, 1B, 1C) typically need to be stripped and glued and encapsulated in the center of the rod-shaped ferrules 12a, 12B, 12C. The ferrule provides an enlarged surface area for fine polishing of the exposed end face of the fiber bundle. The ferrule end faces 14a, 14B, 14C are polished flat (fig. 1A), slightly convex (fig. 1B), or at an angle of about 8 degrees (fig. 1C) to reduce reflected light when connected to another optical fiber. These ferrules are then assembled into various types of connector housings, such as connector 16 (fig. 2), which are precisely interconnected with similar devices, such as connector 16' (fig. 3), via couplings or spacers 18 to ensure precise alignment of the inserted fiber optic bundles. For cleaning, the assembly of fig. 3 is disassembled so that the ferrule end face is exposed for cleaning while it remains attached to the corresponding half of the coupling or bulkhead 18. Fig. 4 shows the end of a fiber optic cable 19 comprising a fiber bundle 20 having an outer protective jacket or sheath 22, the end portion of the fiber bundle being stripped, wherein the stripped portion of the fiber bundle 20 is enclosed in a ferrule 24 having an end face 24 a. The ferrule 24 has a lens 26 affixed to an end face 24a thereof, which may be of spherical or near-spherical configuration, so that the ferrule 24 is an expanded beam ("EB") ferrule. The lens 26 is typically a collimating lens, although it may also be an imaging lens. In any event, the lens 26 is disposed in optically transmissive relation to the end of its associated fiber optic bundle 20. Fig. 5 shows a pair of fiber optic cables 19, 19', each having a respective EB ferrule 24, 24', with respective lenses 26, 26 'of the ferrules optically connected to each other by connectors 28, 28'. The connectors 28, 28' may be connected to each other by any suitable means, such as mechanical fasteners or couplers. The connectors 28, 28' are each configured to be separated from one another so as to allow inspection and cleaning of the broken ferrule end faces 24, 24' and their corresponding lenses 26, 26'. Fig. 6 shows one of the connectors, connector 28 in fig. 5, disconnected from its corresponding connector 28' and thus ready for cleaning. The cleanliness of the cable connection as described above is a critical factor in maintaining peak signal communication performance, but such cable connections are extremely susceptible to contamination by the adjoining end faces of the optical fibers. Thus, it is critical to clean the end surfaces before the fiber ends are connected to each other and/or after they are contaminated during normal use. Background U.S. patent 7,232,262 ("Lytle") to s.lytle et al, 6/19, discloses a cleaning apparatus for cleaning the endface of an optical fiber contained in an interface device that uses a pressurized fluid such as air or nitrogen to transport a solvent by inserting the device into an optical fiber connector 200. U.S. patent 6,821,025 to g.j.geruard ("geruard") at 11/23 2004 discloses in fig. 2a device including a pressurized gas/cleaning solvent discharge port or nozzle 114 spaced from the fiber-optic endface 202 in a manner similar to that described in Lytle. Lytle and geruard disclose cleaning the fiber end face without physically contacting the fiber end face, but require insertion of a nozzle into the connector or other structure associated with the fiber optic connector. Other patents disclose contact cleaning in which a cotton swab or wiping sheet is in physical contact with the end face. For example, U.S. patent 7,401,374 to j.s.tourbiny at 22 in 2008 and U.S. patent 9,798,093 to j.s.tourbiny at 24 in 10 2017 (both assigned to the assignee of the present application) disclose manually operated cotton bud cleaning devices for cleaning fiber end surfaces disposed within connector couplings or bulkhe