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US-20260126598-A1 - OPTICAL ASSEMBLIES WITH MANAGED CONNECTIVITY

US20260126598A1US 20260126598 A1US20260126598 A1US 20260126598A1US-20260126598-A1

Abstract

An adapter block assembly includes an adapter block, a circuit board arrangement, and a cover attached to the adapter block so that the circuit board arrangement is held to the adapter block by the cover. Contact assemblies can be disposed between the adapter block and the circuit board arrangement. The cover can be latched, heat staked, or otherwise secured to the adapter block. Each component of the adapter block assembly can include one or more parts (e.g., multiple adapter blocks, multiple circuit boards, and/or multiple cover pieces).

Inventors

  • Thomas Marcouiller
  • Christopher Charles Taylor
  • JOHN T. PFARR
  • Kristofer Bolster
  • Oscar Fernando Bran de Leon
  • Loren J. Mattson

Assignees

  • COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • COMMSCOPE CONNECTIVITY UK LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20260105

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . An adapter assembly at which signals from a first plurality of media segments transfer to a second plurality of media segments, the adapter assembly comprising: a housing extending along a depth between a front of the housing and a rear of the housing and extending along a width between opposite first and second ends, the housing defining a bottom surface extending along the width and the depth, the housing defining a recessed groove in the bottom surface, the recessed groove extending along the depth between the front of the housing and the rear of the housing, the recessed groove being open at the front of the housing and at the rear of the housing, the recessed groove being disposed at an intermediate location along the width; a mechanical engagement member carried at an exterior of the first side of the housing; a plurality of front port members disposed at the front of the housing, the front port members defining front ports accessible from the front of the housing and rear ports facing an interior of the housing.
  2. 2 . The adapter assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a rear port member disposed at the rear of the housing, the rear port member defining a front port facing the interior of the housing and a rear port accessible from the rear of the housing.
  3. 3 . The adapter assembly of claim 2 , wherein the rear port member is one of a plurality of rear port members.
  4. 4 . The adapter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the front port members are defined by the housing.
  5. 5 . The adapter assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a presence sensing component disposed at each of the front ports.
  6. 6 . The adapter assembly of claim 1 , further comprising an inward protrusion disposed within the recessed groove.
  7. 7 . The adapter assembly of claim 6 , wherein the inward protrusion is elongate along the depth of the housing.
  8. 8 . The adapter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the mechanical engagement member is a first mechanical engagement member, and wherein a second mechanical engagement member is disposed at an exterior of the second side of the housing.
  9. 9 . The adapter assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a cover that mounts to the housing to close the interior of the housing.
  10. 10 . The adapter assembly of claim 9 , wherein the housing is formed form multiple housing pieces and the cover is formed from multiple cover pieces.
  11. 11 . The adapter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the recessed groove separates a first group of the front ports and a second group of the front ports.
  12. 12 . The adapter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the front port members are configured to receive optical plug connectors.
  13. 13 . A tray arrangement comprising: a tray including: a base having side rails at opposite sides of the base; and a mounting rail extending along a front-rear axis of the tray; and an adapter assembly mounted to the tray, the adapter assembly including: a housing extending along a depth between a front and a rear and extending along a width between opposite first and second ends, the housing defining a bottom surface extending along the width and the depth, the housing defining a recessed groove in the bottom surface, the recessed groove extending along the depth, the recessed groove being disposed at an intermediate location along the width, the recessed groove being aligned with the mounting rail of the tray; a mechanical engagement member carried at an exterior of the first side of the housing; a plurality of front port members disposed at the front of the housing, the front port members defining front ports accessible from the front of the housing and rear ports facing an interior of the housing.
  14. 14 . The tray arrangement of claim 13 , wherein the adapter assembly is slidingly mounted to the tray.
  15. 15 . The tray arrangement of claim 14 , wherein the adapter assembly slides onto the tray in a direction orthogonal to the depth of the adapter assembly.
  16. 16 . The tray arrangement of claim 13 , wherein the adapter assembly is configured to latch to the tray.
  17. 17 . The tray arrangement of claim 13 , further comprising a rear port member disposed at the rear of the housing of the adapter assembly, the rear port member defining a front port facing the interior of the housing and a rear port accessible from the rear of the housing.
  18. 18 . The tray arrangement of claim 17 , wherein the rear port member is one of a plurality of rear port members.
  19. 19 . The tray arrangement of claim 13 , further comprising an inward protrusion disposed within the recessed groove.
  20. 20 . The adapter assembly of claim 19 , wherein the inward protrusion is elongate along the depth of the housing.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 18/545,191, filed Dec. 19, 2023, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 17/739,985, filed May 9, 2022, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 16/995,219, filed Aug. 17, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,327,248, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 16/388,983, filed Apr. 19, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,746,943, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/722,648, filed Oct. 2, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,268,000, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/065,338, filed Mar. 9, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,778,424, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/169,912, filed Jan. 31, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,285,552, which application claims the benefit of provisional application No. 61/843,718, filed Jul. 8, 2013, and titled “Optical Assemblies with Managed Connectivity;” and of provisional application Ser. No. 61/761,034, filed Feb. 5, 2013, and titled “Optical Assemblies with Managed Connectivity,” which applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. BACKGROUND In communications infrastructure installations, a variety of communications devices can be used for switching, cross-connecting, and interconnecting communications signal transmission paths in a communications network. Some such communications devices are installed in one or more equipment racks to permit organized, high-density installations to be achieved in limited space available for equipment. Communications devices can be organized into communications networks, which typically include numerous logical communication links between various items of equipment. Often a single logical communication link is implemented using several pieces of physical communication media. For example, a logical communication link between a computer and an inter-networking device such as a hub or router can be implemented as follows. A first cable connects the computer to a jack mounted in a wall. A second cable connects the wall-mounted jack to a port of a patch panel, and a third cable connects the inter-networking device to another port of a patch panel. A “patch cord” cross connects the two together. In other words, a single logical communication link is often implemented using several segments of physical communication media. Network management systems (NMS) are typically aware of logical communication links that exist in a communications network, but typically do not have information about the specific physical layer media (e.g., the communications devices, cables, couplers, etc.) that are used to implement the logical communication links. Indeed, NMS systems typically do not have the ability to display or otherwise provide information about how logical communication links are implemented at the physical layer level. SUMMARY The present disclosure relates to communications connector assemblies and connector arrangements that provide physical layer management capabilities. In accordance with certain aspects, the disclosure relates to fiber optic connector assemblies and connector arrangements. In accordance with some aspects of the disclosure, an optical adapter block assembly includes an adapter block, a circuit board arrangement, and a cover. The adapter block defines ports and apertures associated with the ports. Contact assemblies can be disposed in the apertures of the adapter block so that portions of each contact assembly extend into an interior of the adapter block. The circuit board arrangement has a first side including circuit board components and a second side configured to seat on the adapter block. The second side also is configured to electrically connect to the contact assemblies disposed in the apertures of the adapter block. The cover is configured to seat on the first side of the circuit board arrangement. The cover is attached to the adapter block so that the circuit board arrangement is held to the adapter block by the cover. In certain examples, the cover is latched to the adapter block. In certain examples, the cover is heat staked to the adapter block. In accordance with other aspects of the disclosure, an optical adapter block assembly includes a first adapter block, a second adapter block, and a connecting member that couples to a first side of the first adapter block and to a second side of the second adapter block to hold the first and second adapter blocks together as a unit. The first adapter block defines front ports at a front of the first adapter block and a rear ports at a rear of the first adapter block. The top of the first adapter block defines an aperture for each port of the first adapter block. The second adapter block defines front ports at a front of the second adapter block and rear ports at a rear of the second adapter block. The top of the second adapter block defines an aperture for each port of the second adapter block. In accordance with other aspects of the