Granted Patent B1

US 7,567,743 · App. 12/061,132 · Granted Jul 28, 2009

Abstract

Claims (28)

1. A method of terminating a fiber in a connector, said method comprising: securing a stripped fiber to a device;

while said fiber is secured to said device, cleaving said fiber to produce a cleaved fiber;

securing a connector having a stub to said device;

while said connector and said fiber are secured to said device, inserting said cleaved fiber into said connector such that said cleaved fiber mates with said stub; and

securing said fiber to said connector.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein cleaving comprises angle cleaving said fiber to form a cleaved end face having a certain orientation relative to said device, and wherein said connector is secured such that a corresponding end face of said stub is in said certain orientation relative to said device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said device has x, y and z axes, and comprises a substrate, a connector retainer attached to said substrate for securing said connector, a fiber retainer attached to said substrate for securing said fiber, and a cleaver attached to said substrate for angle cleaving said fiber.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said fiber is in a common xz plane when it is secured in said fiber retainer and is inserted either in said connector or in said cleaver.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein said fiber is bent in said xz plane after being inserted into said connector.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein said connector is secured in a position offset along the z axis from said cleaver.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein securing said fiber to said device comprises disposing a buffered portion of said fiber in an alignment groove such that said buffered portion abuts a buffer stop to align said stripped portion in said cleaver.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein securing said fiber comprises straighten said fiber between said fiber retainer and said buffer stop before securing said fiber to said device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said connector is secured prior to said fiber being cleaved.

10. A device for field termination of angle-cleaved fiber, said device comprising:

a substrate having a top and bottom orientation;

a fiber retainer attached to said substrate;

a cleaver attached to said substrate; and

a connector retainer operatively attached to said substrate and disposed above said cleaver.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein said substrate defines x, y, and z axes, wherein said z axis is a vertical axis, wherein said connector retainer is positioned relative to said substrate such that a fiber secured in said fiber retainer and inserted in said connector is essentially in a vertical, xz plane, and wherein said cleaver is positioned on said substrate such that a fiber secured to said fiber retainer and inserted into said cleaver is essentially in the same vertical xz plane.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein said connector retainer is offset from said cleaver along said z axis.

13. The device of claim 11 , wherein said connector retainer is positioned and configured to hold a connector having a fiber with an angled end face such that the angle end face is closer to the fiber retainer than said clever is to said fiber retainer.

14. The device of claim 10 , wherein said cleaver is an anvil type cleaving mechanism.

15. The device of claim 10 , wherein said substrate comprises a groove between said fiber retainer and said cleaver.

16. The device of claim 15 , wherein said fiber retainer and said groove are essentially on a common xy plane.

17. The device of claim 10 , further comprising a bin adjacent said cleaver to store fiber cutoffs after cleaving.

18. The device of claim 10 , wherein said cleaver is an anvil type cleaver in which an anvil is mounted on a pivoting arm, which, when pushed toward said substrate bears down on a fiber in a groove to bend said fiber and force it into a cleaving edge.

19. The device of claim 18 , wherein said connector retainer is attached to said pivoting arm.

20. The device of claim 10 , further comprising a connector held by said connector retainer, wherein the distance between said fiber retainer and said cleaver is longer than the distance from said fiber retainer to said connector held by said connector retainer, such that, when a fiber is cleaved in said cleaver and then the cleaved fiber is removed from the cleaver and inserted into said connector, said cleaved fiber bends.

Assignments (14)