Connector system with physical security feature
A multifiber connector comprising a rectangular-shaped ferrule having a plurality of fibers, alignment structure positioned on a front face of the ferrule, the alignment structure being at least one of alignment pins and pin-receiving holes, a housing defining a ferrule opening, the ferrule opening sized and shaped to accommodate disposition of the ferrule therein, wherein when disposed within the ferrule opening the ferrule extends forward from a front face of the housing; the housing having an outer periphery, wherein the outer periphery is defined by at least a top wall, a bottom wall, and first and second side walls, each of the side walls defining a recess having a curved surface, each recess positioned at an intermediate point along the height of the first and second side walls, and a key on the outer periphery of the housing on at least one of the top wall and the bottom wall, the key being offset to one side of a centerline bisecting the connector into first and second side portions, wherein the key prevents the multifiber connector from mating with a standard adapter which would otherwise mate with the multifiber connector but for the location of the key.
1. A multifiber connector comprising:
a ferrule;
an alignment structure positioned on a front face of the ferrule, the alignment structure being at least one of alignment pins and pin-receiving holes;
a housing defining a ferrule opening, the ferrule opening sized and shaped to accommodate the ferrule therein, wherein when within the ferrule opening, the ferrule extends forward from a front face of the housing; the housing having an outer periphery, wherein the outer periphery is defined by a top wall, a bottom wall, and first and second side walls, each of the side walls defining a recess,
each recess positioned at an intermediate point along a height of the first and second side walls; and a key on the outer periphery of the housing and on at least one of the top wall and said bottom wall, the key being offset to one side of a centerline bisecting the connector into first and second side portions,
wherein the key is defined at least in part on the front face and the outer periphery of the housing; and
wherein the multifiber connector is configured to mate with a mating adaptor having a keying element, wherein the keying element corresponds to and mates with the key, and wherein the key is a projection and the keying element is a slot.
2. The multifiber connector of claim 1 being dimensioned so that X 1 −C/2+(D−A)+Δ≤F/2,
wherein X 1 is a distance from a centerline of a connector-receiving opening in the mating adapter that mates with the multifiber connector to a centerline of the keying element in the mating adapter that corresponds to and mates with the key,
C is a width of the keying element,
D is a width across the connector-receiving opening,
A is a width of a portion of the connector that is to be received into the mating adapter,
Δ is CL F −CL A wherein CL A is the centerline of a width of the connector and
CL F is a centerline of the ferrule within the connector, and F is a width of the ferrule within the connector.
3. The multifiber connector of claim 1 , wherein the key includes at least one radiused or chamfered corner.
4. The multifiber connector of claim 1 , wherein the multifiber connector is an MT-RJ connector.
5. The multifiber connector of claim 1 , wherein the recess extends rearward from the front face of the housing.
6. The multifiber connector of claim 2 , wherein the connector is dimensioned so that X 2 +B/2<A/2−W,
wherein X 2 is the distance from a centerline bisecting the connector into the first and second side portions to a centerline of the key,
B is a width of the key on the connector, and
W is a thickness of one of the side walls of the connector.
7. A connector system comprising:
a) a multifiber connector comprising:
a ferrule;
an alignment structure positioned on a front face of the ferrule, the alignment structure being at least one of alignment pins and pin-receiving holes;
a housing defining a ferrule opening, the ferrule opening sized and shaped to accommodate the ferrule therein, wherein when within the ferrule opening, the ferrule defines a forwardmost surface of the multifiber connector excluding any alignment pins on the ferrule; the housing having an outer periphery, wherein the outer periphery is defined by a top wall, a bottom wall, and first and second side walls; and
a key positioned on at least one of the top wall and the bottom wall and being offset to one side of a centerline bisecting the connector into first and second side portions, wherein the key is defined at least in part by a front face of the housing,
wherein the connector is dimensioned such that X 2 +B/2<A/2−W,
wherein X 2 is a distance from the centerline bisecting the connector into the first and second side portions to a centerline of the key,
B is a width of the key on the connector,
A is a width of a portion of the connector that is to be received into a mating receptacle, and
W is a thickness of one of the side walls; and
b) an adaptor having the mating receptacle, the mating receptacle comprising:
a receptacle housing defining an opening sized to receive the multifiber connector;
a keying element positioned on the receptacle housing, the keying element sized and positioned to mate with the key when the multifiber connector is guided into the receptacle housing; and
wherein the multifiber connector is configured to mate with the adaptor having a keying element, wherein the keying element corresponds to and mates with the key, and
wherein the key is a projection and the keying element is a slot.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein each of the first and second side walls of the connector includes a recess, each recess positioned along an intermediate portion along a height of the first and second side walls.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein the connector and receptacle are dimensioned such that X 1 −C/2+(D−A)+Δ≤F/2,
wherein X 1 is a distance from the center of the opening of the receptacle to a center of the keying element,
C is a width of the keying element,
D is a distance across the opening of the receptacle,
Δ is CL F −CL A
wherein the CL A is the centerline of a width of the connector and
CL F is a centerline of the ferrule within the connector, and
F is a width of the ferrule within the connector.
10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the multifiber connector is an MT-RJ plug and the receptacle is an MT-RJ receptacle.