Abstract: An optical transmission system for coupling light from LED mounted on circuit boards includes a flexible light pipe that is bonded to a lens unit at one end and receives a fitting base at the other end. The lens unit is made to be pressed into and held in a hole in a panel and receive the light pipe through its rear structure. The fitting base may be shaped to be plugged into a circuit board over a board mounted LED or have the LED contained therein with leads to be soldered into a circuit board metal traces. The lens unit and fitting can be standardized and inventoried in large quantities to be assembled to meet a variety of instrumentation requirements in display panel.

Abstract: An apparatus and technique are provided to automatically align an insert for insertion into a hole of a predrilled board. The hole is located by a retractable centering pin on the apparatus to ensure an accurate alignment with the insert, and, once aligned, the insert is inserted into the hole with a force axially applied by the apparatus.