Patents Examined by Eric Wong
  • Patent number: 9823426
    Abstract: There is provided an optical communication device including a lens substrate configured to have a first face on which a plurality of lenses corresponding to a plurality of channels of optical communication are two-dimensionally formed, and a ferrule configured to be disposed facing a second face that is the opposite face of the first face of the lens substrate and to be provided with through holes into which optical fibers are inserted in positions corresponding to each of the plurality of lenses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kazunao Oniki, Hiizu Ootorii, Eiji Otani
  • Patent number: 9823427
    Abstract: A fiber optic drop terminal assembly includes a housing, a spool and a fiber optic distribution cable. The housing has a first exterior surface and an oppositely disposed second exterior surface. A plurality of ruggedized adapters is mounted on the first exterior surface of the housing. The ruggedized adapters include a first port accessible from outside the housing and a second port accessible from inside the housing. The spool is engaged with the second exterior surface and includes a drum portion. The fiber distribution cable is coiled around the drum portion. The distribution cable includes a first end and an oppositely disposed second end. The second end is disposed inside the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Assignee: CommScope Technologies LLC
    Inventors: Trevor D. Smith, Raymond Hagen, Thomas G. LeBlanc, Thomas Marcouiller
  • Patent number: 9817294
    Abstract: An optical modulation device configured of a planar optical waveguide, includes: a light incidence unit which allows light to be incident on the planar optical waveguide; a Mach-Zehnder interferometer which includes a first optical splitter section branching the light incident on the light incidence unit, two arm portions guiding the light branched by the first optical splitter section, a phase modulation unit linearly disposed on each of the two arm portions, and a first optical coupler section combining the light guided from the two arm portions; a light launching unit which launches the light combined by the first optical coupler section from the planar optical waveguide; and a traveling-wave electrode which includes an input unit and an output unit, and applies a voltage to the phase modulation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: FUJIKURA LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Goi, Hiroki Ishihara, Kensuke Ogawa, Kenji Oda, Hiroyuki Kusaka, Ryokichi Matsumoto, Hitoshi Uemura
  • Patent number: 9810846
    Abstract: Disclosed are optical devices for coupling radiation between an optical waveguide and an external medium. In one embodiment, an optical device is disclosed comprising a semiconductor die comprising an integrated optical waveguide core and an overlying optical waveguide comprising a waveguide taper and a waveguide facet. The overlying optical waveguide at least partially overlies the integrated optical waveguide core, and the waveguide facet is between about 1 ?m and 200 ?m from an edge of the semiconductor die. In another embodiment, a method is disclosed comprising providing a substrate comprising an integrated semiconductor waveguide and forming on the substrate an overlying waveguide comprising a waveguide taper and a waveguide facet. The overlying waveguide at least partially overlies the integrated semiconductor waveguide. The method further includes cutting the substrate about 1 ?m and 200 ?m from the waveguide facet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Dirk Taillaert, Diederik Vermeulen, Jonathan Schrauwen, Gunther Roelkens
  • Patent number: 9804456
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device includes a TFT substrate having a display region with first and second electrodes, TFTs, scanning signal lines connected to the TFTs, a counter substrate, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the TFT and counter substrates, and sealed by a sealant, scanning line leads connected to the scanning signal lines and formed outside of the display region, video signal line leads connected to the video signal lines and formed outside of the display region and a shield electrode formed on the TFT substrate covering the scanning line leads but not the video signal line leads. The second electrode is connected to one of the TFTs, and liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are driven by an electric field, which is generated between the first and second electrodes. The shield electrode is electrically connected to the first electrode and overlapped with the sealant in plan view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignees: Japan Display Inc., Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kenji Anjo, Takahiro Nagami, Kenichi Hatakeyama
  • Patent number: 9798093
    Abstract: The cleaning head (30, 40, 44, 130) of a swab-like cleaning device (28, 36, 42, 134) for cleaning optical fiber end faces, especially the lens of expanded beam (“EB”) optical fibers, has a concave configuration of its cleaning surface (30a, 40a, 44a). This provides for effective engagement of the cleaning surface with the convex, e.g., spherical or nearly spherical, light transmission surfaces of the lenses (16a, 16b) of EB optical fibers. The cleaning head comprises coherent bodies of sintered polymers and may have zones of different density. Deformability of at least that portion of the cleaning head (30, 40, 44, 130) which terminates in the cleaning surface (30a, 40a, 44a) facilitates use of the cleaning device for non-EB as well as EB optical fiber end faces by better conforming the cleaning surface to the end faces during cleaning of the end faces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: ZYNON TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventor: Jay S. Tourigny
  • Patent number: 9778496
    Abstract: The present invention is based on a two-dimensional photonic crystal in which defects are inserted in a controlled manner, has the main function of division of the power of an input signal, excited in one of its six waveguides, among other three waveguides (output ones), while keeping isolation of the input port by means of two other waveguides. The operating principle of the device is based on the alignment of a dipole mode excited in the resonant cavity, in such a way that the nodes of this mode are oriented in the direction of two waveguides, so that these waveguides are not excited. Due to this alignment, each of the three output waveguides receive about one third of the power of input signal. The orientation of dipole mode is controlled by the applied DC magnetic field and the physical and geometrical parameters of the resonator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2017
    Assignee: UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO PARA—UFPA
    Inventors: Victor Dmitriev, Gianni Masaki Tanaka Portela
  • Patent number: 9766413
    Abstract: A fiber optic connector and cable assembly is disclosed herein. The fiber optic connector and cable assembly includes a cable having at least one optical fiber, a jacket surrounding the optical fiber and at least one strength member for reinforcing the fiber optic cable. The fiber optic connector and cable assembly also includes a fiber optic connector having a main connector body having a distal end and a proximal end. The fiber optic connector also includes a ferrule supporting an end portion of the optical fiber. The ferrule is mounted at the distal end of the main connector body. The fiber optic connector further includes a spring for biasing the ferrule in a distal direction and a spring push for retaining the spring within the main connector body. The spring push is mounted at the proximal end of the main connector body. The spring push includes a main body and a stub that projects proximally outwardly from the main body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES LLC
    Inventors: Steven C. Zimmel, Yu Lu, Patrick J. Nault, Scott C. Kowalczyk, Scott Droege, Brent Campbell, Christopher Stroth
  • Patent number: 9766397
    Abstract: An optical fiber comprises a glass fiber including a core and a cladding surrounding the core, a non-strippable resin layer that adheres to and covers a surface of the glass fiber, and a buffer layer that covers the non-strippable resin layer, when pullout force measurement in which a length of 10 mm of each of the glass fiber and the non-strippable resin layer is pulled out at a tensile speed of 5 mm/min from the buffer layer is performed, a pullout force at 23° C. is 1.0 kg or less and a pullout force at 95° C. is 0.50 kg or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Yuya Homma
  • Patent number: 9759882
    Abstract: A termination ferrule includes a ferrule body and a ferrule plate. The ferrule body includes multiple bores arranged to align with a pattern of lasers in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array. Each of the multiple bores includes an entry diameter sized for an optical fiber with a protective coating and an exit diameter sized for a portion of the optical fiber without the protective coating. The ferrule plate includes multiple holes arranged to align with the pattern of lasers in the VCSEL array. Each of the multiple holes includes a hole diameter sized to receive the portion of the optical fiber without the protective coating. The ferrule plate is secured between the VCSEL array and the ferrule body, and the ferrule plate includes a thickness sufficient to create a gap between each laser in the VCSEL array and the corresponding optical fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2017
    Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
    Inventor: David Z. Chen
  • Patent number: 9759875
    Abstract: A bi-directional optical module that provides an Rx unit and a Tx unit, where optical axes are perpendicular to each other, is disclosed. The optical module provides a housing that installs a WDM filter therein and assembles the coupling unit in a surface through the front alignment unit, the Tx unit in another surface opposite to the former surface, and the Rx unit in still another surface connecting the former two surfaces through the rear alignment unit. The axes of the Tx unit and the coupling unit are in parallel to each other, but the axis of the Rx unit is in perpendicular to the former two axes. The Rx unit installs a photodiode (PD) with an optically sensitive surface leveled with the surface of the rear alignment unit to which the Rx unit is attached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2017
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations, Inc.
    Inventor: Takeshi Okada
  • Patent number: 9746746
    Abstract: A fast optical switch can be fabricated/constructed, when vanadium dioxide (VO2) ultra thin-film or a cluster of vanadium dioxide particles (less than 0.5 microns in diameter) embedded in an ultra thin-film of a polymeric material or in a mesh of metal nanowires is activated by either an electrical pulse (a voltage pulse or a current pulse) or a light pulse just to induce rapid insulator-to-metal phase transition (IMT) in vanadium dioxide ultra thin-film or vanadium dioxide particles embedded in an ultra thin-film of a polymeric material or in a mesh of metal nanowires. The applications of such a fast optical switch for an on-Demand optical add-drop subsystem, integrating with or without a wavelength converter are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Inventors: Mohammad A Mazed, Rex Wiig, Angel Martinez
  • Patent number: 9739954
    Abstract: A fiber optic connector is described herein. The fiber optic connector includes a ferrule for supporting at least one optical fiber of a fiber optic cable, a ferrule holder from which the ferrule extends, a housing in which the ferrule holder is received, and a strain relief device at least partially located within the housing. The strain relief device has at least one resilient clamping member selectively applying a compressive force to at least a portion of the fiber optic cable. The strain relief device also has an actuator at least partially surrounding the ferrule holder, and used to place the at least one resilient clamping member into compressed contact with the fiber optic cable, thus retaining the fiber optic cable within the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: Corning Optical Communications LLC
    Inventors: Ashley Wesley Jones, Andrey Nikolayevich Levandovskiy, Brandon Andrew Barnes
  • Patent number: 9739945
    Abstract: A passive optical network includes one or more multi-service terminals each having a housing and a plurality of ruggedized plug-receiving distribution ports accessible from outside the housing. The multi-service terminals also each include an optical power splitter or wave division multiplexer for splitting an optical signal and directing the split signal to the plug-receiving distribution ports. Some of the multi-service terminals provide a different power split ratio from others of the multi-service terminals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: CommScope Technologies LLC
    Inventor: Douglas F. Dowling
  • Patent number: 9733426
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an MMF with a structure for relaxing wavelength dependence of transmission bandwidth. In the MMF, a doping amount of a dopant for control of refractive index is adjusted, so as to make each of an OFL bandwidth at a wavelength of 850 nm and an OFL bandwidth at a wavelength of at least one of 980 nm, 1060 nm, and 1300 nm become not less than 1500 MHz·km, make the OFL bandwidth at the wavelength of at least one of 980 nm, 1060 nm, and 1300 nm become wider than the OFL bandwidth at the wavelength of 850 nm, and effectively suppress increase in transmission loss.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Yonezawa, Tadashi Enomoto
  • Patent number: 9733438
    Abstract: An optical connector includes a lens block mounted in a MPO housing and optically coupled between an optical light guide and an external coupling light guide. A first lens formed on a first surface of the lens block to totally reflect and collimate light emitting from the optical light guide to a second surface. The second surface is coated with a partial transmission coating on a transmitter side and a total reflective coating on a receiver side. A second lens formed on a third or fourth surface on the lens block for focusing light from the second surface onto the external coupling light guide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: SAE Magnetics (H.K.) Ltd.
    Inventors: Xiaoming Yu, Vincent Wai Hung, Margarito P. Banal, Jr., Yuk Nga Chen
  • Patent number: 9726837
    Abstract: Light can be transmitted between a light source and a light detector or target by using at least two mating connector sections of a light pipe connector. A protrusion of one of the connector sections is designed to be received within a receptacle of another of the connector sections, which can make the light pipe connector mechanically compliant. The two connector sections are fabricated from an optically transmissive material, and have optically reflective surfaces in orthogonal orientations to optically transmissive surfaces adjacent to the light source and the light detector. When the protrusion of one of the connector sections is engaged within the receptacle of another connector section, light can be transmitted through optically transmissive surfaces adjacent to a light source and a light detector, while the orthogonally oriented optically reflective surfaces direct light towards the light detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Phillip V. Mann, Kevin M. O'Connell, Arvind K. Sinha, Karl Stathakis, Kory W. Weckman
  • Patent number: 9726829
    Abstract: Aspects of the present invention include an optical fiber connector for connecting optical fibers. The optical fiber connector includes a ferrule coupled to one or more optical fiber ribbons. The optical fiber connector includes a connector housing coupled with a radius controlled ribbon bending housing. The connector housing surrounds the ferrule on at least four sides, and the one or more optical fiber ribbons coupled to the ferrule are within the connector housing. The optical fiber connector includes a strain relief clamp coupled with the radius controlled ribbon bending housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alan F. Benner, Mark A. Brandon, Michael J. Ellsworth, Eric J. McKeever, Thong N. Nguyen, Edward J. Seminaro
  • Patent number: 9726817
    Abstract: Disclosed is a small-diameter polarization maintaining optical fiber, which relates to the field of special optical fibers. The small-diameter polarization maintaining optical fiber comprises a quartz optical fiber (5); the periphery thereof is provided with an inner coating (6) and an outer coating (8); the interior of the quartz optical fiber (5) is provided with an optical fiber core layer (1) and a quartz cladding (2); two stress zones (4) are arranged between the optical fiber core layer (1) and the quartz cladding (2); a buffer coating (7) is arranged between the inner coating (6) and the outer coating (8); the periphery of each stress zone (4) is provided with a buffer layer (3) which is concentric with the stress zone (4); when a working wavelength of a small-diameter polarization maintaining optical fiber is 1310 nm, the attenuation thereof reaches less than 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: FIBERHOME TELECOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Wenyong Luo, Zhijian Liu, Yili Ke, Qi Mo, Fuming Hu, Qiong Lei, Zhiwen Kang, Rong Dan, Lei Zhao
  • Patent number: 9720184
    Abstract: Aspects of the present invention include an optical fiber connector for connecting optical fibers. The optical fiber connector includes a ferrule coupled to one or more optical fiber ribbons. The optical fiber connector includes a connector housing coupled with a radius controlled ribbon bending housing. The connector housing surrounds the ferrule on at least four sides, and the one or more optical fiber ribbons coupled to the ferrule are within the connector housing. The optical fiber connector includes a strain relief clamp coupled with the radius controlled ribbon bending housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alan F. Benner, Mark A. Brandon, Michael J. Ellsworth, Eric J. McKeever, Thong N. Nguyen, Edward J. Seminaro