EP0104882A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Optical fibre coupling assemblies
Assignee: The General Electric Company PLC
•
Filing: 1983-09-21
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2003-09-21
Abstract
Abstract A coupling between an optical fibre (1) and an opto-electronic device e.g. a semiconductor laser (2) is located within a hermetically sealed housing (3,6). The device is supported on a header (14) mounted on the front wall (3) of the housing, the lead (16) to the device passes through the housing wall via a glass-to-metal seal (17,19,20), and the fibre is soldered into a ferrule (10) which is inserted through a boss (4) on the front housing wall. After alignment of the fibre with the device, the ferrule is clamped in position by two parallel sets of screws (11(a),11(b)) inserted through the boss, and is then soldered to the boss. The housing, header, ferrule and metal component(s) of the glass-to-metal seal are all formed of the same metal, preferably gold-plated copper, to avoid differential expansion.
Inventors
- 👤 Dain Stedman Evans
- 👤 George Antony Georgiou
- 👤 Peter Mossman
- 👤 Arabinda Mukherjee
- 👤 John Brian Whiscombe
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 15:14
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02B; G02B6/00; G02B6/24; G02B6/42; G02B6/4201; G02B6/4202; G02B6/4219; G02B6/4236; G02B6/4248; G02B6/4238
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
269 words
1 . An optical coupling assembly, in which an optical fibre (1) is coupled to an opto-electronic device (2), includes a metal housing forming an enclosure and having a front wall portion (3) having an aperture (5) and an integral external boss (4) formed around the aperture, which boss has a central bore extending from the said aperture orthogonally to the front wall, an opto-electronic device (2) located within the housing adjacent to the centre of the said aperture and connected to an electrically conducting lead (16) which is extended through the housing wall by means of a glass-to-metal seal (17,19), a metal ferrule (10) inserted coaxially within the bore of the boss, and an optical fibre (1) located along the axis of the ferrule, with the end of the fibre in contact with the said device characterised in that the device is mounted on a metal header (14) attached to the interior surface of the front wall and the assembly further including two sets of screws (lla, llb) inserted through the wall of the boss at two locations spaced apart longitudinally with respect to the boss, for adjusting the radial and angular position of the ferrule within the boss to align the optical fibre with the said device, and for clamping the ferrule in position, each said set consisting of at least three screws spaced apart around the circumference of the boss, the ferrule being soldered to the interior surface of the boss wall, the optical fibre being hermetically sealed into the ferrule, and the housing device-supporting header and the ferrule all being formed of the same metal.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
269 words
1 . An optical coupling assembly, in which an optical fibre (1) is coupled to an opto-electronic device (2), includes a metal housing forming an enclosure and having a front wall portion (3) having an aperture (5) and an integral external boss (4) formed around the aperture, which boss has a central bore extending from the said aperture orthogonally to the front wall, an opto-electronic device (2) located within the housing adjacent to the centre of the said aperture and connected to an electrically conducting lead (16) which is extended through the housing wall by means of a glass-to-metal seal (17,19), a metal ferrule (10) inserted coaxially within the bore of the boss, and an optical fibre (1) located along the axis of the ferrule, with the end of the fibre in contact with the said device characterised in that the device is mounted on a metal header (14) attached to the interior surface of the front wall and the assembly further including two sets of screws (lla, llb) inserted through the wall of the boss at two locations spaced apart longitudinally with respect to the boss, for adjusting the radial and angular position of the ferrule within the boss to align the optical fibre with the said device, and for clamping the ferrule in position, each said set consisting of at least three screws spaced apart around the circumference of the boss, the ferrule being soldered to the interior surface of the boss wall, the optical fibre being hermetically sealed into the ferrule, and the housing device-supporting header and the ferrule all being formed of the same metal.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
The optical coupling assembly according to Claim 1 wherein the part of the optical fibre which is located within the ferrule is coated with metal, suitably gold, or nickel-chromium-gold and is sealed into the ferrule by a solder.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
76 words
The optical coupling assembly according to Claims 1 or 2 in which the housing incorporates a cover secured to the front wall and having a back wall'substantially parallel to the front wall and which further comprises a light receiving means (21,22) sealed into an aperture in the back wall and coupled to means for automatically adjusting and stabilising the output of the laser in response to variations in the light received by the light receiving means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
The optical coupling assembly according to Claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the glass-to-metal seal consists of a metal rod (17) sealed through a glass bead or disc (19), which is sealed into an additional aperture in the housing wall.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
64 words
The optical coupling assembly according to Claim 4 wherein the glass bead or disc is surrounded by, and sealed into, a metal sheath (20) which is soldered to the wall, the rod and the sheath being formed of the same metal as the housing, and the lead wire from the opto-electronic device being soldered to the end of the rod located within the housing.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
40 words
The optical coupling assembly according to any preceding Claim wherein the screws are formed of a metal not wetted by the solder, and having thermal expansion characteristics substantially matching those of the metal of the other parts of the assembly.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
161 words
A method of manufacturing the optical coupling assembly according tc any preceding claim, the method including the steps of sealing the glass-to-metal seal into the wall of the housing, attaching the header, with the opto-electronic device mounted thereon, to the front wall of the housing, soldering the lead of the said device to the metal component of the said glass-to-metal seal, sealing the optical fibre into the ferrule by means of a first solder, inserting the ferrule-fibre assembly into the boss on the front wall of the housing, aligning the fibre with the opto-electronic device and clamping the ferrule in the aligned position by means of the screws inserted through the wall of the boss, soldering the . ferrule to the interior surface of the boss wall by means of a second solder having a lower melting point than that of the said first solder, and sealing a cover portion to the front wall of the housing to form an enclosure.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of Claim 7 wherein the glass-to-metal seal is metal-sheathed and soldered into the housing using the said first solder and wherein the cover portion is subsequently soldered to the front wall of the housing using the said second solder.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of Claim 7 further including the step of sealing a light-receiving means into an aperture in the back wall of the housing before the cover is sealed to the front wall of the housing.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
61 words
The method of Claim 9 wherein said means is an optical fibre which is first soldered into a ferrule using said first solder and the ferrule is then soldered into a boss extending from the back wall in a similar manner to the front wall boss using a solder having a lower melting point than that of the said first solder.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.