US 12,461,318 B2
Fiber optic connector with overmold lead-in tube
Marlon E. Holmquist, St. Peter, MN (US); David Donald Erdman, Hummelstown, PA (US); and Steven Conrad Zimmel, Minneapolis, MN (US)
Assigned to CommScope Technologies LLC, Claremont, NC (US)
Appl. No. 17/627,519
Filed by COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES LLC, Hickory, NC (US)
PCT Filed Jul. 14, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/041955
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 14, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/011549, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 21, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/875,332, filed on Jul. 17, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0269014 A1, Aug. 25, 2022
Int. Cl. G02B 6/38 (2006.01)
CPC G02B 6/3865 (2013.01) [G02B 6/3825 (2013.01); G02B 6/3843 (2013.01); G02B 6/3869 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A fiber optic connector, comprising:
a ferrule assembly including a ferrule and a hub, the ferrule having a first end and an opposite second end, the ferrule defining a fiber passage that extends between the first and second ends of the ferrule, the fiber passage being concentric with a central axis of the ferrule;
the hub mounted around the second end of the ferrule, the hub including an axial passage, the hub having an inner surface portion and an outer surface portion, the hub including a retention member circumferentially extending around the hub about the outer surface, and the hub extending along the central axis, wherein the inner surface portion of the hub defines a first taper toward the central axis along a stem portion of the hub as the inner surface portion extends from a termination end of the stem portion toward the ferrule and a second taper that is also toward the central axis adjacent a fiber entry area defined at the second end of the ferrule, wherein the inner surface portion of the hub defines a non-tapered straight portion that is in between and separates the portion defining the first taper and the portion defining the second taper; and
an over-molded lead-in tube being molded over the outer surface portion of the hub such that the over-molded lead-in tube fully encapsulates the retention member of the hub, and the over-molded lead-in tube also being molded over at least a portion of the inner surface portion of the hub defining the first taper such that the portion of the over-molded lead-in tube that is molded over at least a portion of the inner surface portion of the hub extends along a majority of the inner surface portion of the hub defining the first taper and extends past the retention member in the axial direction toward the ferrule, wherein the over-molded lead-in tube tapers to zero along the inner surface portion of the hub.