Cinch Connectivity Solutions' Fibreco product line offers fiber optic connectors and cable assemblies are used in military, security, outside broadcast, off-shore, mining, and other industrial harsh environment applications. Fibreco expanded beam connectors and cable assemblies offer high performance, flexible, cost effective solutions to any critical harsh environment application. To learn more about Fibreco fiber optic solutions, visit belfuse.com/product-detail/fibreco-fibreco.
Cinch Connectivity Solutions is one of the leading suppliers of connectors, cable assemblies, and custom connectivity solutions. Cinch’s Fibreco brand provides world-class fiber optic solutions. Our Fibreco fiber optic connectors and cable assemblies are used in military, security, outside broadcast, offshore mining, and other harsh environment applications. Fiber is the future for high-speed data transmission.
Traditionally, fiber connectivity is done by physical contact. In this type of connection, the cleanliness of the connector and the fiber optic contacts are critical to ensuring signal integrity. Traditional physical contact requires costly maintenance tools such as cleaners and probes in order to maintain the cleanliness of the connection. This is not the case with Cinch’s expanded beam technology. Expanded beam technology can help you to avoid costly downtime when connections become dirty and damaged.
So what is expanded beam technology? With physical contact connectors, the optical fibers are normally mounted in a cylindrical ferrule which is specially polished to allow to ferrules to be mated together providing a fiber joint that is aligned using high precision components. Expanded beam connectors use a lens placed in front of the fiber to expand and collimate the emitting beam of light. This expanded beam is then refocused back into the fiber of the mating half.
Expanded beam connectors are ideal for harsh environments, both indoors or outdoors. To demonstrate, we immerse this plug connector in mud. The connection is fully sealed even without the dust cap fitted. The mud will not damage the expanded beam insert. A physical contact connector would almost certainly already be destroyed in this state. We rinsed the connector face in water to remove mud and debris. A hose, bucket of water, stream, or any muddy puddle will do. Then we dry and wipe clean the insert face. Ideally you would use a clean cloth or tissue, but if these are not available, then the bottom of your shirt will do. To clean a physical contact connector requires costly specialty equipment. With Fibreco expanded beam technology, there is no damage to the insert surfaces or lenses. After reconnection, we are immediately ready for service. The whole cleaning cycle was completed in just a few minutes with little to no variation in signal and very minimal downtime.
Cinch is a leading manufacturer of cable assemblies for harsh environments. With a proven track record and expanded beam connectors with successful deployments around the world, Fibreco is a QPL listed manufacturer of the MIL-DTL-83526. The military standard has made way for commercial versions of the same product. From this commercial version, variants of the connector have been developed to accommodate application needs. Fibreco has the largest line of options to accommodate your density needs.
On the military side, Fibreco has introduced the technology into other well-known military connectors such as the MIL-DTL-38999 and MIL-DTL-83513, which have been able to incorporate expanded beam into their connector applications. The technology has proven useful in many applications and is now being used in multiple industries such as oil and gas and broadcast.
Fibreco has a complete manufacturing facility that allows for custom design and assemblies. We have developed the largest portfolio of expanded beam connectors in the world beyond the original hermaphroditic type with a variety of sizes, offering a range in terms of number of channels, certifications including MIL-DTL standards and capabilities to suit diverse applications.
For example, the Dura-Con expanded beam connector offers up to eight channels in a micro-d connector format, while the Geo-Beam series aids safety in the oil and gas industry and other potentially explosive environments and the D38999 series adds a one-turn self-locking anti-vibration coupling mechanism. Our expanded beam connectors are used on aircraft, ships and military vehicles, in oil and gas exploration and processing, in outdoor broadcasting, and entertainment venues and concerts to connect a diverse range of industrial equipment.
The Fibreco product line also includes deployable reels and cable assemblies featuring Fibreco connectors and other commercially available connectors. The line includes military tactical reels, bulkhead to board, and complex multi-branch break-outs. Cables can be MIL-TAC, aerospace, or communications grade, and we also have hybrid fiber and copper assemblies. Cinch Connectivity Solutions offers custom solutions within Fibreco, as with all our connector capabilities, we can turn around custom designs quickly to meet your specific application needs.
