US Patent Issued to 3M Innovative Properties on Sept. 22 for "Molded optical connectors with zero-draft mechanical alignment features" (Minnesota Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,742,939, issued on Sept. 22, was assigned to 3M Innovative Properties Co. (St. Paul, Minn.).

"Molded optical connectors with zero-draft mechanical alignment features" was invented by Michael A. Haase (St. Paul, Minn.) and Nicholas A. Lee (Woodbury, Minn.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A molded optical ferrule configured to mate with a mating component includes a top surface, a bottom surface opposite the top surface, and a plurality of side surfaces joining the top and bottom surfaces. The plurality of side surfaces includes a plurality of first side surface portions and a plurality of second side surface portions. The first side surfac...