Optical fiber connector and associated methods of validating optical fiber continuity

摘要

Methods are provided for validating the continuity of one or more optical fibers upon which a fiber optic connector is mounted. Typically, the fiber optic connector is mounted upon an optical field fiber by actuating a cam mechanism to secure the optical field fiber in position relative to an optical fiber stub. If subsequent testing indicates that the continuity of the optical field fiber and the optical fiber stub is unacceptable, the cam mechanism can be deactuated, the optical field fiber can be repositioned and the cam mechanism can be reactuated without having to remove and replace the fiber optic connector. In order to determine if continuity has been established between the optical field fibers and respective optical fiber stubs, a method is also provided that introduces light into at least one of each pair of optical field fibers and optical fiber stubs and that only secures the position of each optical field fiber relative to the respective optical fiber stub once the glow associated with each pair of optical field fibers and optical fiber stubthe optical field fiber and the optical fiber stub dissipates, which dissipation indicates the establishment of continuity. An improved multifiber connector and installation tool are also provided to facilitate the establishment and validation of the continuity of optical field fibers and optical fiber stubsthe optical field fiber and optical field stub in order to reduce the time and cost required to connectorize optical field fibersfiber in the field.

主权项

id="REI-00011" date="20170110" 1. A method of validating continuity of an optical fiber upon which a fiber optic connector is mounted, the method comprising:
providing a fiber optic connector including a ferrule defining at least one bore extending between opposed front and rear faces, an optical fiber stub disposed within the bore and extending beyond the rear face of the ferrule, and a cam mechanism; introducing light into at least one of an optical field fiber andor the optical fiber stub; advancing the optical field fiber into the fiber optic connector such that a glow emanates from an end portion of the at least one of the optical field fiber and the optical fiber stub while the optical field fiber is advanced into the fiber optic connector; actuating the cam mechanism to secure the optical field fiber in position relative to the optical fiber stub once the glow dissipates; evaluating the continuity of the optical field fiber and the optical fiber stub once the cam mechanism has been actuated; deactuating the cam mechanism in instances in which the evaluated continuity of the optical field fiber and the optical fiber stub is unacceptable such that the optical field fiber can be repositioned relative to the optical fiber stub; and reactuating the cam mechanism following the repositioning of the optical field fiber relative to the optical fiber stub.