FIBER OPTIC CONNECTOR HAVING A MAIN CONNECTOR BODY AND A PLURALITY OF REMOVABLE SUB-CONNECTORS

摘要

A fiber optic connector comprising a main connector body having a plurality of removable sub-connectors retained therein is disclosed. Each sub-connector has a ferrule for retaining a pair of optical fibers, such as a transmit/receive pair for example. When the main connector body of the fiber optic connector is inserted into a receptacle, each of the optical fibers retained in each ferrule of the plurality of sub-connectors is optically connected to the fiber optic receptacle. In this manner, the fiber optic connector can connect and disconnect a plurality of optical fibers in the sub-connectors at the same time. Additionally, individual sub-connectors can be removed, rearranged and replaced, without disturbing the optical connections of the other sub-connectors. This arrangement thus eliminates the need for breakout cables or other bulky solutions to convert between different multi-fiber and duplex applications.

主权项

1. A fiber optic connector comprising:
a main connector body configured to be removably inserted and retained in a fiber optic receptacle, the main connector body comprising a plurality of sub-connector latch mechanisms extending from a side of the main connector body, wherein each sub-connector latch mechanism comprises a protrusion; and a plurality of sub-connectors each comprising:
a sub-connector body configured to be removably inserted and retained in the main connector body, the sub-connector body comprising a recess for receiving at least a portion of the protrusion of an individual sub-connector latch mechanism when the sub-connector body is inserted into the main connector body; anda ferrule configured to receive and retain at least one optical fiber pair; wherein inserting the fiber optic connector into the fiber optic receptacle optically connects each of the at least one optical fiber pair retained in each ferrule of the plurality of sub-connectors to the fiber optic receptacle.