A PLOSHING FIXTUREFOR SIMULTANEOUS LOADING OF PLURALITY OF OPTICAL CONNECTORS AND FIBER STUBS AND A METHOD OF LOADING

摘要

A fixture for simultaneously clamping a number of optical fiber ferrules or fiber stubs for polishing. The fixture includes a plate assembly with an upper surface, a lower surface and a number of ferrule-receiving bores disposed across the upper surface and extending from the upper surface to the lower surface, each ferrule-receiving bore for receiving a ferrule. The fixture further includes a number of ferrule gripper arrangements, each associated with one of the ferrule-receiving bores, each of the ferrule gripper arrangements being selectively deployable between a released state for insertion of a ferrule into the ferrule-receiving bore and a gripping state in which the gripper arrangement clamps a ferrule within the ferrule-receiving bore. The fixture also includes a locking mechanism associated with at least a group of the number of ferrule gripper arrangements and configured to deploy the group of ferrule gripper arrangements substantially simultaneously from the released state to the gripping state so as to clamp substantially simultaneously a number of optical fiber ferrules located within a corresponding group of the ferrule-receiving bores.