Optical fiber connector and associated methods of validating optical fiber continuity

Abstract

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 witheach pair of optical field fibers and optical fiber stubthe optical field fiber and the optical fiber stubdissipates, which dissipation indicates the establishment of continuity. An improvedmultifiberconnector and installation tool are also provided to facilitate the establishment and validation of the continuity ofoptical field fibers and optical fiber stubsthe optical field fiber and optical field stubin order to reduce the time and cost required to connectorize opticalfield fibersfiberin the field.