Patent ID: 11874505
Assignee: SENKO ADVANCED COMPONENTS, INC.
Field: Optics (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A fiber optic connector comprising:
a ferrule configured to form an optical connection with another fiber optic connector; and
an outer housing supporting the ferrule, the outer housing having a rear end portion, a front end portion and a longitudinal centerline axis extend between the rear end portion and the front end portion, the front end portion including a front end face, at least a portion of the ferrule being forward of the front end face, the front end portion including one or more protectors projecting forward of the front end face of the outer housing, the one or more protectors being shaped and arranged to protect the portion of the ferrule that is forward of the front end face of the outer housing,
the one or more protectors being configured so that the fiber optic connector and another fiber optic connector of identical construction can, starting in the same orientation, be mated together to form the optical connection by rotating said other fiber optic connector 180° about an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline axis, aligning the longitudinal centerline axes of the fiber optic connectors after said rotating, and moving the fiber optic connectors along the longitudinal centerline axes after said aligning until the fiber optic connectors are mated to form the optical connection;
wherein the one or more protectors include a first protector and a second protector, the first protector being arranged asymmetrically with respect to the second protector about a plane including the longitudinal centerline axis of the outer housing that does not intersect either of the first or second protectors;
wherein the first protector is offset a first distance from the longitudinal centerline axis and the second protector is offset a second distance from the longitudinal centerline axis, the second distance being different than the first distance.