Patent ID: 8337095

Claim:
A method of forming a ferrule that supports at least one optical fiber having an end, comprising: providing a ferrule mold having a cavity; inserting at least one tapered pin within the cavity, wherein the tapered pin has an outside shape that corresponds to a desired tapered fiber channel; adding a molding material to the mold cavity to cover the at least one tapered pin; allowing the molding material to cure to form a ferrule body around the at least one tapered pin, wherein the ferrule body is at least one of deformable and removable by contact by the optical fiber; removing the at least one tapered pin from the cured molding material to form at least one tapered channel having a smaller front end and a larger back end, wherein the at least one fiber channel includes a wall; inserting at least one optical fiber with an end into the respective at least one ferrule channel at the backend, wherein the optical fiber end has an outer edge and has a diameter larger than the fiber channel front end; and removing material from the fiber channel wall with the optical fiber edge to form an interference fit between the optical fiber end and the fiber channel front end.