Patent ID: 7272292

Claim:
An optical cable fixing portion structure for fixing an optical cable having an optical fiber covered with a jacket, the optical cable fixing portion structure comprising: a plurality of stoppers having respective pairs of engaging pieces arranged in parallel with each other at an interval dimension smaller than a width dimension of the jacket, whereby, the pairs of engaging pieces are engageable with opposing side portions of the jacket; a housing comprising (i) an optical cable holding hole that receives the optical cable, and (ii) a plurality of stopper mounting guides, each stopper mounting guide receiving a respective one of the stoppers and guiding the respective stopper in a direction substantially orthogonal to an axial direction of the optical cable, and in an orientation in which the pairs of engaging pieces are engageable with opposite side portions of the jacket, wherein a first one of the stopper mounting guides orients a first one of the stoppers in a first angular orientation with respect to a direction transverse to the axial direction of the optical cable, and a second one of the stopper mounting guides orients a second one of the stoppers in a second angular orientation with respect to the transverse direction of the optical cable, the second angular orientation being different from the first angular orientation to disperse a fixing force of the engaging pieces about the circumference of the optical cable, the respective pairs of engaging pieces include blade portions having edges defined by an intersection of (i) inner side faces thereof opposed to each other and (ii) leading end faces thereof disposed at leading ends in a direction of pressing the pairs of engaging pieces into engagement with the jacket, and the blade portions cut into the jacket when the engaging pieces are pressed into engagement with the jacket, wherein the plurality of stopper mounting guides are arranged adjacent in the axial direction of the optical cable so adjacent ones of the plurality of stoppers are substantially contiguous.