Patent ID: 7108431

Claim:
A ferrule apparatus comprising a ferrule and fiber loading apparatus for use in an fiber optic connector, said ferrule having front and rear faces and comprising: a passage being disposed inside said ferrule and having first and second ends, said passage having dimensions defined by the following formulas: ( n*a )≦ H≦ ( n+ 1)* a X≦W≦X+b where “W” is the passage width, “H” is the passage height, “X” is the measured width of a fiber optic ribbon, “n” is the number of fiber optic ribbons and n>1, “a” is the fiber optic ribbon thickness and “b” is the fiber pitch; a plurality of rows of fiber channels disposed between said second end of said passage to said front face of said ferrule; wherein the position of said fiber channels and the positioning of said rows of fiber channels coincide with the fiber pitch and ribbon thickness respectively; and wherein the length of said passage is longer than the length of said fiber channel; a guide-pin channel disposed parallel to said passage and running from said rear face to said front face of said ferrule: and the fiber loading apparatus comprising a groove to hold a plurality of fiber optic ribbons that have been stacked on top of each other and a guiding pin extending from a first surface of the fiber loading apparatus and mateable with the guide pin channel, wherein the groove has a width corresponding to a width of a fiber optic ribbon.