Patent ID: 8403570

Claim:
A fiber optic connector for connecting a plurality of optical fibers, comprising of: a plurality of fiber optic assemblies, each assembly including at least one optical fiber coupled to a ferrule, said ferrule being coupled to a spring; and a connector housing configured to support said plurality of optical fibers, said connector housing including, first and second mating connector portions, each of said first and second mating connector portions having a plurality of channels extending between first and second ends of said first and second mating connector portions for supporting each of said plurality of fiber optic assemblies, respectfully, each of said plurality of channels having a substantially U-shaped cross-section, said first end of said first mating connector portion being raised and said second end of said first mating connector portion having at least one alignment member, said first and second ends of said second mating connector portion corresponding to said first and second ends of said first mating connector portion, respectively, said second end of said second mating connector portion having at least one mating alignment member corresponding to said alignment member of said first mating connector portion, a plurality of apertures in at least one of said first and second ends of said first and second mating connector portions, wherein said plurality of fiber optic assemblies are supported between said first mating connector portion and said second mating connector portion by the channels such that each of said springs are disposed between said first and second mating connector portions and each of said ferrules of said plurality of fiber optic assemblies extend through said apertures of said connector housing in a spring loaded fashion.