Patent ID: 7120347

Claim:
An optical connection terminal for use at a branch point in a fiber optic communications network including a distribution cable comprising a plurality of optical fibers and a mid-span access location provided on the distribution cable, the terminal comprising; a base; a cover attached to the base such that the base and the cover define an interior cavity; a stub cable port provided in one of the base and cover through an exterior wall; a stub cable comprising a first end received in the stub cable port and a second end configured for attachment to the distribution cable at the mid-span access location, the stub cable further comprising a plurality of optical fibers extending between the first end and the second end, each optical fiber of the stub cable having a fiber optic connector mounted thereon at the first end of the stub cable with the fiber optic connectors disposed within the interior cavity, each optical fiber of the stub cable also being optically connected at the second end of the stub cable to a corresponding one of the optical fibers of the distribution cable; and a plurality of connector ports provided in an exterior wall of one of the base and the cover, each connector port extending through the exterior wall and adapted to receive one of the fiber optic connectors disposed within the interior cavity; wherein one of the base and the cover comprises a fiber routing and slack storage hub disposed within the interior cavity for routing and storing excess lengths of the plurality of optical fibers of the stub cable.