Patent ID: 7284911

Claim:
An optical connector for connecting an optical fiber to a mating object having a pair of guide members, the optical connector comprising: a connector body fixed to the optical fiber; and an adapter removably attached to the connector body, the adapter having a positioning groove for positioning an end portion of the optical fiber and a pair of guide grooves adapted to receive the guide members, respectively, wherein the adapter comprises a pair of guide portions which are opposite to each other in a predetermined direction and guided by the connector body to be inserted into and removed from the connector body, wherein each of the guide portions includes: an inner guide portion; an outer guide portion which is connected to the inner guide portion and faced to the inner guide portion in the predetermined direction with a gap left between the inner guide portion and the outer guide portion, the outer guide portion being elastically deformable in the predetermined direction with respect to the inner guide portion, and an operating portion connected to the outer guide portion, wherein the connector body comprises an engaging portion which is faced to the outer guide portion, and wherein the outer guide portion comprises a protrusion which is engaged with and disengaged from the engaging portion when the adapter is attached to and removed from the connector body.