Patent ID: 7077576

Claim:
A fiber optic connector comprising: a multifiber ferrule having an end face and an opposed rear face, the end face defining a plurality of optical fiber bores opening therethrough for receiving respective optical fibers, the fiber optic connector defining a longitudinal axis that is generally parallel to the optical fiber bores and the end face defining at least one lateral axis generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis; means for applying a biasing force to the ferrule in the direction of the longitudinal axis; a spring seat having a forward portion that engages the rear face of the ferrule and a rearward portion opposite the forward portion; and at least one pair of spaced apart force centering elements, the force centering elements engaging one of the ferrule and the biasing force means to balance the biasing force about the lateral axis defined by the end face of the ferrule; wherein the force centering elements are medially disposed on the rearward portion of the spring seat and each force centering element comprises a protrusion that extends outwardly from the rearward portion.