Patent ID: 8157454

Claim:
A releasable locking mechanism for an optical connector comprising: a lock releasing button having a lock-fixing portion and movably disposed in either one of a receptacle or a base being disposed opposite to said receptacle, said receptacle having a connector plug accommodation portion for detachably accommodating a connector plug being connected to optical fibers to form a transmission path for photoelectric converted signals; a locking nib receiving portion formed opposite to said lock releasing button in either one of said receptacle or said base, for selectively fixing said lock-fixing portion to result in a locked state of said receptacle and said connector plug relative to said base; a first biasing member for biasing a locking nib of said lock releasing button in direction that fix it to said locking nib receiving portion; a position restricting surface for touching and holding an end of said connector plug mounted to said connector plug accommodation portion in said locked state, and a second biasing member for biasing said receptacle in the axial direction of said optical fibers when an end of said connector plug mounted to said connector plug accommodation portion is retained by said position restricting surface.