Optical connector with plastic alignment ferrule

Claim 1

In an optical connector comprising, a cylindrical and rigid alignment ferrule having a central passage in a front end for aligning an optical fiber of an optical fiber cable, a rear of the alignment ferrule for connection to an optical fiber cable, a radially enlarged collar surrounding the ferrule, a cylindrical surface of the ferrule intersecting a front transverse face of the collar, a circumferential groove spaced from a rear transverse face of the collar, a snap ring mounted in the groove, a coupling nut moveable axially over the alignment ferrule and having a transverse inner flange encircling the alignment ferrule forwardly of the snap ring, a spring for compression directly in engagement against the rear transverse face of the collar and for compression against the inner flange, a clearance between the coupling nut and the collar in which the collar is moveable during retraction of the collar into the coupling nut to compress the spring, wherein the improvement comprises; the alignment ferrule is unitary with the transverse front face and the transverse rear face of the collar, the alignment ferrule and the collar are molded from a rigid plastic material, and the collar includes imperfections in the form of mold gate flash on the molded plastic material only at locations along the clearance between the collar and the coupling nut.