Cleaner for fiber optic connectors

A cleaner for cleaning the end surface areas of a plurality of ferrules of a fiber optic connecting device, comprising:

• a housing having a mating portion for mating the cleaner with said fiber optic connecting device;
• a plurality of cleaning heads movably mounted on the housing for movement across said end surface areas;
• and
• an air jet operatively associated with each cleaning head, the air jets being connected to a common manifold, and the manifold being connected to air inlet passage for receiving a cleaning medium under pressure from an appropriate source thereof.

A cleaner for cleaning the end surface area of a ferrule of a fiber optic connector, comprising:

• a housing having a mating portion for mating the cleaner with said fiber optic connector, an interior of the housing being at least partially hollow and in communication with said end surface area;
• a cleaning head movably mounted on the housing for movement across said end surface area;
• and
• exhaust means on the housing for evacuating the interior thereof to remove residue from said end surface area.

A system including a plurality of cleaners for cleaning the end surface areas of a plurality of fiber optic connectors, comprising:

• each cleaner including a housing having a mating portion for mating the cleaner with a fiber optic connector, the mating portion configured for stacking one cleaner on top of another;
• a cleaning head mounted on the housing for movement across a respective end surface area;
• and
• means for mounting the mating portion of one cleaner to the mating portion of another cleaner to arrange the cleaners in a stacked array.

A system for cleaning the end surface areas of a plurality of ferrules of a plurality of fiber optic connectors mounted in a given pattern on a backplane of a chassis adapted for receiving a printed circuit board having a complementary pattern of mating connectors mateable with the fiber optic connectors, comprising:

• a dummy circuit board receivable by said chassis;
• a plurality of cleaners mounted on the dummy circuit board in said given pattern for cleaning the end surface areas of the ferrules of the fiber optic connectors when the dummy circuit board is received by the chassis;
• and
• each cleaner including at least one cleaning head and a self-contained motor for operating the cleaning head.