Tip processing method for jacketed optical fibers

A tip processing method for mechanically cleaning and processing a tip of a jacketed optical fiber, the tip processing method comprising the steps of:

• mechanically holding a jacketed optical fiber in a specified position;
• mechanically clamping a tip portion of the held jacketed optical fiber, and then peeling a jacket portion off of the held jacketed optical fiber by a desired length, thereby exposing only a portion of said optical fiber;
• cleaning the exposed portion of the optical fiber which was exposed by the jacket peeling step;
• and
• performing cut processing on the optical fiber to trim the cleaned optical fiber by
• mechanically clamping the cleaned exposed portions of the optical fiber at two spaced apart points on said optical fiber;
• cutting a notch in the exposed portion of the clamped optical fiber at a point between the two clamped points;
• and
• pressing the exposed portion of the optical fiber at the notched point from a direction that orthogonally intersects with an axis extending along the optical fiber, for severing said optical fiber at said notch.