Patent attributes
A female ferule is fixed to a terminal of a multi-core optical fiber in which a sheath is provided outside a large number of optical fibers being tied in a bundle and a portion of the sheath is removed. The female ferule includes a ferule body which includes a cylindrical portion and a step which is formed on an outer surface and at a rear side of the cylindrical portion, and a sleeve which includes an insertion-connected portion for a male ferule serving as a connection partner at the one end and a coupling-connected portion for the cylindrical portion at the other end. The sleeve is retrofitted to the ferule body. The cylindrical portion includes a caulking-fed portion for the bundle optical fibers and an insertion/coupling-fixed portion for the coupling-fixed portion, the caulking-fixed portion and the insertion/coupling-fixed portion are formed successively from a front end face of the cylindrical portion.