Mini connector with anti-rotational contact

Abstract

A miniature bulkhead connector (10) is disclosed having a novel anti-rotational mechanism for preventing rotation of the center conductor (90) during mating with a mating connector. The connector includes a metal housing (14) arranged to be mounted to a bulkhead (20) and an insulating insert (40) in a cavity (38) within the housing. The insert (40) has a central hole (54) therethrough on the longitudinal axis (43) of the insert. A series of ribs (62) are formed on the interior surface of the central hole (54) parallel with the axis and are arranged to form channels (64) between adjacent ribs. the channels (64) are sized to receive edges (94) that project from opposite sides of the contact (56). The edges (94) slide into the channels (64) allowing the contact to freely move along the longitudinal axis (43) but will not permit relative rotation thereof. Since there are a number of channels, there is a similar number of angular positions from which the contact may be inserted into the insulating insert.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.