Inner contact supporting and biasing insulator

An insulator supporting an inner contact coaxial within a connector body bore of a connector for coaxial cable with a solid outer conductor, the insulator comprising:

• a monolithic body with an inner contact bore extending between a connector end and a cable end;
• the inner contact bore dimensioned to receive the inner contact;
• an outer diameter of the insulator at the connector end configured to mate with the connector body bore of the coaxial cable connector;
• a plurality of spring fingers extending from the cable end;
• the spring fingers provided with a primary flexure section at a proximal end of each spring finger;
• the insulator having an outer diameter at the primary flexure sections less than the outer diameter at the connector end;
• the inner contact bore provided with a spring basket shoulder proximate a connector end of the primary flexure section;
• an inner diameter of the inner contact bore between an extension shoulder and a cable end of the inner contact is greater than the outer diameter of the primary flexure section;
• a distal end of the spring fingers each provided with a ramp surface and an alignment surface;
• the insulator having an outer diameter at the alignment surfaces less than an inner diameter of the solid outer conductor, whereby during connector to cable assembly, the solid outer conductor passes over the alignment surfaces and contacts the spring fingers along the ramp surfaces, deflecting the spring fingers inward to increase inward bias upon a spring basket of the inner contact.

A method for manufacturing an insulator for supporting an inner contact coaxial within a connector body bore of a connector for coaxial cable with a solid outer conductor, comprising the steps of:

• forming a monolithic body with an inner contact bore extending between a connector end and a cable end;
• the inner contact bore dimensioned to receive the inner contact;
• an outer diameter of the insulator at the connector end configured to mate with the connector body bore of the coaxial cable connector;
• a plurality of spring fingers extending from the cable end;
• distal ends of the spring fingers each provided with a ramp surface, whereby during connector to cable assembly, the solid outer conductor contacts the spring fingers along the ramp surfaces, deflecting the spring fingers inward to increase inward bias upon a spring basket of the inner contact.