Patent ID: 9257796
Filing Date: 2016-02-09
CPC Classification: H01R

Claim Text:
1. An electrical connector arranged for terminating a cable having an even number 2N of longitudinally extending, individually insulated, electrically conductive wires arranged as N twisted pairs, where N is an integer greater than one, circumferentially surrounded by an electrically conductive shielding sheath that is in turn circumferentially surrounded by an electrically insulating sheath, the electrical connector comprising: (a) an electrically conductive isolator body including a forward segment and a rearward segment, wherein (i) the rearward segment includes N longitudinally extending channels therethrough each having open forward and rearward ends for receiving therethrough an untwisted terminal segment of a corresponding one of the N pairs of wires of the cable, (ii) the forward segment includes a forward-extending central portion and N ribs extending radially from the central portion and extending forward from the rearward segment to a forward end of the connector, and (iii) each one of the ribs separates a corresponding one of the open forward ends of the channels from an adjacent one of the open forward ends so as to enable the untwisted terminal segment of the corresponding pair of wires received through each channel to extend forward between corresponding adjacent ribs; (b) an inner insulator comprising one or more electrically insulating materials and structurally arranged to form (i) a rearward-facing open cavity arranged to receive therein at least a forward portion of the forward segment of the isolator body, (ii) a hole through a forward end wall of the cavity arranged to receive therethrough a forward end of the central portion of the isolator body, (iii) N slots extending radially from the cavity to an outer surface of the inner insulator, each slot being arranged to receive therethrough a corresponding one of the ribs of the isolator body, and (iv) between each adjacent pair of slots on an outer surface of the inner insulator, a pair of longitudinally extending grooves each having open forward and rearward ends; (c) 2N elongated, electrically conductive contacts, wherein each one of the contacts is received in a corresponding one of the grooves of the inner insulator (i) so as to be electrically isolated from the isolator body and the other contacts, and (ii) with an open rearward end of the contact structurally arranged at the open rearward end of the corresponding groove to receive and secure a stripped forward end of a corresponding one of the 2N wires received through the channels; (d) an outer insulator comprising one or more electrically insulating materials structurally arranged to form (i) a rearward-facing open cavity arranged to receive therein at least a portion of the inner insulator, at least a portion of each one of the contacts, and at least the forward portion of the forward segment of the isolator body received within the inner insulator, which are circumferentially surrounded by lateral walls of the cavity, (ii) an opening through the forward end wall of the cavity arranged to receive therethrough the forward end of the central portion of the isolator body and forward ends of the ribs of the isolator body that protrude forward from the outer insulator, and (iii) 2N holes through the forward end wall of the cavity arranged to align with the open forward ends of the grooves of the inner insulator; (e) an inner ferrule structurally arranged to at least partly circumferentially encompass at least a rearward portion of the rearward segment of the isolator body with a forward end of the shielding sheath of the cable between the inner ferrule and the isolator body and in electrical contact with the isolator body; and (f) an outer ferrule structurally arranged to retain the inner ferrule on the rearward segment of the isolator body and to urge the inner ferrule inward toward the rearward segment of the isolator body with the forward end of the shielding sheath against the rearward segment of the isolator body, thereby retaining the shielding sheath on the rearward segment of the isolator body.