Connector device with integral reference plane

Claim 1

A filter connector comprising in combination, a hollow casing of an electrically conducting material having forward and rearward face surfaces with at least one cavity at each of said opposite face surfaces thereof; an electrically conductive bulkhead forming an integral part of said casing, said bulkhead being positioned transversely between the cavities in said casing; and a pluralitY of holes formed in said bulkhead; elongated electrical contacts in at least some of said holes, said contacts each having a telescoping forward portion for engagement with a mating contact, a rearward terminal portion adapted for attachment to a flexible conductor, and an intermediate portion comprising an electrical filter assembly; with an annular groove around the contact between the rearward terminal portion and the filter assembly thereof, and contact retention means positioned wholly within the cavity at the rearward face of the casing and spaced rearwardly from the bulkhead thereof; the filter assembly including a smooth cylindrical exterior conductive surface extending forwardly from said annular groove through the transverse metal bulkhead of the casing, with a spring clip of thin, resilient electrically conducting material mounted within each of said holes in said bulkhead; each of said clips being in surface-to-surface pressure engagement with both the exterior conductive surface of the contact pin filter and with the internal surfaces of a hole in the connector casing bulkhead to establish intimate electrical contact between the exterior surface of the filter and said bulkhead to ground the exterior conductive surface of the filter to the connector casing.