Connector box for coaxial cable

Claim 1

For interconnecting coaxial cable having an inner conductor, an inter-conductor dielectric, an outer conductor, and an outer protective sheath, a connector box comprising in combination a shell formed by progressive stamping from sheet metal stock and bent to the form of an open box with a floor and a side wall perpendicular thereto, said sheet wall having a free standing edge spaced from said floor, a spacer structure made of dielectric material and fitted within said shell, said spacer including a wall adjacent said shell wall, an inner connector element formed by progressive stamping from sheet metal stock, supported by said spacer structure within said shell without making electrical contact with said shell, and providing a wall perpendicular to said floor, said inner connector wall having a free standing edge spaced from said floor, and a cover held in place in its assembled position by tabs extending from said shell wall and bent over said cover, said shell having insulating displacing slots in said shell wall entering from the free standing edge thereof and sized to cut through the sheath of said cable and engage the outer conductor of said cable, said spacer structure having passages in its wall for receiving said cable, said passages being aligned with said shield insulation displacement slots, and said inner connector having insulation displacing slots in said inner connector wall entering from the free standing edge thereof and sized to cut through said inter-conductor dielectric and engage said inner conductor, said inner connector slots being aligned with said shell slots and said passages, said passages being stepped with an inward portion smaller than an outward portion, said outward portion being sized to receive said sheath and said inward portion being sized to receive said inter-conductor dielectric but not said sheath, said shell wall insulation displacing slots having a vee-shape entry section opening to said shell wall free standing edge, said inner connector wall insulation displacing slots having a vee-shape entrance portion opening to said inner connector wall free standing edge, said shell vee-shaped portion being bounded by sharp edges of said shell wall, said shell wall insulation displacing slots having a portion bounded by an inward turned edge of said shell wall, said cover including a cable retaining portion extending toward said floor for holding an attached cable in place, said side wall being made from a plurality of sections bent up from said floor, said sections being held in position with respect to one another by tabs extending from one section and bent around another.