Electrical connector with rear removable contacts

Claim 1

An electrical connector assembly for receiving and transmitting an electrical signal comprising a hollow cylindrical metal shell having a mating forward and a rearward end portion, a dielectric insert having an array of first passages extending therethrough, each first passage receiving an electrical first contact, said first contact comprising a mating forward and rearward end portion and a medial portion having circuit protection means electrically connected thereto for preventing transmission of signals from the assembly which exceed a predetermined value, grounding means electrically connected to each first contact for grounding the contacts to the shell, and mounting means for releasably mounting the first contacts in the shell, the mounting means comprising a removable insert assembly having a like array of second passages extending therethrough and carrying an electrical contact in each respective second passage thereof, each second contact being nonremovably mounted in the insert assembly and having a forward end portion for mating with the rearward end portion of a first contact and a rearward end portion for further interconnection to transmit a protection signal, means for removably securing the insert assembly to the rearward end portion of the shell and means for aligning the dielectric insert and insert assembly so that the arrays of first and second passages are aligned with one another, said first contacts being individually removable from the rearward end portion of the shell upon removal of the insert assembly.