GB2086151A - Filter connector - Google Patents

Abstract

A filter connector comprises a front insulator (14) shaped to house a monolithic capacitor (18) within a slot bordered by rows of contact cavities (26). A thin metallic plate, or spring array (20), is aligned with the front insulator so that a plurality of spring tabs on the spring array project inwardly into the insulator slot and each of a plurality of spring tines on the spring array project inwardly into a correspondingly-aligned contact cavity. The capacitor (18) is then inserted into the slot so that external electrodes thereon contact a spring tab aligned therewith. A contact pin (34) is then inserted into a contact cavity, causing the spring tine to deflect and make contact. A rear insulator (22) is then aligned with the spring array to sandwich the spring array between the front and rear insulators. The rear insulator breaks portions of the spring array and thereby isolates each spring of the array. In an alternative version, the slot for the capacitor intersects each contact cavity, and each contact has an integral outwardly-extending spring finger which when the contact is in the cavity ends into the slot to engage one of the capacitors live electrodes. The two insulators, when fitted together, retain the contacts and the capacitor in the cavities and the slots respectively. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Filter connector This invention relates to electrical connectors, and especially to filter electrical connectors, and to a method for assembling the same.

As explained in U.S. Patent No. 4,126,840 (Selvin), a problem often encountered by users of electronic equipment is that of electromagnetic interference (EMI). Such interference may be reduced by using filtered connectors with such equipment. The Selvin patent discloses a filter connector arrangement using a monolithic capacitor mounted between two rows of contacts in a connector. The contacts are electrically connected to the parallel, spaced live electrodes on the capacitor by soldering, where after contacts and capacitor are encapsulated by a potting compound. The use of solder and potting may yield a less reliable assembly that is nonrepairable and needs a high degree of process control to produce.

It is thus an object of the invention to provide a filter connector using a monolithic capacitor such as that of the Selvin patent, but which does not need soldering or potting of the parts, or the use of separate components for each contact, as is needed in many prior art filter connectors now in commercial use.

According to the invention there is provided a filter connector, including: an insulator body having at least one row of cavities therein, each said cavity receiving an electrical contact; a slot in said body parallel to said row of cavities; a monolithic capacitor in said slot, which includes a dielectric substrate with parallel, spaced live electrodes on an outer face thereof facing in the direction of said contacts and aligned therewith; and spring means associated with each of said contact cavities making electrical connection between the contact therein and a corresponding live electrode of said capacitor.

Since spring elements are used to make electrical connections between the contacts and the capacitor in the connector, soldering and potting is not needed, as in the Selvin connector.

Further, the contacts and capacitor may be replaced if they become damaged, and the interconnecting spring provides a reliable electrical connection between the contacts and the electrodes on the capacitor.

In one embodiment of the invention, as will be seen later, each contacts' spring element is an integral portion of that contact, being a finger bent from the contact.

According to the invention, there is also provided a method of assembling a filter connector having front and rear insulators with a slot and a row of contact cavities in said front insulator, including the steps of: (a) placing a spring array against the rear of said front insulator, said array embodying a strip having a pluraiity of spring elements thereon each having a resilient tab extending into one of said cavities and a resilient tine extending toward said slot; (b) inserting a monolithic capacitor into said slot so that live electrodes thereon engage said tines; (c) inserting contacts into said cavities so as to engage said tabs;; (d) separating said spring elements from said strip whereby each said element is electrically isolated from said strip and provides electrical connection between a contact and a corresponding live electrode on said capacitor; and (e) mounting said rear insulator against the rear of said front insulator with said spring elements trapped therebetween.

According to the invention, there is also provided a filter connector including an insulator body having at least one row of contact cavities therein; a slot in said body parallel to said row of cavities and intersecting said cavities whereby said cavities are open transversely to said slots; a monolithic capacitor in said slot, which capacitor comprises a dielectric substrate having parallel, spaced live electrodes on an outer face thereof facing in the direction of said cavities and aligned therewith; and an electrical contact in each of said cavities, each said contact having an integral outwardly extending spring finger engaging a respective one of said electrodes.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a first filter connector embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a partial longitudinal section of the assembled connector of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a metallic plate which forms the spring array used in the connector of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of part of the spring array positioned for mounting against the rear of the front insulator of the connector of Figs. 1 to 3; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the spring array positioned against the rear of the front insulator, and with one contact and a monolithic capacitor mounted in the front insulator; Fig. 6 is an exploded view of another filter connector embodying the invention;; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one-half of the insulator assembly of the connector of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the spring array used in the connector of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a partial longitudinal section of the fully assembled connector of Fig. 6; Fig. 10 is a top plan view of a further connector embodying the invention, shown in partial section to show its interior parts; Fig. 11 is a longitudinal section of the connector of Fig. 10, taken along the line A-A of Fig. 10; Fig. 12 is a top plan view of one of the contacts used in the connector of Figs. 10 and 1 1; Fig. 13 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line B-B of Fig. 12; and Fig. 14 is a bottom view of the contact of Figs.

12 and 13.

Figs. 1-5 show a first filter connector embodying the invention, and generally designated 10. As best seen in Fig. 1, the connector comprises a front shell 12, a front insulator 14, contacts 16, a monolithic capacitor 18, a spring array 20, a rear insulator 22 and a rear shell 24. The front insulator 14 contains two rows of contact cavities 26 each extending from the front face 28 to the rear surface 30 of the insulator. The rear insulator 22 likewise contains two rows of bores 32 which are aligned with the contact cavities 26 and form rearward extensions thereof when the insulators are assembled together to form an insulator body.

The contacts 1 6 are shown as pin contacts, each housing has a forward mating portion 34 in the form of a cylindrical pin, and a rear termination portion 36, shown as a wire-wrappable tail.

However, the termination portion may have other constructions, such as a socket contact, a crimp barrel, etc. The pin contact has an enlarged mounting portion 38 between the forward and rear portions 34, 36. The mounting portion 38 is mounted within a bore 32 in the rear insulator while the forward contacting portion 34 of the contact extends through a cavity 26 in the front insulator beyond its front face 28. The front shell 12 provides a protective shroud for the exposed pin contacts. The tails 36 extend rearwardly from the rear insulator in rear shell 24 when the parts are fully assembled.

The monolithic capacitor 1 8 comprises a rectangular ceramic substrate 40 having longitudinally-extending spaced live electrodes 42 on its upper and lower surfaces. Ground electrodes 44 are formed on the side edges of the substrate. The live electrodes 42 are spaced apart a distance corresponding to the spacing of the contacts in the two rows of cavities 26 in the front insulator. A pair of ground planes (not shown) embedded in the substrate are joined to the respective ground electrodes 44. Reference may be made to the Selvin patent for a more detailed description of the monolithic capacitor, and possible variations in its construction.

An elongated slot 46 (Figs. 2 and 4) is formed in the front insulator 14 between the two rows of contact cavities. As best seen in Fig. 2, the inner end 48 of the slot terminates short of the front face 28 of the front insulator. The slot opens at the rear surface 30 of the insulator, and is dimensioned to slidably receive the capacitor 1 8 therein. It is so located that the live electrodes 42 of the capacitor are aligned with the contacts 1 6 in the cavities 26 in the front insulator As best seen in Fig. 4, the rear of each contact cavity 26 is a rectangular recess or counter bore 50. Elongated laterally-extending grooves 52 are formed in the rear surface 30 of the front insulator on opposite sides of the two rows of contact cavities.A series of alignment pins 54 extend outwardly from the rear surface 30 of the front insulator around its perimeter for a purpose to be described later.

The spring array 20 is formed from an intricately-shaped thin metallic plate 56, see Fig. 3, which may be a photo-etched beryllium copper sheet which has good electrical conductivity characteristics and is highly resilient.

The plate could also be a precision stamping. The plate has an outer frame 58 consisting of elongated upper and lower strips 60 and side strips 62. Openings 64 in the upper and lower strips 60 lie in a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the pins 54 on the front insulator.

Alternate spring segments 66 extend inwardly from the upper and lower strips 60 of frame 58.

The spacing of the segments corresponds to the spacing of the contact cavities 28 in the front insulator. The width of each spring segment 66 is slightly less than the width of each recess 50 in the rear surface 30 of the front insulator so that portions of the spring segments may be formed and inserted into such recesses, as will be seen later.

An opening 68 is cut in each spring segment adjacent to the strip 60, to define narrow connecting links 70 each capable of being easily fractured in the region indicated by the dashed line at 72 in Fig. 4. The inner tapered end of each spring segment 66 forms a resilient tab 74 which is bent forwardly at an angle, see Fig. 4. A resilient tine 76 is stamped from each spring segment 66 between the tab 74 and the opening 68, and is bent upwardly and forwardly at an angle. The tines 76 are dimensioned to slide into the recesses 50 in the rear of the front insulator when the spring array is against the insulator as seen in Fig. 5. In such position, the tabs 74 extend into the monolithic capacitor receiving slot 46.The connecting portion 78 joining each tab 74 to its respective tine 76 fits over an edge 90 joining each recess 50 to the slot 46 when the spring array is mounted against the rear insulator.

Inwardly extending spring fingers 80 are formed on the side strips 62 of frame 58, and are bent forwardly so as to lie in the slot 46 when the spring array is mounted against the rear insulator.

Outwardly-extending tabs 82 are also formed on the side strips 62 which are connected to the shell 24 in the final assembly.

As seen in Figs. 1 and 2, laterally-extending elongated ribs 82A are formed on the front face of the rear insulator 22 on opposite sides of the two rows of bores 32. The ribs are spaced apart a distance corresponding to the spacing of the grooves 52 in the rear face of the front insulator, and are slidably insertable into such grooves.

To assemble the connector 10, initially the spring array 20 is placed behind the rear insulator as seen in Fig. 4 with the openings 64 aligned with the pins 54, so that the tines 76 are aligned with the recesses 50 of the cavities 26. The spring array is then placed over the pins 54, so that tines 76 enter the recesses 50 and the tabs 74 extend into the slot 46 in the front insulator. The monolithic capacitor 1 8 is then pushed into the slot 46, causing each live electrode 42 thereon to be lightly contacted by its respective resilient tab 74 on the spring array. The capacitor is shown fully inserted in the front insulator in Figs. 2 and 5.

As seen in Fig. 5, with the capacitor in the front insulator, the spring fingers 80 on the side strips of the frame 58 engage the ground electrodes 44 on the side edges of the capacitor.

Thereafter, the mating forward end of each contact 1 6 is inserted into its respective cavity 26 through the window 84 formed by each punched out tine 76 of the spring array. The tines 76 are deflected when the contacts are so mounted, providing good electrical connection therebetween. Also, the insertion of the contacts into their respective cavities through the spring array causes a rocking action which increases the force between the tabs 74 and the live electrodes on the capacitor. At this point, all contacts 1 6 are connected to their respective capacitor electrodes.

Since all spring segments 66 are on a common frame 58 of the spring array, they are "shorted" together. Isolation of each spring element 86 consisting of a tab 74 and a tine 76 is accomplished by fracturing the connecting links 70 at the break points 72. This is preferably done by mounting the rear insulator 22 over the tails 36 of the contacts 1 6, and pushing the rear insulator forwardly so that the ribs 82 on the front face press against the break points 72, thus fracturing the same as the ribs slide into the grooves 52 as seen in Fig. 2.Since each spring element 86 is then isolated from the surrounding frame 58, it provides electrical connection only between its corresponding contact and a respective live electrode 42 on the capacitor 1 8. The spring fingers 80 and tabs 82 on the frame 58 of the spring array provide a ground connection between electrodes 44 on the capacitor and the shell 24.

When the rear insulator is mounted flush against the spring array 20, the spring array, and thus the spring elements 86, are trapped between the front and rear insulators, which firmly holds them in place when the front and rear shells 12 and 24, respectively, are secured together over the insulators.

As seen in Fig. 2, recesses 87 in the front face of the rear insulator 22 receive the alignment pins 54 on the front insulator when the front and rear insulators are mounted together Further, the rear insulator co-operates with the front insulator to retain the contacts therein, since an annular shoulder 90 is formed in the interior of each bore 32 in the rear insulator which is positioned behind an outwardly extending flange 92 on the contact, thus preventing rearward movement of the contact in the contact cavity.

Thus, it will be seen that the single spring array 20, when fully mounted in the connector as described, provides electrical connection between each individual contact and its respective live electrode on the capacitor and grounding connection between the ground electrodes of the capacitor and the connector shell. The assembly process is simple, needs no special tooling and uses only a minimum number of parts since individual spring elements do not need to be separately mounted in the contact cavities to make electrical connection between the capacitor and the contacts. Further, the connector may be readily disassembled to replace any contacts or the capacitor if damaged.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in Figs. 6-9 wherein parts identical to or corresponding to those of the embodiment of Figs.

1-5 are designated by the same reference numerals primed. Thus, the connectpr 10' in Figs.

6-9 has a front shell 12', a front insulator 14', a rear insulator 22', and a rear shell 24'. Doubleended pin contact 16' extend through longitudinally-extending cavities 26' and 32' in the front and rear insulators respectively. The front and rear insulators are identical, only the front insulator being shown in Fig. 7. This has a rearward extension 100 providing a stepped face which matches with the corresponding stepped face on the rear insulator 22'. The slot 46' in the insulator assembly extends into both the insulators, as seen in Fig. 9.

Two spring arrays 20' are used, and as seen in Fig. 8, each array is an elongated carrier strip 60' with spring segments 66' each having a resilient tab 74' and a resilient tine 76'. When the array 20' is against the rear of extension 100 on the front insulator 14', for example, the tines 76' extend into the contact cavities 26' in the front insulator and the tabs 74' extend over the extension 100 towards the slot 46' in the front insulator. An elongated fracturing rib 82' is formed on the rear face 30' of the front insulator above the upper row of contact cavities 26'. A matching groove 52' is formed on the rear face of the extension 100 on the opposite side of the lower row of cavities.

To assemble the connector 10', two spring arrays 20' are placed against the extensions 100 of the front and rear insulators and the insulators are pressed together, whereupon the ribs 82' on the rear faces of the insulators fracture the spring segments 66' along break points 72'. This separates the spring tab and tine assembly of each segment from its respective carrier strip 60', whereby the resulting spring elements are electrically isolated from each other. The monolithic capacitor 18' and contacts 16' are mounted in the slot 46' and contact cavities 26' before the insulators are assembled together. It will be appreciated that the resulting assembly functions in the same manner as the connector 10 of the first embodiment of the invention except for the fact that separate ground connecting spring 102 are needed to make electrical connection between the ground electrodes on the monolithic capacitor and the shell 12'. Because each spring array 20' in this embodiment is a single strip, rather than a frame, the strip may be made on a progressive stamp die and cut to length according to the number of contacts in the insulator.

While the invention herein has been described as employing one of the insulator halves of the connector assembly to fracture the spring array to separate the spring elements from their connecting carrier strips, it will be appreciated that, if desired, the separating operation may be performed separately utilizing a suitable tool or fixture, but at the expense of adding an additional process step to the assembly operation.

Figs. 10 and 11 show a third embodiment of the present invention, generally designated 11 0.

The connector comprises a front shell 112, a front insulator 114, contacts 116, a monolithic capacitor 118, a rear insulator 120, and a rear shell 1 22.'The front insulator 114 contains two rows of contact cavities 124, one of such cavity being seen in Fig. 11. The cavities extend from the front face 1 26 to the rear surface 128 of the insulator. The rear insulator 120 has two rows of bores 130, aligned, with the cavities 126 and forming rearward extensions thereof.

As best seen in Figs, 1 2-14 each contact 11 6 is a pin contact, although it could be a socket contact. The contact is stamped from resilient sheet metal, such as beryllium copper, and formed into the configuration iilustrated in Figs. 12--14.

The body of the contact is generally U-shaped, providing a base 132 and a pair of sidewalls 1 34.

The forward portions of the sidewalls are bent and formed to provide a forward cylindrical pin contacting section 136. The rear portions of the sidewalls are likewise in cylindrical form, slotted as indicated at 1 38 and formed in a conventional manner to provide a rear termination portion 1 40 in the form of a socket contact. The rear termination portion may have other constructions, such as a wire-wrappable tail, a crimp barrel, etc.

A resilient spring finger 142 is stamped from the base 132 of the contact body and bent outwardly (downwardly as viewed in Fig. 13). The terminal end 144 of the finger 142 is reversely bent to provide a curved outer contacting surface 146 on the finger 142.

Intermediate portions of the sidewalls 1 34 of the contact body opposite to the finger 142 extend upwardly and outwardly to provide a contact retention flanges 148, each of which has a front shoulder 1 50 and a rear shoulder 1 51. When the contact 161 is in its cavity 124 in the front insulator, the front shoulder 1 50 on each flange 148 engages a rearwardly facing shoulder 1 52 provided by an enlarged rear section 1 54 of the contact cavity. With the contact fully seated in the cavity 124 and the shoulder 1 50 engaging the shoulder 1 52 in the cavity, the rear shoulder 1 51 on the flange is essentially flush with the rear surface 128 of the front insulator.Thus when the - rear insulator 120 is mounted flush with the front insulator, its front surface 1 56 abuts the rear shoulder 151 on each contact retention flange 148, thereby retaining the contact axiaily within the insulator assembly.

The monolithic capacitor 11 8 is a rectangular ceramic substrate 1 60 having longitudinally extending spaced live electrodes 1 62 on its upper and lower surfaces, and ground electrodes 1 64 on the side edges of the substrate. The live electrodes are spaced apart a distance corresponding to the spacing of the contacts in the two rows of cavities 124 in the front insulator. A pair of ground planes (not shown) embedded in the substrate are joined to the respective ground electrodes 1 64.

An elongated slot 1 66 is formed in the front insulator 114 and parallel to and between the two rows of contact cavities. The inner end of the slot terminates short of the front face 126 of the front insulator, and the slot opens at the rear surface 1 28 of the insulator. In addition, the slot intersects each of the contact cavities 124 so that each cavity is open transversely to the slot.

The slot is dimensioned to slidably receive the capacitor 11 8, and is so located that the live electrodes 1 62 of the capacitor are then aligned with the contacts 11 6 in the cavities 1 24 in the front insulator. Thus, with the contacts in the cavities as shown in Fig. 11, and with the capacitor 11 8 in the slot 166, the spring finger 142 of each contact engages a respective one of the live electrodes 1 62 on the face of the capacitor.Thus the integral spring fingers 142 on the contacts provide the required electrical connections between the contact bodies and the live electrodes on the capacitor 11 8. A right-angle spring 1 70 at each end of the slot 1 66 provides electrical connection between ground electrodes 1 64 on the capacitor and the shell 11 2.

To assemble the connector 110, initially the ground springs 1 70 are inserted into the opposite ends of the slot 1 66 and the monolithic capacitor 11 8 is slid into the slot. Then the contacts 11 6 are mounted in the cavities 124, whereby the spring fingers 142 engage the live electrodes on the faces of the capacitor. The rear insulator is then mounted over the rear termination portions 140 of the contacts and the resulting assembly is installed in the front shell 112, causing the outwardly extending legs of the right-angle springs 1 70 to bend into the configuration shown in Fig. 1 0. Thereafter, the rear shell 122 is mounted over the rear insulator and secured to the front insulator by suitabie means (not shown) to complete the assembly.

Because the terminal ends 144 of the spring fingers 1 42 of the contacts are bent inwardly, providing curved outer contacting surfaces 146, the capacitor 11 8 may be removed and replaced without scoring its electrodes. Also, in the assembly of the connector, the contacts could be initially mounted into the cavities 124 and thereafter the capacitor may be inserted into the slot 1 66 without any damage to its electrodes.

Thus by making the slot which receives the monolithic capacitor intersect the contact cavities, and forming the contacts with integral spring fingers, electrical connection may be conveniently made between the contacts and the electrodes on the capacitor without needing to use separate spring elements. The contacts are relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, so the connector may be manufactured at relatively low cost.

Claims (27)

1. A filter connector, including an insulator body having at least one row of cavities therein, each said cavity receiving an electrical contact; a slot in said body parallel to said row of cavities; a monolithic capacitor in said slot which includes a dielectric substrate with parallel spaced live electrodes on an outer face thereof facing in the direction of said contacts and aligned therewith; and spring means associated with each of said contact cavities making electrical connection between the contact therein and a corresponding live electrode of said capacitor.

2. A connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capacitor is slidably mounted in said slot.

3. A connector as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said spring means comprises an individual spring element for each said cavity, said element embodying a resilient tab engaging the contact in said cavity and a resilient tine extending into said slot to engage the corresponding live electrode.

4. A connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said insulator body includes a front insulator and a rear insulator, wherein said cavities extend through said front and rear insulators and said slot is located in said front insulator; and wherein said rear insulator retains said capacitor in said front insulator.

5. A connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein said spring means is an individual spring element for each said cavity, said element being retained in said body by being trapped between said front and rear insulators.

6. A connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein said spring means comprises an individual spring element for each said cavity, wherein each said cavity and said slot are joined by a rearwardlyfacing edge on said front insulator, and wherein each said spring element extends over one of said edges and embodies a resilient tab engaging the contact in said cavity and a resilient tine extending into said slot to engage said corresponding live electrode.

7. A connector as claimed in claim 6, including a conductive carrier strip for said spring elements trapped between said front and rear insulators, said strip embodying joints broken away from said spring elements.

8. A connector as claimed in claim 7, wherein said front insulator has a groove in its rear surface located between said strip and said row of contact cavities; and said rear insulator has an elongated rib projecting into said groove to separate said strip from said spring elements.

9. A connector as claimed in claim 7 or 8, wherein a conductive shell surrounds said insulator body; wherein said capacitor embodies a ground electrode on an end edge thereof; and wherein said carrier strip has a spring finger extending into said slot to engage said ground electrode and an outwardly extending tab engaging said shell.

10. A connector as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said insulator body comprises identical front and rear insulators with said cavities extending through said front and rear insulators; wherein said slot is formed by matching recesses in said front and rear insulators; and wherein said capacitor is retained in said insulator body by being trapped between said front and rear insulators thereof.

11. A filter connector including: (a) an insulator body having two rows of cavities therethrough, each said cavity receiving an electrical contact, and said body comprising front and rear insulators; (b) a slot in said front insulator between and parallel to said rows of cavities and opening to the rear of said front insulator; (c) a monolithic capacitor in said slot, which capacitor comprises a dielectric substrate having parallel, spaced live electrodes on the upper and lower faces thereof facing said contacts in said two rows and aligned therewith, said rear insulator retaining said capacitor in said slot; and (d) an individual spring element associated with each said cavity, each said spring element being trapped between said front and rear insulators; and wherein each said spring element embodies a resilient tab engaging the contact in its corresponding cavity and a resilient tine extending into said slot to engage a corresponding live electrode of said capacitor.

12. A connector as claimed in claim 11, including a metallic frame trapped between said front and rear insulators and surrounding said two rows of cavities and said slot, said frame including upper and lower carrier strips for said spring elements; and fractured connecting links between said strips and said spring elements.

13. A connector as claimed in claim 12, wherein the front insulator has two grooves in its rear surface each located between said frame and a corresponding row of cavities; and the rear insulator embodies elongated ribs projecting into said grooves separating said strips from said spring elements by fracturing said links.

14. A connector as claimed in claim 13, wherein a metallic shell surrounds said insulator body; wherein said capacitor has a ground electrode on an end edge thereof; and wherein said frame embodies a spring finger extending into said slot to engage said ground electrode and an outwardly extending tab engaging said shell.

1 5. A method of assembling a filter connector having front and rear insulators with a slot and a row of contact cavities in said front insulator, including the steps of: (a) placing a spring array against the rear of said front insulator, said array embodying a strip having a plurality of spring elements thereon each having a resilient tab extending into one of said cavities and a resilient tine extending toward said slot; (b) inserting a monolithic capacitor into said slot so that live electrodes thereon engage said tines; (c) inserting contacts into said cavities so as to engage said tabs; (d) separating said spring elements from said strip whereby each said element is electrically isolated from said strip and provides electrical connection between a contact and a corresponding live electrode on said capacitor; and (e) mounting said rear insulator against the rear of said front insulator with said spring elements trapped therebetween.

1 6. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said rear insulator is used as a tool to simultaneously separate said spring elements from said strip when said rear insulator is mounted against the rear of said front insulator.

17. A filter connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said contact cavity opens into said slot, and wherein the spring means associated with each said contact is a spring finger integral with and bent from its said contact.

18. A filter connector including an insulator body having at least one row of contact cavities therein; a slot in said body parallel to said row of cavities and intersecting said cavities whereby said cavities are open transversely to said slot; a monolithic capacitor in said slot, which capacitor comprises a dielectric substrate having parallel, spaced live electrodes on an outer face thereof facing in the direction of said cavities and aligned therewith; and an electrical contact in each of said cavities, each said contact having an integral outwardly extending spring finger engaging a respective one of said electrodes.

1 9. A connector as claimed in claim 17 or 18, wherein each said contact is a stamped and formed contact body, its said spring finger being stamped from the wall of said body and bent outwardly at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of said-body.

20. A connector as claimed in claim 19, wherein said spring finger extends rearwardly from said body, the end of said finger being bent inwardly to provide a generally smooth contacting surface engaging said electrode.

21. A connector as claimed in claim 17 or 18, wherein said spring finger has an outwardly facing, generally smooth contacting surface engaging said electrode.

22. A connector as claimed in claim 1 7 or 18, wherein said insulator body comprises a front insulator and a rear insulator with said cavities extending through said insulators; wherein said slot is located in said front insulator opening to the rear face thereof; and wherein said rear insulator retains said capacitor in said slot.

23. A connector as claimed in claim 22, wherein each said contact is a stamped and formed contact body having a U-shaped section providing a base and a pair of sidewalls; wherein its said spring finger is stamped from said base and bent outwardly at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of said body; wherein said sidewalls embody at least one outwardly extending retention flange defining front and rear shoulders; and wherein each said contact cavity embodies a rearwardly facing abutment surface engageable with said front shoulder of its respective contact and said rear insulator embodies a forwardly facing abutment surface engageable with said rear shoulder for restricting axial movement of said contact in said cavity.

24. A connector as claimed in claim 23, wherein the forward portions of said sidewalls in front of said flange are formed into a generally cylindrical connecting section.

25. A filter connector substantially as described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

26. A filter connector substantially as described with reference to Figs. 6 to 9 of the accompanying drawings.

27. Afilter connector substantially as described with reference to Figs. 1 0 to 14 of the accompanying drawings.