Over-molded coaxial connector assembly

1. A coaxial connector assembly comprising:

an outer ground contact having an outer contact socket portion and an outer contact termination portion, the outer contact termination portion having openings which extend through a wall of the outer contact termination portion;

a one piece over-molded housing having a nose cone portion, an inner dielectric portion and transition portions which extend between the nose cone portion and the inner dielectric portion, the nose cone portion positioned outside of the outer contact termination portion, the inner dielectric portion positioned inside of the outer contact termination portion, and the transition portions extend from the nose cone portion, through the openings, to the inner dielectric portion;

wherein the positioning of the transition portions in the openings securely mounts the outer grounding contact to the housing.

2. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outer contact socket portion of the outer ground contact is cylindrical.

3. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outer contact termination portion has grounding contacts which extend from the housing in a direction away from the nose cone portion.

4. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outer contact termination portion has a diameter which is larger than a diameter of the inner dielectric portion.

5. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 1 , wherein a diameter of the outer contact socket portion is smaller than a diameter of the outer contact termination portion.

6. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 1 , wherein the nose cone portion is cylindrical.

7. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 6 , wherein the nose cone portion has an inner diameter which is greater than a diameter of the outer contact socket portion.

8. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 7 , wherein a cavity is provided between the outer ground contact and an inner wall of the nose cone portion.

9. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 1 , wherein keying ribs are provided on the nose cone portion to properly align a complementary coaxial connector plug with the coaxial connector assembly.

10. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 1 , wherein a locking projection is positioned on the nose cone portion to cooperate with the complementary coaxial connector plug to secure the complementary coaxial connector plug to the coaxial connector assembly.

11. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 1 , wherein the inner dielectric portion has a center contact receiving opening which extends through the inner dielectric portion along a longitudinal axis of the inner dielectric portion and a longitudinal axis of the coaxial connector assembly.

12. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 11 , wherein a center signal contact is positioned in the center contact receiving opening.

13. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 12 , wherein the center contact has a contact mating portion, a contact mounting portion and a contact termination portion, the contact mounting portion is positioned between the contact mating portion and the contact termination portion.

14. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 13 , wherein the contact mounting portion and the contact termination portion have a diameter greater than the diameter of the contact mating portion.

15. The coaxial connector assembly of claim 14 , wherein the contact mounting portion has projections configured to engage a wall of the center contact receiving opening to secure and retain the center contact in position relative to the housing and relative to the outer ground contact.

16. A method of assembling a coaxial connector, the method comprising:

forming an outer contact of the coaxial connector on a carrier strip, the outer contact having openings extending through a wall of the outer contact;

over-molding a housing onto the outer contact while the outer contact is on the carrier strip, the material of the housing flowing through the openings of the outer contact to securely mount the outer contact to the housing;

forming an outer portion, an inner portion and transition portions in the housing, the outer portion positioned outside of the outer contact, the inner portion positioned inside of the outer contact, and the transition portions extending from the outer portion, through the openings, to the inner portion.

17. The method as recited in claim 16 , further comprising: forming a center contact receiving opening in the inner portion of the housing; inserting and securing a center signal contact in the center contact receiving opening while the while the outer contact and the housing are on the carrier strip.

18. The method as recited in claim 17 , further comprising:

positioning and maintaining a center signal contact relative to the outer contact prior to over-molding the housing;

wherein as the housing is over-molded onto the outer contact, an inner dielectric portion of the housing is over-molded over the center signal contact to retain the center signal contact in the inner dielectric portion of the housing and in the outer contact.

19. A method of assembling a connector, the method comprising:

forming a contact of the connector on a carrier strip, the contact having openings extending through a wall of the contact;

over-molding a housing onto the contact while the contact is on the carrier strip, the material of the housing flowing through the openings of the contact to securely mount the contact to the housing;

forming an outer portion, an inner portion and transition portions in the housing, the outer portion positioned outside of the contact, the inner portion positioned inside of the contact, and the transition portions extending from the outer portion, through the openings, to the inner portion.