Protection member to protect resilient arms of a contact assembly from stubbing

1. A cable assembly for terminating a cable, the cable assembly comprising:

a cable assembly mating end and a cable assembly cable receiving end;

a metallic outer shell positioned proximate to the cable assembly mating end of the cable assembly, the metallic outer shell having a mating connector receiving portion;

a housing made of dielectric material positioned in the metallic outer shell, the housing having a housing mating end and an oppositely facing housing conductor receiving end, terminal receiving openings extend from the housing mating end, the housing extends from proximate the cable assembly mating end toward the cable assembly cable receiving end;

resilient contact arms provided on the mating connector receiving portion of the metallic outer shell, the resilient contact arms extend from proximate the cable assembly mating end, front ends of the resilient contact arms are proximate the cable assembly mating end and cooperate with a protection portion of the cable assembly; and

the protection portion has a shoulder which extends over the front ends of the resilient contact arms.

2. The cable assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein the protection portion of the cable assembly is provided on the metallic outer shell.

3. The cable assembly as recited in claim 2 , wherein the front ends of the resilient contact arms are integrally formed and attached to the protection portion of the cable assembly.

4. The cable assembly as recited in claim 3 , wherein the resilient contact arms are bowed, wherein center sections of the resilient contact arms are spaced further from a longitudinal axis of the cable assembly than the front ends of the resilient contact arms.

5. The cable assembly as recited in claim 4 , wherein the center sections have enlarged contact sections.

6. The cable assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein the protection portion of the cable assembly is provided on the housing.

7. The cable assembly as recited in claim 6 , wherein the housing has resilient contact arm receiving recesses which extend from the protection portion toward the cable assembly cable receiving end.

8. The cable assembly as recited in claim 7 , wherein the front ends of the resilient contact arms are positioned in the resilient contact arm receiving recesses.

9. The cable assembly as recited in claim 8 , wherein the shoulder of the protection portion extends over portions of the resilient contact arm receiving recesses.

10. The cable assembly as recited in claim 8 , wherein mating assembly contact portions are provided proximate the front ends of the resilient contact arms, the mating assembly contact portions are spaced further from a longitudinal axis of the cable assembly than the protection portion of the housing.

11. An impedance control cable assembly for terminating a cable having exposed conductors, the cable assembly comprising:

a cable assembly mating end and a cable assembly cable receiving end;

a first metallic outer shell positioned proximate to the cable assembly mating end of the cable assembly, the first metallic outer shell having a mating connector receiving portion and a second metallic outer shell mating portion;

a second metallic outer shell position proximate to the cable assembly cable receiving end, the second metallic outer shell provided in physical and electrical engagement with the first metallic outer shell;

a housing made of dielectric material positioned in the first metallic outer shell and the second metallic outer shell, the housing having a housing mating end and an oppositely facing housing conductor receiving end, terminal receiving openings extend from the housing mating end to the housing conductor receiving end, the housing extends from proximate the cable assembly mating end toward the cable assembly cable receiving end;

resilient contact arms provided on enlarged contact sections of the mating connector receiving portion of the first metallic outer shell, the resilient contact arms extend from proximate the cable assembly mating end to the second, metallic outer shell mating portion of the first metallic outer shell, front ends of the resilient contact arms are proximate the cable assembly mating end, the front ends of die resilient contact arms cooperate with a protection portion of the cable assembly which extends from the cable assembly mating end to prevent the front ends of the resilient contact arms from stubbing when the cable assembly is mated to a mating assembly;

an outer surface of the protection portion and the front ends of the resilient contact arms form a continuous surface which is sloped inward toward a longitudinal axis of the cable assembly to provide a lead-in surface as the cable assembly is mated to the mating assembly.

12. The impedance control cable assembly as recited in claim 11 , wherein the protection portion of the cable assembly is provided on the housing.

13. The impedance control cable assembly as recited in claim 11 , wherein mating assembly contact portions are provided proximate the front ends of the resilient contact arms, the mating assembly contact portions are spaced further from the longitudinal axis of the cable assembly than the protection portion of the housing.

14. The impedance control cable assembly as recited in claim 11 , wherein the protection portion of the cable assembly is provided on the first metallic outer shell.

15. The impedance control cable assembly as recited in claim 14 , wherein the front ends of the resilient contact arms are integrally formed and attached to the protection portion of the cable assembly.

16. The impedance control cable assembly as recited in claim 15 , wherein the resilient contact arms are bowed, wherein center sections of the resilient contact arms are spaced further from a longitudinal axis of the cable assembly than the front ends of the resilient contact arms.

17. The impedance control cable assembly as recited in claim 16 , wherein the center sections have the enlarged contact sections.