Michael T Bowman

US Patent:

54907870, Feb 13, 1996

Filed:

Aug 29, 1994

Appl. No.:

8/297335

Inventors:

Michael E. Bowman - Lebanon PA
Robert S. Correll - Harrisburg PA
Donald E. Dellinger - Hellam PA
Dennis L. Kemmick - Columbia PA
Timothy L. Kocher - Camp Hill PA

Assignee:

The Whitaker Corporation - Wilmington DE

International Classification:

H01R 2370

US Classification:

439 79

Abstract:

An electrical connector (10) is disclosed having a one piece housing (12), a plurality of cavities (18,20,22,24) in the housing, arranged in two vertical stacks (14,16) of four cavities each, and a contact (26,28,30,32) in each cavity. The cavities in each stack are separated by thin walls (48,50,52) of the housing. Each of the contacts has a contact end (68) for mating with a mating connector, and a tail (78) that exits from the contact at a right angle to the mounting surface (36) of the connector. Some of the contacts (28,30,32) have support members (94,96,98,100,102,104) that extend from the contact to engage the floor (53) of the cavity while the upper surface of the contact is in engagement with the ceiling (51) of the cavity. There is a bearing structure established from the tails (78) through the support members and the thin walls (48,50,52) to the top surface (34) of the connector housing. This permits installation of the connector (10) to a circuit board (112) by applying an insertion force directly to the top surface of the housing.