Patent ID: 6210218
Filing Date: 2001-04-03
Classification: H01R

Abstract:
An electrical connector comprising:an insulative housing having a receiving recess in a rear end thereof, and a pair of locking recesses proximal to a bottom end thereof;a contact module assembly slidingly engaged in the receiving recess and including at least two stacked and interlocked contact modules, each contact module receiving a plurality of conductive terminals;a pair of grounding elements each including a joining part for being secured in the respective locking recess of the housing, a board lock depending from a lateral edge of the joining part, and a grounding finger extending from the lateral edge of the joining part; anda conductive shield covering a front end of the housing and having a pair of bottom extending arms positioned to contactingly secure the grounding fingers to the housing;wherein the housing has a pair of laterally extending abutment walls, the grounding fingers fitting against the abutment walls for contacting with and being secured by the bottom extending arms of the shield;wherein said board lock of each grounding element downwardly bends from a lateral edge of said joining part to fix into a mounting hole in a printed circuit board, and said grounding fingers extend approximately horizontally;wherein said grounding elements each have a plurality of interfering bumps projecting from an edge of the joining part different from the edge from which the board locks depend for interferingly engaging with the locking recesses of the housing;wherein said grounding elements are each stamped and formed from a metal plate;wherein the receiving recess defines a plurality of uniformly spaced channels in opposite interior faces thereof and a plurality of apertures in top and bottom walls thereof for fixing the contact assembly module;wherein said contact modules are stacked and interlocked with a plurality of pegs and receiving apertures to form the contact module assembly;wherein the contact module assembly has lateral projections defining interfering barbs for reliably engaging the contact module assembly with the receiving recess, the barbs being located on a top face of each projection on an upper contact module and on a bottom face of each projection on a lower contact module.