Patent ID: 6354875
Filing Date: 2002-03-12
Classification: H01R

Abstract:
An electrical connector for mounting on a printed circuit board and adapted for mating with a complementary electrical connector, comprising:an insulative housing having a body portion, the body portion defining a plurality of passageways therein and having front and rear surfaces; a plurality of contacts received in corresponding passageways; a pair of ground contacts retained in the housing, each of the ground contacts having a front engaging portion projecting beyond the front surface of the body portion for mating with a corresponding ground contact of a complementary electrical connector and a rear portion projecting beyond the rear surface of the body portion; and a shield attached to the housing for shielding the contacts, the shield comprising a top wall, a pair of side walls and a pair of downwardly extending pins connected to grounding circuits of a printed circuit board on which the electrical connector is mounted, each of the side walls having a spring tang biasing against a side surface of the rear portion of a corresponding ground contact, whereby a grounding path is established between the complementary connector and the printed circuit board via the ground contacts, the spring tangs of the shield and the pins of the shield; wherein the rear portion of the ground contact is contained in a plane perpendicular to the rear surface of the body portion of the housing; wherein the spring tang of the shield is an outwardly and rearwardly stamped spring tang biasing against an inner side surface of the rear portion of the corresponding ground contact; wherein the ground contact is a board lock, and the rear portion has a pair of spaced legs for being compressively inserted into the printed circuit board; wherein the shield further comprises a partition downwardly extending from the top wall, and wherein the pins extend from the partition; wherein each of the side walls of the shield is composed of a first side portion downwardly extending from the top wall and a second side portion forwardly extending from the partition and overlapping the first side portion, and wherein the spring tangs are stamped from the second side portion; wherein the housing further comprises a pair of opposite side arms forwardly extending from the body portion, each side arm defining a receiving channel for receiving a corresponding ground contact of the complementary electrical connector, and wherein the front engaging portion of the ground contact is received in the receiving channel.