Electrical connector

An electrical connector comprises an insulative housing defining a number of passageways as well as a mating face, and a number of conductive terminals received in the corresponding passageways. Each terminal includes a contact section, a securing section and a joint section. The contact sections of the terminals each have a first crook connected to a second or contact crook by a connecting section. The terminals comprise both long terminals and short terminals arranged in the housing in two rows. The long terminals are alternately arranged with the short terminals whereby the electrical connector can clippingly engage with a PCB while exhibiting the advantages of quick assembly at low cost.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and especially to 
an electrical connector having terminals clippingly assembled to a printed 
circuit board (PCB) without any auxiliary framework. 
Conductive terminals of conventional electrical connectors are usually 
soldered onto a PCB by applying Through Hole Technology (THT). The 
deficiencies of THT are apparent since damage to either the circuit 
structure of the PCB or the conductive terminals of the electrical 
connector may occur thereby complicating the manufacturing process and 
increasing costs during assembly. In order to overcome the deficiencies of 
THT, a Surface Mount Technology (SMT) has been introduced. However, the 
SMT employs at least one auxiliary framework and/or connector. Traditional 
electrical connectors mounted to a PCB by SMT generally have two or more 
rows of conductive terminals having ends or tails extending to a PCB for 
SMT. Because the terminals are often densely arranged, it complicates 
mass-production and threatens the necessary coplanar relationship of the 
terminals. Thus, signal transmission between the electrical connector and 
the PCB may be adversely affected. Furthermore, if an auxiliary framework 
or connector is used, not only will increase the cost due to the addition 
of components and related procedures, but the space on the PCB occupied by 
the additional components will also be increased. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide an electrical 
connector having conductive terminals which clippingly engage with a PCB. 
The second purpose of the present invention is to provide an electrical 
connector having conductive terminals for mechanically contacting a PCB at 
different times thereby reducing mating resistance and expediting 
assembly. 
In order to achieve the purposes set forth, an electrical connector in 
accordance with the present invention comprises a housing defining a 
number of passageways therein and a mating face for electrically mating 
with a PCB. A corresponding number of conductive terminals are received in 
the passageways. Each terminal has a contact section, a securing section 
and a joint section. The terminals are arranged into at least an upper row 
and a lower row with a long terminal being alternately arranged with a 
short terminal in each row. Furthermore, the contact section of each 
terminal can clippingly engage the PCB thereby completing assembly without 
requiring any auxiliary components. 
According to one aspect of the present invention, an alternative 
arrangement of the long and short terminals enables the PCB to 
electrically contact the terminals of the upper row and the lower row at 
different times, thereby reducing the mating resistance during assembly of 
the electrical connector to the PCB. 
According to another aspect of the present invention, the terminals of the 
upper row and the lower row are arranged whereby each long terminal is 
paired with a shorter terminal in a column for enabling contact between 
the PCB and the terminals of the upper and lower rows to occur at 
different time. Thus, mating resistance experienced during assembly can be 
effectively reduced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, an electrical connector 14 in accordance with a first 
embodiment of the present invention comprises an insulative housing 16 
having a mating face 19 and an opposite rear face 17 and defining a 
plurality of passageways 18 therebetween. A plurality of conductive 
terminals 20 is received in the corresponding passageways 18. The 
terminals 20 are arranged in upper and lower rows whereby each row is 
arranged with alternating long terminals 22 and short terminals 24. In 
addition, each long terminal 22 of one row is paired with a short terminal 
24 of the other row one above the other in columns. Referring to FIGS. 2A, 
2B, 3A, and 3B, each terminal 20 has a contact section 26 (261), a 
securing section 36 (361) and a joint section 38 (381). Each securing 
section 36 (361) is received in the corresponding passageway 18, each 
joint section 38 (381) extends beyond the rear face 17 of the housing 16 
for electrically connecting with a mating electrical card (not shown), and 
each contact section 26 (261) extends outward from the mating face 19 of 
the housing 16 for clippingly engaging with a printed circuit board (PCB) 
10. A space (not labeled) is defined between the upper and lower rows of 
contact sections 26(261) whereby the PCB 10 is inserted into the space and 
retained therein due to a resilient engaging force of the terminals 20 
acting thereon. 
Each contact section 26 (261) of the terminals 20 is configured to have a 
first crook 28 (281) extending from the securing section 36 (361), a 
connecting section 32 (321) extending from the first crook 28 (281), and a 
second or contact crook 30 for electrically connecting with a contact pad 
12 provided at corresponding positions on the PCB 10. A soldering 
procedure is performed on the tips 34 (341) and the corresponding contact 
pads 12 to complete assembly of the PCB 10 and the electrical connector 
14. 
Referring to FIG. 4, which shows a second embodiment of the present 
invention, the electrical connector 14 comprises the same components as 
the first embodiment such as the housing 16 and a number of conductive 
terminals 20 including long terminals 22 and short terminals 24 each 
having contact section 26 (261), securing section 36 (361) and joint 
section 38 (381). The contact sections 26 (261), comprise a first crook 28 
(281) connected to a second crook 30 (301) by means of a connecting 
section 32 (321). Furthermore, the terminals 20 are aligned in upper and 
lower rows wherein the long terminals 22 are alternately arranged with the 
short terminals 24 in each row. However, unlike the first embodiment, each 
long terminal 22 of one row is paired in columns with a long terminal 22 
in the other row. Likewise, each short terminal 24 of one row is paired in 
columns with a short terminal of the other row. 
The design fundamentals of the second embodiment are the same as in the 
first embodiment. The configuration of each terminal 20 and the engagement 
between the PCB 10 and the electrical connector 14 are virtually 
identical. The only significant difference between the two embodiments 
lies in the arrangement of the terminals 20 within the housing 14 as 
described above. Hence, a further detailed description of the second 
embodiment is omitted herein. 
Furthermore, the terminals 20 can also be arranged in other layouts not 
specified by the first and second embodiments. For example, terminals of 
the upper row can all be long terminals and terminals of the lower row can 
all be short terminals. This layout enables the PCB to mechanically 
contact the terminals of the upper row and the lower row at different 
times, thereby reducing mating resistance during assembly of the 
electrical connector to the PCB. Thus, it is to be understood that the 
present invention includes all embodiments available which provide contact 
between a PCB and an electrical connector at different times in accordance 
with the appended claims below. 
It is to be further understood that even though numerous characteristics 
and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the 
foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function 
of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be 
made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of 
parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated 
by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are 
expressed.