Electrical connector

An electrical connector includes a casing retaining a number of contact elements therein and defining a front opening adapted to receive a mating connector therein for electrically engaging with the contact elements. The casing defines a pair of outside slots on outside faces of opposite side walls thereof for being received in an opening defined in a circuit board with edges of the opening slidably received in the outside slots of the casing thereby retaining the connector on the circuit board. The contact elements are connected to the circuit board.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and in 
particular to an electrical connection that can be readily and effectively 
mounted to a circuit board. 
2. The Prior Art 
An electrical connector is temporarily retained on a circuit board by means 
of positioning pins integrally formed with an insulative casing thereof or 
by means of board locks integrally formed with a shielding member thereof. 
The connector is permanently fixed to the circuit board by soldering 
contact elements thereof to the circuit board. The soldering process is a 
high temperature process which causes damage to the positioning pins and 
thus decreases the mounting stability of the connector on the circuit 
board. The board lock, although being made of metal and thus having no 
such stability problems, causes damage to the circuit board when forcibly 
inserted through holes defined in the circuit board. 
Thus, it is desirable to have an electrical connector which can be readily 
and effectively mounted to a circuit board without damaging the circuit 
board or sustaining damage to itself. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical 
connector that can be readily and effectively mounted to a circuit board 
without damaging the circuit board or sustaining damage to itself. 
To achieve the above object, an electrical connector in accordance with the 
present invention comprises a casing retaining a number of contact 
elements therein and defining a front opening adapted to receive a mating 
connector therein for electrically engaging with the contact elements. The 
casing defines a pair of outside slots on outside faces of opposite side 
walls thereof for being received in an opening defined in a circuit board 
with edges of the opening slidably received in the outside slots of the 
casing thereby retaining the connector on the circuit board. The contact 
elements are connected to the circuit board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, an electrical 
connector 1 in accordance with the present invention comprises an 
insulative casing 10 and a plurality of contact elements 20 which are 
fixed in an insulative retainer 30 received in the casing 10. The casing 
10 comprises two side walls 18 connected by a bottom wall 19 for defining 
an interior space (not labeled) therebetween for receiving the contact 
retainer 30 and the contact elements 20. The casing 10 defines a front 
opening 11 through which a mating connector (not shown) is inserted into 
the interior space for electrically engaging with the contact elements 20. 
Two outside slots 15 are defined in outside faces of the side walls 18 
proximate the bottom wall 19 for being fit into an opening 41 defined in a 
circuit board 4. The opening 41 extends from an outermost edge of the 
circuit board 4, and defines an assembling direction along which the 
connector 1 is moved with regard to the circuit board 4, and a lateral 
direction perpendicular to the assembling direction. The outside slots 15 
receive opposite edges 43 of the opening 41 therein thereby retaining the 
connector 1 on the circuit board 4 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. 
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a resilient arm 16 is formed in each of the 
slots 15 and has a barb 17 engaging with a notch 42 defined in the 
corresponding edge 43 of the opening 41 for securing the connector 1 in 
the opening 41. 
The contact retainer 30 comprises a horizontal section 31 and a vertical 
section 32 and is received in the interior space of the casing 10 for 
closing a top side and a rear side thereof. The horizontal section 31 
forms two side flanges 34 slidably received in inside slots 14 defined in 
inside faces of the side walls 18 for securing the contact retainer 30 in 
the casing 10. 
The contact elements 20 are fixed in the vertical section 32 of the contact 
retainer 30 and extend into grooves 33 defined in the horizontal section 
31 and are in communication with the interior space of the casing 10 for 
engaging with the mating connector. Each contact element 20 comprises an 
engaging section 22 extending beyond the groove 33 and into the interior 
space of the casing 10 for effectively engaging with the mating connector. 
The engaging section 22 has a free end received in a notch 13 defined in 
the casing 10 for being floatingly retained therein. Each contact element 
20 comprises a mounting section 21 extending beyond the contact retainer 
20 and received in holes 44 defined in the circuit board 4 for being 
soldered thereto. 
The contact retainer 30 may be fixed to the circuit board 4 by soldering 
the mounting sections 21 of the contact elements 20 to the circuit board 4 
thereby rendering the horizontal section 31 thereof substantially parallel 
to the circuit board 4. The casing 10 is inserted into the opening 41 of 
the circuit board 4 with the edges 43 of the opening 41 slidably received 
in the outside slots 15 of the casing 10 and the side flanges 34 of the 
contact retainer 30 slidably received in the inside slots 14 of the casing 
10. 
If desired, the mounting sections 21 of the contact elements 20 may be 
formed parallel to the circuit board 4 thereby rendering them 
surface-mountable to the circuit board 4. 
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the 
preferred embodiment, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a 
variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from 
the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the 
appended claims.