Contact of an electrical connector having solder terminal capable of fitting with a housing of the connector

The present invention provides a contact which facilitates proper insertion into a housing of an electrical connector without deflection of the contact after configuration. The contact of the electrical connector comprises a main plate having a central flat portion and two bent sides projecting therefrom and facing each other. A mating terminal includes two clamping branches respectively extending from the bent sides of the main plate along a longitudinal axis of the main plate. A compliant pin extends from one end of the central flat portion of the main plate opposite the extending direction of the mating terminal and is substantially right angled at an intermediate portion thereof. A tail terminates from the compliant pin and defines a hole therein for engagement with a hole of a circuit board. A curved shoulder is formed near the tail for facilitating insertion of the tail into the hole of the printed circuit board. The curved shoulder fits within the housing if the connector when the contact is assembled in the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of The Invention 
The present invention relates to a contact for an electrical connector, and 
especially to a right angled compliant pin having a positioning portion 
for firmly fitting in a housing of the electrical connector. 
2. The Prior Art 
Compliant pins have become popular in establishing contact with the 
conductors in a multi-layer board, a back plane, or a simple circuit board 
having a plated through hole. A compliant pin has a compliant portion 
which has a normal width greater than the hole diameter but which can be 
deformed when it is loaded into the circuit board hole so that contact 
edge portions of the compliant portion will establish the electrical 
connection required with the conductors in the circuit board hole. The 
compliant portion thus is essentially a relatively stiff spring 
arrangement which, after insertion into the circuit board hole, will bear 
against the surface of the hole with sufficient force to retain the pin in 
the circuit board and to establish a sound electrical contact with the 
circuit board conductors. 
Some commonly known types of compliant pins are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 
4,186,982, 4,743,081, 4,206,964, and 4,606,589. Right angled compliant 
contacts in a receptacle connector usually have two clamping arms for 
engagement with corresponding contacts of a complementary connector upon 
insertion of the latter. The contact is bent substantially 90 degrees 
before terminating into a soldering tail. 
FIGS. 5 and 6 show a conventional right angled contact 7 having an 
intermediate portion 70 bent to form a substantially right angled 
structure, and a clamping portion 73 and a soldering tail 71 respectively 
extending from opposite ends of the intermediate portion 70. A U-shaped 
portion 74 is formed between the intermediate portion 70 and the clamping 
portion 73. A shoulder 72 extends laterally from two sides of the 
soldering tail 71 providing exerting points for a jig (not shown) or the 
like to insert the tail 71 into holes of a positioning plate 75 of a 
related connector 78 thereby allowing the penetrated tail 71 (through the 
positioning plate 75) to be further inserted into a corresponding hole of 
a circuit board 76. However, the exertion points on the shoulder 72 may 
not be balanced during exertion by the jig, therefore the contact 7 is apt 
to be inserted into the positioning plate 75 at a slant thereby damaging 
the holes of the positioning plate 75 and resulting in a poor soldering 
effect on the circuit board 76 as specifically shown in FIG. 6. 
Hence, an improved electrical contact is requisite to overcome the 
disadvantages of the prior art. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An electrical connector comprises a housing formed with a positioning 
plate, the positioning plate defining a plurality of S-shaped holes 
therein. A plurality of contacts each has a main plate, a mating terminal 
and a compliant pin extending from one end of the main plate. The 
compliant pin has a tail for being inserted into a printed circuit board 
and an S-shaped shoulder above the tail. After assembly of the housing and 
the contacts, the contacts are received in the housing, the shoulders 
fitting in the holes. The S-shaped shoulders and the corresponding 
S-shaped holes cooperatively facilitate the insertion of the compliant 
pins into the holes of the printed circuit board without damage to the 
compliant pins. 
These and additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present 
invention will become apparent after reading the following detailed 
description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the 
appended drawing figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a contact 3 of an electrical connector 4 
comprises a main plate 30 having a central flat portion 300 and two bent 
sides 301 projecting therefrom and facing each other. A mating terminal 31 
includes two clamping branches 310, 311 respectively extending from the 
two sides 301 of the main plate 30 in substantially a same direction along 
a longitudinal axis of the main plate 30 for effectively contacting with a 
corresponding pin of a complementary connector (not shown). Specifically, 
the branches 310, 311 firstly converge for a relatively long distance and 
then diverge for a relatively short distance thereby forming a reception 
portion for receiving a pin from the complementary connector. 
A compliant pin 32 extends from one end of the main plate 30 opposite the 
extending direction of the mating terminal 31 and is substantially right 
angled at an intermediate portion thereof. The compliant pin 32 and the 
central portion 300 of main plate 30 are coplanar. The right angled 
portion of the soldering terminal 32 includes an intermediate curved 
portion 32B which is formed by stamping rather than by bending. The 
soldering terminal 32 is terminated at a tail 320 defining a hole 322 
therein for functioning as a compliant pin. 
A shoulder 323 is formed above the tail 320 and has an S-shaped structure 
for cooperating with a jig (not shown) or a positioning closure having 
ribs (not shown) to insert the tail 320 into a hole 410 of a positioning 
plate 41 of the connector 4 with an even force thereby preventing 
deflection of the contact 3. The connector 4 defines a plurality of 
passageways 40 for interferentially retaining the main body 30 of the 
contact 3 therein with the mating terminal 31 being deformably received 
therein for engagement with a pin from a complementary connector (not 
shown). Since the hole 410 is S-shaped for substantially mating with the 
shoulder 323 of the contact 3, the insertion of the shoulder 323 into the 
S-shaped hole 410 will not deflect the contact 3. In other words, the 
S-shaped structure of the shoulder 323 can prevent the contact 3 from 
being inserted into the hole 410 at a slant, as shown in FIG. 3. 
Referring to FIG. 4, the connector 4 is mounted on a printed circuit board 
5 defining a plurality of holes 50 therein for receiving and retaining the 
tail 320 of each contact 3. Since each tail 320 defines a hole 322 
therein, the engagement between the tail 320 and the hole 50 can be 
achieved due to the compliant effect therebetween. 
While the present invention has been described with reference to a specific 
embodiment, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to 
be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications to the 
present invention can be made to the preferred embodiment by those skilled 
in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the 
invention as defined by the appended claims.