Abstract:
An electrical connector assembly includes an insulative base and a complimentary connector assembled therewith along an up-to-down direction instead of a left-to-right direction. Thus, a small assembly space will be achieved compared to the prior art.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector having positioning posts defined on the insulative base for positioning a complimentary connector during mating. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Chinese Utility Patent No. CN 2755801 issued to HE ZE-YI on Feb. 1, 2006, discloses a receptacle connector for being mounted on a printed circuit board. The electrical connector comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of terminals disposed therein and a pair of locking elements locking the electrical connector with the circuit board. Each terminal comprises a planar retention portion, an extending portion and a soldering portion extending from two opposite ends of the retention portion respectively. The soldering portion has a soldering tail being soldered on the printed circuit board. The insulative housing includes a front mating section and a back base section from which the mating section forwards extending. The receptacle connector is mated with a plug connector mounted on an outer device such as a hard disk. The outer device displaces a certain distance to be inserted into the receptacle connector relative to the printed circuit board since the right angle type receptacle connector decides a horizontally-oriented mating direction. Thus, an additional space for the movement of the outer device will be requested on the printed circuit board which will waste same area of the printed circuit board. Nowadays, with a miniaturization trend in the connector industry, even a small real estate on the printed circuit board is precious since additional electronic components or conductive traces can be deployed. Further more, an assembling trace formed on the electrical connector for guiding the complimentary electrical connector is also required. 
     Hence, an improved electrical connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector in which only a small mounting area is needed when mounted on a printed circuit board. 
     To fulfill the above-mentioned object, an electrical connector comprising an insulative base comprising a longitudinal base section with a top face and three positioning posts protruding upwardly form the top face along the longitudinal direction, the base section defining two groups of receiving passageways, each group located between every adjacent two positioning posts, each receiving passageway running through the top face of the base section and a front face perpendicular to the top face; a plurality of terminals retained in the receiving passageways, each terminal comprising a retention section, a resilient arm received in the passageway with an contacting end at a free end of the resilient arm, a soldering section extending out of the front face, wherein the contacting end is an arc-shape with an opening orient to the top face. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. As should be understood, however, the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electrical connector made in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view of the electrical connector taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the connector shown in  FIG. 1  with a complementary connector on the top; and 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the connector shown in  FIG. 1  in which a complementary connector shown in portion is mated thereto. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 4 , an electrical connector  100  according to the present invention is adapted for being mounted on a circuit board  3  and mating with a complementary connector  4  in an outer electronic device, such as a hard disk drive. The electrical connector  100  comprises an insulative base  1  and a plurality of terminals  2  received in the insulative base  1  respectively. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 3 , the insulative base  1  is substantially elongated and integrally formed, and comprises a base section  10  and a pair of seat section  11  protruding outwardly from the base section  10  along a longitudinal direction thereof. A receiving hole  12  runs through each seat section  11  from a top-down direction. The base section  10  defines a top face  13  and a front face  14  perpendicular to the top face  13 . A bottom face opposite to the top face is used as a mounting face on the circuit board  3 . A plurality of receiving passageways  16  are defined in the base section  10  extending through the top face  13  and the front face  14 . A pair of positioning posts  171  protrude from two opposite ends of the top face  13  and a third positioning post  172  protrude from the middle part of the top face  13  upwardly. The third positioning post  172  divides the receiving passageways  16  into two groups along the longitudinal direction. A pair of recesses  15  is defined adjacent to the third positioning post  172  and through the top face  13  and the front face  14 . 
     Each terminal  2  includes a retention portion  21  with barbs at two lateral sides of the retention portion and a soldering end  22  and a resilient arm  23  extending from the two opposite ends of the retention portion  21  respectively. The resilient arm  23  is an inverted S-shape and defines a contacting end  24  on a free end thereof. The contacting ends  24  extend beyond the top face  13  and are of an inverted C-shape with a downward opening. 
     The electrical connector  100  further comprises a pair of pads  5  assembled on the longitudinal sides of the seat section  11  for being mounted the electrical connector  100  on the printed circuit board  3 . 
     The complimentary connector  4  is retained on the hard disk and has a pair of L-shaped tongue boards  41  abutting against each other longitudinally. Each tongue board  41  has a long side  42  and a short side  43 . The two short sides  43  are spaced from each other to form a receiving space  44  therebetween. The receiving space  44  is used for positioning the third positioning post  172 , the short sides  43  seat in the recesses  15  of the insulative base  1 . The long sides  42  confront with the top face  13 . 
     In assembling, referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , the terminals  2  are assembled into the receiving passageways  16  along the longitudinal direction from the front face  14  to the back face (not labeled), the contacting ends  24  extend beyond the top face  13  and abut against the contact terminals (not shown) of the complimentary connector  4  correspondingly. Then, the electrical connector  100  is mounted onto the printed circuit board  3  and the complementary connector  4  can be assembled with the electrical connector  100  from top to down under a guidance between the corresponding positioning post  17  and the receiving space  44 . 
     Summing up the foregoing, the complementary connector  4  can be assembled onto the electrical connector  100  in a vertical direction instead of a horizontal direction or an up-to-down direction instead of a left-to-right direction, thereby saving an assembling space on the printed circuit board. During assembling, the positioning posts  17  can be a positioning guidance and lead the complimentary connector  4  being assembled onto the electrical connector  100 . 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous, characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set fourth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosed 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.