Abstract:
Electrical connector in which contact pins extending from separate portions thereof are adapted to enter a circuit board from both sides.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to electrical connectors, and in particular to such devices useful in the connection of backplanes and daughter boards. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Electrical connectors useful in connecting to daughter boards and to other units for connecting to backplanes are known: e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,518, Johnson et al., &#34;Backplane Connector&#34;, hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     Other such connectors are known in which one face of a daughter board is positioned adjacent to a vertical surface of the connector and contacts extending from the connector are soldered to the other face of the daughter board; e.g., the now recently-disclosed AMP HDI Series 100 Surmount (its claimed trademark) connector. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     I have discovered that such a connector with considerable mechanical and electrical advantages can be provided if there is provided for each daughter board a pair of separately assemblable to connector portions mounted to the daughter board, the connector portions being provided with contacts press-fittable into holes in the daughter board. 
     In preferred embodiments, my connector unit includes addtional means for securing one connector portion to the other, and a metal stiffener plastic block system interconnecting the connector unit and daughter board. 
     EMBODIMENT 
     The presently preferred embodiment of my invention is as shown in the drawings and now described. 
    
    
     DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an end elevation showing the housing portions of the connector portions of the preferred embodiment in transverse vertical section. 
     FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the molded plastic housing of said embodiment. 
     FIG. 3 is a broken-away isometric view of several of said embodiments assembled to a daughter board. 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded end elevation, partially in section and somewhat diagrammatic, of a step in the assembly. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
     Connector 10 includes two connector portions 12 and 14 held together by a pair of pins 16 extending respectively at one end (shown in FIG. 1) through holes in protuberances 18 of portion 12 and 22 of portion 14 and at the other end (not shown) through holes in protuberances 18 of portion 14 and 22 of portion 12, a set of such protuberances being provided toward each longitudinal end of said portions. The housings 26, 28 have the same configuration, as illustrated in FIG. 2, and are engageable as shown in FIG. 1 when their projections 18, 22 are aligned upon rotation of one with respect to the other. 
     Longitudinally-extending row of vertical abutment surfaces 76 is provided on molded plastic housings 26, 28 of portions 12, 14, and supports thereon daughter board 30, one larger surface of which abuts abutments 76. 
     Contacts 32, 34, 36, 38 have upper portions terminating in ends with split portions as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 29,513, Johnson, &#34;Electrical Connection Apparatus&#34;, issued January 10, 1978, and of overall width of 0.030 inches, press-fitted into 0.025 inch solder-coated holes of daughter board 30, and with lower ends having female portions 24 press-fitted into slots 20 of portions 12, except that contact 38 is secured on the outer part of portion 12 in the manner disclosed in Pat. No. 4,655,518 above mentioned. 
     Contacts 40, 42, 44, 46 are similarly secured to portion 14 and press-fitted in daughter board 30. The holes in daughter board 30 engaging these contacts are vertically staggered from those engaging the contacts from portion 12, each longitudinal row of contacts from portion 14 being halfway between each longitudinal row of contacts from portion 12, except that the highest row of contacts 46 is a corresponding distance above row 38. 
     Connector 10 is suited to engage a backplane connector element as shown at 16 in said U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,518. 
     Stainless steel stiffener 48 engages at groove 50 thereof longitudinal protuberance 52 of portion 12. Upper portion 54 of stiffener 48 is in longitudinally sliding relation with a corresponding slot extending longitudinal through plastic block 56, into which is secured self-threading screw 58, which holds block 56 and daughter board 30 together. The horizontal portion 60 of stiffener 48 extends before tightening of the screw 58 downwardly in the direction of the daughter board at an angle of 1°, so that on tightening of screw 58 a force in the direction of the daughter board is imposed by stiffener 48 at protuberance 52. 
     Each portion 12 and 14 is greater in length (i.e., the longitudinal direction) than width (that shown in FIG. 1), and includes a multiplicity of contacts including female portions in longitudinal rows. Stiffener 48 and daughter board 30 are secured to a plurality of connectors 10. Blocks 56 are short in the direction longitudinal of the daughter board, stiffener, and connectors 10, and are fewer in number than said connectors. 
     In assembly, contacts are first mounted in their respective housings of portions 12 and 14. The contacts from portion 12 are then pressed as a group into the respective holes of daughter board 30, using the tool 70 shown in FIG. 3; slots 72 permit the contacts to move thereinto, enabling slots 74 to engage protuberances 62, 64 and drive the contacts press-fittedly into the soldered-through holes provided for them, the insertion stopping upon engagement by the daughter board 30 surface of abutments 76 of housing 26. Support 78 cooperates with the daughter board 30 to support the latter while the contacts of portion 12 are being inserted. The contacts of portion 14 are then inserted in daughter board 30, reversing of course the locations of tool 70 and support 78. Daughter board 30 is supported only by the contacts from portions 12 and 14, being out of contact with any other support both along its face opposite that abutting abutments 76 and along its edge therebetween and above portions 12 and 14. 
     The longitudinally outermost contact row nearest each end of each connector is spaced closely enough to the respective said end that the distance to the outermost contact row adjacent it of the adjacent connector may be the same as the distance between connectors, in a direction longitudinal of the connectors and daughter board, within a connector. 
     My invention has many mechanical and electrical advantages. Contact length is both shorter and more uniform, and contact mass may be greater, as may contact separation. Inductance, resistance, and cross-talk may be reduced. Reliability is good. Outer rows of contacts 38 and 46, connected to grounding portions 33 and 47 of character the same as the lower portions 36 of said U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,518 provide the entire contact zone with a surrounding shielding. 
     Other embodiments of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art.