Patent ID: 7156701

Claim:
A socket connector for connecting a card edge module to a circuit board, said socket connector comprising: a base extending along a longitudinal axis between opposed ends, the base including a mounting face configured to be received on the circuit board; support towers integrally formed with the base and located at the opposed ends of the base, the support towers extending upward from the base away from the mounting face, each of said base and said towers including open sided mating surfaces that collectively define a mating plane, the open sided mating surfaces being configured to receive the card edge module from a lateral direction with respect to said mating plane when the card edge module is loaded into the connector, the mating plane having an entirely open side such that the open sided mating surface of the base is entirely exposed laterally in a direction extending perpendicular from the mating plane; and electrical contacts held in said base, said contacts having mating ends extending laterally from, and being exposed at, the open-sided mating surface of the base, the contacts having mounting ends extending from the mounting face.