Patent ID: 7070464

Claim:
An electrical connector for power applications, the connector comprising: a) an insulative housing; b) a cavity disposed in said insulative housing, the cavity defined by a first wall and two spaced apart housing walls that each extend from the first wall; and c) a power contact disposed in said cavity, said power contact comprising: a pair of opposed contact walls defined by a first planar panel, a second planar panel a bridging element adjoining the first and second planar panels, a medial space between the first planar panel and the second planar panel; a first compressible beam that adjoins the first planar panel and extends in a direction generally parallel to one of said two spaced apart housing walls; a second compressible beam that adjoins the second planar panel and extends in a direction generally parallel to one of said two spaced apart housing walls, the first and second compressible beams extending outwardly away from each other and inwardly toward each other; and separated contact terminals that extend from the first planar panel and the second planar panel in a direction perpendicular to the first compressible beam and the second compressible beam and generally parallel to one of said two spaced apart housing walls, wherein at least one portion of the first planar panel and the second planar panel is spaced from an adjacent one of said housing walls such that heat dissipation can also occur from an exterior surface of the power contact.