Patent ID: 7226311

Claim:
A socket assembly including a plurality of sockets piled up in a plurality of tiers for accommodating a plurality of cards having different lengths in a card insertion direction, each of said sockets comprising: an opening provided on a front end of said each socket, wherein all openings of said sockets are arranged at the same position in said card insertion direction; an accommodation space extending rearwardly from said opening to receive one of said cards through said opening; a plurality of terminals arranged on a rear side of said each socket, said terminals being brought into contact with said one of said cards in said accommodation space and having connection portions projecting rearwardly from said each socket and bent downwardly at right angles with respect to said card insertion direction, said sockets being piled up from bottom tier to top tier in an order of increasing length in said card insertion direction to form a stepped space that is defined by a rear end face of a lower-tier socket and a rear lower face of another socket provided in an upper tier; and a connector, at least part of which is accommodated in said stepped space, said connector including a housing having a plurality of support portions for supporting said connection portions of said terminals, wherein said housing has front and rear walls extending vertically, in each of which said support portions are provided, such that an air layer is provided between said front and rear walls when said connector is plugged in another connector attached to a circuit board; wherein said sockets are provided in two tiers and said connection portions of said terminals in said two tiers are supported by said support portions provided on external surfaces of said front and rear walls such that when said connector is plugged in said another connector, said connection portions are brought into contact with terminals of said another connector outside said air layer between said front and rear walls.