Patent ID: 8123532

Claim:
An electrical connector assembly comprising: a first connector module including a bottom mounting wall and pins extending from the bottom mounting wall, the pins being configured to be terminated to a circuit board; a second connector module including a bottom mounting wall and pins extending from the bottom mounting wall, the pins being configured to be terminated to the circuit board; and a carrier system comprising an organizer having an upper surface and a lower surface with openings therethrough in a predetermined pattern, the organizer being coupled to the first and second connector modules such that the upper surface engages the bottom mounting walls of the first and second connector modules, at least some of the pins of the first connector module extend through the openings of the organizer, and at least some of the pins of the second connector module extend through the openings of the organizer; wherein the first connector module includes walls defining an outer perimeter and the second connector module includes walls defining an outer perimeter, wherein at least one of the walls of the second connector module is off-set with respect to corresponding walls of the first connector module such that the outer perimeters of the first and second connector modules are out of alignment with respect to one another, the carrier system further comprising a stiffening member being coupled to the first and second connector modules, the stiffening member having a transition section spanning between corresponding walls of the first and second connector modules that are offset with respect to one another to hold the first and second connector modules together; wherein the first connector module, the second connector module and the organizer are configured to be mounted to the circuit board as a bundled unit.