Patent ID: 7384288

Claim:
A connector for establishing electric interconnection between printed circuit boards stacked vis-à-vis one on another and in parallel with each other, the connector comprising: a depressed connector housing of a rectangular parallelepiped shape and having a front wall and a rear wall, a number of vertical holes pierced in and extending between a top and a bottom of the connector housing so as to penetrate it, the holes being for insertion of terminal pins, the front and rear walls respectively having horizontal slots pierced therein to receive contacts, each of the slots arranged to form an upper row and a lower row extending to intersect the corresponding one of the vertical holes at a right angle, each contact having a pin receiving portion that engages with the terminal pin inserted in the slot, each contact further having a body portion extending rearwards from the pin receiving portion, a rear end region of the body portion being bent down and then rearwards to form a lead portion, and one of the printed boards having a circuit pattern that is to be soldered to such lead portions of the contacts, such that the other printed circuit board mating with the one printed board has the terminal pins surface mounted to fit in the vertical holes, and the terminal pins from the mating printed board electrically engage with the pin receiving portions, wherein the connector further comprises short-circuit pins as well as canalled apertures that are formed in the front and rear walls and each in communication with the two adjacent slots, such that each short-circuit pin fitted in the chosen one of the canalled apertures is kept in touch with the two contacts held in the two adjacent slots, thereby establishing electrical engagement of one of the two contacts with the other so as to change arrangement of signal connections ‘S’ and grounding connections ‘G’ on one of the printed circuit boards.