Patent ID: 7458732

Claim:
An optical and electrical compound connector for at least one of receiving and transmitting light signals and at least one of receiving and transmitting electric signals simultaneously, the connector comprising: a flexible sheet-shaped base board having at least one light guide provided therein along an insertion direction of the sheet-shaped base board and conductor patterns provided on a surface of the sheet-shaped base board, the conductor patterns being provided between a front end and a rear end of the sheet-shaped base board in the insertion direction, the sheet-shaped base board being configured to transmit the light signals and the electric signals simultaneously; a connector main body connected to the sheet-shaped base board; a light-sensitive element configured to receive the light signals from at least one of the light guide of the sheet-shaped base board and a light emitting element configured to transmit light signals to the light guide of the sheet-shaped base board; contacts performing transmission and reception of the electric signals with respect to the conductor patterns of the sheet-shaped base board; the connector main body having a first wall and a second wall which encloses the sheet-shaped base board from both sides in a thickness direction of the connector main body, and the connector main body having a third wall facing the front end of the sheet-shaped base board in the insertion direction; at least one of the light-sensitive element and the light emitting element are disposed on one of the first, second and the third walls; the connector main body comprising a body portion having the first wall and the third wall, and a cover connected to the body portion, the cover providing the second wall and being configured to rotate between an opened state and a closed state; each of the contacts having a protrusion formed at a part thereof electrically connected to the conductor patterns of the sheet-shaped base board by an electric connection, the contacts being disposed on the first wall; and a measure of a clearance between the protrusion and the second wall, when the cover is closed without connecting the sheet-shaped base boards, is smaller than a measure of a thickness of the sheet-shaped base board.