Patent ID: 7651362

Claim:
A connector arrangement for respectively connecting a plurality of electrical conductors (C) with a plurality of circuits on a printed circuit board ( 25 ), comprising: (a) a printed circuit board ( 25 ) having a plurality of electrical circuits thereon; (b) a pair of plug and socket connector members ( 2 , 3 ) having colinear longitudinal axes, (1) one of said connector members including a transverse row of conductive pins ( 26 ) connected with said printed circuit board electrical circuits, respectively; (2) the other of said connector members including a transverse row of terminals ( 27 ) adapted for connection with the electrical conductors, respectively; (3) said plug and socket connector members having a connected condition in which abutting surfaces on said connector members are contained in a common plane ( 6 ) and said pins are connected with said terminals; and (c) locking means for locking together said connectors in said connected condition, said locking means being located within said rows of conductive pins and terminals, said locking means including a locking member ( 4 ′) mounted on one of said connector members, said locking member having a longitudinal axis parallel with that of said one connector member, said locking member including: (1) a pair of end portions, and an intermediate portion; (2) said locking member intermediate portion being pivotally connected with said one connector member for pivotal movement about a fixed pivot axis ( 31 ) that extends transversely relative to said locking member longitudinal axis; (3) a first one of said locking member end portions comprising a resilient tongue portion ( 8 ′) extending into an insertion passage ( 35 ) contained in the adjacent end of the other one of said connector members, said tongue portion terminating in a catch portion ( 7 ′) that is normally biased in one direction toward locked engagement with a transverse catch edge ( 30 ) arranged in said insertion passage; (4) the other one of said locking member end portions having a manually operable button portion ( 12 ′) extending outwardly from the associated connector member for pivoting said tongue portion in the opposite direction, thereby to release said catch portion from said catch edge, whereby connector members are unlocked for the longitudinal separation thereof.