Patent ID: 7086880

Claim:
A method for connecting a plug to a socket, the socket comprising: an insulating socket housing having an opening part through which a plug having dual in-line male contacts is inserted; female contacts which are arrayed in parallel on a pair of opposing inner walls of the opening part and come into contact with the male contacts when the plug is inserted into the opening part; an insulating shutter which closes a front face of the opening part when the plug is removed and retracts towards a rear face of the opening part by being pushed by the plug when the plug is inserted for protecting the female contacts from dust; and a shell covering the socket housing: wherein the shutter is formed of a substantially flat board-like element disposed approximately perpendicular to the direction of the plug insertion; and wherein the shell comprises a pair of members formed on a pair of opposing edges for partially covering the front face of the opening part and for preventing the shutter from coming out from the socket housing, and the plug comprising: an insulating plug housing having a frame part and a header part which is formed integrally with the frame part and is protruded from the frame part to be inserted into the socket; male contacts arrayed in parallel and on a pair of outer walls on the header part; and a plug shutter which covers the male contacts arrayed on the header part and can be stored in the frame part, the method comprising: moving the plug shutter towards the rear face of the opening part along inner walls of the opening part when the plug is inserted into the opening part of the socket; and moving the plug shutter towards the front face of the opening part along the inner walls of the opening part when the plug is removed from the socket.