Patent ID: 8398417

Claim:
An electrical connector comprising: a housing made of insulator and provided thereon with an opening through which a flat circuit device is inserted into the housing and which opens on one of a pair of opposite end portions of the housing, a plurality of conductive contacts arranged on the housing, each of which has a connecting terminal portion projecting from the other of the pair of opposite end portions of the housing to the outside of the housing and a press-contacting portion positioned in the housing to be operative to come into press-contact with a connecting terminal provided on the flat circuit device inserted in the housing through the opening provided thereon, and a shell member mounted on the housing for covering partially the same and provided in a body therein with a holding portion operative to be put in engagement with the flat circuit device inserted in the housing for holding the same, a releasing portion operative to release the holding portion from the engagement with the flat circuit device inserted in the housing and a connecting portion for connecting the holding portion with the releasing portion, wherein the releasing portion extends to the outside of the housing from a portion of the shell member covering an end portion of one of a pair of opposite plate-shaped portions of the housing which face each other with the opening provided on the housing between, the connecting portion extends to be bent from the releasing portion toward the other of the pair of opposite plate-shaped portions of the housing in a direction perpendicular to a direction along which the conductive contacts are arranged, and the holding portion is constituted with a cantilever arm extending to be bent from the connecting portion into the housing and an engaging projection formed at an end of the cantilever arm, so that a folded-back protrusion formed in a body in the shell member is constituted with the releasing portion, the connecting portion and the holding portion.