Zero force printed circuit board connector

Claim 1

A printed circuit board connector comprising: a mounting member having two rows of holes therein; two rows of resilient contacts having lower mounting portions mounted in said two rows of holes respectively in said mounting member; each said contact having an upper contact portion and an intermediate region between said upper and lower portions, the intermediate regions of said contacts of said two rows of contacts being inclined upwardly toward each other; an elongated hollow insulative housing mounted over said contacts onto said mounting member, said housing having an upper wall with a printed circuit board receiving slot therein between said two rows of contacts; a vertically slidable, inverted, insulative hollow shell mounted over said two rows of contacts within said housing, said shell having an upper wall with a printed circuit board receiving slot therein aligned with said first-mentioned slot, said shell having cam surface means thereon engaging said intermediate regions of said contacts of said two rows of contacts, said cam surface means actuating said upper portions of said contacts of said two rows of contacts transversely towards each other upon downward movement of said shell in said housing; and elongated longitudinally movable actuating cam means in said housing between said upper walls of said housing and said shell, movement of said actuating cam means moving said shell downwardly to simultaneously actuate said contacts, said actuating cam means comprising a pair of parallel, spaced cam rods on opposite sides of a vertical plane passing through said slots.