Input/output intercard connector

Claim 1

An intercard connector system comprising an elongated header member of rigid insulative material having oppositely directed mounting and mating surfaces, said header member having the mounting surface engaging a circuit board, profiled means at each end of said header member allowing mating only in a direction coplanar to said mating surface, a plurality of pin terminals mounted in said header member in patterned array with one end of each terminal engaging circuitry of said circuit board and the other end projecting from said mating surface; and a connector member having an elongated housing of rigid insulative material having a mating portion profiled to be received in said header member in a direction parallel and adjacent to said mating surface and a terminating portion, a plurality of terminal passages each extending between said mating and terminating portions with adjacent passages opening in opposite directions at said terminating portion enabling said passages to have a close centerline spacing, and a plurality of first and second terminals alternating in adjacent ones of said passages, each said terminal having a conductor engaging first end and a pin engaging second end, the first ends of said first terminals opening in one direction and the first ends of said second terminals opening in the opposite direction, said first and second terminals being inserted alternately into adjacent passages in a direction normal to the axis of said passage so that said first ends are accessible from the respective sides of said connector and said second ends are accessible only from the mating face.