Surface mount connector

Claim 1

An electrical connector for mounting on a printed circuit board, comprising: a dielectric housing having first, second and third parallel rows of passages extending from a front surface to a rear surface thereof, said first row of passages being adjacent a top surface of said housing, said second row of passages being immediately below said first row and said third row of passages being adjacent a bottom surface of said housing; a plurality of electrical contacts disposed in respective passages of said first, second and third rows, said contacts including post sections intermediate sections and tail sections, said post sections extending forwardly from said front surface of the housing, said intermediate sections retained in said passages and said tail sections extending rearwardly and downwardly from said rear surface of said housing and being disposed in first, second and third rows with the first row furthest from said housing, the third row closest to said housing and the second row in between said first and third rows, said tail sections having convex shaped free ends for soldered connection with respective conductive pads on a printed circuit board; and securing means provided by said housing for securing the electrical connection onto the printed circuit board so as to position said convex shaped free ends on said respective conductive pads, wherein the thicknesses of the tail sections vary according to the rows with those disposed in the first row being thickest, those disposed in the third row being thinnest and those disposed in the second row being of an intermediate thickness.