Pin header connector

Claim 1

An improved pin header connector mountable to a circuit substrate comprising: a plurality of terminal subassemblies, each subassembly comprising an array of terminal members secured in dielectric means, each said dielectric means having mating and mounting surfaces, each said terminal member having a forward connecting portion at least exposed at said mating surface and a rearward connecting portion at least exposed at said mounting surface, said second connecting portions of said array of terminal members being adapted to electrically engage respective conductive areas of a corresponding array on the circuit substrate; shell means defining a like plurality of terminal subassembly receiving cavities and including means securing said terminal subassemblies within respective said cavities in a manner permitting incremental floating of said subassemblies in a transverse direction relative to said shell means, defining a connector; means included on each said terminal subassembly for aligning thereof cooperable with corresponding aligning means of the circuit substrate associated with each said array of conductive areas by causing incremental transverse movement of each said terminal subassembly within a respective said cavity, such that said second connecting portions of each said array of terminal members are aligned with respective conductive portions of a respective corresponding array on said substrate upon connector mounting thereon; and means independent of said aligning means for mounting said shell means to said substrate such that said terminal members are electrically engaged with corresponding conductive pad arrays on said substrate, whereby the connector so defined includes terminal subassemblies each independently alignable with corresponding arrays of conductive areas on said substrate while being retained in a common shell.