Connector with means for securing to a substrate

Claim 1

A connector adapted for mounting on a circuit substrate comprising: a housing of electrically insulating material having a front wall and a rear wall, a top wall and a bottom wall, two side walls and a plurality of parallel, partition walls disposed vertically between said two side walls and defining a plurality of parallel channels between said two side walls, said connector being mounted on the circuit substrate along at least a portion of said bottom wall, a plurality of contact elements of electrically conducting material disposed in said channels of the housing, each of said contact elements having a contact end for electrically mating with another connector and a connecting end for electrically connecting the contact element to said substrate, and means for securing the connector to the substrate including at least one flat member formed of solderable metal, said flat metal member disposed vertically within in at least one of said partition walls of the housing, said metal member being approximately T-shaped with a top horizontal portion and a substantially pin-shaped, vertical portion extending at a right angle from the top horizontal portion, said top portion extending also horizontally within at least a lower portion of said one partition wall toward said rear wall, said top portion provided with a lip along a lower edge thereof for engaging an interior surface of the bottom wall of the housing, said vertical portion projecting perpendicularly from the bottom wall of the housing to engage a corresponding aperture in said circuit substrate wherein it is soldered for securely mounting the connector to said substrate, said flat metal member being of a thickness less than said one partition wall and said one partition wall being of the same thickness as the other partition walls, thereby providing equal spacing between said contact elements irrespective of said metal member.