High density connector

Claim 1

An electrical connector system of the type comprising a plurality of elongated contact elements each having a radial shoulder; an electrically insulating rear housing having openings therethrough; a plurality of hollow, resilient frusto-conical latching elements extending forwardly from a front face of said rear housing in alignment with said openings therein; said latching elements each being of a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart spring fingers; each of said contact elements extending through one of said rear housing openings and an associated latching element, with said shoulder thereof positioned forward of and adjacent to a distal end of the associated latching element and with said spring fingers closed behind said shoulder to prevent pull-out of said each contact element from the associated latching element; and a front housing having a plurality of recesses extending therethrough and aligned with said latching elements; each of said latching elements, with the contact element positioned therein, being positioned within a corresponding one of said recesses; each of said recesses having walls in close apposition to the latching element contained therein to provide support therefor; the improvement wherein at least a pair of said front housing recesses having adjacent sidewalls are sufficiently close to each other that portions of said adjacent sidewalls intersect to produce a communicating opening between said pair of recesses, and wherein said spring fingers in each of said pair of recesses extend only along those portions of the walls of the recess in which they are located which are circumferentially spaced from said communicating opening.