Thin, applied-to-surface type of electric connector

Claim 1

In an electrical connector for surface mounting to a circuit board, including: an elongate dielectric housing having a board mounting face and a pair of stabilizing projections extending in opposite directions outward from sidewalls of said housing away from the longitudinal centerline of said housing, and a pair of rows of terminal receiving cavities including a portion extending through said mounting face, said rows being positioned on opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline of said housing and extending in a direction generally parallel to said longitudinal centerline; a plurality of terminals secured within respective ones of said cavities, each terminal including a contact portion for contacting a mating electrical component, a securing section having securing means for securing said terminal within said housing and a tail portion extending from said securing section for soldering said terminal to a selected conductor on said circuit board, a portion of said tail portion extending under said board mounting face, the tail portions of the terminals positioned in one of said rows of cavities extending in a first direction away from said longitudinal centerline and the tail portions of the terminals positioned in the other of row of cavities extending in a second, opposite direction away from said longitudinal centerline, said tail portions being generally perpendicular to said contact portions and said securing section; characterized in that: the lateral distance between the ends of tail portions of the terminals positioned int he two rows of cavities is less than the lateral distance between the two oppositely extending stabilizing projections; and the sidewalls have a recess adjacent the board mounting face to facilitate bending of the tail portion of the terminals, wherein said recess is generally triangular and includes a first portion having a first slope relative to the board mounting face and positioned to generally abut the intersection between said tail portion and said terminal securing section to facilitate bending of said terminal to position said tail portion at its operative position, and a second adjacent slop steeper than said first slope relative to said board mounting face to allow sufficient access to said tail portion to permit surface mount soldering of said tail portion to said circuit board.