Surface mountable board edge connector

Claim 1

An electrical connector including a housing having a mating face and a board engaging face and plurality of first and second terminal members disposed therein, each of said first terminal members having a respective contact section extending in a first row from said board engaging face and each of said second terminal members having a respective contact section extending in a second row from said board engaging face, said first and second rows being opposed to each other and defining a board receiving entrance therebetween; each of said first row contact sections including respective contact surface adapted to engage a corresponding circuit at a first position on a first major surface of a circuit board, said first position being a selected distance from an edge of said board; each of said second row contact sections being adapted to engage a second major surface of said circuit board only at spaced apart second and third positions from said edge of said board, said second position being at least proximate to said board edge and said third position being farther from said board edge than said first position, each of said second row contact sections including a contact surface adapted to engage a corresponding circuit on said second board surface at at least one of said second and third positions; whereby said second and third positions are axially offset from each other and from said first position enabling said second row contact sections to engage said board under spring bias at respective positions staggered from said first position and the arrangement altogether defining a stable board support with minimal rotation.