Board mounted electrical connector

Claim 2

An electrical connector for mounting on a circuit board, comprising: a dielectric housing having a top face, a bottom board-mounting face and a front mating portion extending generally parallel to the circuit board; a set of first terminals mounted in the housing and insertable through the top face thereof and having tail portions for connection to appropriate circuit traces on the circuit board, the first terminals having contact portions on a top side of the mating portion of the housing for engaging appropriate contacts of a complementary mating connecting device; and a set of second terminals mounted in the housing and insertable through the bottom board-mounting face thereof and having tail portions for connection to appropriate circuit traces on the circuit board, the second terminals having contact portions on a bottom side of the mating portion of the housing for engaging appropriate contacts on the mating connecting device.

Claim 3

The electrical connector of claim 1 wherein the top and bottom sides of said mating portion of the housing have positioning channels for receiving the respective contact portions of the terminals.

Claim 4

The electrical connector of claim 2 wherein said contact portions are generally flat and generally coplanar at the top and bottom sides of the mating portion of the housing.

Claim 5

The electrical connector of claim 3 wherein said mating portion of the housing is flat with generally planar top and bottom sides generally parallel to the circuit board.

Claim 6

The electrical connector of claim 1 wherein the tail portions of the first and second terminals have coplanar surfaces for soldering to circuit traces on a mounting surface of the circuit board.

Claim 7

The electrical connector of claim 1 wherein the contact portions of the terminals have bent distal ends positioned in recesses in the mating portion of the housing to prevent the distal ends of the terminals from stubbing on the contacts of the mating connecting device.

Claim 8

The electrical connector of claim 1 wherein said first terminals have upwardly projecting pusher tabs to facilitate inserting the first terminals into the housing from the top face thereof until the tail portions of the first terminals are exposed at the bottom board-mounting face of the housing.

Claim 9

The electrical connector of claim 1 wherein said housing has an open rear end which allows for visual inspection of the connections between at least some of the terminals and the circuit traces on the circuit board.

Claim 10

An electrical connector for mounting on a circuit board, comprising: a dielectric housing having a top face, a bottom board-mounting face and a front mating portion extending generally parallel to the circuit board, said mating portion being flat with generally planar top and bottom sides generally parallel to the circuit board, and the top and bottom sides of the mating portion having positioning channels extending in a mating direction; a set of first terminals mounted in the housing and insertable through the top face thereof and having tail portions for connection to appropriate circuit traces on the circuit board, the first terminals having generally flat contact portions positioned in the positioning channels in the top side of the mating portion of the housing, the flat contact portions being generally coplanar at the top side of the mating portion for engaging appropriate contacts of a complementary mating connecting device; a set of second terminals mounted in the housing and insertable through the bottom board-mounting face thereof and having tail portions for connection to appropriate circuit traces on the circuit board, the second terminals having generally flat contact portions positioned in the positioning channels in the bottom side of the mating portion of the housing, the flat contact portions being generally coplanar at the bottom side of the mating portion for engaging appropriate contacts of a complementary mating connecting device; and the tail portions of the first and second terminals having coplanar surfaces for soldering to circuit traces on a mounting surface of the circuit board.

Claim 11

An electrical connector for mounting on a circuit board, comprising: a dielectric housing having a top face, a bottom board-mounting face and a front mating portion extending generally parallel to the circuit board, said mating portion being flat with generally planar top and bottom sides generally parallel to the circuit board, and the top and bottom sides of the mating portion having positioning channels extending in a mating direction; a set of first terminals mounted in the housing and insertable through the top face thereof and having tail portions for connection to appropriate circuit traces on the circuit board, the first terminals having generally flat contact portions positioned in the positioning channels in the top side of the mating portion of the housing, the flat contact portions being generally coplanar at the top side of the mating portion for engaging appropriate contacts of a complementary mating connecting device; a set of second terminals mounted in the housing and insertable through the bottom board-mounting face thereof and having tail portions for connection to appropriate circuit traces on the circuit board, the second terminals having generally flat contact portions positioned in the positioning channels in the bottom side of the mating portion of the housing, the flat contact portions being generally coplanar at the bottom side of the mating portion for engaging appropriate contacts of a complementary mating connecting device; and the tail portions of the first and second terminals having coplanar surfaces for soldering to circuit traces on a mounting surface of the circuit board.

Claim 12

The electrical connector of claim 9 wherein the contact portions of the terminals have bent distal ends positioned in recesses in the mating portion of the housing to prevent the distal ends of the terminals from stubbing on the contacts of the mating connecting device.

Claim 13

The electrical connector of claim 9 wherein said first terminals have upwardly projecting pusher tabs to facilitate inserting the first terminals into the housing from the top face thereof until the tail portions of the first terminals are exposed at the bottom board-mounting face of the housing.

Claim 14

The electrical connector of claim 9 wherein said housing has an open rear end which allows for visual inspection of the connections between at least some of the terminals and the circuit traces on the circuit board.