Connector having a lever for opening and closing upper and lower arms of forked contact members

Claim 1

A connector, comprising: an approximately box-shaped housing having an insertion opening for the insertion of an FPC: forked contact members provided within said housing: and a lever which is provided so as to face the insertion opening of said housing, and which is turnably held by said housing, wherein each forked contact member includes an upper arm and a lower arm extending approximately parallel with each other toward said insertion opening, and a forked engaging arm extending in a direction opposite to said insertion opening. wherein said lower arm is held by said housing. wherein said lever includes a holding portion, a rotational shaft which is provided to said holding portion and held by said housing, and first plate cams which are provided to said rotational shaft, each first plate cam being engaged with said engaging arm, and wherein, when said holding portion is raised, said forked engaging arm is deformed by said first plate cam, so as to increase a distance between the upper arm and the lower arm of each forked contact member, wherein said rotational shaft is formed of rigid metal, wherein said holding portion is formed of an insulating material, and wherein said rotational shaft and said holding portion is formed as a single unit.