A hermaphroditic or non-gender specific electrical connector is provided having at least two portions which press or mate together in forming the connector. A first connection unit and a substantially identical second connection unit are joined. Elongated cantilever-type conductive contacts may be provided for connection with a counterpart second set of elongated cantilever-type conductive contacts within apertures or slots in respective insulative housings. Solder portions or solder balls may be provided for interconnection of the elongated contacts with external circuit board traces or the like. Solder balls also may serve to hold the first end of cantilevered contacts in place within opposed insulative bases that are adapted to mate to each other. The connector may be provided in a two part co-planar array. Opposing contacts bear against each other in resilient electrical communication in a manner that minimizes the total amount of displacement required within the insulative housing
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application was filed concurrently with three related applications: (1) "Apparatus and Method for Making Electrical Connectors", by Ashman et al., filed Jul. 30, 2002; (2) "Apparatus and Methods for Retaining and Placing Electrical Contacts", by Ashman et al., filed Jul. 30, 2002; (3) "Electrical Connector", by Ashman et al., filed Jul. 30, 2002.
An electrical connector includes a frame including at least two supporting arms configuring at least one mounting area, at least one housing unit assembled to the supporting arms and located with the at least one mounting area. An inter-aligning arrangement is arranged between the supporting arms and the at least one housing so as to ensure the at least one housing unit is properly attached to the frame. The inter-aligning arrangement includes at least one groove located at one of the supporting arm and the housing unit, and at least one projection located at the other.
An electrical connector (1) includes a housing (2) and conductive contacts (3) partially positioned in the housing. The housing has a base wall (20) and side wall (21). The top edge of the side wall has a thickness larger than other portion of the side wall. Each contact has a body portion (31) and a pair of cantilevered beams (32) extending from the body portion. A stabilizer (4) is assembled in the housing. The stabilizer provides a general flat planar surface (40) on a top and defines a number of cavities (41) exposed to the surface. The cantilevered beams extend through the cavities of the stabilizer and exposed partially outside the surface thereof.
