Claims
- 1. A first terminal frame at least partially locatable within an insulative housing of an electrical connector and adjacent a second terminal frame, the first terminal frame comprising:a plurality of contacts; bridges extending between adjacent contacts; and an auxiliary contact which forms a first beam of a dual beam contact; wherein a second beam of said dual beam contact is formed by an auxiliary contact of said second terminal frame.
- 2. The terminal frame as recited in claim 1, further comprising a perimeter, wherein said contacts extend from said perimeter.
- 3. The terminal frame as recited in claim 2, wherein said perimeter bounds an open central area.
- 4. The terminal frame as recited in claim 2, wherein said plurality of contacts reside along one edge of said perimeter.
- 5. The terminal frame as recited in claim 2, a portion of said plurality of contacts reside along one edge of said perimeter and a remainder of said plurality of contacts reside along an adjacent edge of said perimeter.
- 6. The terminal frame as recited in claim 1, wherein the terminal frame includes a plurality o f terminal frame sections, each associated with an insulative housing of a respective electrical connector.
- 7. The terminal frame as recited in claim 6, wherein one of said terminal frame section s is a generally mirror image of another terminal frame section.
- 8. An electrical connector mountable on a substrate and adapted to engage a mating connector, the connector comprising:a plurality of modules, each module including: an insulative housing; a plurality of first contacts at least partially surrounded by said insulative housing, said first contacts adapted to engage the substrate; bridges extending between adjacent first contacts; a plurality of second contacts for engaging contacts on the mating connector; and a circuit substrate having conductive traces thereon extending between at least some of said first and second contacts.
- 9. The electrical connector as recited in claim 8, wherein said first contacts of at least two of said modules are from a common terminal frame.
- 10. The electrical connector as recited in claim 9, wherein a portion of said common terminal frame used with one of said modules is generally a mirror image of another portion of said common terminal frame used with another of said modules.
- 11. The electrical connector as recited in claim 10, wherein said mirror image portions of said common terminal frame reside in adjacent modules.
- 12. The electrical connector as recited in claim 11, wherein said adjacent modules are connected by a junction joining said portions of said common terminal frame.
- 13. The electrical connector as recited in claim 8, wherein said insulative housing is overmolded around at least a portion of said first contacts.
- 14. The electrical connector as recited in claim 13, wherein said insulative housing surrounds at least one of said bridges.
- 15. The electrical connector as recited in claim 14, wherein said insulative housing includes an aperture revealing at least one of said bridges.
- 16. The electrical connector as recited in claim 15, wherein said aperture extends completely through said insulative housing.
- 17. The electrical connector as recited in claim 13, wherein at least one of said bridges is located outside of said housing.
- 18. The electrical connector as recited in claim 17, wherein said at least one bridge located outside said housing resides in a notched area in said housing.
- 19. The electrical connector as recited in claim 8, wherein at least some of said bridges are discontinuous.
- 20. The electrical connector as recited in claim 19, further comprising a frame residing within said insulative housing and connected at least one of said first contacts.
- 21. The electrical connector as recited in claim 20, wherein at least one of said second contacts are connected to said frame.
- 22. The electrical connector as recited in claim 20, wherein said plurality of first contacts reside in a row, and the first and last contacts in said row are connected to said frame.
- 23. The electrical connector as recited in claim 22, further comprising an auxiliary contact connected to said frame.
- 24. The electrical connector as recited in claim 23, wherein said auxiliary contact forms one beam of a dual beam contact, the other beam of the dual beam contact formed by an auxiliary contact of a terminal frame of an adjacent module.
- 25. The electrical connector as recited in claim 20, wherein said frame has a peripheral extent and an open central area.
- 26. The electrical connector as recited in claim 8, wherein said insulative housing comprises at least one opening for receiving said second contacts.
- 27. The electrical connector as recited in claim 8, further comprising a shroud for protecting said second contacts.
- 28. The electrical connector as recited in claim 27, wherein said insulative housing has at least one sleeve extending therefrom, surrounding said second contacts and received within said shroud.
- 29. The electrical connector as recited in claim 28, wherein one sleeve surrounds two of said second contacts.
- 30. The electrical connector as recited in claim 8, wherein said terminal frame further comprises at least one projection for interacting with said insulative housing.
- 31. The electrical connector as recited in claim 8, further comprising bridges extending between adjacent second contacts.
- 32. A method of making an electrical connector mountable on a substrate and adapted to engage a mating connector, comprising the steps of:providing a plurality of modules, each module formed by the steps of: providing a terminal frame, comprising: a plurality of first contacts adapted to engage the substrate; and a bridge extending between adjacent first contacts; providing an insulative housing; at least partially surrounding said terminal frame with said insulative housing; providing a plurality of second contacts for engaging contacts on the mating connector; providing a circuit substrate with conductive traces thereon; and connecting said first and second contacts to said conductive traces on said circuit substrate; and arranging said modules.
- 33. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 32, wherein said second contacts are part of said terminal frame.
- 34. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 32, further comprising the steps of:providing a shroud; and connecting said modules to said shroud.
- 35. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 33, wherein the terminal frame surrounding step includes the step of surrounding at least one of said bridges with said insulative housing.
- 36. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 35, further comprising the step of severing at least some of said bridges.
- 37. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 32, wherein the terminal frame surrounding step comprises the step of overmolding said housing around said terminal frame.
- 38. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 37, wherein the overmolding step of at least two of said modules occurs generally simultaneously.
- 39. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 37, wherein the arranging step includes the step of placing the simultaneously formed modules adjacent one another.
- 40. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 37, wherein the overmolding step includes the step of forming at least one aperture in said insulative housing to reveal at least one of said bridges.
- 41. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 40, further comprising the step of severing at least one of said bridges through said at least one aperture.
- 42. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 32, further comprising the step of severing at least some of said bridges.
- 43. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 42, wherein the severing step occurs subsequent to the surrounding step.
- 44. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 32, further comprising the step of severing said terminal frame from a common terminal frame used to form more than one module.
- 45. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 44, wherein one of said terminal frames is a generally mirror image of another said terminal frame.
- 46. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 45, wherein the arranging step comprises the step of placing said modules having mirror image terminal frames adjacent one another.
- 47. The method of making an electrical connector as recited in claim 46, wherein the placing step comprises the step of bending said common terminal frame.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/784,743 and 08/784,744, both filed on Jan. 16, 1997, U.S. Ser. No. 08/973,811 filed on Dec. 9, 1997, U.S. Ser. No. 08/974,536 filed on Nov. 19, 1997 and U.S. Ser. No. 09/113,579 filed on Jul. 10, 1998, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
WO9702627 |
Jan 1997 |
WO |