EP1049218A2

EP1049218A2 - Electrical connector having reduced width

Info

Publication number: EP1049218A2
Application number: EP00109222A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Toshihisa Hirata; Masami Sasao
Original assignee: Molex LLC
Current assignee: Molex LLC
Priority date: 1999-04-28
Filing date: 2000-04-28
Publication date: 2000-11-02
Also published as: KR200314796Y1; CN1218440C; CN1284767A; JP2000323240A; JP3287810B2; KR20000077106A; TW452243U; EP1049218A3

Abstract

An electrical connector having an conductive terminals with solder tabs arranged in an insulative in a manner to enable miniaturization without risking defective soldering during manufacture. The connector includes an insulative housing having a terminating portion for supporting the solder tabs, the terminating portion having first and second sides. The housing includes recessed trenches within which the solder tabs respectively reside. In an embodiment, some of the solder tabs are located at the first side of the terminating portion, and the remainder of the solder tabs are located at the second side of the terminating portion in an alternating, staggered height manner. The staggered arrangement provides a suitable distance between adjacent terminal solder tabs on the same side of the terminating portion, thereby preventing soldering errors. Also, in an embodiment, the solder tab portions are disposed at acute angles, supported by the housing within V-shaped trenches. Such an embodiment further enhances soldering joint integrity by permitting contact of a soldering tool directly against both the slant-mounted soldering tab and the wire to be soldered thereto.

Description

Background of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors, and particularly relates to a connector having an arrangement of multiple conductive terminals for allowing a small width.

Known electrical connectors having an insulative housing and a plurality of conductive terminals configured for a solder connection to conductive leads, such as wires or cables. To accommodate the soldering connections, such known connectors have a rearward terminating portion, wherein the conductors are arranged for connection to wiring. In particular, each of the terminals has a plate-like portion referred to herein as a solder tab portion, and the plurality of solder tab portions are arranged in a common plane within the terminating portion of the housing. Furthermore, the housing of the conventional connector has plurality of side-by-side openings along one side of the terminating portion, the openings providing access to the solder tab portions for soldering respective wires thereto.

The conventional connector has a width dimension necessary to accommodate the planar, side-by-side solder tab portions. The solder tab portions of the terminals are arranged with an even center-to-center spacing, referred to herein as "pitch," within the terminating portion, and the adjacent terminals are further separated by a plurality of walls defined in the housing. Accordingly, in the conventional connector, the minimum width of the connector is limited by the collective widths of the solder tab portions of the terminals, the walls between solder tab portions and the surrounding housing walls.

It has been desirable to minimize the width of connectors for various applications. The drive to miniaturize has resulted in merely reducing dimensions of the planar-arranged solder tab portions and housing walls in an effort to reduce their collective side-by-side width dimension. Unfortunately, the reduction is limited by the nature of the soldering process. In particular, it has been found that a certain wall width is needed between openings of adjacent solder tab portions for preventing molten solder from undesirably flowing among adjacent terminal cavities. Such behavior would, of course, result in unacceptable defects such as short circuits. Therefore, a conflicting design objective is to keep a large distance between adjacently-exposed solder tab portions in the conventional connector.

Miniaturization efforts have been further thwarted by a need to provide connectors carrying an increased number of terminals. It has proven impossible to provide a conventional terminal of the described design to have a greater number of the terminals without increasing the full width of the terminating portion.

Also, attempts at alternative manufacturing methods have been found to be less economical. For example, to manufacture connectors according to an overmold method, resin material must be cast into the connector after the terminals are arranged on a mold with high precision, which requires highly precise machining technology that is very expensive.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides an improved electrical connector that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art connectors. The present invention provides a connector having a design that facilitates the miniaturization by reducing the width of the connector and reducing the pitch of the terminals, while providing sufficient spacing and wall thickness between adjacently exposed terminals in the terminating portion of the connector to permit effective and efficient soldering of conductive leads to the terminals.

For example, in an embodiment, an electrical connector is provided including an insulative housing having a terminating portion and a mating portion, a plurality of terminal cavities in the housing. Each of the terminal cavities defines a trench, and a plurality of the trenches are laterally arrayed in the terminating portion. The terminating portion has a first side and a second side. The connector further includes a plurality of conductive terminals, each of the terminals having a contact portion at the mating portion for conductively mating with a respective mating connector and a solder tab portion for soldering to a conductive lead. Each of the terminals resides in a respective one of the terminal cavities such that each of the respective solder tab portions is located in a respective trench of the terminating portion. Additionally, an opening in each trench provides access to the respective solder tab portion. According to an embodiment, one or more of the openings is in the first side of the terminating portion and another one or more of the openings is in the second side of the terminating portion.

In an embodiment, the openings in the first side and the openings in the second side correspond respectively to alternating terminals.

In an embodiment, the solder tabs corresponding to the openings in the first side are at a first height, and the solder tab portions corresponding to the openings in the second side are at a second height, the first height being different from the second height. In a related embodiment, the contact portions of all of the terminals are at a third height, and the terminals having the solder tab portions at the first height are formed to have an first offset bend, and the terminals having the solder tab portions at the second height are formed to have a second offset bend.

In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, an electrical connector is provided including an insulative housing having a terminating portion and a mating portion. A plurality of terminal cavities are in the housing, and each terminal cavity defines a trench. Each trench has at least two walls, and a plurality of the trenches are laterally arrayed in the terminating portion, the terminating portion having a first side. The connector further includes a plurality of conductive terminals, each of the terminals having a contact portion for conductively mating with a respective mating connector and a solder tab portion for soldering to a conductive lead. Each of the generally planar solder tab portions has a generally planar section supported in the trench and is disposed at an acute angle with respect to the first side of the terminating portion.

Advantageously, the angled orientation of the solder tab portions occupies less width, permitting a reduction in width of the overall connector.

In an embodiment, an electrical connector is provided including an insulative housing having a terminating portion and a mating portion. A plurality of terminal cavities extend through the housing, each of the terminal cavities defining a trench in the terminating portion. The connector additionally includes a plurality of conductive terminals. Each of the terminals has a contact portion for conductively mating with a respective mating connector and a solder tab portion for providing a solder connection to a conductive lead. Each of the terminals resides in a respective one of the terminal cavities so that the solder tab portion is disposed in the corresponding trench. A plurality of overhanging edges are defined in the housing such that each trench includes an opening through a side of the terminating portion defined by an opposed pair of the overhanging edges. In an embodiment, the overhanging edges are dimensioned to prevent the solder tab portion from lifting through the opening.

An advantage of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical connector.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having reduced width.

A further advantage of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having reduced pitch between the solder tab portions of the terminals.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a connector that permits a greater number of terminals while having a width dimension that is less than achievable in a connector of a conventional design.

A still further advantage of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector that facilitates reliable, easy soldering of conductive leads to the conductive terminals.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the detailed description of the drawings, the claims and figures.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a conventional electrical connector.

FIG. 2 is an schematic end view of the connector of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic, fragmentary end view of the connector of FIGS. 1 and 2, showing a soldering operation.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an electric connector in accordance with a teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a connector housing of the connector of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a side, elevational, sectional view of the electric connector of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a side, elevational sectional view of the connector housing of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is an end view of the connector of FIG. 4 with conductive wire leads positioned for soldering shown in phantom.

FIG 9 is an end view of the connector housing of FIG. 5.

FIG 10 is an end view of an electrical connector constructed in accordance with teachings of the present invention, the connector including a connector housing having ridges overhanging the terminals.

FIG. 11 is a side view of one of the plurality of terminals as used in the connectors of FIGS. 4 and 10.

FIG. 12 is a side view of another one of terminals as used in the connectors of FIGS. 4 and 10.

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary, plan view of one of the terminals as used in the connector of FIG. 4, showing an anchoring portion.

FIG. 14 is a schematic, plan view of another connector constructed in accordance with teachings of the invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic, end view of the connector of FIG. 14 with conductive wire leads positioned for soldering shown in phantom.

FIG. 16 is a schematic, fragmentary end view of the connector of FIG. 14, showing a soldering operation.

FIG. 17 is a plan view of a further connector constructed in accordance with teachings of the invention, showing conductive leads and soldering tools in phantom.

FIG. 18 is an end view of the connector of FIG. 17.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Now referring to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate like components, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a conventional connector 20. The conventional connector 20 generally includes an insulative housing 28 having a mating portion 22 for cooperatively mating with a mating connector (not shown) and a terminating portion 24 for permitting a solder connection to a cable having a plurality of conductive wires 26, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The insulative housing 28 has a plurality of terminal cavities defined therein. At the terminating portion 24 of the connector, each of the terminal cavities is shaped as a trench 30. The connector 20 further includes a plurality of conductive terminals 32, each of which is disposed in a respective one of the terminal cavities. Each of the terminals 32 has a contact portion 34 located at the mating portion 22 of the housing 28 for conductively mating with the mating connector. Each of the terminals 32 also has a solder tab portion 38 opposite the contact portion 34. The solder tab portion 38 of the terminal 32 is located at the terminating portion 24 of the housing 28, and each of the solder tab portions 38 provides a location for a soldered connection to the respective wire 26.

As shown in FIG. 2, all of the solder tab portions 38 are arranged side-by-side in a common plane in the terminating portion 24 of the conventional connector 20. Additionally, all of the trenches 30 of the conventional connector 20 are open toward a common side of the terminating portion 24. The solder tab portions 38 are spaced from each other at evenly spaced intervals by a distance X1, indicated in FIG. 1. The housing 21 includes a plurality of walls 40 having a thickness X1, each of the walls 40 separating adjacent solder tab portions 38.

The trench 30 provides access for soldering the wire 26 to the respective solder tab portion 38 with a soldering tool 42, as illustrated in FIG. 3. More particularly, the soldering tool 42 is brought against the wire 26 to apply heat. When solder is applied, molten solder flows over the wire 26 and solder tab portion 38 within the trench. The separation distance X1 and thickness of the respective wall 40 between adjacent solder tab portions 38 must be sufficiently large to prevent solder from flowing from one of the trenches 30 into the adjacent trench 30 during the soldering operation. If the distance X1 is too small, solder can undesirably flow between adjacent trenches 30, causing a defect such as a short circuit. As a result of the need to keep the distance X1 large between the planar-arranged solder tab portions 38, efforts to miniaturize the connector 20 have been naturally limited.

Moreover, in a case where a greater number of the terminals 32 are provided in the conventional connector 20, it has been impossible to arrange plurality of respective solder tab portions 38 in the terminating portion 24 without increasing the overall width of the terminating portion 24.

Now turning to FIGS. 4-18, various embodiments are illustrated according to teachings of the invention. A first embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 4-9. More specifically, FIGS. 4, 6 and 8 illustrate a connector 50 generally including an insulative housing 52 and a plurality of conductive terminals 54A-D. Referring to FIG. 4, the housing 52 includes a body portion 62, a mating portion 64 at one end of the body portion 62 for mating with a mating connector (not shown). Opposite to the mating portion 64, the connector 50 includes a terminating portion 66 for connection to a cable having a plurality of conductive wires 26 (FIG. 8). The terminating portion 66 of the housing has a first side 68 and a second side 70. In an embodiment, the second side 70 faces in an opposite direction relative to the first side 68. Furthermore, the first side 68 and second side 70 extend from the body portion 62 to an end face 72 of the terminating portion 60.

The housing 52, shown isolated in FIGS. 5, 7 and 9, includes a plurality of terminal cavities 74. Each of the terminal cavities 74 is shaped to hold a respective one of the terminals 54A-D. At the terminating portion 66, each of the terminal cavities 70 has a portion that defines an open trench 76A-D. Each of the terminal cavities 74 has a hollow tunnel section 78 that extends through the body portion 62 of the housing 52 leading between the terminating portion 60 and the mating portion 64 of the housing 52. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the tunnel sections 78 may be arranged in the same plane.

The trenches 76A-D are laterally arrayed in the terminating portion 66. More particularly, in the embodiment as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the connector 50 has

trenches

76A and 76C located at the first side 68 of the terminating portion 66 and

trenches

76B and 76D located at the second side 70 of the terminating portion 66.

Each of the terminals 54A-D has a respective contact portion 80 at the mating portion 64 of the housing 52 for conductively mating with a respective mating connector and a solder tab portion 82A-D for soldering to conductive wire 26. The solder tab portions 82A-D are located respective trenches 76A-D. Additionally, each trench 76A-D is open in order to either the first side 68 or second side 70 of the terminating portion 66 in order to provide access to the respective solder tab portion 82A-D therein. The openings are particularly useful for permitting soldering a wire 26 to the respective solder tab portion 82A-D. In the illustrated embodiment, the openings of

trenches

76A, 76C in the first side 68 and the

openings

76B, 76D in the second side 70 correspond respectively to alternating terminals 54A-D.

Additionally, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, the adjacently located solder tab portions 82A-D are staggered in height. More particularly, the

solder tab portions

82A, 82C corresponding to the openings in the first side 68 are at a first height, and the

solder tab portions

82B, 82D corresponding to the openings in the second side 70 are at a second height, the first height being different from the second height by a distance Y, indicated in FIG. 6. Additionally, the contact portions 80 of all of the terminals 54A-D are at a third height.

To accommodate the different heights of the solder tab portions 82 A, C and 82B, D, each of the terminals 54A-D is shaped with an appropriate offset. For example, FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate

terminals

54A and 54B, respectively, in greater detail. Each of the

terminals

54A, 54B has the respective contact portion 80 and an anchoring portion 84 extending rearwardly from the contact portion 80. As shown in FIG. 13, the anchoring portion 84 includes outwardly extending barbs 86 designed for one-way insertion. The anchoring section 84 permits insertion of the terminals 54A-D into the respective terminal cavities 74. Securing the terminal within the slot, the barbs 86 embed within the tunnel section 78 of the respective terminal cavities, resisting movement of the terminals 54A-D in a removal direction.

At a rear of the anchoring portions 84, each the terminals 54A-D includes a step 88. The step 88 may be have a common dimension among each of the terminals 54A-D. The step 88 provides a surface on which a pressing tool (not shown) can exert an insertion force upon the terminals 54A-D during assembly. As illustrated in FIG. 4, each of the terminals 54A, B and D further includes a laterally offset portion 90A,B and D.

FIGS. 6 and 12 illustrate the terminal 54B, having a long offset bend 92B to position the solder tab portion 82B at the lower, second side 70 of the terminating portion 66. FIG. 11 illustrates the terminal 54A having a shorter offset bend 92A to position the solder tab portion 82A at the first side 68 of the terminating portion 66. The terminals 54B, D have offset

bends

92B, 92D that are longer than offset bends 92A, 92C of terminals 54A, C. The solder tab portions 82A-D are preferably planar to facilitate a solder connection to respective wires 26.

For permitting insertion of the terminals 54B, D into the terminal cavities 74 that are open to the second side 70 of the terminating portion 66 (i.e., downward in FIG. 8), the housing 52 includes slots 94 to accommodate passage of the longer offset

As shown in FIG. 4, the

terminals

54A and 54C adjacently located at the first side 68 of the terminating portion 66 are separated by a distance X2 in a lateral direction. The

terminals

54B and 54D adjacently located at the second side 70 are also separated by distance X2, so that the terminals 54A-D are arranged at even lateral intervals, or a first pitch. The contact portions 80A-D are evenly separated at a second pitch that may be different from the first pitch, due to the laterally offset portions 90A, B and D of the terminals 54A, B and D.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the opening of each of the trenches 74A-D includes a pair of chamfered surfaces 96 sloping into the trench. Each pair of chamfered surfaces 96 defines an opening into the trench. The chamfered surfaces 94 serve to help seat the wires 26 properly against the solder tab portions 82A-D for soldering.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, a connector 50' has chamfered surfaces 94' which further define overhanging edges 96 projecting over the solder tab 82A-D disposed in the corresponding trench. The overhanging edges 96 are dimensioned to prevent the solder tab portions 82A-D from lifting from the trench 76A-D through the opening. Notably, the trench could be provided with only one overhanging edge to effectively prevent such lifting. Thus, the overhanging edges 96 advantageously help prevent defects, such as a circuit failure or short-circuiting, from a wire breakage at the terminating portion 66 caused by a lifting of the solder tab portions.

In order to permit assembly of the terminals 54A-D with the housing 52, the terminating portion 66 is shaped to facilitate insertion of the terminals 54A-D into the terminal cavities 74. As for the

terminals

54A, 54D having the respective

soldering tab portions

82A, 82D at the first side of the terminating portion 66, insertion is not impeded. For each

trench

76B, 76D that opens to the second side 70 of the terminating portion 66, a slot 98 extends through the terminating portion 66 from the first side 68 to the second side 70, the slot 98 having a length from the end face 72 to the body portion 62 of the housing 52. The terminals 54A-D are inserted from a direction of the end face 72 of the terminating portion 66 toward the mating portion 64. The slot 98 allows clearance of the longer offset bends 92B, 92D of the

terminals

54B, 54D during the insertion movement.

In the connector 50 shown in FIGS. 4-10, some of the solder tab portions of the terminals are arranged on the first side and the remainder of the solder tab portions are arranged on the second side. Accordingly, it is possible to arrange all of the respective solder tabs more closely together in a lateral width direction while keeping a sufficient interval X2 (FIG. 4) between adjacent solder tab portions at the same side of the terminating portion. As a result, the overall width of the terminating portion may be reduced, and the connector 50 enables more miniaturization than could be achieved in previous connectors without incurring defects. Furthermore, since the solder tab portions of the respective terminals may be arranged on both surfaces of the terminating portion, it is possible to provide a connector having a greater number of terminals without substantially increasing the connector width.

Turning to FIGS. 14-16, a connector 100 is illustrated according to another embodiment. The connector 100 includes an insulative housing 102 and a plurality of conductive terminals 104. Referring to FIG. 14, the housing 102 includes a body portion 106 and a mating portion 108 at one end of the body portion 106 for mating with a mating connector (not shown). Opposite to the mating portion 108, the connector 100 includes a terminating portion 109 for connection to a cable (not shown) including a plurality of wires 26 (FIGS. 15 and 16). The housing 102 includes a plurality of terminal cavities for holding the respective terminals 104. At a first side 105 of the terminating portion 109, each of the terminal cavities defines a generally V-shaped open trench 110 having two sides 111A, 111B.

As shown in FIG. 14, each of the terminals 104 has a contact portion 112 at the mating portion 108 of the housing 102 for conductively mating with a respective mating connector and a solder tab portion 114 for soldering to a conductive lead. Each of the terminals 104 resides in a respective one of terminal cavities. More particularly, each of the respective solder tab portions 114 is located in a respective one of the V-shaped trenches 110, lying against a surface thereof that is at an acute angle relative to the first side 105 of the terminating portion 109.

The slanted orientation of the solder tab portions 114 enables a compact width of the terminating portion 109 of the connector 100. More particularly, the lateral width dimension of each slanted solder tab portion 114 is reduced. Accordingly, the collective widths of the slanted tabs occupy less width, and the terminating portion 109 requires less width than a conventional connector wherein the solder tab portions are oriented in a common plane. Notably, the thickness of the terminating portion 109 is not significantly increased by the slanted arrangement of the solder tab portions 114.

In general, a soldering operation is as follows. A wire is positioned against a solder tab portion 114. A tip of a soldering tool is brought into contact against the wire. In typical connectors, the tip of soldering tool is not contacted directly against the solder tab, because the soldering tool is obstructed from contacting the terminal to apply heat. In some connectors, insufficient heating of the terminal results in an inadequate solder joint, causing possible defects such as structural weakness and poor conductivity.

Advantageously, the slanted solder tab portions 114 of the connector 100 allow the tip of the soldering tool 42 to contact both the wire 26 and the solder tab portion 114, as shown in FIG.16. This results in directly heating both the solder tab portion 114 and the wire 26, resulting in an effective solder connection.

FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate a further embodiment, showing a connector 200. The connector 200 has a housing 202 having a mating portion 204, a body portion 206, and a terminating portion 208. The housing 202 contains terminal cavities 210 for housing respective conductive terminals 212. At the terminating portion 208, the terminal cavities 210 define respective trenches 211 in one side 209 of the terminating portion 208 for housing respective solder tab portions 214 of the terminals 212. Each of the trenches 211 opens to a first side 213 of the terminating portion 208. Like in the embodiment described in connection with FIG. 10, the housing 202 includes a pair of chamfered surfaces 215 providing a pair of overhanging edges 216 which define the opening to each respective trench 211. The overhanging edges 216 are dimensioned to prevent the solder tab portions 214 from lifting from the trench 211 through the opening. The overhanging edges 216 project into the trench to effectively prevent such lifting, thereby avoiding associated defects. Moreover, because the overhanging edges 216 project into and over the trench 211, the trenches 211 in one side of the terminating portion 208 occupy less width than the trenches 30 in one side of the terminating portion 24 of the prior art connector 20 shown in FIGS. 1-3.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific features of the described embodiment. Various substitutions and modifications to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example,

male connectors

50, 50', 100 and 200 have been used for explanation. However, it should be understood that the invention could be applied to a female connector as well. Such substitutions and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

An electrical connector (50, 50') comprising:

an insulative housing (52) including a terminating portion (66) and a mating portion (64), a plurality of terminal cavities (74) in the housing, each terminal cavity defining a trench (76A-D), a plurality of the trenches being laterally arrayed in the terminating portion, said terminating portion having a first side (68) and an second side (70); and

a plurality of conductive terminals (54A-D), each of the terminals having a contact portion (80) at the mating portion (64) for conductively mating with a respective mating connector and a solder tab portion (82A-D) for soldering to a wire (26), each of the terminals residing in a respective one of terminal cavities, each of the respective solder tab portions located in a respective trench of the terminating portion, and an opening in each trench (76A-D) providing access to the respective solder tab portion;
wherein one or more of the openings is in the first side (68) of the terminating portion (66) and another one or more of the openings is in the second side of the terminating portion (68).
The connector (50, 50') of claim 1, further wherein the openings in the first side (68) and the openings in the second side (70) correspond respectively to alternating terminals (54A-D).
The connector (50, 50') of claim 1, wherein the solder tabs (82A, 82C) corresponding to the openings in the first side (68) are at a first height, and wherein the solder tab portions (82B, 82D) corresponding to the openings in the second side (70) are at a second height, the first height being different from the second height.
The connector (50, 50') of claim 3, wherein the contact portions (80) of all of the terminals (54A-D) are at a third height, and wherein the terminals (54A, 54C) having the solder tab portions (82A, 82C) at the first height are formed to have an first offset bend (92A, 92C), and wherein the terminals (54B, 54D) having the solder tab portions (82B, 82D) at the second height are formed to have a second offset bend (92B, 92D).
The connector (50, 50') of claim 4, wherein for each terminal cavity (74) having an opening in the second side (70), the housing includes a slot (98) to accommodate passage of the second offset bend (92B, 92D) of the corresponding terminal (54B, 54D) during insertion of that terminal into the corresponding terminal cavity.
The connector (50, 50') of claim 1, wherein the solder tab portions (82A-D) are spaced at a first pitch, and wherein the contact portions (80) of the terminals are spaced at a second pitch different from the first pitch.
The connector (50, 50') of claim 6, wherein some of the terminals have a width-wise lateral offset (90) to compensate for the difference between the first pitch and the second pitch.
The connector (50, 50') of claim 1, wherein each of the openings has a pair of chamfered surfaces (94) angled into the trench.
The connector (50') of claim 1, wherein each of the openings has a pair of opposed overhanging edges (96) over the solder tab (82A-D) disposed in the corresponding trench.
The connector (50') of claim 9, wherein the overhanging edges (96) are dimensioned to prevent the solder tab portions (82A-D) from lifting through the opening.
An electrical connector (100) comprising:

an insulative housing (102) including a terminating portion (109) and a mating portion (108), a plurality of terminal cavities in the housing, each terminal cavity defining a trench (110), each trench having at least two walls, a plurality of the trenches being laterally arrayed in the terminating portion, and said terminating portion having a first side (105); and

a plurality of conductive terminals (104), each of the terminals having a contact portion (112) for conductively mating with a respective mating connector and a solder tab portion (114) for soldering to a wire (26), each of the solder tab portions (114) having a generally planar section supported in said trench and being disposed at an acute angle with respect to the first side of the terminating portion.
The connector (100) of claim 11 wherein one of the walls of at least one of the trenches (110) being disposed at an acute angle with respect to the first side of the terminating portion (109).
The connector (100) of claim 11 wherein the first side (105) of said terminating portion (109) is coplanar with the outermost edges of said walls of said trenches (110).
An electrical connector (50, 200) comprising:

an insulative housing (52, 202) including a terminating portion (66, 208) and a mating portion (64, 204), a plurality of terminal cavities (74, 210) in the housing, each of the terminal cavities defining a trench (76A-D, 211) in the terminating portion;

a plurality of conductive terminals (54A-D, 212), each of the terminals having a contact portion (80) for conductively mating with a respective mating connector and a solder tab portion (82A-D, 214) for providing a solder connection to a wire, each of the terminals residing in a respective one of the terminal cavities with the solder tab portion disposed in a respective one of the trenches; and

a plurality of overhanging edges (96, 216) extending into the trench in said housing such that each trench includes an opening through a side of the terminating portion defined by said overhanging edge.
The connector (50', 200) of claim 14, wherein the overhanging edges (96) are dimensioned to prevent the solder tab portion (82A-D) from lifting through the opening.
The connector (50') of claim 14, wherein the terminating portion (66) includes a first side (68) and a second side (70) oppositely directed from the first side, and wherein one or more of the openings are disposed in the first side and one or more of the openings are disposed in the second side.
The connector (200) of claim 14, wherein all of the openings are open to a common side of the terminating portion (208).