JPH0278168A - Printed circuit board edge connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reliably connect pins fixed on a mount body to contacts and a printed circuit board when the printed circuit board is situated in place with respect to a socket. CONSTITUTION: For the formation of pins 50 on the lower side of a mount body 20 a spring alloy sheet 10 is punched out at its flat portion. The pins 50 are considerably thinned compared with the mount body 20. The contact pins 50 extend downward in their accurate positions with respect to positioning pins 60 such that they extend so as to pass through a printed circuit board onto a connector body 54 is totally inserted and come into electric connection to the printed circuit board by soldering.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printed circuit board edge connector that can be mounted for electrical connection and that can accommodate a printed circuit board for making the electrical connection.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In electronic technology, printed circuit boards or printed wiring boards are formed to house a large number of electronic components, such as integrated circuit chips with memory and logic functions. Large memory capacities require large numbers of integrated circuit chips. In current technology, jiIf1 circuit chip packages are surface mounted onto printed circuit boards.

Printed circuit elements are led to bands at the edges of the printed circuit board where connections to other circuit elements are required.

In the past, such printed circuit boards were brazed directly to the printed circuit board (mother board) for a permanent TFI connection. Connectors are commonly employed to facilitate the insertion and removal of such printed circuit boards.

There are a large number of contacts, and each contact requires wiping during installation to ensure a secure connection. Because of the large number of contacts, the sheer wiping force on each contact is too great and therefore excessive force is required to attach it to the printed circuit board. This excessive force can cause the printed circuit board to bend. The curvature may cause undesirable bending of the surface-mounted element and result in a defective connection.

Another problem is that printed circuit boards made of dielectric polymeric composite materials, often filled with glass fibers or the like, have large thickness tolerances during typical manufacturing. Variations in I'd of the printed circuit board therefore make it difficult to make reliable contact. Conventional edge connectors require a small insertion force and use C-shaped contacts.
When a printed circuit board with the maximum allowable thickness is employed, its contacts are bent beyond their elastic limits to such an extent that when the printed circuit board is removed, it does not return to its original unloaded state. Since the C-shaped contact is stamped from a flat workpiece, it has a very large spring constant. When a reliable contact force is provided for the minimum thickness printed circuit board, an excessive contact force will be generated for the maximum thickness printed circuit board, resulting in damage or removal (= 1 injury and difficulty). Become.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

It is an object of the present invention to provide a printed circuit board edge connector that overcomes the above-mentioned problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

One of the aspects of the invention is that the contact is formed by being cut from a generally flat sheet of metal spring material and folded out of the plane of the sheet, the contact having two arms to form a generally U-shaped socket. and the arms each have opposing walls to define the socket, each of these walls having opposing contacts, the contacts having a printed circuit board between the contacts. spaced apart such that the printed circuit board does not contact the contacts when the printed circuit board is at a first angle with respect to the wall, and engages both contacts when the printed circuit board is at a second angle with respect to the wall. a spring is formed extending from an outer end of one of the arms, and a mounting body is formed on the opposite side of the spring from the socket, the mounting body being such that the printed circuit board is connected to the first When the socket is moved from an angular position to a second angular position, the spring can be attached to the connector body so that the spring is deflected so that the socket can move; a printed circuit board, the pins being fixed and connectable to the printed circuit board such that the pins are connected to the contacts and the printed circuit board when the printed circuit board is in a second angular position in the socket. Located on the plate edge connector.

Another aspect of the invention is a connector body having at least first and second rails defining a length, the connector body being attached to one of said rails to define an upwardly facing pocket in the connector body. It consists of a laterally extending web, a stem in the web extending halfway through the thickness of the web and extending halfway up the height of the web from the bottom of the connector body, and a contact in each said pocket, each contact having a flat surface. A mounting formed unitarily from a sheet of metal spring material +A, each contact having a pin and a body thereon, said mounting having a body wider than the pocket.
, a spring is fixed in a slot on the first side of the pocket, a spring is formed extending from the upper side of the body, a socket is formed in the spring, and the spring and the socket are attached to them. The mounting has a width narrower than the width of the body so that it can be inserted into the pocket from the bottom of the connector body,
The socket is U-shaped, a spring extends from the end of one arm of the U-shaped socket, and a socket for each contact is inserted into which the edge of the printed circuit board is inserted for electrical connection. The printed circuit board edge connector is characterized in that it is aligned along the longitudinal direction so as to be able to form a printed circuit board edge connector.

Yet another aspect of the invention provides a plurality of contacts comprising a pin, a mounting body, a spring formed by curving a flat sheet of material, and a U-shaped socket, the socket and spring being attached to the mounting body. The process of punching and forming a plurality of contacts from a metal sheet material, such that the contactors are narrower than the socket and spring and are fixed to the side and back in the form of a contact chisel, and the mounting width is narrower than the body. molding the connector body with an interlocking composite material so that pockets are molded between the webs; simultaneously inserting a plurality of contacts into a corresponding number of pockets by passing the contacts and springs through the pockets; Attachment to the web forming a pocket to hold the contacts in the pocket so that the pins extend out from the bottom of the connector body engages the body, and then said lateral back to separate each contact. A method of manufacturing a printed circuit board edge connector, comprising the step of removing.

〔Effect of the invention〕

To aid in understanding the present invention, a printed circuit board edge connector is described herein in which the connector body supports a plurality of contacts, each contact having a socket having staggered contacts. The socket receives the edge of the printed circuit board when the plane of the printed circuit board is perpendicular to the direction between the contacts. The printed circuit board is then rotated and the contacts are held in position to engage bands on the printed circuit board. Elastic deformation of the contact away from the socket overcomes the 1'' error.

The present invention therefore provides a novel and highly reliable printed circuit board edge connector for bringing a large number of contacts into contact with pads on a printed circuit board when the printed circuit board is inserted, rotated, and retained in the connector. .

The present invention further provides a printed circuit board edge connector in which the insertion force is nearly zero and only a small force is required to swing the printed circuit board into the contact position in which it is held. , provides a contact spring for such a printed circuit board, which includes a U-shaped socket for accommodating the edge of the printed circuit board, and which includes a single leaf spring so that the resiliency due to dimensional tolerances is removed from the socket. The mounting extends from the socket to the body in shape.

The present invention provides a dielectric connector body for accurately positioning the contacts and accurately positioning the tails for accurately connecting the printed circuit board to the connector, and for accurately positioning the connector on the printed circuit board. Provide a contact structure for positioning and holding.

Additionally, the contacts are unidirectionally stamped and formed from sheet metal material, which allows multiple contacts to be loaded into the connector at once to assemble the connector without requiring multiple insertion operations.

Preferably, the present invention provides a connector body that holds and retains the contacts, protects the contacts, and is drainable for subsequent cleaning operations.

Preferably, the contacts are made by forming metal spring sheet material such that the finished contacts have a small spring constant and work within their elastic limits during the insertion process and contact the printed circuit board within normal thickness tolerances. It will be done.

〔Example〕

1 to 9 show the contact molding process and the completed contact, respectively. In FIG. 1, sheet material lO is fed to a press that forms contacts in continuous operation. After the pressing operation is finished, the contacts are still connected in the form of a comb. The contacts are stamped and formed from a suitable conductive spring alloy. In the preferred embodiment, the plate is threaded with a steel plate having a thickness of approximately 0.010 inches. Although FIG. 1 schematically shows a process in which two contact combs are stamped and formed at the same time, only one contact comb may be used.

Since these contact combs have the same shape, only the contact combs on one side of the spring alloy sheet 10 will be described in detail. In the first step, slits 12.degree. 14 are formed.

These slits 12,14 are aligned with each other and define the center line of the contact to be molded. slit 12
．． A slot 16 is punched into the sheet material 10 using a dike, chisel or other slipper to form an arm 18. The arms 18 are of the same width and the wide attachment extends to the body 20. Attach the body 20 to the arm 18
Wider installations have pieces. Further, for installation, a guide protrusion 22 is left on the side surface of the body 20.

6 and 7 show in detail the machining process 7), in which after punching out the slot 16 to form the arm 18, the contact 24.
26 is coined from its underside, and the slits 12, 14 are separated and raised by applying the punch upwards. As can be seen from Figure 1, each arm 1
Due to the small size of the drawing in which two contacts are formed, only one contact 24 is shown in FIG. 1, but the other contact 26 is located next to it. Further along the arm 18 there is another set of contacts 2 as shown in FIG.
8 is molded. It should be noted that these contact sets 24, 28 are spaced apart from each other along the arm 18. The arm 18 is molded to define a socket. To form the socket 34, the bend 30 is first provided and then the bend 32 is provided. Socket 34 is shown in detail in FIGS. 2, 3, and 17. Third
As can be seen, the two arm portions forming the socket 34 extend approximately parallel to each other and the contacts 24.2
8 are located opposite each other in the socket 34. Importantly, these contacts 24, 28 are staggered with a maximum linear spacing. Furthermore, this straight road jjlD is U
It forms an angle to the arms of the glyph-shaped socket 34.

Contact point 24°2 perpendicular to the arm of the socket 34
8 has an interval of distance. Figure 5 shows the socket 34
is shown in a cross-sectional view in a direction perpendicular to the arm. In order to clarify the dimensions of distance ML, socket 34 is shown in FIG. 5 in a cross-section perpendicular to its arm.

This completes the molding of the socket 34, and then a spring is molded between the socket 34 and the mounting body 20 on the arm 18. To this end, the socket 34 and its mounting are in turn bent 36.3B in order to form the desired spring between the socket 34 and the point of connection with the body 20.

40.42 is provided. The spring shape is socket 34.
is placed within the connector body. As will be seen, the printed circuit board, in the preferred embodiment,
It is placed within the connector body at an acute angle with respect to its bottom. In another example, the printed circuit board is placed at a different angle to the bottom of the connector body, e.g.
In that case, the shape of the spring is oriented towards the socket 34. I+! ! Due to the size of one side, it is not possible to show the process in which the bent portion is formed continuously through the die in the longitudinal direction of the spring alloy sheet material 1o, but it is preferably unidirectional and continuous through the die. I can understand what is being done.

The upper part of Figure 1 shows that three contacts are formed in each step, and the lower part of Figure 1 shows that two contacts are formed in each step. With continuous dies, one or more contacts can be processed at each work station.

By completing the shaping of the bend, a spring is formed between the socket 34 and the mounting body 20.

After the bending of the spring portion 44 is completed or during bending of the spring, the attachment body 20 is coined with dimples. Importantly, the attachment body 20 is wider than the spring portion 44. The wide portion is shown in FIG. 12, and the attachment is shown in the body 20 by the guide projection 22 and the two coined dimples 46,48. These dimples 46.48 are socket 3
It is coined in the same direction as 4. In the final step of preparing the contact comb, the attachment stamps out a flat section of the spring alloy wire 10 to form a pin 50 on the underside of the body 20. These pins 50 need not be thinner than the body 20, but for other purposes they may be thinner than the body 20. As shown in the lower part of the figure,
It is still connected to the contact comb back 52. The contact groups are handled together including the insertion into the connector body. During molding of the pin 50, the pin 50 and the contact comb back portion 52
A cutting line is partially cut into the joint between. In order to fill all the pockets in the connector body, a contact comb 52 or a plurality of comb-shaped contacts is required, each containing the same number of contacts as there are pockets in the connector body.

The carp and the lid body 54 are shown in a perspective view in Fig. 1O, a bottom view in Fig. 11, a plan view in Fig. 14, and Figs. 17 and 1.
The connector bodies 54 shown in Figures 6 and 6, each shown in enlarged cross-sectional view in Figure 8, are configured to receive one printed circuit board for edge connection; It can also be configured to accommodate edge connections. The connector body 54 is formed into a rectangular parallelepiped structure with a flat bottom 56. its bottom 5
6 is provided with legs 58 for spaced apart the connector body 54 over the printed circuit board on which the connector is mounted.

Locating pins 60 also extend from the bottom 56 for accurately positioning the connector body 54 on the printed circuit board. These pins 60 are of various sizes or asymmetrical shapes so that the connector body 54 mounts in only one direction on the printed circuit board. Its positioning and orientation is determined by holes in the printed circuit board that receive pins 60. Contact pins 50 extend out of connector body 54 a shorter distance than pins 60 so that pins 60 suitably position the connector when placed on a printed circuit board.

The pins 60 and contact pins 50 are then lowered into their holes all at once. The spacing between the connector body 54 and the printed circuit board allows for full surface cleaning.

The connector body 54 has a front rail 62 and a downward groove portion 4A.
It consists of a central rail 64 and a back rail 66 in the shape of a. These rails 62, 64, 66 are connected at both ends by a left panel 68 and a right panel 70. As can be seen in FIGS. 17 and 18, this structure defines two longitudinal channels in the longitudinal direction of connector body 54. As shown in FIGS. A web extends into these channels towards i11. In FIGS. 17 and 18, a web 72 is shown in the right channel and a web 74 is shown in the left channel. These webs 72.74
As can be seen from FIG. 10, FIG. Webs 72,74 are shown partially cut away in FIG. 1O and also shown in FIG. Also shown in FIG. 11 is web 76 for defining pocket 78.

This portion of FIG. 11 is shown enlarged in FIG. 13. Slots 80.82 are formed in the webs 76.72, facing each other. These throwers) 80.82
The mounting is sized to accommodate the body 20. pocket 7
8 is wide enough to allow socket 34 and its spring to pass through.

When the contact comb is inserted from the bottom side of the connector body 54 as shown in FIG. into the slots 80.82 on the sides of 78.

Dimples 46 and 48 are attached to body 20.
0 to the back side of the slot, and the guide protrusion 22 presses the mounting body 2o against the side surface of the slot. In this way, each contact engages the slot-sides and the two slot backs to accurately position the contact in relation to its pocket. The fully inserted state is shown in FIGS. 17 and 18. After complete insertion, each contact is individually mounted in body 20 and slot 80.
．． 82 and the contact comb spines are broken off so that each contact is electrically insulated. The connector body 54 is dielectrically insulated for electrical isolation and mechanical integration. In this state, the socket 34 is protected by ribs 84, 86 on the rails.The entire connector body 54 is inserted onto the printed circuit board and makes contact. The contact pin 50 is in a precise position relative to the locating pin 60 so that the pin 50 extends through the printed circuit board and allows the contact pin 50 to make an electrical connection by brazing to an overlying printed circuit. After the brazing process the assembly is cleaned.In order to provide reinforcement between the rails and particularly long connectors, the web can be extended completely across the rails, e.g. In Figure 1I, the web 90 extends between the front rail 62 and the center rail 64, and the web 90 extends between the front rail 62 and the center rail 64.
4 and the rear rail 66.

This is thick for reinforcement (useful G).

FIG. 17 shows the printed circuit boards 92, 94 inserted into the contact sockets 34. socket 3
In order to prevent overloading of the springs behind 4, an edge 96 is provided on the web 88, which forms an insertion stop for the printed circuit board 92. The rounded upper edge of the rib 84 prevents serious injury to the socket 34. One of the problems with edge connections for printed circuit 4M 92.94 is that the printed circuit board 92.94 has very large thickness tolerances. Current plate tolerances, including the tin-plated contact pads on the edges of the printed circuit I92.94, range from 0.047 to 0.056 inches.

One printed circuit board 92 has a thick board thickness, and the other printed circuit board 94 has a thin board 1v-.

Each of these printed circuit boards 92, 94 represents a thickness tolerance limit. In order to reduce the insertion force of the printed circuit &92.94 into the contact socket 34, the socket 34 is formed with a distance MD of 0.056 inches or slightly thicker, as shown on the left side of FIG. j! at right angles to the distance mD so that An expensive printed circuit board 92 can be inserted freely. Furthermore, the socket 34 is formed such that the distance f between the contacts parallel to the sides of the socket 34 is 0.04 finches, which is the thickness of the printed circuit board at the narrow thickness tolerance edge. This allows a thin printed circuit board 94 to be inserted at a more than parallel angle to the arms of the socket 34 with zero contact pressure.

In either case, the angle at which the printed circuit boards 92,94 are inserted is greater than the angle at which they are fixed, so that the printed circuit F192,94 is shown in FIG. 18 from its inserted position in FIG. When rotated into the connection position, the sharp contacts 24.28 bite into the tin-plated contact pads on the printed circuit board. Wamping is not required as the sharp contacts 24.28 bite into the tin-plated contact pads for positive electrical contact. It is.

The final position of the printed circuit boards 92, 94 with respect to the connector body 54 is controlled by the inner wall of the termination panel. For example, during insertion, printed circuit board 92 engages right end wall 98 to position the longitudinal force of connector body 54. The printed circuit board 92 is connected to the right side +11. as shown in FIG. ! 1 end wall 98 and the left fi11 end wall 100. In addition, rotation of printed circuit board 92 in the right direction is limited by stopper surface 102 .

At the same time, connect the printer I/circuit board 92 and 94 to the connector body 54.
Locating projections 104 engage holes 106 in the printed circuit board 92.94 for accurate positioning with respect to and therefore with respect to the contacts therein. As can be seen in FIG. 17, this locating projection 104 is tapered to swing the printed circuit board 92.94 into its correct position. As shown in Figures 151il, 16 and 17Ty, the latch 108 has a thick printed circuit board 92 on the stopper surface lO2.
The thick printed circuit board 92 when lowered toward the
The latch 108 is dimensioned to engage the upper side, and is in the form of a hook tapered on the upper side (111) so that the printed circuit board 92,94 is oriented toward the stopper side 102. When lowered, the latch 10B is pushed aside and the resiliency of the latch material causes it to snap onto the printed circuit board 92.94, preventing overloading of the latch 108 and potentially causing it to break. To eliminate this problem, a latch stop 110 is provided as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, in which the latch 108 engages the latch stop collar 110 at all times to prevent overloading of its latch material. At the bottom, it can be swung out of the locked position by a limited distance. Latch 108 is preferably integrally molded with the rest of connector body 54. As shown in FIG. 1O, printed circuit board 9
2.94 in the connector body 54 in a precise position and hold it there, a locating projection 104 and a latch 10 are provided at each end of the two printed circuit board mounting locations.
There are 8. In this way, the printed circuit board edge has a precisely molded connector body from a dielectric polymeric composite material and has contact combs inserted therein for easy automatic assembly. A connector is formed. It is ensured that the insertion force of the non-printed circuit board 92.94 is zero, and that the printed circuit board 92.94 contacts the contacts 24.94.
The printed circuit board 92.94 can be automatically inserted into the connector body 54 with positive positioning relative to the connector body 28 and ensuring that the contacts 24.28 engage the contact pads of the printed circuit board 92.94.

The contact includes a socket 34 having a contact therein, a spring 44
, the attachment consists of a body 20 and a pin 50, all of which are integrally formed. The socket 34 is sized to accommodate a printed circuit board 92,94 within acceptable tolerances and is not adjustable for printed circuit board thickness tolerances. Since it is absorbed by the spring part 44,
It does not deform even under any circuit board jVL misalignment.

FIG. 18 shows the installed configuration of the printed circuit board and shows how the spring portion 44 deforms.

Since the deformation takes place in the slender direction of the contact,
A small spring constant is created such that the difference in contact forces between thin and thick printed circuit boards can be absorbed and placed well within the elastic limits of the contacts. Therefore, integrally molded contacts in which the socket, spring, handle and pin function separately are common to all contacts and connector bodies to ensure a secure connection.

The U-shaped socket eliminates the need for curving to accommodate printed circuit boards with varying thicknesses and has contacts that dig into the oxide on the tin-plated contact pads for a secure electrical connection, ensuring high reliability. have Although the preferred method of forming the contacts is shown in FIGS. 5-9, other spring forming methods may also produce sharp contacts. FIG. 19 shows the end of spring contact arm 112, which is equivalent to spring contact arm 18. FIG. In the case of this spring contact arm 112, its edges are shaped upwardly by dimples 114,116. As can be seen from Figure 20, these dimples 1
14.116 is at the edge of the 49 tentacle arm 112. The ridges of these dimples 114, 116 form sharp contact points 24
．． 26 to form sharp contacts 118,120. Due to the width of the contact pads on the printed circuit board and the lateral stability of the entire contact when the printed circuit board is inserted into the connector body, a large width across contacts 118, 120 is not necessary for stability. It is. Therefore, contacts made as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20 have the same effect.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to multiple embodiments, it is of course possible for those skilled in the art to implement various modifications without departing from the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the scope of the claims.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the spring alloy sheet material sequentially fed into a die to form a contact; FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views and enlarged side views of a completed single contact; FIG.
The figure is a front view of the contact seen from the direction of line 4--4 in figure 3, figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 5-5 in figure 3, and figure 6 is a slit in figure 1. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7 to 7 in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a partial plan view of the metal sheet material forming the sharp contact point in FIG. 1. , FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the contact along the line 9-9 in FIG. 8, FIG. 1O is a perspective view of the connector main body with no contacts installed, and FIG. A partial bottom view seen from the direction of 111M. FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the connector body passing through the slot that holds one of the contacts (a sectional view taken along line 12-12 in FIG. 17). FIG. 12th
13-131M in the figure, FIG. 14 is a plan view of the completed printed circuit board mount according to the invention in which the printed circuit board is inserted, and FIG. 15 is the same as in FIG. 14. 15-15tj (partially enlarged rear view seen from the direction of
17 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 17-17 in FIG. 14 with two printed circuit boards of maximum thickness and minimum thickness inserted into the socket, and FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6. 17 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 17 with the printed circuit board rotated into the locking position; FIG. 19 is a partial perspective view of the sorting material sequentially fed into the die to form different contacts; FIG. The figure is 20-20 in Figure 19.
It is a sectional view along the line. 10 Spring alloy sheet material. I2 Slit 14 Slit 16 Slit'7) 18 Arm 20 Mounting body 22 Guide protrusion 24 Contact 28 Contact 34 Socket 44 Spring portion 50 Contact pin 52 Contact comb back 54 Connector body 58 legs 60 Positioning pin 78 Pocket 92 Printed circuit board 94 Printed circuit board ζ1) Ganjindai Rindai Sato −Yuψ
-1111- g) -10B

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A contact is formed by cutting a substantially flat sheet of metal spring material and bending the sheet from the plane of the sheet, and the contact has two arms to form a substantially U-shaped socket. and the arms each have opposing walls to define the socket, each of the walls having opposing contacts, the contacts having a printed circuit board between the contacts. The printed circuit board does not contact the contacts when the printed circuit board is at a first angle with respect to the wall, and the printed circuit board is at a second angle with respect to the wall.
a spring is formed extending from an outer end of one of said arms and is spaced apart so as to engage both contacts when present at an angle of .degree. and the mount is attached to the connector body such that the spring deflects to allow movement of the socket relative to the mount when the printed circuit board is moved from a first angular position to a second angular position. a pin is fixed to the mount, the pin being connected to the contact and the printed circuit board when the printed circuit board is in a second angular position in the socket; A printed circuit board edge connector characterized in that it can be connected to. 2. An edge connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the contacts are formed as sharp points on the wall of the arm. 3. The edge connector according to claim 1, wherein at least one arm wall surface is flat, and both contact points are positioned such that a line connecting them is not perpendicular to the flat wall surface. 4. The edge connector of claim 1, wherein the mounting body is wider than the socket and the spring. 5. A dimple adjacent the edge of the mounting body wider than the spring so that when the mounting body is placed in the mounting slot in the connector body, the contact is pushed against one side of said slot. 5. The edge connector according to claim 4, further comprising: 6. An edge according to claim 5, characterized in that the attachment body has a protrusion on its edge that is at least as wide as the slot in order to press the attachment body towards one end of the slot in the connector body. connector. 7. The connector body has a slot, and the mounting body has a protrusion on its edge that is at least as wide as the slot for forcing the mounting body towards one end of the slot in the connector body. The edge connector according to claim 4. 8. The edge connector of claim 7, wherein the plurality of contacts are mounted on the comb back so that they can be handled together for insertion into the connector body. 9. The edge connector of claim 1, wherein the plurality of contacts are mounted on the comb back so that they can be handled together for insertion into the connector body. 10. A contact comb back to which a plurality of contacts are connected such that they can be handled as a unit and inserted into corresponding pockets in the connector body, each contact having a flat metal spring; a contact comb back formed from a sheet of material and integrally molded; pins for attachment to a printed circuit board; mounts for attaching each contact to a pocket in the connector body; a spring and a generally U. A printed circuit board edge connector comprising a U-shaped socket, characterized in that the socket is resiliently movable in any direction relative to the mounting body in the plane of the spring in response to stress in the U-shaped socket. 11. The socket has contacts on both sides, the contacts being inserted between the contacts at a first angle with respect to the socket, and with the printed circuit board at a second angle within the socket. 11. The edge connector of claim 10, wherein the contacts are spaced from each other so as to engage a printed circuit board when moved into position. 12. The edge connector of claim 11, wherein each mount includes a dimple for forcing it toward one side of a mount slot in the connector body. 13. The edge connector of claim 10, wherein each mount includes a dimple for forcing it toward one side of a mount slot in the connector body. 14, a connector body is molded from a dielectric polymeric composite material and has first and second rails extending longitudinally thereof, a web defining a contact pocket is present in the connector body; 1
and at least some of the webs extend between and between the second rails to mutually support the rails, the web connecting the first and second rails having a notch defined by an edge. and an edge in said web defines a maximum depth for engaging a printed circuit board to a connector body, and at least one of said rails protects all free ends of contacts within said pocket from mis-insertion of a printed circuit board. A printed circuit board edge connector comprising a rib covering said notch to protect against contact damage. 15. The web of claim 14, wherein the web has opposing slots in the pocket, the slots extending partially into the web to accommodate a wider attachment than the pocket. edge connector. 16. locating means for positioning the connector body with respect to the printed circuit board and feet for retaining the connector body on the top side of the printed circuit board for cleaning the connector body after being installed on the printed circuit board; 16. The edge connector according to claim 15, further comprising an edge connector. 17. The edge connector of claim 14, wherein latches are provided adjacent both ends of the connector body for engaging and retaining an inserted printed circuit board. 18, a connector body having at least first and second rails defining a length; a web attached to one of the rails and extending transversely to the connector body to define an upwardly facing pocket in the connector body; Consisting of a slot in the web extending part way through the thickness of the web and part way up the height of the web from the bottom of the connector body, and a contact in each said pocket, each contact made from a single sheet of flat metal spring material. unitarily formed, each contact having a pin and a mounting body thereon, said mounting body being wider than the pocket and secured in a mounting slot in a side of said pocket, and a spring extending above the mounting body; and a socket is formed in the spring, the spring and socket having a width narrower than the width of the mounting body so that they can be inserted into a pocket from the bottom of the connector body, and the socket being U-shaped. A spring extends from the end of one arm of the U-shaped socket such that each contact socket extends along its length so that the edge of the printed circuit board can be inserted therein for electrical connection. A printed circuit board edge connector characterized by being aligned in a straight line. 19. Oppositely oriented contacts are formed in the socket, each contact such that an edge of the printed circuit board fits snugly between the contacts when the printed circuit board is inserted into the socket at a first angle. 20. The edge connector of claim 18, wherein the contacts are spaced apart such that the contacts dig into a surface of the printed circuit board when the printed circuit board is moved to the second angular position. 20. There is means for retaining the printed circuit board in a second angular position, the means having a latch that engages over an edge of the printed circuit board to limit movement of the latch to prevent breakage of the latch. 20. The edge connector of claim 19, wherein a latch stop is formed on the connector body adjacent the latch. 21, at least some webs extend between the first and second rails, the webs extending between the first and second rails having a notch defined by an edge, the edge being The circuit board is positioned so as to limit the elastic bending of the spring by abutting an edge when the circuit board is inserted into the socket, thereby preventing permanent bending of the contacts. Edge connector according to claim 18. 22. There is a locating pin in the connector body that engages a hole in the printed circuit board, and the locating pin engages the hole in the printed circuit board when the printed circuit board is moved to the second angular position. The edge connector according to claim 19, characterized in that: 23. The edge connector of claim 20, wherein the mount is formed with a dimple that forces the mount against one side of the slot with which it engages. 24. The edge connector of claim 23, wherein a protrusion is formed on the edge of the mount for pressing the mount into the slot. 25. The edge connector of claim 18, wherein a locating pin is formed on the bottom of the mount, the locating pin extending below the contact pins on the underside of the mount. 26. The edge connector of claim 23, wherein the bottom of the connector body is formed with legs for holding it above the printed circuit board. 27. A connector body, a plurality of spaced contacts secured to the connector body formed from a generally flat sheet of metal spring material and having two contact surfaces opposite one end of the elongated spring length; a plurality of contacts, a mount at the other end of the spring and located in a slot in the connector body, a pin in each of these mounts and extending to the underside of the connector body for securing to a printed circuit board; and oppositely positioned contacts in the socket, wherein the contacts create no contact force upon inserting an edge of a printed circuit board into the socket in a first angular position and move the printed circuit board into a second angular position. A printed circuit board edge connector, wherein the contacts are spaced apart such that when rotated to an angular position of , the contacts bite into pads on the printed circuit board to ensure electrical contact. 28. A latch integrally formed on the connector body for locking the printed circuit board in the second angular position, and a latch stop behind the latch for restricting excessive movement thereof and preventing breakage of the latch. 28. The edge connector according to claim 27, further comprising: 29. The edge connector of claim 27, wherein the mount is engaged with the connector body to force each contact into the same positional relationship in each contact pocket. 30. In order to enable a plurality of contacts to be inserted and secured into the connector body at the same time for loading them in groups, a mounting comb is provided between the contacts on the side remote from their contact surfaces. 28. The edge connector of claim 27, wherein the contacts are stamped and formed from sheet material. 31, the first connector body is spaced apart from each other;
and a second rail, one rail extending part way above the socket so that it is inaccessible from either direction. 32. A plurality of contacts consisting of a pin, a mounting body, a spring formed by bending a flat sheet material, and a U-shaped socket, the socket and the spring being narrower than the mounting body, and the plurality of contacts contacting each other. stamping and forming a plurality of contacts from a sheet metal material in the form of a child comb and fixed to the comb back, the connector body forming a pocket between the webs that is wider than the socket and spring and narrower than the mounting body; simultaneously inserting a plurality of contacts into a corresponding number of pockets by passing the contacts and springs through the pockets;
engaging the mounting body with a pocket-forming web to retain the contacts in the pockets such that the pins extend out from the bottom of the connector body, and then said comb backs to separate each contact; A method of manufacturing a printed circuit board edge connector, comprising the step of removing. 33. Claim 33, wherein the step of forming the socket includes the step of forming contacts in the socket that are located opposite each other and spaced apart by a distance greater than the thickness of the printed circuit boards that are inserted into each other. 32. The method described in 32. 34. A printed circuit board having a plurality of pads is placed in a plurality of sockets having contacts on both sides spaced apart by a distance greater than the thickness of the printed circuit board in a row, the pads only being connected to the contacts on one side of the socket. inserting at an abutting angle and rotating the printed circuit board so that the contacts on both sides of the socket engage the printed circuit board and elastic deformation of the contacts occurs by elastically deforming the springs away from the socket; 34. The method of claim 33, further comprising: 35. The electrical contact provides a slit in the surface of the conductive spring alloy sheet material, and pushes a punch from the opposite side of the sheet material to raise the slit, separating the slits and forming a pair of sharply raised slit edges. A printed circuit board edge connector comprising: 36. Providing slits on the surface of the conductive spring alloy sheet material, and punching the opposite side of the sheet material immediately below the slits to raise the slit edges on the surface and forming slits spaced apart from each other on both sides of the slits. A method of manufacturing a contact for a printed circuit board edge connector, comprising the step of forming a sharp contact edge.