KR100515860B1 - Low profile double deck connector with improved cross talk isolation - Google Patents

Abstract

Laminated module jack connectors with low crosstalk and low combined height combined are described. Low stacking height is achieved by placing contact terminals for stacked outlet pairs into a single array on the same plane of interleaved terminals. Arrays are located between the outlets. One outlet of each pair is laterally offset from the other outlet. For ethernet applications, the first, second, third and sixth terminals of the ten terminal array are arranged in contact groups of the first outlet, and the fifth, eighth and ninth terminals of the array. And crosstalk can be minimized by arranging the tenth terminal into a contact group of the first outlet. By arranging the terminal tails of these two terminal groups in a single line, the space of the required circuit board can be minimized.

Description

Slim double deck connector with improved crosstalk protection {LOW PROFILE DOUBLE DECK CONNECTOR WITH IMPROVED CROSS TALK ISOLATION}

The present invention relates to connectors, in particular slim, low profile, multiple deck connectors with improved crosstalk protection.

As a method of increasing the density of connectors, especially telecommunication connectors and data communications connectors, the concept of grouping receptacle connectors together in a common housing has been proposed. It has also been proposed to arrange the rows of connectors grouped in a stacking relationship. Such configurations have been particularly used in telecommunications and data communications, where FCC standard RJ series module jacks are commonly used.

As the number of input / output (I / O) ports incorporated into each piece of equipment increases, designers have found ways to increase the number of ports in a given space and minimize the amount of circuit board space needed for receptacles. One limiting factor in the effort to bring input and output ports close is that in order to maintain the integrity of the signal transmission through the connector, it is necessary to keep the crosstalk between the ports (as well as inside the ports) at an acceptable low level. . In particular, it was even more difficult to meet the crosstalk specification with the ever-increasing frequency of transmission signals resulting from efforts towards higher data rates. To solve the crosstalk problem, attempts have been made to provide metal shields between terminals of adjacent ports or to maintain spatial distances between signal lines of ports. However, this hinders efforts to package the ports so that they are close to each other. Another configuration for minimizing crosstalk utilizes specially configured terminals that follow a circuitous route through the connector or employ long, parallel passageways to eliminate crosstalk. The effort mentioned later complicates the connector and increases the connector manufacturing cost.

The present invention provides a slim connector having a high performance crosstalk prevention function by using a connector housing having stacked openings or ports. A single contact terminal array is arranged between the stacked openings. The openings are laterally offset from one opening relative to the other opening. This offset allows the terminals of one port to be inserted between the terminals of the other of the stacked port pairs. Ports in which terminals are inserted and offset allow terminals to be placed in such a way that potentially problematic inter-port crosstalk is reduced to an acceptable level. This configuration is particularly useful for Ethernet systems. The straight, substantially coplanar array of terminal configurations facilitates arranging the circuit board coupling tails of the terminals in a single line. This structure minimizes the space on the circuit board needed to provide circuit contact.

The present invention is described in terms of a modular jack receptacle configured for a standard RJ 45 series eight position plug. The invention is particularly useful in Ethernet systems where two pairs of contact terminals or four of eight locations are used for signal transmission. However, the present invention is believed to be useful in connectors of other styles or configurations.

As shown in Fig. 1, the connector 20 of the illustrated embodiment consists of a housing body 22 formed of a molded insulating polymeric material. As shown, the body 22 includes lower rows of openings or ports 24a-24f shaped to receive a suitable mating connector, such as an RJ 45 plug. The openings or ports 26a-26f in the second or upper row are arranged in a stacking relationship with respect to the openings in the lower row. As is typical, each opening includes latch receiving recesses 28a and 28b that receive a latch associated with each plug.

As shown in more detail in FIG. 2, the lower opening 24a and the upper opening 26a are disposed with the bases 30a and 30b of these openings adjacent to each other. In a preferred form, the openings 24a and 26a are arranged in such a way that the total height H of the two row connector is less than 2.54 cm (1 inch) or more preferably 2.21 cm (0.87 inch). How this low height is achieved will be described later.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, each opening or port has a back wall 32 extending generally transversely perpendicular to the plug insertion axis B, D. As shown in FIG. Each of the walls includes a plurality of generally parallel and vertically extending grooves 34 that form a comb-like structure adjacent to the bases 30a and 30b of each opening. The grooves 34 receive the distal end of the engaging portion of the contact terminal as described below. Terminals are not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 for the sake of brevity. Reference numerals 1, 2, 3, and 6 shown on each cavity back wall in FIG. 2 indicate the locations of the grooves containing terminals used for signal transmission at each port for Ethernet applications. The eight port positions are numbered consecutively from left to right in the lower port 24a and from right to left in the upper port 26a. Terminals used for signal transmission and other purposes may be housed in numbered slots (positions 4, 5, 7, 8) as described below.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, each upper opening, such as opening 26a, is laterally offset by T from adjacent opening 24a in the lower row. This lateral offset accommodates a single contact terminal array, wherein the first terminal group of the array is disposed in the lower opening 24a and the second terminal group is disposed in the upper opening 26a. In some structures described later, one or more terminals of the first group may be inserted between the contact terminals of the second group. If the openings were configured for RJ 45 series plugs wired for Ethernet applications, the preferred dimension of offset T is about 2.03 mm (0.08 inch), which is twice the centerline distance between adjacent terminals in an 8 position plug. . An offset of 2.03 mm (0.08 inch) (especially between the unusual pairs using port position 3 and port position 6 in adjacent ports) adequately minimizes crosstalk and is an even multiple of the centerline distance between terminals. Although convenient from a point of view, a slightly larger offset may optimize the reduction of crosstalk.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the connector 20 is mounted along an edge of the circuit board 36 and at least partially received inside a rectangular cutout 38 dimensioned to receive a portion of the connector. . The connector is supported by the mounting protrusion 40 and fixed to the circuit board 36 by the fastener 42. The mounting configuration shown is just one of many ways to mount a connector to a circuit board.

As conventional, the connector 20 may include a sheet metal shield 44 to provide EMI shielding. The spring finger 46 may be formed in the shield such that the mating surface 50 of the connector engages the edge of an opening in the equipment panel through which the mating surface 50 extends (not shown). As also conventional, the shield may include a face tab 48 (FIG. 2) extending into the opening to help secure the front of the shield to the connector body 22.

The bottom surface 52 of the protrusion 40 may be provided with a mounting boundary on which the connector is mounted on the circuit board 36.

5 shows a preferred configuration for retaining contact terminals in the housing 22. In this configuration, the straight array of contact terminals 60 (FIG. 6) is aligned with a web 59 formed between the lower opening 24c and the upper opening 26c, and is generally centered inside the housing 22. Will be located. The terminal 60 is formed of a stamped material or a wire having a hardness sufficient to impart elasticity to the material. As shown, the array includes ten terminals spaced apart from each other by the terminal retaining member or insert 54. 6 and 12, reference numerals 1-10, which are written in italics, indicate the position of the terminal in each terminal holding member 54. As shown in FIG. In Fig. 12, the column of reference numerals adjacent to the contact terminal 60 indicates the terminal position inside each opening. The terminal holding member 54 may be a terminal inserted into the terminal holding member, or an insert molded around the terminal 60. Preferably, terminal retaining member 54 includes opposing pairs of ribs 58 (FIG. 6) extending along opposite ends of the terminal retaining member. The ribs are designed to slide and receive in a pair of opposing grooves, one of which is shown in FIG. For this configuration reason, the insert 54 can slide to a predetermined position inside the housing with some of the terminals extending into one or the other openings 24c and 26c.

Each terminal 60 (FIG. 6) includes an intermediate portion 62 which is held on substantially the same plane by the insert 54. As shown in FIG. Each contact terminal includes a coupling portion 64, which in the illustrated embodiment consists of a cantilevered portion that extends from one end of each terminal intermediate portion 62 and is bent. As shown, the joining portion 64 is formed by bending the distal end of the contact to form the joining portion 64, with the end of each joining portion retained inside a suitable groove 34 of the back wall 32. . As is usual, the amount of preload required when the coupling is positioned in the groove 34 acts on the coupling 64. As shown in Fig. 6, the engaging portion 64 is bent upwards or downwards so that the engaging portion can enter the opening 26c or 24c, respectively. In the configuration shown, the first group of contacts has a contact 64 that is bent downward to enter the opening 24c. This group includes contact terminals at terminal retainer positions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. The second group of engagement portions is bent upwards and, as shown, includes terminals at terminal retainer positions 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10. For Ethernet applications, the terminals at the terminal holder positions (1, 2, 3, 6 and 5, 8, 9, 10) are used for signal transmission. The terminals at retainer positions 4 and 7 can also be used for other purposes such as power or ground. In the configuration shown, the two groups of terminals in the retainer positions 4, 5, 6, 7 are sandwiched between each other.

As shown in FIG. 5, each terminal 60 has a tail 66 extending from the other end of the intermediate portion 62. As shown in FIG. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the tail 66 includes through hole pins designed to be received by the through holes formed in the circuit board 36. As shown in FIG. The plated through holes 70 are arranged to receive the pins of the shield 44. Referring to FIG. 7, reference numerals adjacent to the through hole 68 show a preferred configuration for accommodating the through hole tail 66 of the terminal 60.

Referring to Figure 8, a surface mount embodiment of a connector 20 is shown. In this embodiment, the main difference from the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is that the surface mount tabs 72 allow each contact tail 66 to be surface mounted to the surface mount contact 74 (FIG. 9) of the circuit board 36. ) Is included. An important advantage of the configuration shown in Fig. 8 is that for the lower opening 24c and the upper opening 26c only ten tabs 72 need to be received in the rear region of each pair of upper and lower ports. The tail 66 and surface mount tab 72 can be arranged in a single line. This feature is due to the fact that the contact terminals for the upper and lower decks are at least partially sandwiched, and that any unused terminals in a conventional RJ 45 8 terminal array can be removed for Ethernet use purposes. The single line arrangement of the surface mount tails reduces the space on the circuit board 36 needed to receive the surface mount tabs 72.

In some applications, it may be advantageous to provide a shared ground contact terminal to achieve improved crosstalk prevention or EMI performance. The shared terminals can be placed in positions of ports that are not used for signal transmission, for which there is no corresponding contact between the ten contact terminals 60 fixed to the retaining member 54. 10 and 11A illustrate one embodiment that meets this requirement. In this configuration, bus strips 76a, 76b each support one or more terminals 80, 81 that are received at the top, bottom ports or openings. These terminals 80, 81 are bent upwards or downwards relative to the bus bar strips 76a, 76b as shown in FIG. Shared terminals may be formed from flat blank 90 (FIG. 11B), which includes a terminal tail 82 for connecting the shared terminals to the circuit board through additional plating through holes. As shown in FIG. 11B, the stamped member 90 includes a bus bar strip 76b and a terminal 81. The tail portion 82 is held in the retaining member 54 (Fig. 11A). In order to form shared terminals 80 for the lower opening, another stamped member 90 is placed and offset directly below the inverted state relative to the upper stamped member (Figs. 10 and 11). Reference). The overlapping portions of busbar strips 76a and 76b may be joined together by welding or soldering. When the retaining member is inserted into the housing along the groove 56, the bus bar strips 76a, 76b are received into grooves 78 formed in the back of the web 59. In Ethernet applications, the non-signal terminal locations (5, 7, 8) at each port are shared for other purposes for power or grounding by using stamped members 90. Can be used. In this case, the contact terminals at the port position 4 (ie, the positions 4, 7 of the ten terminal arrays associated with each terminal retaining member 54) in each pair of stacked ports are described above. It consists of individual terminals formed by the method, and these terminals can also be used for other purposes including for power supply or grounding. As an alternative to the configuration shown in Figure 6, the terminals at positions 4 and 7 of the array may be bent in the same direction so that they are present at both the upper or lower ports. With this configuration, the location 4, 7 pairs can provide additional functionality, for example used for telephony communications. Figure 12 shows a contact terminal insert 54 for use in an Ethernet application with shared terminals. The shared terminals 80 for the lower openings are shown in phantom at the lower port positions 5, 7 and 8. Shared ground terminals 81 for the upper opening are shown in phantom at the upper port positions 5, 7 and 8. The position of tail 82 is also shown in phantom. Alternatively, the terminals at retainer positions 4 and 7 (ie, upper and lower port positions 4) may be incorporated into the stamped member 90 for sharing with other non-signal terminals. have.

Fig. 13 shows a cross section of another configuration of the contact terminal fixed inside the insulating contact holding member 92. Figs. In this embodiment, two rows 94, 96 of contact terminals are fixed to the retaining member 92. The middle portion 93 of the upper row 94 is preferably substantially coplanar, as is the terminal middle portion 95 of the lower row 96. The array of upper intermediate portions 93 on the same plane forming the columns 94 is laterally offset by W from the array of intermediate portions 95 on the same plane forming the columns 96. Offset W provides separation between each row of terminals that can be optimized to improve near end crosstalk prevention. The amount of offset W needed to optimize the crosstalk prevention function depends on the pair assignment inside the jack and mating plug. The offset allows the rows 94 and 96 to be placed in close proximity and eliminates the need for a shield between the rows, thereby minimizing the height of the retaining member 92. As a result, as in the embodiment described above, the member 92 having the reduced height can be stacked, placed between the offset ports and the overall height of the housing can be minimized.

Referring to Fig. 14, a preferred method of disposing the tail 82 is in the region where the tail is bent downward toward the mounting boundary of the connector, and then with the tail 82b of the adjacent retaining member 54b (see Fig. 10). It has a tail portion 82a along the edge of one retaining member 54a that is substantially overlapped. The distal ends of the tails 82a and 82b may be disposed into a common through hole, such as the hole 98 shown in the through hole arrangement of FIG. To aid in this arrangement of the tail, the ribs 58a, 58b are vertically offset such that the ribs of adjacent terminal retaining members 54a, 54b can overlap, so that the terminal retaining members can be placed close to each other in a side by side relationship. do. This allows tails 82a and 82b to be more easily placed in an overlapping relationship. Of course, to accommodate this configuration, the grooves 56 associated with each stacked port pair must be offset in the direction of the stack height.

From the above description, several advantages appear. The height of the housing can be minimized to dimensions of up to 2.54 cm (1 inch) by using a single contact array and by removing the metal shield between the stacked openings. The reduction in housing height is achieved while maintaining crosstalk prevention at the category 5 level. Typically, near end crosstalk prevention of greater than 40 dB between stacked jacks can be achieved in configurations embodying the present invention.

Moreover, a single line contact tail configuration can be achieved by using a single contact array including contacts for two stacked jacks, and by eliminating unnecessary contact terminals and remaining terminals sandwiched between them. This in turn reduces the circuit board space used by the connector. Moreover, the use of single contact arrays and retainers reduces the number of parts, simplifies assembly and reduces manufacturing costs.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with various forms of preferred embodiments, modifications and additions may be made to other embodiments which may be used, or which are described to perform the same functions as the present invention without departing from the invention. You should know that you can. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather should be construed within the scope and scope of the description of the appended claims.

1 is a front view of a grouped modular jack receptacle embodying the present invention.

2 is an exploded enlarged view of a portion of the jack of region A of FIG.

3 is a side view of the connector shown in FIG.

4 is a plan view of the connector shown in FIG.

5 is a side cross-sectional view taken along line C-C in FIG.

Figure 6 is a front view of the contact terminal assembly shown in Figure 5;

FIG. 7 shows a portion of a circuit board showing the position of a preferred arrangement for through holes for receiving the terminals of the connector shown in FIGS.

FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of a second embodiment similar to the embodiment of FIG. 5 but with contact terminals having surface mount tails; FIG.

Fig. 9 shows a preferred circuit board arrangement for use with the connector shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a side cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 5 showing the sharing configuration for any contact terminal is incorporated;

Fig. 11A is a plan view of a terminal carrier having a signal terminal and a shared ground terminal.

11B is a plan view of a blank having a set of shared ground terminals.

Figure 12 is a front view of the contact terminal assembly showing the positions of the signal terminal and the sharing terminal.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing a terminal configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 14 is a plan view of two adjacent terminal retaining members having terminal sharing features.

Fig. 15 shows a hole pattern of a circuit board for accommodating tail portions of terminals from the configuration shown in Fig. 14;

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

24a, 24b, 24c, 24d, 24e, 24f: openings or ports in the lower row

26a, 26b, 26c, 26d, 26e, 26f: openings or ports in the top row

36: circuit board

60: contact terminal

54: terminal holding member

64: coupling part

62: middle part

66: beauty

Claims (50)

A housing having a first opening accommodating the mating connector along the first insertion axis and a second opening accommodating the mating connector along the second insertion axis; An array of contact terminals in the housing, The first opening and the second opening are adjacent to each other, the insertion axis of the second opening is laterally offset with respect to the insertion axis of the first opening, The array has at least two terminals in a side-by-side relationship, wherein an engagement portion of the first terminal of the terminals extends into the first opening to engage a connector received in the first opening, the engagement portion of the second terminal of the terminals being first 2 electrical connector extending into the opening. The electrical connector of claim 1 wherein the first insertion axis and the second insertion axis are substantially parallel. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact terminal is mounted on an insert formed of an insulating material, and the insert is mounted in a housing between the first opening and the second opening. The contact terminal array of claim 1, wherein the contact terminal array comprises a first contact terminal group and a second contact terminal group, the contact terminals of the first group associated with the first opening, and the contact terminals of the second group contacting the second opening. Electrical connector, characterized in that related. 5. The electrical connector according to claim 4, wherein at least one contact terminal of the second group is sandwiched between at least one contact terminal of the first group. 6. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein at least one fitted contact terminal of the first group is immediately adjacent to at least one fitted contact terminal of the second group. 7. The terminal of claim 6, wherein the contact terminals have ten terminals having terminals in positions 1, 2, 3 and 6 forming a first group and terminals in positions 5, 8, 9 and 10 forming a second group. Electrical connector, characterized in that arranged in a straight array of. 8. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 7, wherein the terminal in position 4 is in the first group and the terminal in position 7 is in the second group. 8. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 7, wherein the contact terminal has an intermediate portion, the intermediate portion being substantially coplanar. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact terminal has a circuit board that engages with the tail, and the tail is arranged in a single line. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 8, wherein the contact terminals have a circuit board that engages with tails arranged in a single line. 12. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 11 wherein each tail comprises a surface mount for engaging a circuit board. The electrical connector of claim 1 wherein the first opening and the second opening are comprised of RJ series receptacles. The electrical connector of claim 13, wherein the first and second openings are in a stacking relationship and the height of the housing is less than about 2.29 cm (0.90 inches). 15. The electrical connector of claim 14 wherein the height of the housing is about 2.21 cm (0.87 inch). An electrical connector comprising a housing, A first opening in the housing for receiving the mating connector along the insertion axis; A second opening in the housing for receiving the mating connector along the insertion axis, the second opening in a stacking relationship to the first opening, An array of interleaved contact terminals disposed in the housing between the first opening and the second opening, Each of the contact terminals has a coupling portion that engages with a contact of the coupling connector that is insertable into the first opening and the second opening, the coupling portion of the first group of contact terminals is disposed in the first opening, and the second group of contact terminals is provided. The engaging portion of the electrical connector is arranged in the second opening. 17. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 16, wherein each contact terminal comprises an intermediate portion, and the coupling portion includes a distal end forming a cantilevered portion extending from the intermediate portion. 18. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 16 wherein the electrical connector further comprises an insulating insert for supporting the contact terminals and a retaining means in the housing for retaining the insert in the housing. 19. An electrical connector as in claim 18 wherein the retaining means includes a structure for positioning the insert between the first and second openings. 20. An electrical connector as in claim 19 wherein the retaining means slidably receive the insert. The electrical connector of claim 16 wherein the opening consists of an RJ series receptacle having insertion axes disposed in a substantially parallel relationship and the height of the housing is less than about 2.29 cm (0.90 inch). 22. The electrical connector of claim 21 wherein the height of the housing is about 2.21 cm (0.87 inch). 17. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 16, wherein the insertion axis of the first opening is laterally offset from the insertion axis of the second opening. 17. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 16, wherein each of the contact terminals includes a circuit board that engages with the tail, and the tail is arranged in a single line. A housing having a first opening for receiving the mating connector along the first insertion axis and a second opening for receiving the mating connector along the second insertion axis; A plurality of contact terminals held in the housing, The second opening is in a laminated relationship with the first opening, Each contact terminal has a coupling portion, a tail for coupling with a circuit board on which a connector is mounted, and an intermediate portion arranged between the first opening and the second opening and arranged in an substantially coplanar array, The contact terminals comprise a first group and a second group, the engaging portion of the first group of contact terminals being arranged in the first opening, and the engaging portion of the second group of contact terminals being arranged in the second opening connector. 26. The connector of claim 25 wherein the tails of the plurality of contact terminals are arranged in a single line. 26. The electrical connector of claim 25 further comprising a terminal retaining member for retaining the terminal and means for securing the retaining member in the housing. 28. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 27, wherein an intermediate portion of the contact terminal is fixed to the terminal holding member. 27. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 25, wherein at least one contact terminal of the first group of contact terminals is fitted with at least one contact terminal of the second group of contact terminals. 30. The electrical connector as in claim 29 wherein the first opening is laterally offset from the second opening. 26. The electrical connector of claim 25 wherein the base of the first opening is disposed adjacent the base of the second opening. 32. The electrical connector of claim 31 wherein the first opening is laterally offset relative to the second opening. 26. An electrical connector as in claim 25 wherein each engagement portion comprises a cantilevered portion extending into an associated opening. RJ series modular jack receptacle, A housing having a mating surface and a circuit board contact surface, A first opening and a second opening in the mating surface arranged in a stacking relationship, Contact terminals in each opening positioned to engage a mating RJ series plug inserted into the opening, RJ series module jack receptacle, wherein the height of the housing is less than about 2.29 cm (0.90 inch). 35. The RJ series module jack receptacle of claim 34 wherein the height of the housing is about 2.21 cm (0.87 inch). 35. The RJ series modular jack receptacle of claim 34 wherein the contact terminals are disposed in a substantially coplanar array positioned between the openings. 35. The arrangement of claim 34, wherein the array of contact terminals is divided into two groups, the first group having coupling terminal portions disposed in the second opening, and the second group having contact terminal portions disposed in the second opening. RJ series modular jack receptacle. 37. The RJ series module jack receptacle of claim 36 wherein at least one contact terminal of a second group of contact terminals is fitted to at least one contact terminal of a first group of contact terminals. 37. The contact terminal array of claim 36, wherein the contact terminal array comprises first, second, third, and sixth terminals of the array constituting the first group, and the fifth, eighth, and fifth terminals forming the second group. An RJ series modular jack receptacle comprising ten terminals including a ninth terminal and a tenth terminal. 40. The RJ series module jack receptacle of claim 39 wherein the fourth terminal of the array is in the first group and the seventh terminal of the array is in the second group. 35. The RJ series module of claim 34, wherein the housing comprises a plurality of first openings arranged in a first row and a second opening arranged in a second row, the first and second rows being in a stacked relationship. Jack Receptacle. 42. The RJ series module jack receptacle of claim 41 wherein each opening has a base and the base of the opening forming the first row is disposed adjacent to the base of the opening in the second row. 43. The array of claim 42 wherein the array of contact terminals is disposed between the first pair of openings and the second pair of openings, wherein a first group of contact terminals of each array has couplings extending into the first openings of the pair of openings, And a second group of contact terminals having a coupling extending into the second opening of the pair of openings. 44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the receptacle further comprises contact terminal retaining means, each array of contact terminals being supported by the retaining means, the housing comprising a structure for receiving the retaining means in the housing. RJ series modular jack receptacle characterized in that. 45. The RJ series modular jack receptacle of claim 44, wherein the retaining means can be slidably inserted into the housing. 46. The RJ series module jack receptacle of claim 45 wherein the retaining means comprises a plurality of members, each member holding an array of one of the contact terminal arrays. 42. The RJ series module jack receptacle of claim 41 wherein the openings in the first row are laterally offset from the openings in the second row. 35. The RJ series module jack receptacle of claim 34 wherein each contact terminal comprises tails for contacting the circuit board on which the connector is mounted, all tails arranged in a single line. The electrical connector of claim 27 further comprising a plurality of electrically shared contact terminals. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 49 wherein the shared contact terminals are supported by the contact terminal retaining member.