Electrical connector for circuit boards and manufacturing method thereof

A manufacturing method of an electrical connector comprising a plurality of terminals arranged in an array, each of the plurality of terminals comprising a connecting portion at one end for connecting to a mounting surface of a circuit board, and a contact portion at another end for contacting a counterpart contact member mated therewith;

• a stationary housing securing said plurality of terminals in place that is fixedly mounted to the circuit board, and a movable housing that is separate from said stationary housing and is movable relative to said stationary housing;
• wherein the counterpart contact member is mated with the movable housing, wherein the each of the plurality of terminals comprises a movable-side retained portion wherein the contact portion is secured in place by unitary molding with the movable housing in a movable-side retaining portion of said movable housing, a stationary-side retained portion secured in place by the unitary molding with the stationary housing at a location proximate the connecting portion in a stationary-side retaining portion of said stationary housing, and a resiliently displaceable resilient portion coupling the movable-side retained portion to said stationary-side retained portion;
• the resilient portion comprising a curved apex portion on an upper end of said resilient portion outwardly of the movable-side retained portion in a connector-width direction perpendicular to the terminal array direction within a plane parallel to the mounting surface of the circuit board;
• and wherein lateral open spaces are formed in the connector-width direction in a range including at least an apex portion below the movable-side retaining portion that is positioned above the curved apex portion in the terminal array direction, the method comprising:
• installing an upper mold from above the electrical connector, side molds laterally in the connector-width direction, and a lower mold from below the electrical connector to form the unitary molding of the movable housing with the movable-side retained portions of the terminals in the upper mold and the side molds and to form the unitary molding of the stationary housings with the stationary-side retained portions of the terminals in the lower mold and the side molds;
• wherein the side molds are laterally installed so as to hold the resilient portions of the terminals in clearance grooves formed in said side molds.