Card edge connector with covering block occupying contact passageways

An electrical connector comprising:

• an insulative housing including opposite side walls with a central slot therebetween in a transverse direction, each side wall extending in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the transverse direction;
• a bottom wall linked between the pair of side walls in the transverse direction and forming a central wall under the central slot in a vertical direction perpendicular to both the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction;
• two rows of passageways formed in the corresponding side walls, respectively;
• two rows of contacts disposed in the corresponding passageways, respectively, said contacts including signal contacts and grounding contacts;
• each side wall further forming an elongated channel in the bottom wall to extend through the corresponding passageways in the longitudinal direction;
• and two covering blocks received within the corresponding channels, respectively, each covering block including a plurality of fins upwardly extending into the corresponding passageways, respectively, and each fin abuts inwardly against the central wall in the transverse direction;
• wherein each covering block is electrically conductive and mechanically and electrically connected to the corresponding grounding contacts while being spaced from the signal contacts.

A method of assembling an electrical connector comprising steps of:

• providing an insulative housing with two opposite side walls each extending in a longitudinal direction, a central slot located between the two side walls in a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, two rows of passageways formed in the corresponding side walls, respectively, and two channels formed in the corresponding side walls with a central wall between the pair of channels in the transverse direction and under the central slot in a vertical direction perpendicular to both the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction;
• upwardly assembling two rows of contacts into the corresponding passageways from a bottom face of the housing, respectively, said contacts including signal contacts and grounding contacts;
• and
• upwardly assembling two covering blocks into the corresponding channels from the bottom face only after the contacts have been assembled into the corresponding passageways, wherein
• each covering block forms a plurality of fins respectively received within the corresponding passageways, respectively, and at least some fins abut inwardly against the central wall in the transverse direction, and at least some fins abut outwardly against the corresponding contacts in the transverse direction so as to have the covering block stably retained in the corresponding channel without movement in the transverse direction.