Intermediate electrical connector

An intermediate electrical connector to which counterpart connect bodies are matingly connected respectively from above and from below and which establishes intermediate electrical connections between the counterpart connect bodies,

• said connector having a plurality of plate-shaped intermediate bodies that have respective corresponding counterpart connect bodies connected to the top end portions and bottom end portions thereof, and a housing that retains in place the plurality of intermediate bodies in a side-by-side arrangement in the through-thickness direction thereof, wherein:
• the intermediate bodies have a plate-shaped substrate, and a plurality of electrically conductive lines extending in the vertical direction along a major face of the substrate;
• at the opposite ends in the connector width direction perpendicular to the array direction of the intermediate bodies, the substrate has supported portions protruding outwardly in the connector width direction in the same position as each other in the vertical direction;
• the supported portions are provided at locations offset from the center of the substrate in the vertical direction;
• the plurality of intermediate bodies are provided oriented such that every two intermediate bodies adjacent in the array direction are vertically inverted relative to each other, and every two supported portions of the adjacent intermediate bodies are positioned so as to differ by a predetermined dimension in the vertical direction;
• the housing has a lower housing, which accommodates the bottom portions of the intermediate bodies, and an upper housing, which accommodates the top portions of the intermediate bodies;
• the lower housing has two lower lateral walls extending in the array direction;
• the lower lateral walls, in the top end portions thereof, have formed therein, in an alternating manner in the array direction, first lower supporting portions and second lower supporting portions positioned so as to differ by the above-mentioned predetermined dimension in the vertical direction;
• the first lower supporting portions protrude upwardly of the second lower supporting portions and are capable of supporting from below the supported portions of the intermediate bodies in which the supported portions are positioned with an upward offset;
• and
• the second lower supporting portions are capable of supporting from below the supported portions of the intermediate bodies in which the supported portions are positioned with a downward offset.