Board mounted side-entry electrical connector

A side-entry board mounted blade-receiving electrical connector, comprising:

• a dielectric housing having a bottom wall and a blade-receiving receptacle at a side of the housing;
• and
• a pair of conductive terminals mounted in the housing at opposite sides of said blade-receiving receptacle, each terminal being stamped and formed of sheet metal material and including a contact section having a plurality of flexible spring fingers exposed within the receptacle for electrically engaging a terminal blade of a complementary mating connecting device inserted into the receptacle in a direction generally parallel to a printed circuit board, a plate-like mounting section exposed exteriorly of the housing below the bottom wall thereof for flush mounting the connector on a surface of the printed circuit board, and a flex section formed as a right-angled bend in the conductive terminal between the plate-like mounting section and the contact section and performing a dual function of (a) spacing the bottom wall of the housing above the printed circuit board and (b) providing a yielding flexibility between the connector and the board.

A side-entry electrical connector for mounting on a subjacent support structure, comprising:

• a dielectric housing having a bottom wall and a terminal-receiving receptacle at a side of the housing;
• and
• at least one conductive terminal mounted in the housing and including a contact section exposed within the receptacle for electrically engaging a terminal of a complementary mating connecting device inserted into the side receptacle in a direction generally parallel to the subjacent structure, a mounting section exposed exteriorly of the housing below the bottom wall thereof for mounting the connector on the subjacent structure, and a flex section joining the mounting section to the contact section and performing a dual function of (a) supporting the bottom wall of the housing spaced above the subjacent structure and (b) providing a yielding flexibility between the connector and the subjacent structure.