Edge connector shield

A board-connector assembly, comprising:

• a circuit board having upper and lower surfaces and an edge portion with an outer edge that lies outward of the rest of the board, and having a ground plane that includes a grounded conductive trace on said upper surface;
• an edge connector which includes an insulative body mounted on said upper surface of said board at said edge portion thereof, and having a plurality of contacts with mating ends extending in an outward direction;
• a sheet metal shield which has a top lying above said connector and sides extending down to said circuit board, with said sides having lower ends connected to said conductive trace;
• said shield forming an arm with an outer arm part extending down from one of said side lower ends to below the level of said board lower surface and an inner arm part extending inwardly and at an upward incline against substantially said board lower surface to clamp said shield to said board.

A shield for placing around an edge connector that is mounted on an edge portion of a circuit board, wherein the board has upper and lower surfaces, and wherein said shield has a top portion spaced above said board upper surface and sides extending generally downwardly and to said board, including opposite lateral sides extending primarily in a lateral direction toward and away from said board edge and a back side extending primarily parallel to said board edge and lying further from said edge than said connector, and wherein said connector includes an insulative body and a plurality of contacts mounted thereon, wherein said contacts have tails extending inwardly and downwardly to said board, wherein each contact tail has an inclined portion with all contact tail inclined portions extending at the same predetermined incline angle which is between about 30.degree. and 60.degree. from the horizontal, characterized by:

• said board has an outer edge, and said tails lie in a plurality of rows that extend parallel to each other with said rows extending substantially parallel to said outer edge, with the tail inclined portions of different rows being uniformly spaced apart by a predetermined distance;
• said back side of said shield has an inclined portion extending parallel to said contact tail inclined portions when said shield is mounted on said circuit board, with said shield back side inclined portion being spaced from the closest tail inclined portions by about twice said predetermined distance.