Component mounting device

A self-aligning electrical connector having at least two holding devices for securing said connector to a circuit board, said connector comprising:

• a housing having mating and mounting faces and a plurality of electrical terminal members extending therebetween, said terminal members having leads exposed at said mounting face for engaging circuits on said circuit board, said housing further including at least two cavities extending into said housing from the board mounting face thereof, each of said cavities being dimensioned to receive one of said at least two holding devices;
• each of said holding device comprising:
• a one-piece essentially planar metal member including a body having opposed lateral and opposed end edges, said metal member defining a retention section at a connector-proximate end thereof insertable into and self-retainable within a respective one of said cavities;
• and
• a pair of diverging cantilevered beams extending outwardly from a board proximate end of said body in said plane to free ends, each of said pair of beams including a wall engaging portion at the leading end thereof and a board holding portion intermediate said wall engaging portion and said body, said beams being deflectable toward one another and being adapted to be received in a corresponding retention aperture of said circuit board, outer edges of said wall engaging portion of said beams proximate said free ends bearing against side wall surfaces of said aperture and thereby being deflectable toward each other and thereafter exert force against said side wall aperture surfaces to hold said connector to said board when said connector has been fully mounted to said board, said free ends of said wall engaging portions extending a further distance from said housing mounting face than said exposed terminal leads thereby enabling said wall engaging portions to engage said side wall surfaces of said apertures prior to said terminal lead ends entering respective through-holes of said circuit board, all to provide means for aligning said connector and said terminal leads thereof with corresponding terminal receiving apertures of said circuit board.