Electrical connector with terminals of varying lengths

A terminal module for use in an electrical connector, comprising:

• a plurality of generally parallel, elongated stamped terminals, each terminal having an identical mating end;
• a dielectric insert molded about portions of said terminals with the mating ends of the terminals projecting from said dielectric insert;
• and
• at least one of said stamped terminals having a longitudinal axis and having been bent to form bent portions projecting from opposite sides of the longitudinal axis thereof to thereby alter the shape thereof such that the mating end thereof projects from the dielectric insert a lesser distance than the mating end of at least one of the other of said terminals.

A method of fabricating a plurality of terminals for an electrical connector, comprising the steps of:

• stamping a plurality of identical terminals from conductive sheet metal material with the terminals being joined by web portions of the sheet metal material and with end portions of the terminals defining an array of aligned contact portions having contact ends thereof in a common plane,
• plating said aligned contact portions with a metal material different from the sheet metal material of the terminals,
• severing any web portion joined to at least one of said identical terminals,
• deforming at least one but not all of the identical terminals to alter the shape thereof whereby the contact end of the contact portion of said at least one of the terminals is shifted relative to said common plane, and
• molding a dielectric housing component about portions of said terminals.

A method of fabricating a terminal module for use in an electrical connector, comprising the steps of:

• stamping a plurality of identical terminals from conductive sheet metal material with the terminals being joined by web portions of the sheet metal material and with end portions of the terminals defining contact portions thereof,
• severing any web portion joined to at least one of said identical terminals,
• deforming said at least one of the identical terminals to alter the share thereof,
• molding a dielectric insert about portions of the terminals leaving said web portions exposed and with the end portion of said at least one terminal projecting from the insert a lesser distance than the end portions of the other of said terminals, and
• severing the web portions remaining between any of the terminals.

A terminal module for use in an electrical connector, comprising:

• a plurality of generally parallel, elongated stamped terminals, each terminal having an identical mating end;
• a dielectric insert molded about portions of said terminals with the mating ends of the terminals projecting from said dielectric insert;
• and
• at least one of said stamped terminals having been bent to thereby alter the shape thereof such that the mating end thereof projects from said dielectric insert a lesser distance than the mating end of at least one of the other of said terminals and wherein said dielectric insert is spaced from a portion of said terminal that has been bent.