Board mounted connector

A fastener for fastening a connector housing that has a connector fastener hole to a circuit board that has a mount hole, comprising:

• an elongated pin-shaped shaft having a connector-mount end and an opposite board-mount end, with at least one of said ends having an axis and a plurality of circumferentially-spaced slots extending parallel to said axis and forming tapered teeth for press fit into one of said holes, said teeth being fixed together along their entire lengths and being rigid so they cannot bend.

A method for mounting a connector on a circuit board, where the connector has a housing with an insulator, said connector having a plurality of contacts mounted in said insulator with said contacts having opposite mating ends and termination ends with said termination ends extending in downward directions, and said circuit board has a plurality of plated contact-receiving holes opening in an upward direction, said contact termination ends having larger initial diameters than said contact-receiving holes so said termination ends can be inserted into said contact-receiving holes only by applying a downward force to said termination end to press fit them into said contact-receiving holes, comprising:

• attaching connector-fixed ends of each of a pair of elongated fasteners to said housing, with said fasteners having board mount ends extending in downward directions and requiring downward force to press fit them into said board mount holes;
• forming mount holes in said circuit board;
• pressing said contact termination ends and said fastener board-mount ends substantially simultaneously downwardly into said plated contact-receiving holes and into said mount holes, to press fit said contact termination ends and said fastener board-mount ends into the corresponding holes.

A combination of a circuit board with an upwardly-facing top face and a plurality of a plated contact-receiving holes extending in a row, and a connector with a housing and a row of contacts mounted in said housing, with the contact having a mating end facing in a mating direction and an opposite termination end, said contact termination ends extending in a downward direction for insertion into said plated holes in the circuit board, and the circuit board having a pair of fastener mount holes, comprising:

• a pair of elongated fasteners for mounting said housing to said circuit board, with each fastener having a connector-fixed end that is fixed to said housing and a fastener board mount end, with said fastener board mount end lying at opposite ends of said row of contacts and lying at the same height as said contact ends, said fastener board mount ends and said contact termination ends each lying in a press fit in a corresponding one of said holes in said circuit board, so said contact termination ends and said fastener board mount ends can be forcefully inserted together into said holes.