Abstract: A side-entry, blade-receiving electrical connector is provided for mounting on a printed circuit board. The connector includes a dielectric housing having a bottom wall and a blade-receiving receptacle at a side of the housing. At least one conductive terminal is mounted on the housing and includes a contact section exposed within the receptacle for electrically engaging a terminal blade of a complementary mating connecting device inserted into the side receptacle generally parallel to the printed circuit board. A mounting section is exposed exteriorly of the housing below the bottom wall thereof for mounting the connector on the printed circuit board. A flex section joins the mounting section to the contact section and performs 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.

Abstract: A connector assembly is provided with opposing and interengageable first and second connector components. Each of the two components has internal cavities that contain terminal assemblies of either plug or receptacle structure and may further include either a plurality of power terminals or differential signal terminals. The terminals have contact portions, tail portions and interconnecting portions that are partially encapsulated by an insulative outer support frames. The shell forms a wafer and two such wafers are combined together to form a terminal assembly. The terminal assemblies are identical in shape, other than for an engagement means that serves to hold two subframes together as a single assembly.