A right angle connector having the structure shown in FIG. 2 is known in the art. In this connector, a bottom surface 301 of a housing 300 is laid on a circuit substrate K and is electrically connected to the circuit substrate K by soldering. More specifically, solder tails 311 and 321 of upper terminals 310 and lower terminals 320 mounted on the housing 300 are soldered to pads 312 and 322 of the circuit substrate K, respectively.

The lower terminals 310 are press-fitted from a front surface 302 of the housing 300 as indicated by an arrow f. The upper terminals 320 are press-fitted from a back surface 303 of the housing 300 as indicated by an arrow b. Accordingly, this type connector suffers from a problem in that it is difficult to assemble a metal shield (shell) into an associated connector receiving recess portion 304 opened to the front surface of the housing.

A structure shown in FIG. 3 is one of approaches to solve this defect. In the technology shown in the drawing, upper terminals 410 and lower terminals 420 may be press- fitted into a housing 400 from a back surface 403 of the housing 400.

With such an arrangement, a metal shield 450 may readily be provided within associated connector receiving recess portions 404 provided on a front surface 402 side of the housing 400. Namely, this metal shield may be inserted from the front surface of the housing into the upper and lower two stage receiving recess portions 404 and fitted in place. This is not adversely affected by the presence of the upper terminals 410 and the lower terminals 420.

Solder tails 411 of the upper terminals 410 lead to the back surface 403 of the housing 400 along a bottom surface 401 of the housing 400, whereas solder tails 421 of the lower terminals 420 lead to the front surface 402 of the housing 400 along the bottom surface 401 of the housing 400. This is because the lower terminals 420 are also press-inserted from the back surface of the housing.

By the way, recently, the miniaturization and high density of electronic parts have been developed drastically. There is a strong demand also in such connectors. In miniaturization, it is necessary to keep small the depth dimension d of the connector as a whole. However, if the depth dimension d is reduced, a new problem is raised. Namely, if the depth dimension d is reduced, there is a problem in that a distance dl between the upper terminals 410 and the lower terminals 420 is also reduced.

The upper terminals 410 and the lower terminals 420 have bent portions 413 and 423 for changing the directions to directions opposite to each other at the bottom surface 401 portion of the housing, respectively. For this reason, if the distance dl between the terminals is reduced, the bent portions 413 and 423 are close to each other and increase the risk of a solder bridge occurring between them when the solder tails 411, 421 are soldered to pads 412, 422 of the circuit board.

The technology to prevent the solder bridge of the adjacent solder tails is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2603160. However, in the same way as in the technology disclosed in FIG. 3, this technology simply teaches that the adjacent solder tails are displaced toward the front surface side and the back surface side of the housing along the surface of the circuit substrate, respectively. This, however, increases the distance d of the connector and is inconsistent with a reduction in size of the connector.

The present invention is therefore directed to a connector with improved solder tail arrangement that makes solder bridging unlikely.

Summary of the Invention An object of the present invention is to provide a shielded right angle connector in which even if a distance between terminals is reduced for miniaturization, it is possible to prevent the solder bridge from occurring, and it is possible to easily assemble a metal shield into an associated connector-receiving recess portion of the connector.

According to the present invention, there is provided a metal-shielded right angle connector comprising an insulative housing having a bottom surface for mounting to a circuit board substrate and a recess in a front surface thereof for receiving an associated connector, a plurality of terminals held in the housing and a metal shield provided along the interior side surfaces of the recess, wherein the terminals are divided into set of upper and lower terminals,

the upper and the lower terminals having solder tails extending in directions opposite to each other along the bottom surface by bent portions in the vicinity of the bottom of the housing, and the bent portions of the upper terminals being located above the bent portions of the lower terminals.

According to the present invention, either one of the bent portion of the upper terminals or the bent portion of the lower terminals is located on the upper surface side of the housing whereby even if the distance between the terminals is reduced for miniaturization, it is possible to prevent the solder bridge from occurring.

According to the present invention, the recess of the housing is divided into upper and lower recess portions that are separated by a partition. The upper terminals have contact portions disposed within the upper recess portion, suspended portions extending to the bottom surface side of the housing and solder tails extending rearwardly toward a back of the housing, while the lower terminals have contact portions disposed within the lower recess, suspended portions extending to the bottom along the housing, horizontal portions extending toward the front surface of the housing along the bent portions and solder tails extending along the bottom of the housing.

It is preferable that the bent portions of the lower terminals are located above the bent portions of the upper terminals and preferably along a surface of the housing. Horizontal portions extending toward the front surface of the housing by the bent portions are provided in the lower terminals. Accordingly, it is possible to raise by one step, the bent portions together with the horizontal portions by utilizing the horizontal portions. Thus, it is possible to readily keep the relative distance between the bent portions while miniaturizing the connector as a whole.

It is preferable that grooves are provided in the bottom surface of the housing and the horizontal portions of the lower terminals are received in the grooves. The horizontal portions are received in the grooves whereby, in particular, it is possible to position the solder tails. In the case where a plurality of lower terminals are provided, it is possible to suppress the non- uniformity in pitch between the adjacent solder tails.

An opening is formed on the back of the housing, and the upper terminals and the lower terminals are inserted through this opening for mounting in the housing. Accordingly, it is possible to insert the metal shield from the front surface of the housing to be fit in place.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Accompanying Drawings : The invention, together with its objects and the advantages thereof, may be best understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements in the figures and in which: FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a shielded right angle connector constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention ; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a known shielded right angle connector illustrating the deficiencies of the prior art; and, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a known right angle connector.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments: An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Fig. 1 which is a cross-sectional view showing a metal-shielded right angle connector C. The connector shown in the drawing is provided with a housing H having a bottom surface 1 laid on a circuit substrate K and formed of insulative resin having a recess portion 4 for receiving an associated connector (not shown) in a front surface 2, a plurality of terminals T held in the housing H, and metal shields 50a and 50b provided along side surfaces 44a and 44b of the recess portion 4 mainly for the purpose of avoiding static electricity.

Then, the terminals T are divided into sets of upper terminals 10 and lower terminals 20. Although not shown, these upper terminals 10 and lower terminals 20 are arranged in a plural manner in the transverse direction of the housing H. In this embodiment, two terminals are arranged, and four terminals are arranged in total.

The recess portion 4 of the housing H is divided into an upper recess portion 4a and a lower recess portion 4b by a partition 5. The partition 5 is formed integrally with the housing H and is provided with a function to hold the upper terminal 10 and the lower terminal 20.

The upper terminals 10 have contact portions 11, shown as serpentine or s-shaped contact portions, disposed in the upper recess portion 4a, suspended or body portions 13

extending downwardly toward the bottom 1 of the housing H through bent portions 12, and solder tails 15 extending in a direction toward the back 3 of the housing H along the bottom surface 1 by bent portions 14 in the vicinity of the bottom surface 1 of the housing H.

Likewise, the lower terminals 20 of the connector have s-shaped contact portions 21 disposed in the lower recess portion 4b, suspended or body portions 23 extending downwardly toward the bottom surface 1 of the housing H through bent portions 22, horizontal portions 25 extending toward the front 2 of the housing H by bent portions 24 before the bottom surface 1 of the housing H and solder tails 26 extending along the bottom surface 1 of the housing H. These body portions are spaced apart from each other, as illustrated, a longitudinal distance or spacing dl. These lower terminals 20 have a"stepped"profile, meaning that they extend in two planes, one plane being defined by longitudinal portions or extents 25 and the other plane being defined by longitudinal portions or extents 26. Thus, the bent portions 24 of the lower terminals 20 are raised one step toward an upper surface 6 of the housing H above the bent portions 14 of the upper terminals 10, together with the horizontal portions 25. In this manner, the bends 24 of the lower terminals of and the bends 14 of the upper terminals are spaced apart from each other a distance d2 (FIG. 1), which is larger than the distance of dl.

Grooves 27 are provided in the bottom surface 1 of the housing H and the horizontal portions 25 of the lower terminals 20 are received in the grooves 27. The grooves 27 are provided in the bottom 1 of the housing H in conformity with the number of the lower terminals 20. The solder tails 15 of the upper terminals 10 are soldered to bumps kl of the circuit substrate K, and the solder tails 26 of the lower terminals 20 are soldered to bumps k2.

An opening 7 is formed in the back 3 of the housing H. The upper terminals 10 and the lower terminals 20 are inserted through the opening 7 to be fit in the housing H.

Accordingly, the metal shields 50a and 50b are inserted from the front surface 2 of the housing H. The metal shield 50a is mounted along the side surface 44a so as to face the contact portions 11 of the upper terminals 10 in the upper recess portion 4a. The metal shield 50b is mounted along the side surface 44b so as to face the contact portions 21 of the lower terminals 20 in the lower recess portion 4b.

Furthermore, the metal shield 50a is formed so as to cover an interior side Ha of the upper recess on the front surface 2 side on the upper surface 6 of the housing H. In the same

manner, the metal shield 50b is formed so as to cover an interior side Hb of the lower recess on the front surface 2 of the bottom 1 of the housing H. With such an arrangement, when the opposing connector (not shown) is to be engaged with the right angle connector C, the opposing connector shield (not shown) is brought into contact with the metal shield 50a or 50b before the associated connector terminals (not shown) are brought into contact with the upper terminals 10 or the lower terminals 20. It is thus possible to prevent static electricity from flowing through the upper terminals 10 and the lower terminals 20. It is possible to mount either one of the metal shields 50a and 50b but it is preferable to provide the two metal shields.

Since both the upper terminals 10 and the lower terminals 20 are inserted from the back surface 3 of the housing H and there is no contact portion of each terminal on the inner surface side of the press-fit recess portion 4, it is possible to easily insert the metal shield 50 from the front surface 2.

According to this embodiment, the bent portions 24 of the lower terminals 20 are raised one step toward the upper surface 6 of the housing H above the bent portions 14 of the upper terminals 10. Thus, even if the distance between the terminals is reduced for the miniaturization of the connector as shown in the drawing, that is, the distance between the suspended portions 13 and 23 is reduced, it is possible to prevent solder bridges from occurring due to the increased distance between the solder tail 15 of the upper terminal and the stepped portions 24,25 of the lower terminal 20.

Also, the horizontal portions 25 extending toward the front surface 2 of the housing H by the bent portions 24 are provided in the lower terminals 20 whereby it is possible to raise the bent portions 24 together with the horizontal portions 25 by one step upwardly by utilizing the horizontal portions 25. Thus, it is possible to readily keep the relative distance between the bent portions 24 while miniaturizing the connector as a whole.

Also, the grooves 27 are provided in the bottom surface 1 of the housing H, and the horizontal portions 25 of the lower terminals 20 are received in the grooves 27 whereby it is possible to position the solder tails 26 in place without fail. Furthermore, in the case where the plurality of lower terminals 20 are provided, it is possible to suppress the non-uniformity in pitch between the adjacent solder tails 26.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a shielded right angle connector in which even if a distance between terminals is reduced for miniaturization, it is possible to prevent the solder bridge from occurring and it is possible to easily assemble a metal shield into an associated connector receiving recess portion.

It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein.