Electrical connector having improved contact elements

Abstract

An electrical connector includes an insulative base (,) defining a plurality of contact receiving bores (,) for each receiving a contact element (,) therein. A cover plate (,) is attached to the base to define a space therebetween for movably receiving a slide plate (,). The slide plate defines a plurality of slots (,) corresponding to the contact receiving bores of the base and each slot retains a conductive member (,) therein. The cover plate defines holes (,) therein corresponding to the slots and adapted to guide pins (,) of a chip module into the slots. The slide plate is moveable between a released position and an engaged position where the conductive member engages with both the pin and the contact element to establish electrical connection therebetween. Each contact element includes a soldering section (,) extending beyond the base and adapted to be soldered to a circuit board (,), and an engaging section (,) extending into the corresponding slot for being engaged by the conductive member. A retention section (,) fixed in the base is spaced from and connected to the soldering section by a connection section (,) thereby allowing a reduction of thickness of the connector without sacrificing the mechanical strength thereof. The connection section is resiliently deformable to accommodate a relative movement between the retention section and the soldering section caused by a difference in thermal expansion between the connector and the circuit board.