US Patent 8052458 Electrical connector assembly

An electrical connector assembly includes a housing having a base and contact towers extending forward from the base. The base has an outer perimeter defined between a front and a rear of the base, and the base has a latch extending forward from the base generally parallel to and spaced apart from the towers such that a gap is defined between a bottom of the latch and a top of the towers. Flanges extend upward from the top of the towers and at least partially block the gap. Contacts are held by the housing, where the contacts extend into the contact towers for mating with mating contacts of a mating connector.