BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an assembled, perspective view of a part of an electrical connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conductive contact of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 taken along line 3-3 thereof;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 taken along line 4-4 thereof;
FIG. 5 is an assembled, perspective view of a part of an electrical connector according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conductive contact of the electrical connector of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of FIG. 5 taken along line 7-7 thereof; and
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of FIG. 5 taken along line 8-8 thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, an electrical connector 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is shown to include an insulative housing or connector body 10, and a plurality of conductive contacts 12 resided within the insulative housing 10. For the illustration purpose, merely a part of the electrical connector 1 is included. The insulative housing 10 defines a mating side 101 adapted to mate with a mating electrical member or component, such as an IC package (not shown, as known in the prior art), and an opposite mounting side 103 adapted to face an electrical member, such as a substrate (not shown, as known in the prior art), and includes a plurality of passages 14 extending from the mating side 101 towards the mounting side 103 through the insulative housing 10.
Referring to FIG. 2, the conductive contact 12 is stamped from a single sheet of conductive material. The conductive contact 12 includes a middle spring beam or piece 122 resided within one passageway 14 of the insulative housing 10, a pair of opposite side spring pieces 124 and 126 located at opposite sides of the middle spring piece 122 respectively, and upper and lower contact portions 121 and 123 formed between the upper and lower side spring pieces 124 and 126 and the middle spring piece 122 to respectively extend substantially to the mating side 101 and the mounting side 103 of the insulative housing 10. Referring to FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the upper and lower contact portions 121 and 123, in free forms, project above the respective sides 101 and 103 so as to electrically mating with a conductive element or contact of the IC package and a contact pad of the substrate. Each of the upper and lower contact portions 121 and 123 is configured to have a curved shape so as to provide a relatively contact surface for electrically mating with the IC package or the substrate. Each of the side spring pieces 124 and 126 extends inwardly and downwardly from the corresponding contact portion 121 or 123. At least one portion of the middle spring beam 122 extends inwardly of the upper contact portion 121 and the lower contact portion 123. In this embodiment, the whole middle spring piece 122 has a common radius, and is further extends laterally or bent towards an end portion of the corresponding side spring piece 124 or 126. This configuration and shape of the middle spring piece 122 will ensure that the conductive contact 12 has a predetermined robustness thereof while possessing the required spring properties, in addition to having the upper contact portion 121 and the lower contact portion 123 located more adjacent to each other so as to enable the conductive contact 12 to be placed within a limited height between the two spaced electrical members, such as the IC package and the substrate, in order for establishing reliable electrical connections between the contacts of the two electrical member. In this embodiment, the middle spring piece 122, the side spring pieces 124 and 126, and the contact portions 121 and 123 are of a same width, except for a middle section of the middle spring piece 122 for robustness considerations.
The conductive contact 12 further includes an upper end piece 125 attached to the upper side spring piece 124, and a lower end piece 127 attached to the lower side spring piece 126, with the lower end piece 127 structurally different from that of the upper side spring piece 125. More specifically, the upper end portion 125 has a width thereof greater than that of any one of the middle spring piece 122, the side spring pieces 124 and 126, and the contact portions 121 and 123 for retention consideration, while the lower end portion 127 has a width thereof greater than that of the adjacent side spring piece 126, but less than that of the upper end portion 125. A pair of retention protrusions 1251, acting as retention structure, is formed at opposite sides of the upper end portion 125, with opposite side faces 1253 defined for engaging parallel side walls 1411 of an upper side slot 141 of the electrical connector 1 (to be later described) in order to floatably retain the conductive contact 12 on the insulative housing 10 in such a manner to prevent the conductive contact 12 from being removed from the passageway 14. Such retention structure of the conductive contact 12 may allow the conductive contact 12 to be vertically movable with a predetermined distance along a length of the passageway 14 if needed for coplanarity reasons. The lower end piece 127 is free, and shaped and sized to be accommodated within a lower side slot 143 of the electrical connector 1 (to be later described) so as to allow the middle spring piece 122 to deflect and spring back. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the upper end piece 125 and the lower end piece 127 have respective corner portions cut off or removed for achieving a smallest pitch for the electrical connector 1.
Each of the passageways 14 includes a main slot 140 adapted for receiving the middle spring piece 122, the upper side slot 141 adapted for floatably retaining the conductive contact 12 in the insulative housing 10, and the lower side slot 143 in communication with the upper side slot 141 for the lower end piece 127 to be movable in a vertical direction so as to permit the deflection of the middle spring piece 122 through the free lower end piece 127.
Referring also to FIGS. 1 to 4, in assembly, the conductive contact 12 is insertable into the passageway 14 of the electrical connector 1 such that the middle spring piece 122 and the pair of side spring pieces 124 and 126 are accommodated with the main slot 140, the upper end piece 125 is floatably secured within the upper side slot 141 in such a manner to prevent the conductive contact 12 from being removed from the passageway 14, and the free lower end piece 127 is vertically movable with respect to the passageway 14 for permitting the deflection of the middle spring piece 122 through the free lower end piece 127. In use, when the assembled electrical connector 1 is sandwiched between the two parallel spaced electrical members, and compressed by the two electrical members, the conductive contact 12 of the electrical connector 1 has the middle spring piece 122 further bent toward the end portions 125 and 127, with the upper end piece 125 extending more adjacent to the lower end piece 127 but not in direct contact with the lower end piece 127, thereby forming a short electrical pass merely through the middle spring piece 122. It is noted that because the retention of the contact 12 occurs at the end portion 125, the contact portions 121, 123 move in a wiping direction when the contact 12 is compressed by two electrical members. As a result, the end portions 125, 127 are located relative to the contact portions 121, 123 opposite to said wiping direction, while the spring piece 122, which forms the electrical path, is located relative to the contact portions 121, 123 along said wiping direction when the contact 12 is in a relaxed manner. On the other hand, because the spring piece 122 is curved opposite to the wiping direction, essentially it is impossible to have the spring piece 122 touch the housing wall, thus differentiating from the conventional type which defines a retention structure on the outwardly bugled spring piece abutting against the wall while leaving the distal tips free.
Referring to FIGS. 5, 7 and 8, an electrical connector 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is shown to include an insulative housing or member 20, and a plurality of conductive contacts 22 resided within the insulative housing 20. For the illustration purpose, merely a part of the electrical connector 2 is included. The electrical connector 2 of this embodiment is similar to that of the electrical connector 1 in the relative position relationship between the respective pieces of the conductive contact, except for specific shapes of the conductive contact 22 and the passageway 24 associated with the conductive contact 22. In this embodiment, both of an upper end piece 225 and a lower end piece 227 have a symmetrical configuration, i.e. without portions thereof cut off or removed. The conductive contact 22 have a width two times greater than that of the conductive contact 12 of the first embodiment, except for the upper end piece 225 and the lower end piece 227. The passageway 24 further includes an upper side slot 241 adapted for receiving the upper end piece 225, and a lower side slot 243 adapted for receiving the lower end piece 227. The conductive contact 22 further includes an elongated slot 220 extending along a length of the middle spring piece 222, the side spring pieces 224 and 226, and the contact portions 221 and 223 except for a middle section of the middle spring piece 222 for robustness consideration. The inclusion of the slot 220 along the respective pieces and the contact portion 221 and 223 increases the flexibility of the conductive contact 22, and provides two spaced contact regions at each of the contact portions 221 and 223 for an increased contact surface with a corresponding contact pad of the mating component or electrical member.
While the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, the description of the invention is illustrative and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various of modifications to the present invention can be made to preferred embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Patent Application
20080050939
