Information
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Patent Grant
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6558174
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Patent Number
6,558,174
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Date Filed
Friday, December 28, 200122 years ago
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Date Issued
Tuesday, May 6, 200321 years ago
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Inventors
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Original Assignees
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Examiners
Agents
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CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 439 342
- 439 135
- 439 131
- 439 476
- 439 940
- 439 41
- 029 740
- 029 741
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International Classifications
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Abstract
A pick-and-place device includes a substantially rigid board having a bottom face positionable and releasably attachable to a surface of a socket connector in which a plurality of passages are defined. The rigid board covers a first group of the passages with a second group of the passages not covered by the board. Openings are defined in the board to expose some of the passages of the first group for enhancing heat transfer. A solid portion of the rigid board forms a top face of the board for vacuum handling purposes. A flexibe, thin film has a first surface on which adhesive is coated for attaching the film to socket connector and covering both the passages of the second group and the exposed passages of the first group for shielding the passages against contaminants. The film partially overlaps and is adhesively attached to the top face of the board and has an opposite second surface exposed for vacuum handling of the socket connector. The film is thin and thus has no significantly adverse effect on heat transfer.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a socket connector for mounting a Central Processing Unit (CPU) module to a circuit board, and more particular to a pick-and-place device for the socket connector.
2. The Related Arts
A socket connector for mounting a Central Processing Unit (CPU) module to a circuit board comprises a rectangular base housing having a rectangular central opening and defining a number of cells arranged around the central opening. Conductive contact elements are received in the cells and have tails extending beyond the base housing for being soldered to the circuit board. A cover is movably supported on a top surface of the base housing and carries the CPU module thereon. The cover has a central opening substantially corresponding to the central opening of the base housing and a number of passages in registration with the cells. Pin legs depending from the CPU module are received in the passages and partially extend into the cells for physical engagement with the contact elements.
To properly position the socket connector on the circuit board, a pick-and-place device is employed to handle the socket connector. The pick-and-place device is attached to the socket connector in a releasable manner and has a flat surface for cooperating with a vacuum suction device. To accommodate the vacuum suction device, the flat surface must have a large area. An example is shown in a co-pending US patent application filed on Dec. 7, 2001, Ser. No. 10/031,381 which is assigned to the same assignee of the current application. The conventional pick-and-place device is conveniently made of synthetic materials that are insulation to heat. The conventional pick-and-place device comprises a board having a surface area covering all or most of the passages when the pick-and-place device is attached to the socket connector. The board must have a thickness sufficient to support the vacuum suction.
In carrying out soldering operations to attach the tails of the contact elements to the circuit board, a great amount of heat must be applied to and/or dissipated from the socket connector. Covering all or most of the passages by the conventional pick-and-place device is in general disadvantageous to heat transfer during the soldering operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a pick-and-place device for a socket connector that allows excellent heat transfer in soldering operations.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pick-and-place device allowing excellent heat transfer in soldering operations, while protecting the socket connector from contaminant occurring in the soldering operations.
To achieve the above objects, in accordance with the present invention, a pick-and-place device comprises a substantially rigid board having a bottom face positionable and releasably attachable to a surface of a socket connector in which a plurality of passages are defined. The rigid board covers a first group of the passages with a second group of the passages not covered by the board. Openings are defined in the board to expose some of the passages of the first group for enhancing heat transfer. A solid portion of the rigid board forms a top face of the board for vacuum handling purposes. A flexible, thin film has a first surface on which adhesive is coated for attaching the film to socket connector and covering both the passages of the second group and the exposed passages of the first group for shielding the passages against contaminants. The film partially overlaps and is adhesively attached to the top face of the board and has an opposite second surface exposed for vacuum handling of the socket connector. The film is thin and thus has no significantly adverse effect on heat transfer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
is a perspective view showing a pick-and-place device in accordance with the present invention to be mounted to a socket connector; and
FIG. 2
is a perspective view showing the pick-and-place device of the present invention mounted to the socket connector.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to the drawings and particularly to
FIG. 1
, a pick-and-place device constructed in accordance with the present invention, generally designated with reference numeral
2
, is adapted to be mounted to a socket connector
1
for vacuum handling and protection purposes. The socket connector
1
comprises a base housing
11
positionable on a circuit board (not shown) and retaining contact elements (not shown) to be soldered to the circuit board. The socket connector
1
also comprises a cover
12
movably supported on the base housing
11
. The cover
12
defines a central opening
121
having a side wall
123
. The cover
12
has a surface
120
in which a number of passages
122
are defined and arranged around the central opening
121
for the extension of pin legs depending from an electronic device (both not shown).
To properly handle the socket connector
1
during a soldering process that connects the contact elements of the socket connector to the circuit board, the pick-and-place device
2
of the present invention is releasably attached to the socket connector
1
to facilitate handling the socket connector
1
with a vacuum suction device (not shown). The pick-and-place device
2
comprises a board
21
having a thickness sufficient to support the vacuum suction. Thus, the board
21
is substantially rigid. The board
21
has a bottom face (not labeled) positioned on the cover
12
and covering a first portion (not labeled) of the surface
120
of the cover
12
. A second portion (not labeled) of the surface
120
of the cover
12
is exposed. Ribs
212
are formed on the bottom face of the board
21
to retainingly engage the side wall
123
of the central opening
121
of the cover
12
thereby attaching the board
21
to the socket connector
1
.
When the board
21
is attached to the cover
12
of the socket connector
1
, a first group of the passages
122
that is located in the first portion of surface
120
of the cover
12
is covered by the board
21
, while a second group of passages
122
that is located in the second portion of the surface
120
of the cover
12
is exposed. The board
21
defines a number of openings
211
to expose some of the passages
122
of the first group located in the first portion of the surface
120
of the cover
12
. A solid portion of the board
21
is formed between the openings
211
and has a top face
213
to which the vacuum suction device is attached. The exposure of some of the passages
122
of the first group by the provision of the openings
211
of the board
21
allows good heat transfer in the soldering process. However, such openings
211
suffer a risk of contaminating the passages
122
and contact elements of the socket connector (not shown) by debris or other contaminants generated during the soldering process. Such debris or contaminants may get into the passages
122
, causing undesired blockage or other problems of the passages
122
and damage and contamination to the contact elements.
Also referring to
FIG. 2
, a flexible, thin film
22
, such as an PI-film or a paper tape, having a first surface coated with adhesives, is releasably attached to and overlaps both the board
21
and the second portion of the surface of the cover
12
and an opposite second surface exposed for vacuum-handling. The adhesive film
22
has a surface area sufficient to cover all the exposed passages
122
for protection of the passages
122
and the contact elements thereof. Due to the very small thickness of the film
22
, no significantly adverse effect against heat transfer is resulted in, allowing the soldering process to be carried out efficiently and effectively. The film
22
can be removed at any time after the socket connector
1
is securely mounted to the circuit board.
The film
22
is preferably made of a material capable to bear the high temperature caused by the soldering process.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
Claims
- 1. A pick-and-place device adapted to be releasably mounted to a socket connector having a surface defining a central opening and a plurality of passages, for vacuum handling of the socket connector, the pick-and-place device comprising:a substantially rigid board having a bottom face adapted to be positioned on the surface of the socket connector and releasably attached to the socket connector for shielding a portion of the surface of the socket connector and some of the passages; wherein openings are defined in the board for exposing at least a portion of the shielded passages for heat transfer purposes; and wherein the board has a solid portion aligned with the central opening and having a top face large enough for the vacuum-handling; and a thin film having a first surface having an adhesive coating for releasably attaching the film to the socket connector to shield passages that are not shielded by the board; wherein the film overlaps the top surface of the board and has an opposite second surface exposed for the vacuum-handling.
- 2. A pick-and-place device adapted to be releasably mounted to a socket connector having a surface defining passages for vacuum handling of the socket connector, the pick-and-place device comprising:a substantially rigid and rectangular board releasably attached to the surface of the socket connector to cover a first portion of the surface with a second portion of the surface exposed; wherein a first group of the passages are located in the first portion of the surface of the socket connector and a second group of the passages are located in the second portion of the surface of the socket connector, and the board defines four corner openings to expose some of the passages of the first group; and a thin film having a first face having a coating of adhesive releasably attached to and covering both the board and the exposed second portion of the surface of the socket connector and an opposite second face exposed for the vacuum handling wherein the film covers the passages of the second group and the exposed passages of the first group.
- 3. The pick-and-place device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the film is made of a temperature resistant material and is thus adapted to bear a high temperature caused by a soldering process for mounting the socket connector to a circuit board.
US Referenced Citations (6)