Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6379171
-
Patent Number
6,379,171
-
Date Filed
Monday, May 14, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, April 30, 200222 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Sircus; Brian
- Nasri; Javaid
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A ZIF socket connector includes a base (1), a cover (2), and a driving device (3). The cover includes a deflecting device having at least one block (24) formed on an inner face of a side wall (20) of the cover and at least one projection (11) formed on lateral face (10) of the base. Before the cover slides on the base, each projection is positioned in front of each corresponding block. When the driving device is operated, the block climbs up the projection thereby displacing the cover relative to the base to avoid a front end (42) of a terminal (4) and then to get over and drop down the projection thereby reverting the cover to a level location relative to the base.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zero insertion force (ZIF) socket connector, and particularly to a ZIF socket connector having a cover capable of a displaced movement on a corresponding base.
2. Description of Related Art
A ZIF socket connector is used to connect a central processing unit (CPU) to a printed circuit board. In the prior art, the socket connector comprises a base, a cover and a driving device. The base defines a plurality of arrays of receiving holes, and a plurality of terminals is received in the corresponding receiving holes and soldered to circuit traces of the printed circuit board. The cover also defines a plurality of through holes corresponding to the receiving holes of the base. The CPU is positioned on the cover and the pins of the CPU extend through the through holes of the cover and further extend into the receiving holes without contacting the terminals. When the driving device is operated, the cover slides on the base with the pins sliding in the receiving holes of the base to contact the terminals of the socket connector for transmitting electrical signals between the CPU and the printed circuit board.
Referring to
FIG. 11
, a receiving hole
900
of the base of the socket connector comprises an inserting area
90
and a contacting area
92
. A terminal
98
is received in the inserting area. A pin
96
of the CPU extends through a through hole
94
of the cover and further extends into the inserting area
90
of the receiving hole
900
. Referring to
FIG. 12
, when the driving device is operated, the cover slides on the base with the pin
96
moving in a straight direction from the inserting area
90
to the contacting area
92
of the receiving hole
900
. Referring to
FIG. 13
, if the pin
96
deflects from the center of the through hole
94
of the cover, the pin
96
will impact a front end of the terminal
98
to cause the terminal
96
deformed thereby influencing electrical connection between the pin and the terminal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide a ZIF socket connector having an assured engagement between pins of a CPU and terminals of the socket.
In order to achieve the object set forth, a ZIF socket connector comprises a base, a cover, and a driving device. The cover is positioned on the base and, when the driving device is operated, the cover can slide on the base. The cover comprises a pair of side walls, and one side wall forms at least one block on an inner face thereof. The base comprises a pair of lateral faces corresponding to the side walls of the cover, and one lateral face forms at least one semicircular projection corresponding to the at least one block of the cover. The at least one projection and the at least one block together form a deflecting device. When the driving device is operated, the at least one block climbs up the at least one projection thereby deflecting the cover relative to the base to avoid a pin of a CPU from impacting a front end of the terminal and then to get over and drop down the projection.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a top view of a ZIF socket connector of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a perspective view of a base and a cover, in an upside down position, of the ZIF socket connector;
FIG. 3
is a cross sectional view taken along line
3
—
3
of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 4
is a cross sectional view taken along line
4
—
4
of
FIG. 1
;
FIGS. 5
,
6
and
7
are partly cross sectional view showing a sequential operation of a deflecting device;
FIGS. 8
,
9
and
10
are top views showing in sequence, a pin of a CPU moving in a receiving hole of the base according to the present invention; and
FIGS. 11
,
12
and
13
are top views showing a pin of the CPU moving in the receiving hole of a base according to prior art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a ZIF socket connector comprises a base
1
, a cover
2
, and a driving device
3
mounted on a rear end of the base
1
. The cover
2
is positioned on the base I and, when the driving device
3
is operated, the cover
2
can slide on the base
1
.
Referring to
FIG. 2
, a pair of side walls
20
extends from both sides of the cover
2
, and a receiving space
22
is defined between both side walls
20
. Six trapezoidal blocks
24
are formed on an inner face (not labeled) of one side wall
20
of the cover. Six semicircular columnar projections
11
are formed on a face
10
of the base
1
corresponding to the blocks
24
of the cover
2
. Referring to
FIG. 2
, the blocks
24
and the projections
11
are divided into three groups located in ends and middle portions of the side wall
20
(on the right-hand side of the drawing sheet) and the lateral face
10
indicated by a character “A”. Only two blocks
24
and two projections
11
are shown in FIG.
2
. The blocks
24
and the corresponding projections
11
together form a deflecting device. Two pairs of sliding grooves
25
are defined in inner faces of both side walls
20
. The sliding grooves
25
are positioned between every two adjacent blocks
24
of the right side wall
20
. Two pairs of sliding blocks
14
are formed on both lateral faces
10
corresponding to the sliding grooves
25
and can slide in the corresponding grooves
25
. A plurality of receiving holes
12
is defined in the base extending through upper face and bottom face thereof. Each receiving hole
12
comprises an inserting area
120
and a contacting area
122
narrow than the inserting area
120
, and an inclined face
124
connecting the inserting area
120
and the contacting area
122
. A plurality of terminals
4
is received in corresponding contacting areas
122
. Each terminal
4
comprises a contact portion
40
at an upper end thereof, and the contact portion
40
has a front end
42
. A plurality of through holes
26
is defined in the cover
2
corresponding to the receiving holes
12
.
Referring to
FIGS. 3 and 4
, the base
1
is received in the receiving space
22
of the cover
2
, width of the receiving space
22
is bigger than width of the corresponding portion of the base
1
received in the receiving space
22
, and a distance is defined between the inner face of the side wall
20
and the lateral face
10
indicated by a character “d” for allowing the deflecting device to operate. When the driving device is operated, each block
24
can slide along a contour of the corresponding semicircular column projection
11
whereby the base
1
is sidewardly displaced while moving with respect to the cover
2
.
Referring to
FIG. 8
, pins
50
(only one shown) of a CPU extend through the through holes
26
of the cover
2
into the inserting areas
120
of the receiving holes
12
of the base
1
. When the driving device
3
is operated, the cover
2
will move on the base
1
with the pin
50
moving from the inserting area
120
to the contacting area
122
.
Referring to
FIG. 5
, before the pin
50
moves, each projection
11
just locates in front of each corresponding block
24
. When the pin
50
moves, the block
24
climbs up the projection
11
with the cover
2
displacing with respect to the base
1
. Referring to
FIG. 9
, the pin
50
avoids a front end
42
of the terminal
4
. Referring to
FIGS. 7 and 10
, when the cover
2
continues to move, the block
24
gets over and then drops down the projection
11
thereby reverting the cover to a level location relative to the base and the pin
50
passes through the inclined face
124
to continue into the contacting area
122
to contact the contact portion
40
of the terminal
4
. Under this situation, a moving path defined by the cover includes at least a forward plus sideward section, and successively a forward plus inversely sideward section so that the pin may optionally approach the corresponding contact portion obliquely instead of forwardly.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Claims
- 1. A zero insertion force socket connector for interconnecting pins of a central processing unit (CPU) to a printed circuit board, comprising:a base defining a plurality of arrays of receiving holes; a plurality of terminals received in corresponding receiving holes, each terminal having a contact portion, the contact portion having a front end; a cover defining a plurality of through holes corresponding to the receiving holes of the base for extending through by the pins of the CPU into the receiving holes; a driving device mounted on an end of the base for moving the cover relative to the base; and a deflecting device comprising a plurality of blocks formed on an inner face of a side wall of the cover, and a plurality of projections formed on a lateral wall of the base corresponding to said blocks, respectively, said blocks being movable with the cover to climb up said projections, respectively, thereby displacing the cover relative to the base to avoid the pin from impacting the front end of the terminal, and then to get over and drop down the projections; wherein at least one sliding groove is defined in the inner face of the side wall of the cover, and at least one sliding block is correspondingly formed on the lateral face of the base for a sliding engagement in the at least one sliding groove; wherein the sliding groove is located between every two blocks on the side wall, and each sliding block is located between every two projections on the lateral face; wherein the receiving hole comprises an inserting area, and a contacting area narrower than the inserting area; wherein the projection is a semi-circular column; wherein a moving path defied by the cover includes at least a forward plus sideward section, and successively a forward plus inversely sideward section so that the pin may approach the corresponding contact portion obliquely instead of forwardly.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
89221273 U |
Dec 2000 |
TW |
|
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
6280223 |
Lin |
Feb 2000 |
B1 |