Electrical connector having slide-on reinforcement members

Details Electrical connector having slide-on reinforcement members Electrical connector having slide-on reinforcement members

2003-08-29

2004-08-24

Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...

With provision to conduct electricity from panel circuit to...

Reexamination Certificate

active

06780025

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector used for electrically connecting a land grid array (LGA) integrated circuit (IC) module to a printed circuit board (PCB), and particularly to an electrical connector having a pair of reinforcement members. The invention relates to a copending application Ser. No. 10/453,224 with a title of “ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH METAL STIFFENERS” having the same applicants and the same assignee with the instant application.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electrical connector used for electrically connecting an LGA IC module to a PCB is widely applied in the field of electronics, and a correlative article is found in
Nonlinear Analysis Helps Design LGA Connectors
(Connector Specifier, February 2001). Examples of this kind of electrical connector are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,192,213, 5,199,889, 5,232,372, 5,320,559 and 5,362,241.
Referring to
FIG. 4
, a conventional electrical connector
6
used for electrically connecting an LGA IC module
8
(not shown) to a PCB (not shown) comprises a housing
63
receiving a plurality of contacts
64
therein, an actuator lever
62
having an action portion
620
pivotably attached to one end of the housing
63
, and a frame
65
hinged with an opposite end of the housing
63
. The frame
65
is bent slightly at middle portions thereof, and further forms a sunken portion
650
at an end thereof. The frame
65
is used for pressing and fastening the IC module firmly on the housing
63
. To fasten the IC module on the housing
63
of the electrical connector
6
, the action portion
620
of the actuator lever
62
is actuated into the sunken portion
650
. The action portion
620
presses the frame
65
on the IC module and the housing
63
. Because the middle portion of the frame
65
is bent, a middle portion of the housing
63
is prone to warp, and the two ends of the housing
63
are prone to be distorted upwardly where the housing
63
joins with the frame
65
and actuator lever
62
. Thus the housing
63
may partially detach from the PCB. When this happens, electrical connection between the LGA IC module
8
and the PCB may be impaired or even lost.
Hence, a new electrical connector having a reinforcement structure is desired to overcome the above-described disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having an effective reinforcement structure to ensure reliable electrical connection between an IC module and a PCB.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, an electrical connector in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing receiving a plurality of contacts therein, an actuator lever assembled with the housing, a frame hinged with the housing and a pair of reinforcement members covering on the housing. The housing defines a pair of rail portions thereon and the reinforcement member defines a pair of guiding slots, which enables the reinforcement members to be mounted on the housing by means of sliding on the rail portions. The reinforcement members protect the housing from bending or distortion by the frame when the frame presses down on an IC module received in the housing. This facilitates reliable electrical connection between the IC module and a PCB on which the housing is mounted.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:


REFERENCES:
patent: 5192213 (1993-03-01), Kosugi et al.
patent: 5199889 (1993-04-01), McDevitt, Jr.
patent: 5232372 (1993-08-01), Bradley et al.
patent: 5320559 (1994-06-01), Uratsuji et al.
patent: 5344334 (1994-09-01), Laub et al.
patent: 5362241 (1994-11-01), Matsuoka et al.
patent: 5364278 (1994-11-01), Laub
patent: 5890914 (1999-04-01), Belopolsky et al.
patent: 6015301 (2000-01-01), Brodsky et al.
patent: 6626683 (2003-09-01), Lai
patent: 6648656 (2003-11-01), Ma
patent: 6676429 (2004-01-01), McHugh et al.
patent: 6692279 (2004-02-01), Ma

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