BGA socket

Details BGA socket BGA socket

1999-11-19

2001-04-03

Paumen, Gary F. (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...

Including compound movement of coupling part

Reexamination Certificate

active

06210197

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a BGA (Ball Grid Array) socket, and especially to a BGA socket for reliably engaging with a CPU.
A BGA socket having a compact dimension is commonly used within a notebook computer. The BGA socket such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,615 usually includes a base and a cover slidable above the base thereby actuating pins of a CPU inserted into the socket to engage with terminals of the base.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a conventional BGA socket
1
includes a cover
11
and a base
10
arranged under the cover
11
. The cover
11
is slidably coupled to the base
10
. The cover
11
defines a plurality of apertures (not shown) in alignment with passageways (not shown) of the base
10
for receiving corresponding terminals (not shown) therein. A plurality of solder balls (not shown) is disposed proximate the terminals between the base
10
and a mother board (not shown). Processed by an infrared reflow soldering method, the solder balls become molten thereby connecting the terminals to the mother board. A recess
12
is defined in the base
10
proximate a lateral edge thereof. A hole
13
is defined through the cover
11
corresponding to the recess
12
of the base
10
. A rod
120
is disposed to extend through the hole
13
and an end
14
of the rod
120
is received in the recess
12
. Pins (not shown) of a CPU
2
are inserted through the aperture into the passageways. Initially, no spring engagement exists between the pins and the terminals. Thereafter, the rod
120
is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction with the end
14
as a pivot. The cover
11
is laterally pushed thereby actuating the pins of the CPU
2
to engage with the terminals of the BGA socket
1
.
However, besides the concretionary solder sites, no other retention means exists between the base
10
and the mother board. The action of the rod
120
exerts stress in the base
11
thereby possibly deforming the base
11
. In addition, such a stress acts on the solder sites thereby adversely affecting quality of electrical connection between the BGA socket
1
and the mother board.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a BGA socket having a reliable structure which can be repeatedly used.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a BGA socket having a cover which can be smoothly actuated to push pins of a CPU to reliably engage with terminals of the BGA socket.
To fulfill the above-mentioned objects, a BGA socket in accordance with the present invention comprises a base defining a plurality of passageways and a cover defining a plurality of openings in alignment with the passageways. Pins of a CPU are inserted through the openings and into the passageways for engaging corresponding terminals in the passageways. The cover is disposed above and slidably engages with the base. The base includes a pair of fixing mechanisms each including a projection, i.e. an operation section, at one of a pair of opposite corners of the base, a stepped slider plate and a metal plate. Each projection defines a cutout. An elongate recess is defined at an end of each cutout for receiving the metal plate. A pair of grooves is formed proximate lateral surfaces of each cutout. The slider plate includes a center portion, a first tab laterally extending from an end of the center portion and a second tab oppositely extending from the other end of the center portion. The first tab is received in the grooves. The center portion abuts against a corner edge of the cover edge. The second tab abuts against a top surface of the cover proximate the corner. A pair of lateral surfaces of the cutout, the metal plate and the slider plate cooperatively define an actuation space. When the pins of the CPU are inserted into the passageways, there is no spring engagement between the pins and the terminals. A screwdriver is inserted into the space and is rotated to inwardly press against the slider plate thereby pushing the cover to slide above the base. Thus, the pins of the CPU are pushed to engage with the terminals of the socket. Since the second tab of the slider plate downwardly abuts against the cover, the cover is not upwardly deformed
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.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4420205 (1983-12-01), Kirkman
patent: 4538870 (1985-09-01), Thewlis
patent: 5649836 (1997-07-01), Kashiwagi
patent: 5658160 (1997-08-01), Kashiwagi
patent: 5707247 (1998-01-01), Konstad
patent: 5730615 (1998-03-01), Lai et al.
patent: 5855489 (1999-01-01), Walker

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