Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-09
2001-04-17
Abrams, Neil (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
C257S738000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06217348
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector for facilitating connection of a CPU to a circuit board.
With the increase of input/output tails and the higher density of these tails, simplified methods of connecting the CPU to a motherboard are required. U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,178 discloses a ball grid array integrated circuit package which has a plurality of elliptical solder pads located on a bottom surface of a package substrate thereof. As shown in
FIG. 1
, an electrical connector
1
comprises a housing
10
having a bottom face
11
and a contact
12
extending through a contact passageway defined in the housing
10
. A solder ball
2
is attached to a tail
13
of the contact
12
. After the electrical connector
1
is placed on a motherboard
3
, the solder balls
2
are heated to a melting point and then solidify to electrically connect the connector
1
to the motherboard
3
. When the solder ball
2
is attached to the tail
13
of the contact
12
, the bottom face
11
may contact and deform the solder ball
2
. Thus, solder balls of different shapes are the result, leading to various speeds of melting and solidifying thereby causing the electrical connector
1
to incline and complicating the process of connecting the contacts
12
to the mother board
3
. Furthermore, since the deformed solder balls
2
may contact tails of the motherboard during melting, the circuit board may become short-circuited.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having solder balls attached to contacts thereof whereby the engaging area between each solder ball and the corresponding contact is large enough to assume reliable positioning of the solder during its melting, thereby promoting reliable electrical transmission between the connector and the motherboard.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having contacts, each contact forming a space for receiving and fixedly positioning a solder ball.
A third object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having solder balls attached thereto, each solder ball being able to maintain its shape thereby preventing the electrical connector from inclining.
The electrical connector of the present invention comprises a housing and a plurality of contacts. The housing has a first face for engaging a CPU and a second face for attaching to a motherboard. A plurality of contact passageways is defined between the two faces for receiving the contacts. Each contact comprises a contact section and a tail. The contact section extends beyond the first face and engages a corresponding contact of the CPU. The tail of the contact is received in the corresponding passageway and forms a receiving section at a free end thereof extending to the second face of the housing. The receiving section of each contact and a mating face of the corresponding passageway form a receiving surface for receiving a solder ball. The receiving surface has a shape corresponding to the solder ball to improve the soldering effect between the solder ball and the contact, increase the engaging area thereof, and maintain the shape of the solder ball to prevent the connector from inclining.
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: 4502745 (1985-03-01), Chavers et al.
patent: 4537461 (1985-08-01), Ouelette
patent: 4679889 (1987-07-01), Sheider
patent: 5706178 (1998-01-01), Barrow
patent: 6024584 (2000-02-01), Lemke et al.
patent: 6056558 (2000-05-01), Lin et al.
Huang Chieh-Rung
Lin Nick
Abrams Neil
Chung Wei Te
Duverne J. F.
Hon Hai - Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.
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