Electrical connector having improved contact elements

Details Electrical connector having improved contact elements Electrical connector having improved contact elements

1999-05-28

2001-04-17

Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

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

Including compound movement of coupling part

Reexamination Certificate

active

06217362

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and in particular to a zero insertion force (ZIF) ball grid array (BGA) connector having firmly secured contact elements for effectively forming an electrical connection with pins of a chip module.
2. The Prior Art
Chip modules have been improved significantly. The amount and speed of data transferred by the chip modules has increased rapidly. Thus, a corresponding modification of a connector connecting the chip module to a circuit board is required. Corresponding examples are disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 83207257, 83208396, 83212080 and 83212081.
FIGS. 1A
,
1
B,
1
C and
1
D show a conventional connector wherein
FIGS. 1A and 1C
are top views of a portion of the connector while
FIGS. 1B and 1D
are corresponding cross-sectional views. The conventional connector defines a number of contact receiving holes
21
in an insulative body
2
for retaining contact elements
1
therein. Each contact element
1
has an elongate body
10
comprising an engaging section
11
at one end and a retention section
12
at an opposite end. A soldering section
13
further extends from the retention section
12
and protrudes beyond the body
2
for being soldered to a circuit board
3
by solder
31
. The retention section
12
comprises barbs
121
for engaging with an inside surface of the contact receiving hole
21
to secure the contact element
1
therein.
Pins
4
of a chip module are inserted into the contact receiving holes
21
of the body
2
but are initially separated from the contact elements
1
. The chip module is then moved relative to the body
2
to bring the pins
4
into contact with contact elements
1
as shown in
FIGS. 1C and 1D
whereby the pins
4
are electrically connected to the contact elements
1
.
A disadvantage associated with the conventional connector is that during the movement of the chip module, a great force is applied to the contact element
1
by the pin
4
which in turn induces a large moment at the retention section
12
. The retention section
12
may thus be moved and separated from the body
2
as shown in
FIG. 1D
, causing damage to the solder
31
connection.
Furthermore, since the retention section
12
and the soldering section
13
are immediately adjacent to each other, a strain may be induced on the solder
31
connection due to a difference in thermal expansion of the insulative body
2
and the circuit board
3
. The strain may sometimes cause breakage of the solder
31
connection. In addition, the retention section
12
and the soldering section
13
are vertically stacked on each other thereby hindering a reduction of the thickness of the insulative body
2
while maintaining the same mechanical strength when securing the retention section
12
in the contact receiving hole
21
.
It is thus desirable to have an electrical connector that overcomes the problems mentioned above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector comprising contact elements firmly secured in contact receiving bores defined in an insulative body.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector comprising contact elements each having a resiliently deformable section for accommodating strain caused by different thermal expansions between the insulative body and a circuit board to which the connector is soldered.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector comprising a number of contact elements each having a retention section offset from a main section thereof thereby allowing a reduction of the thickness of the connector while maintaining the same mechanical strength to secure the contact element in the connector.
To achieve the above objects, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative base defining a plurality of contact receiving bores for each receiving a contact element therein. A cover plate is attached to the base to define a space therebetween for movably receiving a slide plate. The slide plate defines a plurality of slots corresponding to the contact receiving bores of the base and each slot retains a conductive member therein. The cover plate defines holes therein corresponding to the slots and adapted to guide pins of a chip module into the slots. The slide plate is movable between a released position and an engaged position where the conductive member engages with both the pin and the contact element to establish electrical connection therebetween. Each contact element includes a soldering section extending beyond the base and adapted to be soldered to a circuit board, and an engaging section extending into the corresponding slot for being engaged by the conductive member. A retention section fixed in the base is spaced from and connected to the soldering section by a connection section thereby allowing a reduction of thickness of the connector without sacrificing the mechanical strength thereof. The connection section is resiliently deformable to accommodate a relative movement between the retention section and the soldering section caused by a difference in thermal expansion between the connector and the circuit board.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5044973 (1991-09-01), Noda et al.
patent: 5492488 (1996-02-01), Hsu
patent: 5622514 (1997-04-01), Crompton, III et al.
patent: 5855489 (1999-01-01), Walker

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Electrical connector having improved contact elements does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Electrical connector having improved contact elements, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electrical connector having improved contact elements will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2437356