Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Including compound movement of coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
2003-10-07
2004-08-24
Paumen, Gary (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Including compound movement of coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
active
06780041
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector for electrically connecting, an electronic package such as a land grid array(LGA) chip with a circuit board such as a printed circuit board (PCB) and particularly to an LGA electrical connector with a load lever and a connector body. The invention relates to two other contemporaneously filed applications having the same title, the same applicant and the same assignee with the invention.
2. Description of Prior Art
Land grid array (LGA) electrical connectors are widely used in personal computer (PC) systems to electrically connect LGA chips with printed circuit boards (PCBs). A typical LGA electrical connector comprises an insulative housing, a multiplicity of terminals received in the housing in a rectangular array, a metal load plate pivotally mounted to the housing, and a load lever attached to the housing. This kind of LGA electrical, connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,280,222 and 6,485,320.
FIG. 5
shows a conventional LGA connector
7
. The connector
7
comprises an insulative housing
71
fixed on a PCB (not 'shown), an operational lever
73
engaged with the housing
71
, and a metal clip
72
mounted to the housing
71
. The housing
71
defines a plurality of passageways (not shown) receiving a plurality of terminals (not shown) therein, and comprises a curved projection
712
extending from a side portion (not labeled) thereof. The clip
72
comprises a hook portion
721
protruding from one end thereof. The lever
73
comprises a pair of axles
731
having a pressing portion
732
therebetween, and an operational arm
733
extending perpendicularly from an end of one of the axles
731
. In use, the connector
7
is firstly oriented to be in an open state with the clip
72
perpendicular to the housing
71
and the pressing portion
732
of the lever
73
at a highest position. An LGA chip
74
is put into the housing
71
. Then, the connector
7
is adjusted to be in a closed state, with: the clip
72
abutting the LGA chip
74
; the pressing portion
732
of the lever
73
pressing the hook portion
721
of the clip
72
; and the projection
712
of the housing
71
hooking the operational arm
733
of the lever
73
Thus, the LGA chip
74
is stably received in the connector
7
, and accordingly is connected with the PCB.
During adjustment of the connector
7
from the open state to the closed state, an operator (not shown) must manually operate the operational arm
733
of the lever
73
. A distance between the housing
71
and the PCB is a constant. When the operational arm
733
has reached a horizontal position in the closed state, so that a distance between operational arm
733
and the PCB is, a constant. This latter constant is so small that the operator frequently bumps or interferes with the PCB and/or the connector
7
. In addition, there is no means to increase the distance between operational arm
733
and the PCB. Thus, during the operation of the operational arm
733
, the operator's hand is prone to be abraded or hurt.
A new electrical connector that overcomes the above-mentioned problems is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a load lever with a handle that helps prevent an operator's hand from being abraded or hurt.
In order to achieve the above object, an electrical connector in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a connector body fixed on a PCB, a metal clip pivotally mounted to the connector body, and a load lever attached to the connector body. The connector body defines a plurality of passageways receiving a plurality of terminals therein. The load lever comprises an operational arm, a pair of pivot axles having a pressing portion therebetween and extending from one end of the operational arm, and an operational portion. The operational portion comprises a bending portion bending upwardly from an opposite end of the Operational arm, and a handle extending upwardly and angularly relative to the operational arm from a distal end of the bending portion. When the connector is in a closed state, a distance between the handle and the circuit substrate is greater than a distance between the operational arm and the circuit substrate. This configuration helps prevent an operator's hand from being abraded or hurt.
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: 6280222 (2001-08-01), Walkup
patent: 6485320 (2002-11-01), Ma
patent: 6530797 (2003-03-01), Liao et al.
patent: 6599146 (2003-07-01), Liao
patent: 6626691 (2003-09-01), Yu
patent: 6638093 (2003-10-01), Chang
patent: 6685494 (2004-02-01), McHugh et al.
Hon hai Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.
Paumen Gary
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