Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-01
2004-06-29
Abrams, Neil (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
Reexamination Certificate
active
06755667
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic component and a structure of terminals thereof and, more particularly, to an electronic component (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) slot) capable of forming electric connection with circuits on some devices (e.g., computer motherboards) so as to plug with corresponding electronic products (e.g., CPUs) having a plurality of pins. The present invention is characterized in that tin balls can be fixed at predetermined positions without passing through a tin oven, and tin material of the tin balls will not spread upwards when being soldered onto a circuit board. Thereby, nickel can be coated on terminals to prevent tin from spreading upwards, and the heights of the tin balls will be in agreement to facilitate soldering with a circuit board.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
When electronic products having a plurality of pins are to form electric connection with some devices, electronic components having a plurality of insertion holes (corresponding to the above pins) are generally used. For example, a CPU (an electronic product) having a plurality of pins forms electric connection with a computer motherboard by inserting into a CPU slot (an electronic component).
As shown in
FIG. 2
, a prior art electronic component
200
comprises a plurality of terminals
1
and a plastic main body
2
having a plurality of corresponding open terminal passageways
21
.
Please refer to FIG.
1
. Two sides of a main body portion
11
of the terminal
1
are extended to form two symmetric elastic contact pieces
14
to clamp a pin (not shown) of an electronic product. The distal end of the terminal
1
is a pin portion
13
for soldering. A bearing portion
12
is between the main body portion
11
and the pin portion
13
. The bearing portion
12
and the pin portion
13
form a terminal pin.
Please refer to
FIGS. 1 and 2
. The terminal
1
of the conventional electronic component
200
is first bent to let the pin portion
13
be transversal so as to facilitate soldering with a tin ball
15
. Before being soldered to the tin ball
15
, the terminal
1
with the bent pin portion
13
is installed in the terminal passageway
21
of the plastic main body
2
, as shown in FIG.
2
. In order to join the tin ball
15
at the bottom face of the pin portion
13
of each of the terminals
1
, it is necessary to place the above electronic component
200
upside down and paste soldering-assistant agent on the bottom face of the pin portion
13
of each of the terminals
1
. When the electronic component
200
passes through a tin oven, the tin balls
15
placed on the pin portions
13
(as shown in
FIG. 3
) can be soldered onto the bottom faces of the pin portions
13
of the terminals
1
so as to be soldered to a circuit board (not shown).
For the conventional electronic component
200
, when performing the procedures of placing the electronic component upside down, pasting on tin glue, and then passing through the tin oven, it is generally necessary to coat gold, nickel, and tin on the upper, middle, and lower sections of the terminals
1
, respectively. The nickel is exploited to prevent tin from spreading to the main body portion
11
or even to the elastic contact pieces
14
. However, because the original terminal
1
is too short, the length thereof will be even shorter (about 2-2.5 mm) after the pin portion
13
thereof is bent. It thus is very difficult to respectively coat gold, nickel, and tin. Therefore, the present practice is to totally coat gold. But the tin balls at the bottom end will spread upwards along the terminals
1
coated with gold when they start melting. In addition to the reason that there is no nickel for blockade, there is one reason that the terminal passageways are open so that tin can spread upwards without any blockade.
As shown in
FIG. 4
, when the tin ball
15
is to be soldered onto the bottom face of the pin portion
13
of each of the terminals
1
, the whole terminal
1
will be covered by tin if the temperature control is somewhat improper. The tin ball originally reserved for soldering with a circuit board will thus be drawn away or even disappear. Moreover, because the degree of being drawn away of each tin ball is different, the height of each tin ball will vary so that the bottom face of the electronic component
200
will be uneven. Therefore, it is difficult to place the electronic component
200
onto a circuit board (not shown) for performing soldering.
The above conventional electronic component
200
has the following drawbacks.
1. After finishing the manufacturing of the electronic component
200
, it is also necessary to let it pass through a tin oven for fixedly soldering the tin balls
15
onto the bottom ends of the terminals
1
at the bottom end of the electronic component
200
.
2. Because the terminal
1
is too short, it is very difficult to coat nickel for blocking tin. Therefore, the tin material will easily spread upwards to the whole terminal
1
or even contaminate the elastic contact pieces
14
when the electronic component passes through a tin oven.
3. The heights of the tin balls
15
at the bottom side of the finished electronic component
200
are different so that it is very difficult to place the electronic component on a circuit board for performing soldering. Moreover, the soldered circuit will be uneven.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an electronic component and a structure of terminals thereof. After the electronic component is manufactured, tin balls can be clamped at the bottom end of the electronic component without passing through a tin oven. Besides the tin balls can contact the terminals, the bottom ends thereof are exposed to be soldered to a circuit board. Therefore, the tin balls at the bottom side of the electronic component can be fixed without passing through a tin oven. The length of the terminal is sufficient to be respectively coated with gold, nickel, and tin so as to prevent tin from spreading upwards. Moreover, the heights of the tin balls are in agreement to facilitate soldering with a circuit board and let the soldered circuit board be even.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic component and a structure of terminals thereof, whereby tin balls will not fall off when being pressed into the plastic main body.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic component and a structure of terminals thereof, whereby good contact effect can be achieved between tin balls and the terminals.
To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides an electronic component and a structure of terminals thereof. The electronic component comprises a plurality of terminals and a plastic main body having a plurality of terminal passageways. A pin portion of the terminal protrudes downwards out of one of the terminal passageways. The pin portion has also a catching portion of through hole type. The bottom end of the terminal passageway forms a bottom receiving room for receiving a tin ball. After the pin portion of the terminal is bent, the catching portion thereof can catch it from below the tin ball. Because the tin balls have been caught and positioned by the catching portions of the pin portions of the terminals, the tin balls at the bottom side of the electronic component can be fixed without passing through a tin oven. Because of the lengthened pin portion, the length of the whole terminal is sufficient to be respectively coated with gold, nickel, and tin for preventing tin from spreading upwards. Because the tin balls do not pass through a tin oven, the heights thereof can be kept in agreement so that the electronic component can evenly contact a circuit board when it is placed on the circuit board for soldering. Moreover, because the tin material of the tin balls will not spread upwards, the soldered circuit board will be even.
Secondly, the depth of the bottom receiving room at the bottom end of the plastic main body is just lar
Abrams Neil
Rosenberg , Klein & Lee
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