Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Including compound movement of coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-02
2001-12-04
Vu, Hien (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Including compound movement of coupling part
C439S910000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325655
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to an electrical connector and, more particularly, to an electrical connector for connecting a pin grid array (“PGA”) package, to a printed circuit board.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A typical PGA includes a silicon chip, a package including conductive and non-conductive components and a plurality of pins depending downward from a bottom surface of the package. Conventionally, electrical connectors for PGA's include a base housing having an array of terminal receiving cavities, a plurality of terminals mounted in the terminal receiving cavities and a cover slidably mounted on the base housing. The cover has through holes therein adapted for insertion of the pins of the PGA therethrough. In operation, the cover is initially positioned in a first or pin receiving position. The pins of the PGA are then inserted through the holes in the cover. Some type of actuator is then typically actuated in order to slide the cover and the PGA with its associated pins linearly so that the pins engage the terminals contained within the base housing. An example of a connector of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2689325.
The typical terminal of the connector of this type has a solder tail for soldering within a hole in a printed circuit board and of a contact piece for engaging a pin of the PGA. An engaging or retention portion is positioned between the solder tail and the contact piece for engaging the base housing in order to retain the terminal in the base housing.
With the typical electrical connector for the PGA package, each terminal is formed into the configuration in which the contact piece, the engaging portion and the solder tail are linear as set forth above. Therefore, the terminal length is generally long, and the thickness of the base housing is generally similar to the length of the contact piece and the engaging portion. As a result, a reduction in the height of the overall electrical connector is generally difficult without also shrinking the height of the terminal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is intended to solve the problems set forth above. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector for a PGA package having a structure adapted for the reduction of the height thereof.
To accomplish the above-mentioned object, the present invention contemplates the provision of a structure in which the contact piece and the engaging piece for retaining the terminal within the base housing are provided in parallel. The invention may also utilize a slidable cover formed of sheet metal with an insulative coating thereon.
A zero insertion force electrical connector for mounting on a circuit member and receiving a device having an array of conductive pin terminals is provided. The electrical connector includes a dielectric base housing with the base housing having a plurality of terminal-receiving cavities corresponding to the array of pin terminals. A cover is slidably mounted on the base housing with the cover including a metal component and an insulative component. The metal component has a plurality of through holes therein arranged in an array corresponding to the array of pin terminals for receiving the pin terminals in the through holes. The insulative component is configured to space the conductive pin terminals from the metal component of the cover upon insertion of the conductive pin terminals into the through holes. A plurality of conductive terminals are mounted in the terminal-receiving cavities of the base housing for electrically connecting the device and the circuit member. An actuating structure is provided to slide the cover along the base housing whereby at the first insertion position pin terminals inserted into the through holes in the cover are spaced from the terminals and at the second engagement position pin terminals inserted into the through holes in the cover engage the terminals to effect electrical connection between the device and the circuit member.
If desired, the insulative component of the cover may be an oxide film. If desired, the cover may include guide structure that interacts with edges of the base member to guide the cover between the first insertion position and the second engagement position. The guide structure may include openings in edges of the cover and the base housing may include projections extending from the edges of the base member into the openings in the cover. In another alternative, the array of through holes is generally rectangular and portions of the cover within the array do not include the through holes. The metal component of the cover may be generally planar. In addition, the insulative component of the cover may also be generally planar. The cover may include a generally planar layer of sheet metal and a generally planar layer of insulative material. Both the base housing and the cover may be generally planar. In addition, the cover may be movable between a first insertion position and a second engagement position. In one embodiment, the terminals are stamped and formed with each terminal including a mounting portion for securing the terminal in the base housing. A tail section is provided for contacting a conductive portion of the circuit member and a contact structure is configured for engaging a portion of a respective one of the pin terminals of a PGA upon positioning the cover in the second engagement position.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4059323 (1977-11-01), Babuka et al.
patent: 4519660 (1985-05-01), Ichimura et al.
patent: 5057031 (1991-10-01), Sinclair
patent: 5256080 (1993-10-01), Bright
patent: 5443591 (1995-08-01), Tsai
Mizumura Akinori
Noda Atsuhito
Cohen Charles S.
Molex Incorporated
Vu Hien
Yesukevich Robert A.
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