U.S. patent application number 09/880853 was filed with the patent office on 2001-12-20 for socket for electrical parts.
This patent application is currently assigned to ENPLAS CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Hayakawa, Kenji.
Application Number | 20010053628 09/880853 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 18683969 |
Filed Date | 2001-12-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010053628 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hayakawa, Kenji |
December 20, 2001 |
Socket for electrical parts
Abstract
In a socket for electrical parts, a number of contact pins
contacting a number of terminals of an electrical part are
arranged, in grid shape, to a socket body in which the electrical
part is accommodated, and a guide member is provided for the socket
body for guiding a peripheral edge portion of the electrical part
to a predetermined position of the socket body. The guide member is
formed with an accommodation space into which the electrical part
is guided and accommodated and has first and second mount positions
apart by substantially 180.degree. from each other, and the
position of the accommodation space with respect to arrangement
region of the contact pins on the side of the socket body is made
variable by changing the mounting position of the guide member.
Inventors: |
Hayakawa, Kenji;
(Kawaguchi-shi, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STAAS & HALSEY LLP
700 11TH STREET, NW
SUITE 500
WASHINGTON
DC
20001
US
|
Assignee: |
ENPLAS CORPORATION
Kawaguchi-shi
JP
|
Family ID: |
18683969 |
Appl. No.: |
09/880853 |
Filed: |
June 15, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/526 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 7/10 20130101; H01R
13/193 20130101; G01R 1/0483 20130101; G01R 1/0466 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
439/526 |
International
Class: |
H01R 011/22 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 19, 2000 |
JP |
2000-183373 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A socket for electrical parts in which a number of contact pins
contacting a number of terminals of an electrical part are arranged
in grid shape to a socket body in which the electrical part is
accommodated and a guide member is provided for the socket body for
guiding a peripheral edge portion of the electrical part to a
predetermined position of the socket body, wherein said guide
member is formed with an accommodation space into which the
electrical part is guided and accommodated and has first and second
mount positions different and apart by substantially 180.degree.
from each other, and the position of said accommodation space with
respect to arrangement region of the contact pins on the side of
the socket body is made variable by changing the mounting position
of said guide member.
2. A socket for electrical parts according to claim 1, wherein said
guide member is mounted to a top plate of the socket body on which
the electrical part is mounted.
3. A socket for electrical parts according to claim 1, wherein the
socket body is further provided with an operation member to be
vertically movable in an installed state and a movable member for
displacing the contact pins in a manner that the movable member is
moved through the vertical movement of the operation member and the
contact pins are displaced through the movement of the movable
member so as to be contacted to or separated from terminals of the
electrical part.
4. A socket for electrical parts according to claim 3, wherein said
guide member has a rectangular frame structure, said operation
member has a rectangular frame structure, and said operation member
is arranged to be vertically movable around the guide member.
5. A socket for electrical parts according to claim 1, wherein said
terminals of the electrical part are solder balls.
6. A socket for electrical part according to claim 1, wherein said
socket is an IC socket and said electrical part is an IC
package.
7. A socket for electrical parts comprising: a socket body to which
an electrical part having a number of terminals are accommodated; a
number of contact pins arranged to the socket body so as to accord
with the arrangement of said terminals of the electrical part; an
operation member disposed to the socket body to be vertically
movable in an installed state; a movable member disposed to the
socket body to be movable in association with the movement of the
operation member to thereby displace the contact pins so as to
contact or separate the contact pins to or from the terminals of
the electrical part; and a guide member disposed to the socket body
for guiding a peripheral edge portion of the electrical part to a
predetermined position of the socket body, said guide member being
formed with an accommodation space into which the electrical part
is guided and accommodated, said guide member having first and
second mount positions different and apart by substantially
180.degree. from each other, and the position of said accommodation
space with respect to arrangement region of the contact pins on the
side of the socket body is made variable by changing the mounting
position of said guide member.
8. A socket for electrical parts according to claim 7, wherein said
guide member is mounted to the socket body through a top plate
having a mount surface on which the electrical part is mounted.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a socket for electrical
parts for detachably accommodating and holding an electrical part
such as a semiconductor device (called as "IC package"
hereinlater), and more particularly, the present invention relates
to a socket for electrical parts enabling the same guide member to
be commonly used even in a case of different arrangement (row)
numbers of terminals of the electrical part.
RELATED ART OF THE INVENTION
[0002] As a conventional "socket for electrical parts" of this
kind, there is provided an IC socket for detachably accommodating
an IC package as "electrical part".
[0003] The IC package includes, for example, a BGA (Ball Grid
Array) type of IC package in which solder balls as a number of
terminals are provided to the lower surface of the package body so
as to protrude downward in a grid (lattice) arrangement having
vertical (Y) and horizontal (X) rows.
[0004] The IC socket is provided with a socket body, a number of
contact pins disposed to the socket body so as to contact the
terminals of the IC package, respectively, and a guide member
arranged to the socket body so as to guide the IC package to a
predetermined position when the IC package is accommodated in the
socket body. Furthermore, a movable member for contacting or
separating the contact pins to or from the solder balls of the IC
package, through elastic deformation of the contact pins, is also
arranged to be vertically movable.
[0005] Furthermore, the socket body is provided with lever members
to be rotatable (pivotal) about a pivotal shaft so as to vertically
move the movable member, and an operation member for rotating the
lever members is also provided for the socket body to be vertically
movable. When this operation member is vertically moved, the lever
members are rotated (pivoted), and according to this rotating
motion, the movable member is vertically moved, thus contacting or
separating contact portions of the contact pins, with deformation
of the contact pins to or from the solder balls of the IC
package.
[0006] However, in such conventional IC package as mentioned above,
there are some cases of arrangements of different rows of
terminals, i.e. solder balls. In order to treat such arrangements,
different guide members have been prepared so as to be
correspondingly mounted to the IC package, which requires a
troublesome working of preparing a plurality of guide members
corresponding to a plurality of IC packages having different rows
of the terminal arrangements, thus being troublesome and
inconvenient particularly for maintenance of parts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] An object of the present invention is to substantially
eliminate defects or drawbacks encountered in the prior art
mentioned above and to provide a socket for electrical parts
capable of utilizing the same guide member even in the cases of
using different numbers of arrangement rows of terminals of
electrical parts.
[0008] This and other objects can be achieved according to the
present invention by providing a socket for electrical parts in
which a number of contact pins contacting a number of terminals of
an electrical part are arranged in grid shape to a socket body in
which the electrical part is accommodated and a guide member is
provided for the socket body for guiding a peripheral edge portion
of the electrical part to a predetermined position of the socket
body,
[0009] wherein the guide member is formed with an accommodation
space into which the electrical part is guided and accommodated and
has first and second mount positions different and apart by
substantially 180.degree. from each other, and the position of the
accommodation space with respect to arrangement region of the
contact pins on the side of the socket body is made variable by
changing the mounting position of the guide member.
[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the guide member is mounted to a
top plate of the socket body on which the electrical part is
mounted. The socket body is further provided with an operation
member to be vertically movable in an installed state and a movable
member for displacing the contact pins in a manner that the movable
member is moved through the vertical movement of the operation
member and the contact pins are displaced through the movement of
the movable member so as to be contacted to or separated from
terminals of the electrical part. The guide member has a
rectangular frame structure, the operation member has a rectangular
frame structure, and the operation member is arranged to be
vertically movable around the guide member.
[0011] The terminals of the electrical part are solder balls, and
the socket is an IC socket and the electrical part is an IC
package.
[0012] In a more structural aspect, the present invention provides
a socket for electrical parts comprising:
[0013] a socket body to which an electrical part having a number of
terminals are accommodated;
[0014] a number of contact pins arranged to the socket body so as
to accord with the arrangement of the terminals of the electrical
part;
[0015] an operation member disposed to the socket body to be
vertically movable in an installed state;
[0016] a movable member disposed to the socket body to be movable
in association with the movement of the operation member to thereby
displace the contact pins so as to contact or separate the contact
pins to or from the terminals of the electrical part; and
[0017] a guide member disposed to the socket body for guiding a
peripheral edge portion of the electrical part to a predetermined
position of the socket body, the guide member being formed with an
accommodation space into which the electrical part is guided and
accommodated, the guide member having first and second mount
positions different and apart by substantially 180.degree. from
each other, and the position of the accommodation space with
respect to arrangement region of the contact pins on the side of
the socket body is made variable by changing the mounting position
of the guide member.
[0018] The guide member is provided for the socket body through a
top plate having a mount surface through which the electrical part
is mounted.
[0019] According to the present invention of the characters and
structures mentioned above, the guide member has first and second
mount positions different and apart by substantially 180.degree.
from each other, and the position of the accommodation space with
respect to arrangement region of the contact pins on the side of
the socket body is made variable by changing the mounting position
of the guide member. Accordingly, the same guide member can be
commonly utilized for electrical parts having different terminal
arrangement (row) numbers, and therefore, constitutional elements
or parts for the socket can be reduced and maintenance working can
be hence made easy, eliminating troublesome operations and the
like.
[0020] The nature and further characteristic features of the
present invention will be made more clear from the following
descriptions made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] In the accompanying drawings:
[0022] FIG. 1 is a plan view of an IC socket according to one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 2 is a front view of the IC socket of FIG. 1, in which
a right half is shown as sectional view;
[0024] FIG. 3 is a side view of the IC socket of FIG. 1, in which a
right half is shown as sectional view;
[0025] FIG. 4 is a perspective view, partially in section, of the
IC socket of the above embodiment;
[0026] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the IC socket of FIG. 4 with
an operation member being removed;
[0027] FIG. 6 is a front view of the IC socket in a state of the
operation member moved up to its uppermost position;
[0028] FIG. 7 is a front view of the IC socket in a state of the
operation member moved down to its lowermost position;
[0029] FIG. 8A is a bottom view of an IC package of the IC socket
of this embodiment and FIG. 8B is a left side view of the IC
package;
[0030] FIG. 9 represents a contact pin of the IC socket of this
embodiment and includes FIG. 9A being a front view, FIG. 9B being a
left side view of FIG. 9A, FIG. 9C being a plan view of FIG. 9A and
FIG. 9D being a sectional view taken along the line IXD-IXD of FIG.
9A;
[0031] FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the contact pin in a closed
state of its contact portion;
[0032] FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the contact pin in an opened
state of its contact portion;
[0033] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the IC socket of this
embodiment with the operation member and guide member being
removed;
[0034] FIG. 13 is a plan view of a top plate of the IC socket of
this embodiment;
[0035] FIG. 14 is a front view of the top plate having a left half
in section;
[0036] FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of a portion X in FIG. 13;
[0037] FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken along the line XVI-XVI of
FIG. 15;
[0038] FIG. 17 is a plan view of the guide member of the IC socket
of this embodiment;
[0039] FIG. 18 is a front view of the guide member of the IC socket
of this embodiment;
[0040] FIG. 19 is a right side view of the guide member of the IC
socket of this embodiment;
[0041] FIG. 20 is a sectional view taken along the line XX-XX in
FIG. 17;
[0042] FIG. 21 is a sectional view taken along the line XXI-XXI in
FIG. 17;
[0043] FIG. 22 is a plan view showing the operation member and the
guide member of the IC socket of this embodiment;
[0044] FIG. 23 is a plan view showing a state that the guide member
is rotated by 180.degree. from the state shown in FIG. 22 to a
position inside the operation member; and
[0045] FIG. 24 is a view utilized for the explanation of functions
of the IC socket of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0046] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be
described hereunder with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
[0047] An IC socket as "socket for electrical parts" is totally
designated by reference numeral 11, which is a device for carrying
out an electrical connection between a solder ball 12b as
"terminal" of an IC package 12 as "electrical part" and a printed
circuit board, not shown, of a tester, for example, for a
performance test of the IC package 12.
[0048] The IC package 12 is so-called a BGA (Ball Grid Array) type
as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, in which a number of spherical-shape
solder balls 12b are arranged to the lower surface of a rectangular
package body 12a in a manner projecting in matrix arrangement of
vertical and horizontal rows.
[0049] On the other hand, the IC socket 11 is generally composed
of, as shown in FIG. 2, a socket body 13 formed of synthetic resin
to be mounted on the printed circuit board. A number of contact
pins 15, which are contacted to or separated from the solder balls
12b of the IC package 12, respectively, are provided for the socket
body 13, and a movable member 17 for displacing the contact pins 15
is also provided for the socket body 13. In addition, a top plate
19 is further arranged and fixed to the socket body 13 at a
position above the movable member 17. Furthermore, a guide member
20 is detachably mounted to the top plate 19 for guiding and
arranging the IC package 12 to a predetermined position at a time
of accommodating the IC package 12. An operation member 21 is
further provided for the socket body 13 to be vertically movable so
as to vertically move the movable member 17.
[0050] Each of the contact pins 15 is formed out of a plate member
having a good conductivity and elastic (springy) property through a
press working so as to provide a shape shown in FIG. 9 (FIGS. 9A to
9D).
[0051] More in detail, the contact pin 15 is composed of a pair of
elastic pieces 15a and 15b at its upper portion and a solder tail
portion 15c at its lower portion. The paired elastic pieces 15a and
15b have a common base portion 15d at lower portions thereof, as
viewed in FIG. 9, and the base portion 15d has substantially a
U-shape so that the paired elastic pieces 15a and 15b are opposed
to each other. A pair of contact portions 15e and 15f are further
formed to the upper (front end) portions of the respective elastic
pieces 15a, 15b of each contact pin 15 so as to be contacted to or
separated from the side portions of the solder balls 12b, and at a
time when the solder ball 12b is clamped between the contact
portions 15e and 15f, an electrical connection is established
between the IC package 12 and the printed circuit board, not shown,
for example.
[0052] Furthermore, each of the paired elastic pieces 15a and 15b
of the contact pin 15 is formed with a bent portion 15g
approximately in shape of "<", and these bent portions 15g are
pressed by a cam portion (or cam portions) 17a, mentioned
hereinlater, of the movable member 17 to thereby open the contact
portions 15e and 15f.
[0053] The solder tail portion 15c and the base portion 15d of the
contact pin 15 of the structure mentioned above are press-fitted in
a press-fit hole 13a formed to the socket body 13 as shown in FIGS.
10 and 11. Under the press-fitted state thereof, a falling
prevention portion 15m formed to the base portion 15d bites the
socket body 13 to thereby prevent the contact pin from falling out
upward. The solder tail portion 15c projecting downward from the
socket body 13 further extends downward through a location board 26
as shown in FIGS. 2 or 3, and then, is inserted into a through hole
formed to the printed circuit board and soldered thereto, thus
being connected thereto.
[0054] These contact pins 15 are arranged in the lattice of
vertical and horizontal rows with the same pitch as that of the
arrangement of the solder balls 12b of the IC package 12.
[0055] On the other hand, the movable member 17 is disposed to the
socket body 13 to be vertically movable with respect thereto, and
that is, movable in a direction perpendicular to a mount surface
19a of the top plate 19 and urged upward by means of spring 22.
Each set of first and second lever members (levers) 23 and 24 for
vertically moving the movable member 17 is disposed on each lateral
side of the movable member 17. In FIG. 5, only one set of the lever
members 23 and 24 is described.
[0056] These first and second lever members 23 and 24 are made of
metal and have base end portions to which fit-holes 23a and 24a are
formed, and bosses 13b formed integrally with the synthetic resin
made socket body 13 are fitted to these holes 23a and 24a to be
rotatable. Both the lever members 23 and 24 are arranged in X-shape
as shown in FIG. 5.
[0057] The base end sides of the first and second lever members 23
and 24 are formed with press portions 23b and 24b abutting against
the upper surfaces of portions to be pressed 17c of the movable
member 17 and depressing the surfaces downward. Furthermore, the
socket body 13 is formed with guide walls 13c for guiding the side
portions of the base end portions of the first and second lever
members 23 and 24 so as to prevent both the levers 23 and 24 from
coming off from the bosses 13b.
[0058] Moreover, front end portions 23c and 24c of the first and
second levers 23 and 24 are inserted into guide grooves 21a formed
to the rear surface of the operation member 21, as shown in FIG. 4,
to thereby guide the front end portions 23c and 24c and prevent
them from coming off sideways.
[0059] According to the described structures, when the operation
member 21 is moved downward, both the lever members 23 and 24 are
rotated, through which the movable member 17 is also lowered.
[0060] Then, with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, the movable member
17 has cam portions 17a each disposed to adjacent two contact pins
15, and the cam portion 17a is, at its both sides, with sliding
surfaces 17b. These sliding surfaces 17 press the bent portions 15g
of the elastic pieces 15a, 15b of the contact pins 15 which contact
the sliding surfaces 17b of both the side portions of the cam
portion 17a. That is, one cam portion 17a presses both the bent
portions 15g of the elastic pieces 15a, 15b of the contact pins 15
each disposed to each of both sides of the cam portion 17a, and
hence, the bent portions 15g of the paired elastic pieces 15a, 15b
of one contact pin 15 are pressed by a pair of cam portions 17a
disposed both sides of this one contact pin 15 in a direction
approaching each other, thus the contact portions 15e and 15f being
opened (separated from each other).
[0061] On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 10 to 16, the top plate
19 has the mount surface portion 19a on which the IC package 12 is
mounted and is provided with positioning ribs 19c, as shown in FIG.
10, each to be inserted into a space between the paired contact
portions 15e and 15f of the contact pin 15. The positioning rib 19c
takes a state clamped between both the elastic pieces 15a and 15b
in the closed state (i.e. a state that no external force is applied
to the elastic pieces) of both the contact portions.
[0062] Furthermore, the top plate 19 is provided with hook pieces
19g, as shown in FIG. 14, through which the top plate 19 is itself
mounted to the socket body 13. Further, the top plate 19 is also
provided with first and second assembling projections 19e and 19f
to which the guide member 20 is fitted. As shown in FIG. 13, these
assembling projections 19e and 19f are arranged to portions not
symmetric with respect to center lines of whole the IC socket 11
(called as socket center line(s) O2), i.e. A>B and C>D, and
as also shown in FIG. 12, center lines in X and Y directions
between the first and second assembling projections 19e and 19f
(called as assembling projection center line(s) O3) are set at
positions apart from predetermined distances from the socket center
lines O2, respectively, i.e. a distance substantially half of an
arrangement pitch of the solder ball 12b.
[0063] Furthermore, the guide member 20 has a square shape as shown
in FIGS. 17 to 24 and is provided with an accommodation portion 20a
having a square shape at a portion inside the guide member. As
shown in FIG. 17, center lines of this square accommodation space
20a (called as guide accommodation space center line(s) O1) are set
at positions apart from predetermined distances from center lines
of an outer appearance of the guide member 20 (called as guide
member outer appearance center line(s) O4), i.e. a distance
substantially half of an arrangement pitch of the solder ball
12b.
[0064] Still furthermore, the guide member 20 is formed with
tapered portions 20b along which the IC package 12 is guided and
set in the accommodation space 20a thereof. The guide member 20 is
further provided with a hook portion 20c to be engaged with an
engagement portion 19d of the top plate 19 as shown in FIG. 3.
[0065] Still furthermore, first and second fitting recesses 20d and
20e are formed to the bottom portion of the guide member 20, and
the first and second assembling projections 19e and 19f shown in
FIGS. 12 and 13 are fitted and mounted to these recesses 20d and
20e, respectively.
[0066] The guide member 20 of the structures mentioned above can be
mounted to a first mount position (FIG. 22) and a second mount
position (FIG. 23) which are different by 180.degree. in their
assembling positions. That is, in the first mount position, the
first assembling projection 19e is fitted to the first recess 20d
and the second assembling projection 19f is fitted to the second
recess 20e, and in the second mount position, the first assembling
projection 19e is fitted to the second recess 20e and the second
assembling projection 19f is fitted to the first recess 20d.
[0067] As mentioned above, by changing the assembling position of
the guide member 20 substantially by 180.degree. in angular
position, the position of the accommodation space 20a can be
changed with respect to the arrangement region P of the contact
pins on the side of the socket body 13, and accordingly, the IC
packages 12 having different arrangement rows of terminals, which
will be described further in detail hereinlater.
[0068] In the meantime, the operation member 21 has substantially
the square frame shape as shown in FIG. 1 and an opening 21b having
a size capable of inserting the IC package 12, which is inserted
through this opening 21b and mounted to the predetermined position
on the mount surface portion 19a of the top plate 19. This
operation member 21 is arranged to be vertically movable with
respect to the socket body 13 and urged upward by means of spring
27. The operation member 21 is prevented from coming off at its
uppermost position (most rising position) through the engagement
between the engaging member 21d in shape of claw with the
engagement portion of the socket body 13.
[0069] Such operation member 21 is disposed around the guide member
20 to be vertically movable, and the operation member 21 takes
substantially the same plane as that of the guide member 20 at its
lowermost position (most descending position).
[0070] Still furthermore, the operation member 21 is formed with an
operating portion, not shown, for rotating the latch 28. The latch
28 is mounted to the socket body 13 to be rotatable about its axis
and is urged by a spring, not shown, in a direction of closing so
as to press the peripheral edge portion of the IC package 12 by the
press portion 28b formed to a front end portion of the latch
28b.
[0071] The latch 28 is further formed with a portion to be pressed
(pressed portion), not shown, on which the operating portion of the
operation member 21 is slid, and when the operation member 21 is
lowered, the operating portion thereof is slid on the pressed
portion of the latch 28 so that the latch 28 is rotated in the
clockwise direction shown with two-dot-chain line in FIG. 2 and the
press portion 28b is hence retired from the setting position of the
IC package 12.
[0072] According to the structure mentioned above, the IC packages
including odd (odd number) grid arrangement and even (even number)
grid arrangement in which the arrangement numbers of the solder
balls 12b are different from each other can be utilized by changing
the assembling position of the guide members in the respective
arrangements of the grids, thereby reducing troublesome maintenance
working without increasing the number of parts or elements.
[0073] That is, the state shown in FIG. 22 corresponds to the even
grid arrangement of the number of the solder balls 12b, and in this
state, the guide accommodation space center lines O1 accord with
the socket center lines O2. From this state, by rotating the
arrangement (direction) of the guide member 20 by 180.degree. so as
to reverse the positional relationship between the letters "E" and
"O" of the guide member 20 as shown in FIG. 23, the guide member 20
becomes usable for the even grid arrangement of the solder balls
12b.
[0074] This will be explained more easily with reference to FIG. 24
in which the number of the solder balls 12b is extremely reduced.
With reference to FIG. 24, the first assembling (setting) position
corresponds to the IC package 12 having even grid arrangement of
four vertical and horizontal rows of solder balls 12b. That is, in
the first assembling position, the accommodation space 20a of the
guide portion 20 is positioned as shown with solid line in FIG. 24,
and in this state, the socket center lines O2 accord with the guide
accommodation center lines O1, in which sixteen contact pins 15 are
positioned in the accommodation space 20a, to which the solder
balls 12b are contacted respectively.
[0075] In the second assembling (setting) position in which the
guide member 20 is rotated, from the first assembling position, by
180.degree. with the guide member 20 being removed from the top
plate 19, the position of the contour line of the guide member 20
is not changed, but the position of the accommodation space 20a is
displaced from the position shown with solid line to a position
shown with two-dot-chain line.
[0076] In such case, the guide accommodation space center lines O1
are shifted (displaced) each by one pitch of the solder ball 12b
with the assembling projection center lines O3 being the center of
the shifting from the state shown with one-dot-chain line in FIG.
24 to the state shown with two-dot-chain line in FIG. 24. This
state corresponds to the IC package 12 having odd grid arrangement
of three vertical and horizontal rows of solder balls 12b, which
are accommodated in the accommodation space 20a of the guide
portion 20 as shown with two-dot-chain line in FIG. 24.
[0077] Thus, as mentioned above, according to the described
embodiment of the present invention, the IC packages 12 having
different solder ball row arrangements can be handled by using the
same guide member 20.
[0078] Hereunder, the usage of the IC socket of the structure
mentioned above will be described.
[0079] At a time when the IC package 12 is set to the IC socket 11,
the operation member 21 is first depressed downward. Then, the
front end portions 23c and 24c of the lever members 23 and 24 are
pressed downward and thereby rotated downward from the state shown
in FIG. 6 to the state shown in FIG. 7 with the boss 13b of the
socket body 13 being the center of the rotation. Accordingly, the
movable member 17 is pressed by the press portions 23b and 24b of
the respective lever members 23 and 24 and then moved downward
against the urging force of the spring 28 shown in FIG. 3.
According to this lowering motion of the movable member 17, the cam
portions 17a are also lowered as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, and both
the bent portions 15g of the elastic pieces of the contact pins 15
are pressed by the sliding surfaces 17b of the cam portions 17a,
thus the paired contact portions 15e and 15f being opened as shown
in FIG. 11.
[0080] At the same time, the portion (to be pressed) of the latch
28 is pressed by the operating portion of the operation member 21
to be thereby rotated from the solid line position to the
two-dot-chain line position in FIG. 2 against the urging force of
the spring in the opening direction thereof, and thus, the pressing
portion 28b of the latch 28 is displaced to the retiring
position.
[0081] Under the state mentioned above, the IC package 12 is
released from an automatic machine and guided to the accommodation
space 20a by the tapered portion 20b of the guide member 20, thus
being set of the predetermined position. In this state, the
respective solder balls 12b of the IC package 12 are inserted, in
non-contact state, in the opened interval between the paired
contact portions 15e and 15f of the contact pins 15, respectively,
as shown in FIG. 11B.
[0082] Thereafter, when the downward pressing force to the
operation member 21 is released, the operation member 21 is moved
upward by the urging force of the spring 27 and so on, and the
movable member 17 is also moved upward. Simultaneously, the latch
28 is rotated in the direction for closing the latch 28 by the
urging force of the spring.
[0083] Next, when the movable member 17 is moved upward, the
pressing force of the cam portions 17a to the bent portions 15g of
the contact pins 15 are released, and the paired contact portions
15e and 15f are moved to their closing direction from the state
shown in FIG. 11 to thereby clamp the solder ball 12b
therebetween.
[0084] According to the operation mentioned above, the solder balls
12b of the IC package 12 and the printed circuit board are
electrically connected through the contact pins 15.
[0085] On the other hand, at the time when the IC package 12 is
dismounted from the IC socket 11, the operation member 21 is
lowered, the contact portions 15e and 15f are separated from the
solder ball 12b, and accordingly, the IC package 12 can be easily
removed with a force smaller than that required for pulling out
each of the solder balls 12b from the state clamped by the paired
contact portions 15e and 15f.
[0086] Further, it is to be noted that the present invention is not
limited to the described embodiment and many other changes,
modifications and alternations may be made without departing from
the scopes of the appended claims.
[0087] That is, in the embodiment described above, although the
present invention is applied to the IC socket 11 as "socket for
electrical parts", the present invention is not limited to such an
IC socket and is applicable to other devices or like. Moreover, the
present invention is applied to the IC socket for the BGA type IC
package 12, but it is not limited thereto and applicable to an IC
socket for an LGA (Land Grid Array) type IC package. Furthermore,
in the described embodiment, although the present invention is
applied to a so-called open-top-type IC socket, the present
invention is not limited to such type and is applicable to a
so-called clamshell-type IC socket having a pivotal lid pressing
the IC package.
* * * * *