U.S. patent application number 12/383384 was filed with the patent office on 2010-07-29 for ic socket with offset cam capable of preventing warpage of cover.
This patent application is currently assigned to HON HAI PRECISION IND. CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Chih-Pi Cheng, Cheng-Ching Chien, Ming-Lun Szu.
Application Number | 20100190370 12/383384 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42354508 |
Filed Date | 2010-07-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100190370 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Szu; Ming-Lun ; et
al. |
July 29, 2010 |
IC SOCKET WITH OFFSET CAM CAPABLE OF PREVENTING WARPAGE OF
COVER
Abstract
An IC socket (1) for receiving an IC package having a plurality
of pins extending downwardly includes a base (2), a plurality of
terminals (7) received in the base, a cover (5) mounted upon the
base (2), and a cam (6). The cover (5) includes a carrying section
(50) for carrying the IC package and a cam-receiving section (51).
The carrying section (50) forms a plurality of through holes (500)
for insertion of the pins of the IC package. The cam (6) is
disposed at the cam-receiving section (51) for actuating the cover
(5) to move with respect to the base (2) in a first direction A.
The cam (6) is offset from a central line CL of the carrying
section (50) which extends along the first direction A.
Inventors: |
Szu; Ming-Lun; (Tu-cheng,
TW) ; Cheng; Chih-Pi; (Tu-cheng, TW) ; Chien;
Cheng-Ching; (Tu-cheng, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WEI TE CHUNG;FOXCONN INTERNATIONAL, INC.
1650 MEMOREX DRIVE
SANTA CLARA
CA
95050
US
|
Assignee: |
HON HAI PRECISION IND. CO.,
LTD.
|
Family ID: |
42354508 |
Appl. No.: |
12/383384 |
Filed: |
March 24, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/259 ;
439/342 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 7/1061
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
439/259 ;
439/342 |
International
Class: |
H01R 13/62 20060101
H01R013/62 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 20, 2009 |
TW |
98200994 |
Claims
1-17. (canceled)
18. An IC socket comprising: an insulative stationary base defining
an ellipse opening; an insulative cover mounted upon the base and
defining an accommodating hole, said cover being movable relative
to the base in a front-to-back direction; a metallic strengthening
member sandwiched between the base and the cover and defining a
driving hole; said ellipse opening, said accommodating hole and
said driving hole being essentially aligned vertically; a metallic
cam defining a head portion rotatively snugly received in the
accommodating hole, a driving portion snugly rotatively received in
the driving hole, and a positioning portion received in the ellipse
opening and movable therein along a transverse direction
perpendicular to said front-to-back direction; wherein said
assembled base and cover defines a center line extending along said
front-to-back direction, and said cam is essentially located at an
end of the assembled base and cover in said front-to-back
direction, while being offset from a center line of the assembled
base and cover in said transverse direction so that a torque effect
derived from the movement of the cover in said front-to-back
direction can be eliminated by another torque effect derived from
movement of the positioning portion in said transverse
direction.
19. An IC socket comprising: an insulative base with a plurality of
contacts received therein; a cover mounted upon the base and
defining a plurality of through holes corresponding to the
contacts, the cover being movable along the base along a
front-to-back direction and defining a center line along the
front-to-back direction. a rotative cam embedded in one end of the
assembled base and the cover, and located at an offset position
from the center line in a left-to-right direction perpendicular to
the front-to-back direction; wherein when the cam is rotated to
actuate the cover to move along the base, a first force and a
second force are respectively produced from the cam and exerted on
the cover, the first force and the second force being substantially
parallel to the front-to-back direction and the left-to-right
direction, respectively, while neither of the first force nor the
second force is fitly passing a center of gravity of the cover,
thereby respectively generating a first torque and a second torque
which are against each other, to a certain extent, so that the
warpage of the cover is effectively reduced.
20. The IC Socket as claimed in claim 19, wherein the cover has a
strengthening member defining a driving hole therein, and said cam
is inserted in the driving hole and directly engaged with the same
to indirectly drive the cover.
21. The IC Socket as claimed in claim 19, wherein the base is
provided with a stiffener having an ellipse positioning hole, the
ellipse positioning hole engaging a positioning portion of the cam
and allowing the positioning portion to move therein along the
left-to-right direction.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to an IC socket, and more
particularly to a ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) IC socket for
receiving an IC package having a plurality of pins extending
downwardly.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
[0002] IC sockets are widely used in the electronic transmitting
field to interconnect two separate electronic components, i.e. an
IC package and a motherboard, so as to establish electrical
connection therebetween. One type of the IC sockets is designed to
receive an IC package for zero insertion force, which generally
includes a base having an array of receiving holes for receiving a
plurality of terminals, a cover mounted upon the base for carrying
the IC package, and a cam mechanism provided for actuating the
cover to slide with respect to the base so as to establish physical
and electrical connection between the terminals of the connector
and the pins of the IC package.
[0003] U.S. Patent application Pub. No. 20080268664 filed by
Zhan-Jun Xu etc. discloses a conventional ZIF IC socket including a
base having a number of receiving holes, a number of terminals
received in the receiving holes respectively, a cover mounted upon
the base and capable of sliding with respect to the base, and a
driving member disposed between the base and the cover. The cover
has a plurality of through holes corresponding to the receiving
holes of the base to allow the pins of the IC package to insert
into the through holes and then make contact with the terminals
retained in the receiving holes.
[0004] The driving member is a cam structure and is located at a
head section of the cover. A pushing force is provided by the cam
as it rotates to urge the cover to move. Simultaneously, another
friction force is produced between the cam and the cover in a
direction vertical to the direction along which the cover moves.
This friction force may raise a torque which is likely to cause
warpage of the cover and is thereby harmful for connection between
the IC package and the IC socket.
[0005] Thus, there is a need to provide a new IC socket that
overcomes the above-mentioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] It is therefore the object of the present invention to
provide an IC socket having an improved cam mechanism and being
thereby prevented from warpage.
[0007] In accordance with the present invention, an IC socket for
receiving an IC package having a plurality of pins extending
downwardly includes a base, a plurality of terminals received in
the base, a cover mounted upon the base, and a cam. The cover
includes a carrying section for carrying the IC package and a
cam-receiving section. The carrying section forms a plurality of
through holes for insertion of the pins of the IC package. The cam
is disposed at the cam-receiving section for actuating the cover to
move with respect to the base in a first direction. The cam is
offset from a central line of the carrying section which extends
along the first direction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] 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:
[0009] FIG. 1 is an assembled, perspective view of an IC socket in
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 is an exploded, perspective view of the IC socket
shown in FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 3 is an exploded, perspective view of the IC socket
shown in FIG. 1, taken from another view.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a top view of the IC socket shown in FIG. 1;
and
[0013] FIG. 5 is perspective view of a cam of the IC socket shown
in FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0014] Referring to FIGS. 1-3, an IC socket 1 in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the present invention is used for receiving
an IC package (not shown) having a plurality of pins extending
downwardly. The IC socket 1 includes a base 2, a plurality of
terminals 7 received in the base 2, a cover 5 mounted upon the base
2, and a cam 6 disposed between the cover 5 and the base 2 for
actuating the cover 5 to move with respect to the base 2.
[0015] The base 2 includes a cam-positioning section 21 and a
terminal-receiving section 20 forming a plurality of receiving
holes 200 for mounting the terminals 7. The cover 5 has a shape
similar to that of the base 2 and includes a carrying section 50
for carrying the IC package and a cam-receiving section 51. The
carrying section 50 forms a plurality of through holes 500 for
insertion of the pins of the IC package. The cam-receiving section
51 has a first recess 511 at one surface thereof close to the base
2. An accommodating hole 510 is formed in the recess 511 and
extends through the cover 5 in an upright direction. The
cam-positioning section 21 has a second recess 210 at one surface
thereof close to the cover 5 and an ellipse opening 211 is formed
in the second recess 210 to extend through the base 2 in the
upright direction. The cover 5 further includes a pair of side
walls 501 extending downwardly at two lateral edges (not labeled)
thereof to clip corresponding edges (not labeled) of the base 2 and
thereby provides guiding to the movement of the cover 5. The
carrying section 50 has a smooth surface 502 that located at the
center of the carrying portion 50. The smooth surface is not
configured with through holes 500.
[0016] The first recess 511 of the cover 5 receives a strengthening
member 4 formed with a driving hole 40. Similarly, the second
recess 210 of the base 2 receives a stiffener 3 formed with an
ellipse positioning hole 30.
[0017] Particularly referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the cam 6 is
made of metal and is disposed at the cam-receiving section 51 for
actuating the cover 5 to move with respect to the base 2 in a first
direction A. The cam 6 consists of four columns stacked with other,
of which the diameters decrease gradually, and taken from
up-to-down view, they are respectively a head portion 61, a driving
portion 62, a positioning portion 63 and a fixed end 64. The head
portion 61 is received in the accommodating hole 510 of the
cam-receiving section 51 and has a slot 611 for engaging with a
tool as a screw driver (not shown) to rotate the cam 6. The driving
portion 62 is received in the driving hole 40 of the strengthening
member 4 so as to actuate the cover 5. The positioning portion 63
is located both in the ellipse positioning hole 30 of the stiffener
3 and the ellipse opening 211 of the base 2 to make sure the cam 6
is non-movable in the first direction A. The fixed end 64 extends
out of the bottom of the base 2 to combine with a retaining member
8 so as to prevent the cam 6 from dropping away from the IC socket
1. The head portion 61 and the driving portion 62 share a same
axis, and the positioning portion 63 and the fixed end 64 share a
same axis. The two axises are offset from each other. The
perimeters of the positioning portion 63 and the driving portion 62
are tangent.
[0018] The carrying section 50 of the cover 5 has a substantial
rectangular shape and defines a central line CL extending along the
first direction A and across the smooth surface 502. All of the
accommodating hole 510 of the cam-receiving section 51, the driving
hole 40 of the strengthening member 4, and the positioning hole 30
are offset from the central line CL. Due to offset configuration of
the cam 6, the connecting line (not labeled) between the driving
portion 62 and a substantial central portion of the carrying
section 50 is deflecting a certain angle with the first direction
A.
[0019] Particularly referring to FIG. 4, when the cover 5 is in an
open position, the through holes 500 of the cover 5 are
corresponding with the terminals 7, respectively. Assemble the IC
package onto the carrying section 50 of the cover 5 with the pins
passing through the through holes 500 and then arriving adjacent
the terminals 7, respectively. When rotates the cam 6 clockwise,
the cover 5 moves from the open position to a closed position along
the first direction A. Because the positioning portion 63 and the
driving portion 62 have different diameters and the axises thereof
are not in a same line, and also because the positioning portion 63
is limited in positioning hole 30 and is not movable in the first
direction A, the driving portion 62 engages the strengthening
member 4 and thereby able to actuate the cover 5 to move along the
first direction A. `F` labeled in FIG. 4 is supposed to represent
the pushing force exerted on the cover 5 by the driving portion 62,
and `f` to represent the friction force therebetween. Respectively,
the pushing force `F` is along the first direction A and the
friction force `f` is along a second direction B vertical to the
first direction A. A torque is induced by the friction force `f`
and makes the cover 5 have a trend to rotate anticlockwise. Since
the direction of the pushing force `F` doesn't pass through the
center of the cover 5 and thereby also induces another torque
making the cover 5 have a trend to rotate clockwise. To a certain
extent, the torques induced by the pushing force `F` and the
friction force `f` offset with each other and thereby efficiently
decrease the warpage of the cover 5. Since the positioning portion
62 is only able to move along with the cover 5 in the first
direction A, the positioning portion 63 has to shift a proper
distance along the second direction B. The ellipse positioning
holes 30 just provides the space for movement of the positioning
portion 63 in the second direction B.
[0020] When the cover 5 is in the closed position, the pins of the
IC package are contacting with the terminals 7, respectively.
During this process of shifting the cover 5 from the closed
position to the open position, the corresponding pushing force and
the friction force exerted on the cover 5 by the driving portion 62
are respectively reverse to those in the fore-described process, in
which the cover 5 is shifted from the open position to the closed
position. Obviously the torques induced by the pushing force and
the friction force offset with each other again and thereby
efficiently decrease the warpage of the cover 5.
[0021] A distance `s` is introduced to represent the distance
between driving portion 62 of the cam 6 and the central line CL,
and `d` to represent the distance between the driving portion 62
and the center of the carrying section 50 along the direction A.
Then the value of `s` depends on the pushing force `F`, the
friction force `f` as well as the distance `d`. That is, the
distance `s` is directly proportional to distance `d` and the
friction force `f`, and is inversely proportional to the pushing
force `F`.
[0022] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to particular embodiments, it is not to be construed as
being limited thereto. Various alterations and modifications can be
made to the embodiments without in any way departing from the scope
or spirit of the present invention as defined in the appended
claims.
* * * * *