Socket with wire-shaped contacts

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a socket connector, which is used for connecting an electronic package, such as a central processing unit (CPU), with a circuit substrate, such as a printed circuit board (PCB).

2. Description of the Prior Art

Contacts for conventional socket connectors, which are used in electrically connecting a semiconductor package and a PCB, are stamped from a metal piece. Some other socket connectors may adopt other contacts with simple configures, such as conductive spring contact. Socket connector with conductive spring contacts has an insulative base, the insulative base defines a plurality of through holes, which is defined with a narrow diameter in a center thereof to retain a center part of the spring contact. The conductive spring contact is accommodated in the corresponding through hole, and a top and a bottom parts of the spring contact protrude out of the insulative base to electrically contact the semiconductor package and the PCB, respectively. However, manufacturing the spring contacts may not be easy things.

Accordingly, a socket connector that solves the above problems is desirable.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a socket connector, which has wire-shaped contacts.

To fulfill the above object, a socket connector for electrically an IC package and a printed circuit board comprises: a base defining a plurality of through holes; a cover mounted upon the base and formed with a top plate defining a plurality of holes corresponding to the through holes of the base; and a plurality of contacts. The contact is bent from a metal haulm and has an elastic center portion, a contacting portion upwardly extending from a top end of the center portion, and a tail downwardly extending from a bottom end of the center portion. The contacting portion inserts into the hole of the cover; the tail is retained to the through holes of the base; and the center portion is located between the base and the top plate of the cover to provide an elastic force for upwardly urging the contacting portion when the IC package put on the cover.

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:

FIG. 1 is a perspective, assembly view of a socket connector in a preferred embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section view of the socket connector in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a partially, exploded view of the socket connector;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the socket connector in FIG. 3 ; and

FIG. 5 is similar with FIG. 3 , but taken from a bottom side.

Reference is now made to the drawings to describe the invention in detail.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3 , a socket connector in a preferred embodiment according to the present invention comprises a base 1 , a plurality of contacts 2 assembled to the base 1 , a cover 3 upon the base 1 and an adapter 4 below the base 1 .

The base 1 is an approximate rectangle board, and has a plurality of through holes 10 defining therethrough and a plurality of ribs 12 arranged on a top face 16 thereof and being besides the through holes 10 . The through holes 10 and the ribs 12 are arranged in rows, respectively, and a row of the through holes 10 is disposed between two adjacent rows of ribs 12 . The through hole 10 is substantially cone-shaped with a wide diameter in a top thereof and a narrow diameter in a bottom thereof. Furthermore, the through holes 10 are staggered arrayed in two adjacent rows to keep as large as possible distance between two neighboring through holes 10 in different rows, that benefits arrangement of the contacts 20 .

Referring to FIGS. 2-4 , the contact 2 is formed by bending a wire-shaped metal haulm several times, and is different from contacts (not shown) stamped from metal piece, so the contact 2 has enough intensity and may not be easily destroyed. The contact 2 has an elastic center portion 20 , a contacting portion 22 upwardly extending from a top end of the center portion 20 , and a tail 24 downwardly extending from a bottom end of the center portion 20 . The contacting portion 22 and the tail 24 of the contact 2 align with each other along an upright direction. The center portion 20 has a horizontal bottom arm 201 , an arc portion 202 upwardly bent from an end of the bottom arm 201 , and a horizontal top arm 203 bent from a top end of the arc portion 204 . The bottom arm 201 , the arc portion 202 and the top arm 203 forms a traverse U-shape, so the center portion 20 has a desirable elasticity. The contact 2 inserts into the corresponding through hole 10 of the base 1 from a top side, the tail 24 extends out of a bottom face 14 of the base 1 , the bottom arm 201 of the center portion 20 locates on the top face 16 of the base 1 and is positioned by two adjacent rows of ribs 12 to prevent the contact 2 from swinging. The bottom arm 201 horizontally extends from corresponding through holes 10 , and passes by an adjacent through hole 10 in adjacent row, but does not arrive an adjacent through hole 10 in a same row.

Referring to FIGS. 2-5 , the cover 3 like a box without a bottom plate and define a space 31 . The cover 3 has a top plate 32 , and is formed with a plurality of holes 30 corresponding to the through holes 10 of the base 1 . The hole 30 is substantially cone-shaped with a wide diameter in a bottom thereof and a narrow diameter in a top thereof and aligns with corresponding through hole 10 of the base 1 in the upright direction. The cover 3 is mounted on and supported by the base 1 and covers the contacts 2 assembled on the base 1 . The contacting portions 22 of the contacts 2 pass through the holes 30 of the cover 3 and protrude out of a top surface 34 of the cover 3 for electrically contacting with an IC package (not shown). The center portions 20 are located between the top plate 32 and the base 1 and received in the space 31 of the cover 3 . The center portion 20 provides an elastic force for upwardly urging the contacting portion 22 when the IC package (not shown) put on the cover 3 .

If the socket connector is mounted on a printed circuit board (not shown) by through-hole technology, the adapter 4 is not needed to be assembled to the base 1 . The base 1 , together with the cover 3 and the contacts 2 , is mounted to the printed circuit board (not shown) directly and the tails 24 of the contacts 2 insert into and are soldered with passageways (not shown) on the printed circuit board (not shown). The IC package thus electrically connects with the printed circuit board.

If the socket connector is mounted on a printed circuit board (not shown), which has a plurality of conductive pads (not shown), by BGA (Ball Gray Array) technology, the adapter 4 will need to be assembled to the base 1 . The adapter 4 is approximate board-shape. The adapter 4 is formed with an insulative housing 41 , a plurality of conductive tubes 40 passing through the insulative housing 41 and a plurality of exposed solder balls 42 soldered to a bottom face of each conductive tube 40 . The conductive tubes 40 are embedded in of the insulative housing 41 in an injection molding process. The adapter 4 is assembled to the base 1 from a bottom side, the tails 24 of the contacts 2 are received in and soldered to the corresponding conductive tubes 40 . And then, the socket connector mounts to the printed circuit board (not shown), the balls 42 electrically contact with the pads (not shown) on the printed circuit board (not shown), so the IC package electrically connects with the printed circuit board.

Furthermore, 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.