Abstract:
A scissors-like handle tool manipulates a ZIF socket having a cover slidably engaged with a bottom, between a loosened status and a tightened status. The handle tool comprises a first lever arm pivotably connected to a second lever arm. The handle tool is operated by encountering two lower ends of the first and second lever arms with two movable sides of the socket via a pivot operation of the handle tool thereby moving the cover of the ZIF socket along the bottom.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of The Invention 
     The present invention relates to a handle tool used for a ZIF socket and an assembly comprising the handle tool and the ZIF socket, and especially to a handle tool which is suitable to manipulate a ZIF socket between a tightened status or a released status. 
     2. The Prior Art 
     Conventional ZIF sockets are usually installed with an actuation mechanism including a cam and a handle connected to the cam for controlling the cam to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise so as to manipulate the ZIF socket between a loosened status and a tightened status for assisting in the mounting of a CPU chip thereon. However, the actuation mechanism occupies too much space on the ZIF socket. Therefore, it is requisite to provide a new tool which can manipulate the status of the ZIF socket and conserve space thereon. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a handle tool which decreases the thickness of a ZIF socket. 
     A second purpose of the present invention is to provide a handle tool for conveniently operating a ZIF socket between a loosened status and a tightened status. 
     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a handle tool is used with a ZIF socket which has a square cover matingly fixed on a bottom. The cover has a first diagonal line coplanar with a second diagonal line of the bottom. Both the first diagonal line and the second diagonal line are defined in respective surfaces of the cover and the bottom parallel to each other. The coplane of the first diagonal line and the second diagonal line is a virtual plane perpendicular to both surfaces of the cover and the bottom. The cover has a longer diagonal length than the diagonal length of the bottom, and is slidable with respect to the bottom along the second diagonal line. The handle tool comprises a scissors mechanism including a first lever arm pivotably connected to a second lever arm. The first lever arm defines a hole near a free end thereof for extension of a corner of the cover when an opposite corner of the cover is driven by a corresponding free end of the second lever arm upon a pivotable movement of the scissors mechanism. 
     In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, a handle tool used for a ZIF socket having a cover slidably fixed on a bottom wherein the cover has two protrusions projecting from two opposite sides thereof. The cover is slidable over the bottom along a line defined between the two protrusions. The handle tool comprises a scissors mechanism including a first lever arm pivotably connected to a second lever arm. The first lever arm defines a hole near a free end thereof for extension of one of the protrusions of the cover therethrough when the opposite protrusion is driven by a corresponding free end of the second lever arm upon a pivotable movement of the scissors mechanism. 
     In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, a handle tool comprises a scissors mechanism including a first lever arm pivotably connected to a second lever arm. The first lever arm defines a hole near a lower free end thereof for extension of a portion of a cover of a ZIF socket therethrough which is slidably mounted on a corresponding bottom of the ZIF socket when the scissors mechanism is operated to cause the lower end of the first lever arm and a confronting lower free end of the second lever arm to move toward each other thereby moving the cover along the bottom of the ZIF socket. 
     In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, a handle tool comprises a scissors mechanism including a first lever arm pivotably connected to a second lever arm. The second lever arm forms a protrusion near a lower free end thereof for encountering a portion of a bottom of a ZIF socket on which a cover sized to be greater than the bottom is slidably mounted. The scissors mechanism is operated to cause the lower end of the first lever arm and the corresponding protrusion of the lower free end of the second lever arm to move toward each other thereby moving the cover along the bottom of the ZIF socket. 
     In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention, a handle tool comprises a scissors mechanism including a first lever arm pivotably connected to a second lever arm. The first and second lever arms respectively form first and second protrusions near a lower end thereof for respectively encountering a cover and a bottom of a ZIF socket which are slidably engaged. The scissors mechanism is operated to cause the first and second protrusions to move toward each other thereby moving the cover along the bottom of the ZIF socket. 
    
    
     These and additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the appended drawing figures. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a handle tool for a ZIF socket in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2A is top view of a ZIF socket; 
     FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line  2 B— 2 B of FIG.  2 A. 
     FIG. 3 is top view of the ZIF socket of FIG. 2A received in a metal frame; 
     FIG. 4A is a cross sectional view taken along line  4 A— 4 A of FIG. 3 wherein the handle tool of FIG. 1 is operated and the cover of the ZIF socket is moved relative to the bottom along a diagonal line thereof; 
     FIG. 4B is similar to FIG. 4A except that the handle tool is rotated 180 degrees to return the cover to the location shown in FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another ZIF socket and the handle tool of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a schematic side view when the handle of FIG. 5 is operates on the socket which is received in a metal frame similar to that of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the handle tool in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the ZIF socket being operated on by the handle tool of FIG. 7; and 
     FIG. 9 is similar to FIG. 8 except that the handle tool is rotated 180 degrees for returning the cover to its original location. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a handle tool for a ZIF socket in accordance with the present invention comprises a first lever arm  1  pivotably connected to a second lever arm  2  via a rivet  3  thereby constituting a scissors mechanism. The first lever arm  1  and the second lever arm  2  are each bent in opposite directions at two intermediate points thereof thus forming a holding portion  11 ,  21 , an intermediate portion  13 ,  23 , and a driving portion  12 ,  22 . The driving portion  12  of the first lever arm  1  defines a hole  120  thereby forming an edge  121  between the hole  120  and a free end of the driving portion  12 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, a ZIF socket  4  comprises a cover  41  slidably mounted on a bottom  42 . Specifically, the cover  41  is slidable along a diagonal line of the bottom  42 . The cover  41  has a longer diagonal length than the bottom  42 . 
     Referring to FIG. 3, the ZIF socket  4  is received in a metal frame  43  which defines a recess  44  substantially accommodating the outline of the socket  4  with two additional spaces extending from two diagonal corners of the recess  44  for providing operational space when the socket  4  is manipulated between a loosened status and a tightened status. 
     Referring to FIG. 4A, the handle tool can move the cover  41  of the socket relative to the bottom  42  by placing the driving portions  12 ,  22  of the two lever arms  1 ,  2  in the additional diagonal spaces of the recess  44 . In this figure, solder balls  49  extend from a bottom face of the socket for soldering on a printed circuit board. The driving portion  22  of the second lever arm  2  encounters the extending portion of the cover  41  with respect to the bottom  42 . Therefore, when the scissors structure of the handle tool is operated causing the two driving portions  22 ,  12  to move toward each other, the cover  41  will move along the bottom  42  and a portion of the cover  41  will extend into the hole  120  of the driving portion  12  of the first lever arm  1 . Subsequently, to return the cover  41  to its original location, the handle tool is rotated 180 degrees as shown in FIG.  4 B. In this situation, the hole  120  receives a diagonal corner portion of the cover  41 . Additionally, the edge  121  of the driving portion  12  below the hole  120  should have a height less than the thickness of the bottom  42 , otherwise the edge  121  will block the cover  41  and prohibit movement thereof along the bottom  42 . 
     The handle tool may be used with other kinds of sockets. FIG. 5 illustrates a ZIF socket which has a cover  51  slidably fixed on a bottom  52  wherein the cover  51  has two protrusions  511 ,  512  projecting from two opposite sides thereof and the cover  51  can slide over the bottom  52  along a line defined between the two protrusions  511 ,  512  which is parallel to opposite sides of the bottom  52 . The socket of FIG. 5 is positioned in a frame (closure) similar to the one shown in FIG. 3, except that the additional space of the recess  44  is formed in the opposite intermediate portions of the recess  44  in order to conform to the shape of the socket. 
     Referring to FIG. 6, the two protrusions  511 ,  512  are so sized that each of them can be respectively received in the hole  120  of the handle tool during opposite movements of the cover  51  (i.e., loosened status or tightened status) with respect to the bottom  52 . The distance between the two protrusions  511 ,  512  must be greater than the corresponding length of the bottom  52  for the cover  51  to be operated by the handle tool to move along the bottom  52 . 
     FIG. 7 illustrates a second embodiment of the handle tool in accordance with the present invention. The handle tool is similar to that of the first embodiment except for the driving portions  12 ,  22 . First and second protrusion portions  15 ,  25  which may be tabs formed by stamping, are respectively formed on the driving portions  12 ,  22  of the first and second lever arms  1 ,  2 . The vertical locations of the first and second protrusion portions  15 ,  25  respectively encounter the cover and the bottom. The handle tool may be used for the ZIF sockets shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 but it is particularly suitable for a ZIF socket which has a cover and bottom of substantially identical length. 
     Referring to FIG. 8, another kind of ZIF socket  6  including a cover  61  slidable along a bottom  62 , is operated by the handle tool of FIG.  7 . The cover  61  and the bottom  62  are substantially the same length in the direction of movement. The first protrusion portion  15  of the first lever arm  1  and the second protrusion portion  25  of the second lever arm  2  respectively encounter the cover  61  and the bottom  62 . During operation, the cover  61  and the bottom  62  respectively receive a force from the two protrusions  15 ,  25 , thus the cover  61  moves over the bottom  62  along a direction as indicated by an arrow. To return the cover  61  back to its original position as shown in FIG. 9, the handle tool is rotated 180 degrees and operated again. 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. 
     Therefore, various modifications to the present invention can be made to the preferred embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.