Abstract:
An electrical connector ( 1 ) for connecting an IC package to a printed circuit board (PCB) comprises an insulating base ( 10 ) arranged a plurality of terminals therein, a cover ( 11 ) moveable assembly on the base and a driver mechanism disposed on the insulating base and driving the cover to slide relatively to the insulating base. The driver at least comprises a hollow driver member ( 12 ) and the driver member ( 12 ) is rotated by an exterior force.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a zero insertion force (ZIF) connector, and particularly to a connector having a driving device drives a cover sliding on a base. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,309 issued to Lin et al. on Jan. 22, 2002 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,900 issued to Yu on Aug. 13, 2002 both disclose a conventional ZIF connector including a base housing, a cover movable on the base housing and a cam driver locating between the base housing and the cover. The cam driver is in a solid structure and can drive the cover to slide on the base housing, which will realize a zero insertion force for the IC package. 
         [0005]    However, the solid cam driver needs a large amount of material to make of, which is disadvantage for cost-down. More, the cam driver has a high probability of defective and leads to poor production efficiency in production. Hence, a new design which can overcome the problem is required. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with an improved driver mechanism. 
         [0007]    In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector for connecting an IC package to a printed circuit board (PCB) comprises: an insulating base arranged a plurality of terminals therein; a cover moveably assembled on the base; and a driver mechanism disposed on the insulating base and driving the cover to slide relatively to the insulating base; wherein the driver mechanism at least comprises a hollow driver member, the driver member is rotated by an exterior force. 
         [0008]    Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a driver member of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is another view of the driver member shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a first retaining plate of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a whirling member of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a second retaining plate of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is an assembled perspective view of a driver mechanism comprising the driver member, a first retaining plate and the whirling member shown in  FIG. 2 ; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is another view of the driver mechanism shown in  FIG. 8 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe a preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a ZIF connector  1  in accordance with the present invention is adapted for electrically connecting an IC package such as a CPU to a PCB (not shown). The ZIF connector  1  comprises an insulating base  10 , an insulating cover  11  movable assembled and a driver mechanism locating between the base and the cover. 
         [0020]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the insulating base  10  has a rectangular shape and comprises a base portion  101  with a plurality of terminals (not shown) received therein and a supporting portion  102  extending forward from one end of the base portion  101 . A shallow receiving recess  1021  of a rectangular shape is defined in the supporting portion  102  with a plurality of slots  1022  therein. 
         [0021]    The cover  11  comprises a main body  111  and a head portion  112  extending from one end of the main body  111 . The main body  111  and the head portion  112  are respectively corresponding and cooperating with the receiving portion  101  and supporting portion  102  of the insulating base. And a space is defined between the head portion  112  and the supporting portion  102  to receive the driver mechanism. The main body  111  defines a plurality of holes corresponding with the terminals to receive the pins of the IC package when the IC package is installed. A circle opening  1121  is defined adjacent one end of the head portion  112 . A pair of transverse grooves  1122  is respectively defined at opposite ends of the head portion and a pair of longitudinal grooves  1123  perpendicular to the transverse grooves  1122  is defined in the middle portion of the head portion. 
         [0022]    The driver mechanism comprises a driver member  12  and a series of affiliated member  13  cooperating with the driver member  12 . See  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the driver member  12  is similar to a cap like and comprises a hollow cylindrical operating portion  122  and a circinal brim portion  121 . The brim portion  121  and the operating portion  122  are homocentric and the brim portion is bigger than the operation portion in diameter. A locking portion  1211  extends outward and then downward from an edge of the brim portion  121 , which forms an adverse L shape. The driver member  12  is hollow from the bottom face and has a top wall  1221 . The top wall has an elongated slot  1222 . The driver member  12  is formed by drawing a metal piece. 
         [0023]    Referring to  FIG. 5  to  FIG. 7 , the affiliated member  13  comprises a first retaining plate  131 , a whirling member  132  and a second retaining plate  133 . See  FIG. 5 , the first retaining plate  131  is in an elongated shape with a plurality of bending portions and openings. A pair of first bending portions  1312  is bent upwardly from opposite ends of the first retaining plate  131  and a pair of second bending portions  1313  extends upwardly in middle of the opposite lateral sides of the first retaining plate  131 . A pair of stopping portions  1315  extends downwards from opposite lateral sides of the first retaining plate  131 . A first locking portion  1317  extends downwardly from the centre of the first retaining plate  131 . The first retaining plate  131  further defines a pair of receiving slots  1316  at two ends thereof and a circle hole  1314  located between the first locking portion  1317  and the receiving slot  1316 . 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , the whirling member  132  is in a wedge shape. The whirling member defines a pair of third bending portions  1322  extending upwardly from the middle portion thereof and an irregular channel  1323  between the third bending portions  1322 . At a wider end of the whirling member  132 , a rectangular opening  1321  is defined to receive the first locking portion  1317  of the first retaining plate  131 . 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , the second retaining plate  133  comprises a plurality of holding portions  1333  extending downwardly to be inserted into the slot  1022  in the insulating base. A pair of fourth bending portions  1331  extends upwardly from two opposite ends of the second retaining plate  133  and a second locking portion  1332  is extending upwards from a middle portion of the second retaining plate to be inserted into the irregular channel  1323 . 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the operating portion  122  of the driver member  12  goes through the circle hole  1314  from the bottom and the brim portion  121  is blocked by the first retaining plate  131 . The whirling member  132  is attached on the bottom of the driver member  12  by the rectangular opening  1321  being locked by a locking portion  1211 . The first locking portion  1317  of the first retaining plate  131  is loosely received in the irregular channel  1323 , therefore the whirling member  132  is controlled by the driver member  12  and rotating between the pair of stopping portions  1315 . Then, combined with  FIG. 2 , the second retaining plate  133  is positioned in the receiving recess  1021  with holding portions  1333  retained in the slot  1022  in the insulating housing. The second locking portion  1332  and the pair of bending portions  1312  are respectively inserted into the irregular channel  1323  of the whirling member  132  and receiving slots  1316  of the first retaining plate  131 , therefore the second retaining plate  133  are attached with the whirling member  132  and the first retaining plate  131 . The driver mechanism is assembled on the base. Finally, when the cover  11  is moved onto the base  10 , the first and the second bending portions  1312 ,  1313  of the first retaining plate  131  are respectively retained in the transverse grooves  1122  and longitudinal grooves  1123  and the operating portion  122  is exposed to the circle opening  1121 . The driver mechanism is received in the space. 
         [0027]      FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view of the ZIF electrical connector after it is completely assembled. User can use a screwdriver (not shown) to operate the driver member  12 , and the whirling member  132  is driven to urge the stopping portions  1315  to move forward or backward, which will actuate the cover  11  shift. As the first retaining plate  131  and the second retaining plate  133  are respectively fixed in the cover  11  and the base  10 , a reliable relatively moving between the cover  11  and the base  10  will be produced by the whirling member  132 . The other work theory of the ZIF connector is common knowledge for people in the field, and further description will be omitted here. 
         [0028]    In the present invention, the driver member  12  is configured as a hollow construction, which is advantage for decreasing the using material of each member and reducing the cost of each member. Furthermore, the present invention is not only adapted to the ZIF connector mentioned above, but also useful in other known ZIF connector. 
         [0029]    It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.