Device and method for protecting pins of an electrical component

An apparatus having a thin metal frame has an opening and a protective rail on each end. Four guide posts extend from the lower surface of the frame to a plate which is spring-biased away from the frame. The plate has pin holes which are arrayed for a particular electrical component having contact pins. The component is loaded into the apparatus by extending the pins through the opening and into the pin holes in the plate. The rails may be flexed outward to accommodate the component before snapping onto and around the ends of the component to fix it from movement relative to the apparatus. The guide posts extend beyond the tips of the pins to provide stand-off protection. The tips of the guide posts are placed in a socket and the assembly is pressed into the socket until the pins seat in it. As the pins are inserted into the socket, the plate is pressed toward the frame to collapse the springs. The apparatus is left permanently installed with the component in the socket.

TECHNICAL FIELD
 This invention relates in general to electrical components with pin
 contacts and in particular to a device and method for protecting the pin
 contacts of an electrical component.
 BACKGROUND ART
 Electrical components such as modules with pin-in-hole (PIH) packaging,
 typically have a module body with a plurality of straight, electrical
 contact pins extending from its lower surface. During the handling and
 installation of the module in a mating socket, the pins can be bent or
 otherwise damaged by incidental contact or by mishandling by unskilled
 persons. In such instances, the module is often permanently damaged and
 must be discarded. This source of waste can significantly increase
 manufacturing costs as the module typically represents a relatively
 expensive portion of the final product. A simple, inexpensive device
 and/or method for preventing damage to the contact pins of an electrical
 component is needed for reducing manufacturing costs.
 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
 An apparatus having a thin metal frame has an opening and a protective rail
 on each end. Four guide posts extend from the lower surface of the frame
 to a plate which is retained on their ends. Each guide post has a spring
 to bias the plate away from the frame. The plate has a large number of pin
 holes in a custom pattern for a particular electrical component having
 straight, electrical contact pins.
 The component is loaded into the apparatus by extending the pins through
 the opening and into the pin holes in the plate. The rails may be flexibly
 depressed or flexed outward to accommodate the component before snapping
 onto and around the ends of the component to fix it from movement relative
 to the apparatus. The guide posts extend beyond the tips of the pins to
 provide stand-off protection. The tips of the guide posts are placed in a
 socket and the assembly is pressed into the socket until the pins seat in
 it. As the pins are inserted into the socket, the plate is pressed toward
 the frame to collapse the springs. The apparatus is left permanently
 installed with the component in the module.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
 Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an apparatus 11 having a body 13 and a pin
 protection plate 15. Body 13 is a thin frame which is preferably formed
 from spring steel or plastic. Body 13 comprises a generally rectangular
 platform 21 with a large, central rectangular opening 23. A protective
 rail 25 extends from each end of platform 21. When viewed from the side
 (FIG. 2), rails 25 have a C-shaped cross-section which face each other.
 A guide post 31 extends from the lower surface of each corner of platform
 21. Guide posts 31 are short, cylindrical members with pointed ends. Each
 guide post 31 extends through a corner of plate 15. Small stops (not
 shown) are located on the ends of guide posts 31 to retain plate 15 on
 guide posts 31. A compression coil spring 33 is wrapped around each guide
 post 31 to bias plate 15 away from body 13 and against the stops on guide
 posts 31. As shown in FIG. 2, plate 15 is parallel to platform 21 in
 normal use.
 Like platform 21, plate 15 is also generally rectangular and has
 approximately the same dimensions as platform 21. In the embodiment of
 FIG. 1, plate 15 is formed with a large plurality of pin holes 35 in a
 custom pattern for a particular electrical component 41 (FIG. 3). For this
 particular embodiment, component 41 is shown with a pin-in-hole (PIH)
 packaging having a generally rectangular module body 43 and a plurality of
 straight, electrical contact pins 45 extending from its lower surface.
 However, apparatus 11 and its components may be formed and sized for
 components having may different configurations. Pins 45 are equal in
 number and identical in pattern to holes 35 in plate 15.
 In operation (FIG. 4), component 41 is loaded into apparatus 11 by
 carefully extending pins 45 through central opening 23 and into pin holes
 35 in plate 15. As apparatus 11 is mounted to component 41, rails 25 will
 flexibly depress or spring outward to accommodate the length of component
 41 before snapping onto and around the ends of component 41 (FIG. 4).
 Alternatively, body 15 may be bowed or flexed to increase the distance
 between rails 25 until component 41 is seated therebetween. When rails 25
 are released, they will spring back to their original shape to retain
 component 41 in a relatively tight fit between platform 21 and rails 25.
 Since pin holes 35 closely receive pins 45, component 41 is now fixed from
 movement relative to apparatus 11. When properly seated, only the tips of
 pins 45 will extend through pin holes 35 (FIG. 4). Guide posts 31 extend
 through plate 15 by a slightly greater distance to provide stand-off
 protection to pins 45.
 As shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, a conventional heatsink 47 may
 be attached to component 41 in a routine manner either before or after it
 is loaded into apparatus 11. The assembly of apparatus 11 and component 41
 is now ready to be mounted onto an electrical device such as printed
 circuit board 53 or a mating socket 51 on PCB 53. The pointed tips of
 guide posts 31 are placed in alignment holes (not shown) in an upper
 surface of socket 51. Next, the assembly of apparatus 11 and component 41
 is pressed into socket 51 until pins 45 seat in mating holes (not shown)
 in socket 51 and PCB 53. As pins 45 are inserted into socket 51, plate 15
 is pressed toward platform 21, thereby collapsing springs 33. When
 installation of component 41 in socket 51 is complete, plate 15 will very
 nearly abut platform 21 and apparatus 11 will be left permanently
 installed with component 41.
 The invention has several advantages. A simple, inexpensive device and
 method for preventing damage to the contact pins of an electrical
 component is provided for reducing manufacturing costs. The device allows
 unskilled persons to install even expensive components with less
 likelihood of damaging the component.
 While the invention has been shown or described in only some of its forms,
 it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so
 limited, but is susceptible to various changes without departing from the
 scope of the invention.