Electrical connector assembly

An electrical connector assembly for connecting a chipset to a printed circuit board comprises a dielectric housing having a number of terminal-receiving passageways defined between a top mating face and a bottom terminating face thereof. Two connecting protrusions are respectively formed on opposite sides of the housing. A number of terminals are received in the passageways of the housing. Each terminal has a contact portion and a tail portion extending from the contact portion. A fastening piece is attached to the housing, and includes a body and two legs extending substantially perpendicular from opposite ends of the body. Each leg defines a mating groove on an inner face thereof for mating with the corresponding connecting protrusion of the housing. When the fastening piece is mounted to the housing, the chipset is securely sandwiched between the fastening piece and the housing, and when the fastening piece is removed from the housing, the chipset can be easily detached from the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
 1. Field of the Invention 
 The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and 
 particularly to an electrical connector assembly for electrically 
 connecting a chipset to a printed circuit board. 
 2. Description of Prior Art 
 The trend of the computer industry is continuing toward improvement of 
 functional abilities, miniaturization of electrical component, and 
 convenience of assembly. A conventional chipset is connected to a printed 
 circuit board by soldering contact tails of the chipset to the board. 
 Since the tails of the chipset are densely arranged, the soldering 
 procedure is inconvenient. Furthermore, if the chipset requires 
 replacement, it cannot be easily removed from the PCB. Thus, the 
 conventional assembly process is inadequate and does not follow the trend 
 of the computer industry. 
 To overcome the problems mentioned above, some chipsets are detachably 
 mounted to a print circuit board by mating the contacts of the chipset 
 with the resilient terminals of a connecting component, and then attaching
 the connecting component to the PCB. However, when a force is exerted on 
 the chipset, disconnection with the connecting component may occur. 
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
 Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical
 connector assembly having a fastening piece for facilitating retention of 
 a chipset therein. 
 In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, an electrical 
 connector assembly comprises a dielectric housing having a plurality of 
 terminal receiving passageways defined between a top mating face and a 
 bottom terminating face thereof, and connecting protrusions formed 
 opposite sides thereof. A plurality of terminals is received in the 
 passageways of the housing. Each terminal has a contact portion and a tail
 portion extending from the contact portion. A fastening piece is attached 
 to the housing, and includes a body and legs extending substantially 
 perpendicular from opposite ends of the body. Each leg defines a mating 
 groove on an inner face thereof for mating with the corresponding 
 connecting protrusion of the housing. When the fastening piece is mounted 
 to the housing, a chipset is securely sandwiched between the fastening 
 piece and the housing, and when the fastening piece is removed from the 
 housing, the chipset can be easily detached from the housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
 Referring to FIG. 1, an electrical connector assembly in accordance with 
 the present invention mounted to a printed circuit board (not shown) 
 includes a connector 1 and a chipset 2 comprising a main body 20 and a 
 plurality of solder balls 21 (see FIG. 4) located on the main body 20 for 
 electrically connecting with the connector 1. The connector 1 comprises a 
 dielectric housing 10, a plurality of electrical terminals 11, and a 
 fastening piece 12. The housing 10 has a top mating face 100 for mating 
 with the chipset 2 and a bottom terminating face (not labeled) for 
 mounting to the printed circuit board. A plurality of passageways 101 is 
 defined between the top mating face 100 and the bottom terminating face of
 the housing 10, and two connecting protrusions 103 are formed on opposite 
 sides thereof. Receiving recesses 102 are formed in the top mating face 
 100 in communication with the corresponding passageways 101 for receiving 
 the solder balls 21 of the chipset 20. Each connecting protrusion 103 has 
 a slant outwardly extending from the corresponding side proximate the top 
 mating face 100, as shown in FIG. 3. 
 The terminals 11 are received in the corresponding passageways 101 of the 
 housing 10. Each terminal has a contact portion 110 and a tail portion 111
 extending from the contact portion 110. The contact portion 110 of the 
 terminal 11 is positioned in the receiving recess 102 and forms a curved, 
 resilient end for mating with the solder ball 21 of the chipset 2. 
 The fastening piece 12 comprises a main body 120 extending slightly upward 
 at distal ends thereof and two legs 121 downwardly extending substantially
 perpendicular from the distal ends of the main body 120. The distance 
 between the legs 121 is substantially equal to the distance between the 
 connecting protrusions 103 of the housing 10. A mating groove 122 is 
 defined in an inner face of each leg 121 for engaging with the 
 corresponding connecting protrusion 103 of the housing 10. 
 Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, in assembly, the solder ball 21 of the chipset 2
 are inserted into the corresponding receiving recesses 102 to deform the 
 contact portions 110 of the terminals 11. The resilient force of the 
 deformation ensures proper electrical connection between the connector 1 
 and the chipset 2. As soon as the fastening piece 12 is attached to the 
 housing 10, the mating grooves 122 of the fastening piece 12 snap with the
 connecting protrusions 103 of the housing 10 thereby securely sandwiching 
 the chipset 2 between the housing 10 and the fastening piece 12. Thus, the
 chipset 2 is easily and detachably assembled to the connector 1. 
 For facilitating understanding, like components are designated by like 
 reference numerals in a second embodiment as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The 
 contact portion 110' of the terminal 11' is bifurcated, and each branch of
 the contact portion 110' forms a curved, resilient end. The solder balls 
 21 of the chipset 2 are received between the branches of the corresponding
 terminals 11' to electrically engage therewith. 
 It will be understood that the present invention may be embodied in other 
 specific forms without departing from the spirit of the central 
 characteristics thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, 
 are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, 
 and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein.