Abstract:
A socket for electric parts which is dawn sized. The socket of the present invention has a socket body, contact pins to conduct to an electric part, a latch rotatably located on the socket body so as to positioned above the contact pins, which presses the electric part when the latch is closed and is in a state the electric part can be accommodated and taken out when the latch is opened, and an operating member vertically movably disposed in the socket body and has an operating portion for opening constituted so as to press down an operation portion to be operated for opening formed to the latch and rotate the latch in an opening direction when the operating member descends. An outermost position of the latch is disposed on an inside of outermost portion of the contact pins when the latch is opened to an outermost position.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a socket for electric parts disposed on a circuit board and adapted to accommodate electric parts for carrying out a performance test or like of the electric parts such as semiconductor device (called “IC package” hereinafter). 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     As such a socket for electric parts of the kind mentioned above, there is conventionally known an IC socket used for performing a test for an IC package as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-59117. 
     This IC socket comprises a socket body which is located on a circuit board and accommodates an IC package. Furthermore, the IC socket comprises a rotatably supported latches for pressing down the accommodated IC package, and an operating member, which is used for rotating the latches, is constituted so that it may vertically moves relatively to the socket body. 
     When opening the latch, the operating member is made to descend, and so the latch is released from a state locked by the operating member. Then, the latches rotate in a direction to be opened, because the canter of gravity of the latches are set outer side of rotation axes of the latches themselves. As a result, the latches are opened to outermost position and are taken refuge in a outer side of the area where the IC package is accommodated and taken out. 
     When closing the latch, the operating member is made to rise, and so the top portions of stopper walls of the operating member contact with a lower faces of the operated portions of the latches and push up the latches. As a result, the lathes rotate themselves in a direction to be closed. 
     When the latches are closed, the IC package is pushed by pushing portions of the latches, and so contact pins and the IC package contact each other at predetermined contact pressure. 
     In such a conventional IC socket, the canter of gravity of the latches are necessarily to be set outer side from rotation axes of the latches themselves. For this reason, outer side edges of the latches extend to outer side, and the operating member for making the latches move vertically is necessarily to be placed outer side of the latches. Such a constitution make it difficult to downsize the IC socket. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a socket for electric parts which is down sized in comparison with the conventional socket for electric parts. 
     In order to achieve the object mentioned above, the present invention provides a socket for electric parts comprising: a socket body which has a rectangle shape and has an accommodation surface to accommodate an electric parts having a rectangle shape and a lower surface to which terminals are provided; plural contact pins of horseshoe-shapes, which are disposed in parallel and at predetermined intervals to a peripheral edge of the socket body, and each of which has an elastic piece to contact with the terminals of the electric part; a latch rotatably disposed on the socket body so as to positioned above the contact pins, which presses an upper part of peripheral portion of the electric part when the latch is closed and is in a state the electric part is able to be accommodated onto and taken out from the accommodation surface when the latch is opened; an operating member which is vertically movably disposed in the socket body, and comprises an operating portion for opening constituted so as to press down an operation portion to be operated for opening of the latch and rotate the latch in an opening direction when the operating member moves downward; wherein a most outside position of the latch is disposed on an inside of most outside portion of the contact pins when the latch is opened to an outermost position. 
     Another characteristic feature of the present invention may reside in that the most outside position of the latch is defined by the operation portion to be operated for opening. 
     Another characteristic feature of the present invention may reside in that the rotation shaft of the latch is positioned below the accommodation surface of the socket body. 
     Another characteristic feature of the present invention may reside in that the operation portion to be operated for opening formed at a rear end side of the latch has a surface which faces the contact pins and curves along the curved-shape of the contact pins. 
     According to the present invention, since the most outside position of the latch is disposed on an inside of most outside portion of the contact pins when the latch is opened to an outermost position, in comparison with the conventional art, the latch does not largely project out into outside, and so the present invention can realize a compact outer configuration of the socket for electric parts. Furthermore, according to the present invention, the rotation axis of the latch can be disposed near the center of the socket body without losing the stroke between the rotation axis of the latch and a pressing portion for pressing the electric part, and so, in this point, too, the present invention can realize a compact outer configuration of the socket for electric parts. 
     According to another characteristic feature of the present invention, since the most outside position of the latch is defined by the operation portion to be operated for opening, it becomes possible to realize a compact outer configuration of the socket for electric parts. 
     According to another characteristic feature of the present invention, since the rotation axis of the latch is disposed below the accommodation surface of the socket body, it become possible to allocate an enough long stroke between the latch and the accommodation surface. Therefore, the present invention can use the pressing portion to execute pressing and releasing of the electric part in spite of a low rotation angle of the latch. As a result, the present invention can make a vertical stroke of the operating member, and so, can make a vertical stroke of the socket for electric part. In this point, too, the present invention can realize a compact outer configuration of the socket for electric parts. Additionally, the present invention can make a moving distance of the latch toward outside shorten, and so the present invention can realize a compact outer configuration of the socket for electric parts. 
     According to another characteristic feature of the present invention, since the surface, which is formed at the operation portion to be operated for opening of a rear end side of the latch and is facing the contact pins, is curved along the curved-shape of the contact pins, it becomes possible that the rear end extends along the curved-shape of the contact pins when the latch opens. As a result, the present invention can improve a strength of the rear end of the latch by effectively using a space between the curve-shaped portion of the contact pins and the rear end of the latch. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other objects and purposes of the present invention are described with referencing following attached drawings. 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of an IC socket according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in  FIG. 1  according to the embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a view of the IC socket as viewed from the right side in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the IC socket showing a state in which an operating member of the IC socket of the present embodiment takes an ascending uppermost position thereof. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the IC socket, partially cut away, showing a state in which the operating member of the IC socket of the present embodiment takes a descending lowermost position thereof. 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the IC socket showing a state in which an IC socket of the IC package of the present embodiment is accommodated in a socket body. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the IC socket showing a state in which the operating member of the IC socket according to the present embodiment is removed. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the IC socket, partially cut away, showing a state in which the operating member of the IC socket according to the present embodiment is removed. 
         FIG. 9  is a side view of the IC socket showing a state in which the operating member of the IC socket of the present embodiment takes a descending lowermost position thereof. 
         FIG. 10  includes perspective views (a) and (b) showing a latch of the IC socket according to the present embodiment, both being viewed from different directions. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view showing the operating member of the IC socket according to the present embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is a side view showing the operating member of the IC socket according to the present embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  is a sectional view, in an enlarged scale, showing a state in which the IC package accommodated in the IC socket is slightly pushed upward by a contact pin of the IC socket according to the present embodiment. 
         FIG. 14  is a sectional view, in an enlarged scale, showing a state in which the IC package is slightly pressed downward by the pressing force of the latch from the state according to the present embodiment shown in  FIG. 13 . 
         FIG. 15  illustrates the IC package and includes (a) being a front view of the IC package and (b) being a bottom view of the IC package. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereunder, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 
       FIGS. 1 to 15  represent one embodiment of the present invention. Structure or configuration of the present embodiment will be first described hereunder, in which reference numeral  11  denotes an IC socket as “socket for electric parts”, and the IC socket  11  is disposed on a circuit board, not shown, and is a component for establishing an electric connection between terminals  12   b  of an IC package  12  as the “electric parts” and the circuit board for the purpose of performing burn-in test or like of the IC package and the like. 
     The IC package  12  has a package body  12   a  having a rectangular shape in a plan view as shown in  FIG. 15 , and a plurality of terminals  12   b  are disposed to four sides of the lower surface of the peripheral edge of the package body  12   b.    
     On the other hand, the IC socket  11  is provided with, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a socket body  13  having an accommodation surface portion  13   a  on which the IC package  12  is accommodated, contact pins  14  provided for the socket body  13  and having elastic pieces  14   a  formed with contact portions  14   b  contacting terminals  12   b  of the IC package  12 , latches  15  pressing the IC package  12 , from the upper side thereof, accommodated in the socket body  13  to be vertically movable, and an operating member  16  provided for the socket body  13  to be vertically movable. When the operating member  16  is operated to be moved downward, the latches  15  are rotated (pivoted) in an opening direction, and on the other hand, when the operating member  16  is moved upward, the larches  15  are rotated in a closing direction. 
     The socket body  13  is formed of an insulated synthetic resin material, and as shown, for example, in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 8 , composed of an upper side member  13   e  and a lower side member  13   f . The upper side member  13   e  has an upper surface portion formed with the accommodation surface portion  13   a  having peripheral four corner portions to which guide portions  13   b  for guiding the IC package  12  when accommodated are formed so as to project upward. On the other hand, the lower side member  13   f  of the socket body  13  provided with mount portions  13   c  so as to project in four directions as shown in  FIG. 2 , for example, and a plurality of contact pins  14  are attached to the mount portions  13   c  to be detachable from the horizontal side. 
     Further, each of the contact pins  14  is formed of a metal material having conductivity in so-called horseshoe-shape, and as shown in  FIG. 2 , each of the contact pin  14  has a clamp portion  14   c  so as to clamp the mount portion  13   c , projecting horizontally from the socket body  13 , from the vertical sides thereof to be detachable. According to such structure, the contact pin  14  is detachably mounted to the mount portion  13   c  of the socket body  13  from the side direction. 
     Furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 2 , each of the contact pin  14  has a structure in which the elastic piece  14   a  extends upward from the outer side end portion of the mount portion  13   c , and then bent inward so as to substantially horizontally extend, and the contact portion  14   b  is formed so as to extend upward from the front end portion of the elastic piece  14   a  in a manner such that the contact portion  14   b  contacts a corresponding terminals  12   b  of the IC package  12 . The contact pins  14  are provided with lead portions  14   d  extending downward from the clamp portions  14   c  thereof, and the lead portions  14   d  are inserted into the circuit board, not shown, and then are soldered to be fixed thereto. 
     In this way, plural contact pins  14  are arranged at four side portions of the peripheral edge of the socket body  13  to be in parallel with each other and adjacently at a predetermined pitch. 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , the latches  15  are arranged at four portions with respect to the respective sides of the IC package  12  and positioned above the plural contact pins  14  to be rotatable with respect to the socket body  13 . In an operation, when the latches  15  are in closed state, the upper portion of the peripheral edge portion of the IC package  12  is pressed, and when the latches  15  are in opened state, the IC package  12  can be accommodated into or taken out of the accommodation surface portion  13   a  of the socket body  13 . 
     More specifically, as shown in  FIG. 10  or others in a plan view, each of the latch  15  has a front end side portion having a narrow width H 1  and a rear end side portion having a wide width H 2 , thus providing a trapezoid shape. An opening  15   f  is formed to a central portion of the trapezoid portion. Rotation (rotating) shafts  15   a  are located to the front end side of the latches  15  so as to project in both side directions, and as shown in  FIG. 8 , both side rotation shafts  15   a  are clamped and held between the upper side member  13   e  and the lower side member  13   f  to be rotatable. The rotation shafts  15   a  (fulcrum) are positioned below the IC package accommodation surface portion  13   a  of the socket body  13 . 
     Furthermore, each of the latches  15  is formed with a cam portion  15   c  between a pair of rotation shafts  15   a  located on both sides on the same axis, and as shown in  FIG. 2  showing the left-half side of the latch  15 , when the latch  15  is rotated in the opening direction, the elastic piece  14   a  of the contact pin  14  is pressed by the cam portion  15   c  and is hence elastically deformed downward, the contact portion  14   b  is displaced downward so as to be separated in the downward direction from the contacting portion to the terminal  12   b  of the IC package  12 . Likely, as shown in  FIG. 2  showing the right-half side of the latch  15  and  FIG. 6 , when the latch  15  is rotated in the closing direction, the pressing force of the cam portion  15   c  to the elastic piece  14   a  is released and the contact portion  14   b  is displaced upward by the elastic force of the elastic piece  14   a  to thereby move the contact portion  14   b  to the contacting portion of the terminal  12   b  of the IC package  12 . 
     On an opposite side to the cam portion  15   c , an inclined surface portion  15   h  for escape is formed on an extension of the axis of the rotation shaft  15   a , and according to such formation of the inclined surface portion  15   h , the sectional area of the cam portion  15   c  is made smaller than that of the rotation shaft  15   a  on each of both sides of the latch  15 . 
     Moreover, as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 10 , for example, the latch  15  is provided with the pressing portion  15   d  (fulcrum point) pressing the upper surface of the IC package  12 , and in addition, an operation portion  15   e  (point of effort) to be operated for opening which is pressed downward at a descending time of the operating member  16 . When the operation portion  15   e  to be operated for opening is pressed downward, the latch  15  is rotated in the opening direction. 
     The operation portion  15   e  to be operated for opening is formed at substantially the central portion on the rear end side, at which the width H 2  of the latch  15  is widened, and on the outer edge side of the opening  15   f.    
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , a part of the rear end portion of the latch  15 , at which the operation portion  15   e  to be operated for opening is formed, has a surface  15   j  facing the contact pins  14 . The surface  15   j  curves along the curved-shape portions  14   f  of the contact pins  14 . Therefore, when the latch  15  is opened, the part of which the operation portion  15   e  to be operated for opening is formed become in parallel with the curved-shape portions  14   f  of the contact pins  14 . As a result, a strength of the rear end of the latch  15  can be improved by effectively using a space between the curve-shaped portion  14   f  of the contact pins  14  and the surface  15   j  of the latch  15 . 
     Furthermore, a pair of operation portions  15   g  (points of effort) to be operated for closing are formed so as to project sideway at both end portions of the rear end side at which the width H 2  of the latch is widened (see  FIG. 10 ). The paired operation portions  15   g  to be operated for closing are formed so as to project sideway near the outer sides of the arrangement range width H 3  of the contact pins  14  arranged, and according to this arrangement, a distance H 2  between both operation portions  15   g  to be operated for closing is widened more than the arrangement range width H 3  (for example, see  FIG. 9 ). 
     Still furthermore, the operating member  16  has a frame-shaped structure in a plan view and is provided for the socket body  13  to be vertically movable. The operating member  16  is urged upward (see  FIG. 3 ) by springs  17  which are disposed at four positions, and, at the uppermost position, an engaging portion  16   a  shown in  FIG. 11  is engaged with a portion  13   d  to be engaged (engagement portion  13   d  shown in  FIG. 7 ) formed to the socket body  13  to thereby restrict the upward movement of the operating member  16 . 
     Furthermore, the operating member  16  is provided with the operating portion  16   b  for opening which rotates the latch  15  in the opening direction thereof in engagement with the operation portion  15   e  to be operated for opening formed to the central portion in the width direction of the latch  15  when the operating member  16  is moved downward from the uppermost position thereof, that is, the operating member  16  is moved from the state shown in right-half state in  FIG. 2  to the left-half state therein. The operating portion  16   b  for opening is provided for the operating member  16  so as to extend in an extending direction toward the obliquely downward inside the socket body  13 . 
     The operating portion  16   b  for opening comprises a slide surface  16   c  linearly formed so as to presses and slides the operation portion  15   e  to be operated for opening of the latch  15  as shown in  FIG. 2 , for example. The operating portion  16   b  for opening is formed so as to, when the operating portion  16   b  for opening of the opening member  16  is moved downward, the operating portion  16   b  is inserted into the opening portion  15   f  while pressing downward a operation portion  15   g  to be operated for closing of the latch  15 . 
     In the state where the operating member  16  is moved downward to the descending lowermost position and the latch  15  is fully opened, it is set that the front end of the operating portion  16   b  for opening is inserted into the opening  15   f  to a position on an extension axis line of the rotation shaft  15   a , and a front end surface  16   d  along the perpendicular direction of the operating portion  16   b  for opening approximately abuts against the inclined surface portion  15   h  for escape of the latch  15 . 
     Still furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the operating member  16  is formed with a pair of operating portions  16   e  for closing, and when the operating member  16  is moved upward from the most lowering position, a pair of operation portions  15   g  to be operated for closing of the latch  15  is pressed upward to close the latch  15  by the pair of the operating portions  16   e  for closing. The operating portions  16   e  for closing are disposed on both sides of the arranged contact pins  14  and on the inside portion from the most outside portion  14   e  of the horseshoe-shaped contact pins  14  (see  FIG. 2 ). 
     Incidentally, the IC socket  11  of the structure mentioned above is not provided with a floating plate which is provided in a conventional structure. 
     Hereunder, a method of using the IC socket  11  of the structure mentioned above will be explained. 
     In the following, there will be explained a case in which the IC package  12  is accommodated on the IC socket  11  in a state in which the IC socket  11  is preliminarily fixed to a circuit board. 
     First, when the operating member  16  is pressed downward against the urging force of the springs  17  from the states shown in right-half in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 , the operation portions  15   e  to be operated for opening of the latches  15  are pressed while sliding on the sliding surface  16   c  of the operating portion  16   b  for opening of the operating member  16 , and the latches  15  are then rotated in the opening direction thereof with the rotation shafts  15   a  being the center of the rotation. According to this motion, the operating portion  16   b  for opening of the operating member  16  is deeply inserted into the opening portion  15   f  of the latch  15 , and the pressing portion  15   d  of the latch  15  is retired from the accommodation/take-out range of the IC package  12  (see left-half side in  FIG. 2 ). 
     As described above, since there is provided the operating member  16  having the operating portion  16   b  for opening for rotating the latch  15  in the opening direction thereof by pressing downward the operation portion  15   e  to be operated for opening formed to the central portion in the width direction of the latch  15 , spaces on both the sides of the latch can be made narrow in comparison with a structure in which the latch is pressed downward by using spaces on both the sides of the latch  15 , thus contributing realization of compact outer configuration of the IC socket  11 . 
     Furthermore, the opening portion  15   f  is formed to the central portion of the latch  15 , and when the operating portion  16   b  for opening of the operating member  16  is moved downward, the operating portion  16   b  is inserted into the opening portion  15   f  while pressing downward the operation portion  15   e  to be operated for opening formed to the rear side of the opening  15   f  of the latch  15 . According to such structure, the operating member  16  is formed to be further on the inner side of the socket body  13 , thus also realizing the compact outer configuration of the IC socket  11 . 
     Still furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the operating portion  16   b  for opening of the operating member  16  is provided with the sliding surface  16   c , formed linearly, pressing the operation portion  15   e  to be operated for opening of the latch  15  so as to slide on the sliding surface  16   c . Accordingly, in comparison with the sliding surface  16   c  having a curved- or bent-shape, the outer configuration of the operating member can be further made compact with the desired amount of the rotating motion of the latch  15  being ensured. 
     Still furthermore, the latch  15  is formed with a pair of rotation shafts  15   a  on both the sides of the opening portion  15   f , and in the most lowering position of the operating member  16 , the front end portion of the operating portion  16   b  is inserted to a position of the opening portion  15   f  on the extension line of the rotation shaft  15   a . According to such structure, the operating member  16  is provided to the position further on the inner side of the socket body  13 , thus also making compact the outer configuration of the IC socket  11 . 
     In the state in which the latch  15  is opened maximally, the front end portion of the operating portion  16   b  for opening of the operating member  16  is inserted into the opening portion  15   f  of the latch  15  deeply to a position on the extension axis line of the rotation shaft  15   a , so that the front end surface  16   d  along the perpendicular direction of the operating portion  16   b  for opening almost abuts against the inclined surface portion  15   h  for escape of the latch  15 . According to such setting, the outer configuration can be made extremely compact with the amount of rotational motion of the latch  15  being ensured (see left-half side in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 5 ). 
     A most outside position  15   i  in a state where the latch  15  is maximally opened takes a position almost not projecting from the most outside portion  14   e  of the contact pin  14  as shown in the left-half side in  FIG. 2 , which is different from a conventional structure, and does not project largely outside. Accordingly, the outer configuration of the IC socket  11  can be extremely downsized, thus realizing a compact structure of the IC socket  11 . 
     Furthermore, since the rotation center of the rotation shaft  15   a  of the latch  15  is positioned below the IC package accommodation surface portion  13   a  of the socket body  13 , the stroke of the latch  15  to the accommodation surface portion  13   a  can be made longer, so that even if the rotating amount of the latch  15  is small, the IC package  12  can be pressed and/or released by the movement of the pressing portion  15   d . Thus, the vertical stroke of the operating member  16  can be made short, and hence, the vertical stroke of the IC socket  11  can be made also short, thus making compact the structure of the operating member  16 . 
     In addition, since the moving amount in the outside direction of the latch  15  can be shortened, the IC socket  11  can be made compact. 
     Incidentally, according to the rotation of the latch  15 , the elastic piece  14   a  of the contact pin  14  is pressed by the cam portion  15   c  of the latch  15  and then elastically deformed downward. According to this pressing operation, the contact portion  14   b  of the contact pin  14  is displaced or urged downward. 
     Under the state mentioned above, the IC package  12  is delivered by an automatic machine. Then, the IC package is guided by the guide portions  13   b  of the socket body  13  and is accommodated to a predetermined position on the IC package accommodation surface portion  13   a  of the socket body  13  which is not provided with any floating plate. 
     Thereafter, when the external force, which has applied to the operating member  16 , is released, the operating member  16  is moved upward by the urging force of the springs  17 , and according to this upward motion of the operating member  16 , the operation portions  15   g  to be operated for closing of the latches  15  are pushed upward by a pair of the operating portion  16   e  for closing positioned on both the sides of a plurality of the contact pins  14  and then, the latches  15  are rotated in the closing direction thereof. 
     As explained above, as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 9 , according to the structure in which the paired operation portions  15   g  for closing of the latches  15  are formed so as to project on both the sides of the alignment of the plural contact pins  14 , and the paired operating portions  16   e  for closing of the operating member  16  are positioned on both the sides of the alignment of the contact pins  14 , it becomes unnecessary to provide a pair of the operating portions  16   e  for closing of the operating member  16  outside the contact pins  14  (see right-half side in  FIG. 2 ). Thus, in this viewpoint, the outer configuration of the operating member  16 , i.e., socket body  13 , can be also made compact. 
     On the other hand, when the latches  15  are rotated in the closing direction, the pressing force by the cam portions  15   c  of the latch  15  to the elastic pieces  14   a  of the contact pins  14  is released, the elastic pieces  14   a  are displaced upward by the elastic force, and the contact portions  14   b  then contact the terminals  12   b  of the IC package  12 , respectively. According to such motion, the IC package  12  is moved slightly upward from the IC package accommodation surface portion  13   a  of the socket body  13  by the elastic force of the elastic pieces  14   a  (see  FIG. 13 ). 
     Thereafter, the operating member  16  is moved further upward while the latches  15  being closed, and the upper surface of the IC package  12  is thereby pressed downward by the pressing portions  15   d  of the latches  15 . 
     Then, as shown in  FIG. 14 , the IC package  12  is moved slightly downward against the urging force of the elastic pieces  14   a  of the contact pins  14 . 
     According to such motion, the IC package  12  is electrically connected to the circuit board through the contact pin  14  so as to be ready for performing a burn-in test. 
     According to the configuration mentioned above, it becomes unnecessary to vertically move the seating surface (accommodation surface portion  13   a ) of the IC package  12  by the cam portion  15   c  of the latch  15 . In addition, the elastic pieces  14   a  of the contact pins  14  is formed so as to elastically deformed. Therefore, it becomes unnecessary to locate any floating plate. Thus, the pushing amount of the IC package  12  by the pressing portion  15   d  of the latch  15  can be made small, and accordingly, a distance from the rotating center (pivot center) of the latch  15  to the pressing portion  15   d  thereof can be shortened, and the latch  15  can be hence made compact, resulting in realization of the compact IC socket  11 . 
     Still furthermore, since becomes unnecessary to locate the floating plate, the number of parts to be arranged can be reduced. Accordingly, tolerance of each of parts or components can be made small. Additionally, vibrations in the lateral direction on a plane, which occurs in the case the floating plate is used, can be prevented. Thus, the IC package  12  can be arranged to a predetermined position more precisely. 
     As described above, when the IC package  12  is accommodated to the IC socket  11 , the latches  15  are rotated in the direction to be opened, and so the elastic pieces  14   a  of the contact pins  14  move downward. After this, IC package is accommodated, then, the elastic pieces  14   a  moves upward so that the contact portions  14   b  contact with the terminals  12   b  of the IC package  12 . Therefore, in comparison with the conventional art, the present embodiment can make each contact portion  14   b  contact with the terminal  12   b  at pinpoint contact and any wiping is hardly caused. Hence, according to the present embodiment, any wiping trail or trace is not almost caused to the terminal  12   b  of the IC package  12 , and in addition, the contact portions  14   b  of the contact pins  14  are hard to come away even in a case of the IC package  12  having extremely narrow width. 
     In addition, any wiping trail or trace is not almost caused to the upper surface of the IC package  12  because any sliding is hardly caused when the latches  15  press the upper surface of the IC package  12 . 
     Furthermore, as mentioned above, when a test of the IC package  12  finishes and the IC package  12  is picked up, the latches  15  are gradually opened and so the cam portions  15   c  of the latches  15  make the elastic pieces  14   a  of the contact pins  14  move downward. Consequently, the present embodiment can certainly prevent the contact portions  14   b  of the contact pins  14  from sticking with the terminals  12   b  of the IC package  12 . 
     Moreover, since the latch has so-called a trapezoid shape having a front end side (inside) having a narrow width H 1  and a rear end side (outside) having a wide width H 2 , and a center side (operation portion  15   e  to be operated for opening) is constructed for an opening portion, and both end sides (operation portions  15   g  to be operated for closing) are constructed for closing portions, it is not necessary to form or provide a structure for opening/closing the latch in a space on the rear side of the latch  15 , thereby making further compact the entire outer configuration of the IC socket  11 . 
     Still furthermore, since the clamping portions  14   c  of the contact pins  14  can be provided to be detachable to the mount portion  13   c  of the socket body  13  from the transverse side of the socket body  13 , operation workings such as exchanging working can be extremely easily done. 
     Still furthermore, the operation portions  15   e  to be operated for opening of the latches  15  are arranged at the central portions in the width direction thereof so that these portions  15   e  are opened by the pressing of the operating portions  16   b  for opening of the operating member  16 , and accordingly, the latches  15  can perform the opening and/or closing operation in a balanced state only by pressing one portion of the operating member  16 . 
     Further, it is to be noted that in the above described embodiment, although the present invention is applied to the IC socket  11  as “socket for electric parts”, the present invention is not limited to this application and is applicable to other devices and the like.