Abstract:
A cover assembly is provided that includes an electronic socket with a socket cover having a bottom surface. The cover assembly includes a transport cover with a top surface and a bottom surface. The top surface is configured to form a vacuum seal with a tool, and the bottom surface includes a locating post and a flexible beam with a protrusion. The locating post is configured to engage the socket cover. The flexible beam is biased by the socket cover such that the protrusion releasably engages the bottom surface of the socket cover to retain the transport cover to the socket cover.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention generally relates to a cover for transporting and protecting electronic components. More particularly, the present invention relates to a removable cover securable to an electronic socket for transporting an electronic socket, such as to a circuit board during assembly.  
           [0002]    Many types of electronic sockets exist today. These sockets typically include a socket base, to which a socket cover is slidably mounted. The socket base and cover are formed with grids of pin holes therein, with the grids in the base and cover overlapping. The socket cover may be slid between open and closed positions with respect to the socket base. The pin holes in the socket base include receptacle contacts having pins extending from the bottom of the socket. A pin pattern on the socket base is configured to align with an array of holes in a support structure to which the socket is mounted, such as a circuit board. The socket cover has a pin hole pattern configured to receive pins on a mating component, such as a microprocessor. The socket base and cover also include a large clearance hole through the centers thereof.  
           [0003]    The sockets are typically mounted to the circuit board through an automated process. However, the socket may easily be damaged or contaminated when manipulated, and thus transporting the socket from a shipping tray to the circuit board and positioning the socket on the circuit board is a difficult task.  
           [0004]    Past automated assembly processes have used a vacuum tool to form a vacuum seal with the electronic socket and to transport the electronic socket to the circuit board. However, because the socket has numerous pin holes and the clearance hole which prevent the formation of a vacuum seal thereon, an additional transport cover is attached to the socket cover. The vacuum tool forms the vacuum seal with the transport cover and collectively moves the electronic socket to the circuit board. Once the socket is in place on the circuit board, the transport cover is removed.  
           [0005]    Several kinds of covers have been proposed to facilitate transportation and installation of an electronic socket. For example, a tape or film has been applied to the top of the socket cover to cover the pin holes and the clearance hole. The tape provides a semi-rigid, uninterrupted surface on the top of the socket in order that the vacuum tool may form a seal on the tape and facilitate transport of the socket to a circuit board. Once the socket is soldered to the circuit board, the tape is then removed from the socket. However, the tape is expensive and is not reusable. Additionally, the tape is difficult to center and apply on the socket and is difficult to remove by hand or with a tool because the tape has no surface for gripping.  
           [0006]    Another transport cover used in the industry is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,848. The &#39;848 patent describes a plastic cover that has a body with a flat top surface and supporting legs perpendicularly extending from opposite lateral edges of the body. The supporting legs have stand-off portions perpendicularly extending inward therefrom to define a gap. The supporting legs are biased outward from each other or slid alongside the side walls of the electronic socket such that stand-off portions extend under the body of the electronic socket and retain the transport cover to the electronic socket. The vacuum tool is then used to form a vacuum seal with the top surface of the transport cover and transport the electronic socket to the motherboard.  
           [0007]    The plastic transport cover suffers from several drawbacks. First, the transport cover is difficult to install onto the electronic socket. The transport cover either must be slid onto the electronic socket with the stand-offs reaching under the electronic socket and holding the electronic socket in the gap or the supporting legs must be biased outward away from each other such that the stand-offs can be snapped under the electronic socket. Sliding the transport cover onto the electronic socket requires aligning the electronic socket within the gap, which can be difficult and time consuming. Likewise, snapping the transport cover on and off of the electronic socket is time consuming because the supporting legs are small and difficult to grip or position.  
           [0008]    A need remains for a transport cover that overcomes the above problems and addresses other concerns experienced in the prior art.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    Certain embodiments of the present invention include a socket assembly having an electronic socket with a socket cover. The socket assembly also includes a transport cover with a top surface and a bottom surface. The top surface of the transport cover is configured to form a vacuum seal with a tool, while the bottom surface of the transport cover includes a locating post and a flexible beam with a latching protrusion. The locating post is configured to slidably engage a clearance hole through the socket cover. The flexible beam is received in the clearance hole in the socket cover until the latching protrusion releasably engages a bottom surface of the socket cover to retain the transport cover on the socket cover. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of an electronic socket used with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 illustrates a top isometric view of an electronic socket with a transport cover mounted thereto according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 illustrates a bottom isometric view of a transport cover formed according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 illustrates a bottom isometric view of a portion of a transport cover and an electronic socket formed according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 illustrates a top isometric view of a transport cover formed in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 illustrates a bottom isometric view of the transport cover of FIG. 5. 
     
    
       [0016]    The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of certain embodiments of the present invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings, certain embodiments. It should be understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the attached drawings.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of an electronic socket  10  used with an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic socket  10  includes an insulated socket base  18  containing metal contact pins (not shown) in an array of holes. The pins extend from the bottom of the electronic socket  10 . An insulated socket cover  22  is slidably mounted to the socket base  18  and has an array of pin holes  26  that correspond to, and (when open) align with, the array of holes in the socket base  18 . The electronic socket  10  is connected to a circuit board, for example a motherboard, by soldering the contact pins in the socket base  18  to traces on the circuit board. The socket cover  22  is configured to receive pins from a mating electronic component, such as a microprocessor. The socket cover  22  slides relative to the socket base  18  to bind the pins of the microprocessor in the pin holes  26 . The pins of the microprocessor extend into, and engage the pins in the pin holes in the socket base  18 .  
         [0018]    The electronic socket  10  includes a square clearance window  30  that extends therethrough. The clearance window  30  is defined by planar, non-recessed cover interior walls  122  formed in the socket cover  22  and planar non-recessed base interior walls  125  formed in the socket base  18 . The cover interior walls  122  intersect at smooth, right-angle corners  123 , as do the base interior walls  125 . The cover interior walls  122  of the socket cover  22  are formed with top and bottom surfaces  142  and  130 . The base interior walls  125  of the socket base  18  have top and bottom surfaces  127  and  129 . The top and bottom surfaces  127 ,  129 ,  142  and  130  are even and planar proximate the clearance window  30 , and form uninterrupted and continuous edges at the cover and base interior walls  122  and  125 , and do not include recesses or notches. The clearance window  30  provides clearance for other electronic components when the electronic socket  10  is connected to the circuit board.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 illustrates a top isometric view of the electronic socket  10  with a transport cover  14  mounted thereto. The clearance window  30  (FIG. 1) receives the transport cover  14 . The transport cover  14  has a planar body with a flat top surface  34  that provides a rigid, uninterrupted engagement surface with which a vacuum tool (not shown) forms a vacuum seal. Upon forming the vacuum seal on the top surface  34 , the vacuum tool is used to transport the transport cover  14  (and thus the electronic socket  10 ) to the circuit board with minimal contamination or turbulence. The electronic socket  10  is then soldered to the circuit board. Optionally, the transport cover  14  may be made large enough to cover all or a portion of the array of pin holes  26  on the socket cover  22 . The socket cover  22  has cutouts  134  at opposite sides. Each cutout  134  has a side edge wall  146  and opposite end edge walls  150  extending from a top surface  142  of the socket cover. The end edge walls  150  have bottom surfaces  130 .  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 illustrates a bottom isometric view of the transport cover  14 . The transport cover  14  has side walls  62  and end walls  66  connected by rounded corners  70 . Multiple locating posts  38  are formed on a bottom surface  42  of the transport cover  14  proximate to the side walls  62 . The locating posts  38  are arranged to define four corners of a square or rectangle. The locating posts  38  are elbow shaped and have tapered edges  46  that are formed with, and extend between, top edges  50  and side walls  54  at an acute angle to a vertical axis  58  oriented perpendicular to the bottom surface  42 . The locating posts  38  properly align the transport cover  14  within the clearance window  30  (FIG. 1) when the transport cover  14  is connected to the electronic socket  10  (FIG. 1). In the example of FIG. 3, the locating posts  38  are arranged in pairs located adjacent opposite side walls  62 .  
         [0021]    A long rectangular latch beam  74  is located between each pair of locating posts  38  and extends proximate a corresponding side wall  62 . The height of the locating posts  38  along the vertical axis  58  is greater than the height of the latch beams  74 , in order that the locating posts  38  are first to engage the clearance window  30 . The latch beams  74  are connected to the bottom surface  42  by intermediate strips  106  which retain the latch beams  74  above molding gaps  110 . The latch beams  74  extend between, but are not connected to, interior walls  78  of the locating posts  38 . The strips  106  permit the latch beams  74  to flex in the directions of arrows A or B toward and away from one another. The molding gaps  110  provide a clearance for molding the latch beams  74  during manufacturing of the transport cover  14 .  
         [0022]    Alternatively, the latch beams  74  may extend parallel to the end walls  66 . Optionally, fewer or more than four locating posts  38  may be used.  
         [0023]    Each latch beam  74  is formed with protrusions  82  at opposite ends extending outward from side surfaces  102 . The protrusions  82  extend outward from each latch beam  74  toward the proximate side wall  62  of the transport cover  14 . Each protrusion  82  has a beveled surface  86  extending from a bottom surface  90  of the latch beam  74  to a retention wall  94 . Each protrusion  82  also has a tapered latch surface  98  extending from the side surface  102  of the latch beam  74 . The protrusions  82  snapably engage the electronic socket  10  (FIG. 1) when the latch beams  74  are inserted into the clearance window  30  (FIG. 3) to retain the transport cover  14  on the electronic socket  10 .  
         [0024]    A continuous contact rib  114  extends about the perimeter of the bottom surface  42  and is offset inward from the side and end walls  62  and  66 . The contact rib  114  sits on the socket cover  22  (FIG. 1) when the transport cover  14  is connected to the socket cover  22  such that the socket cover  22  and the transport cover  14  are snugly fitted against each other. Thus the contact rib  114  prevents the electronic socket  10  (FIG. 1) from hanging loosely from the transport cover  14  in a manner that could damage the electronic socket  10 .  
         [0025]    Because the contact rib  114  extends upward from the bottom surface  42  along vertical axis  58 , the transport cover  14  forms relief areas  118  outside the contact rib  114  proximate the side and end walls  62  and  66 . The relief areas  118  represent gaps between the transport cover  14  and socket cover  22  that allow an operator to grip the transport cover  14  by hand or a tool to remove the transport cover  14  from the socket cover  22  (FIG. 1).  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 4 illustrates a bottom isometric view of a portion of the electronic socket  10  with the transport cover  14  positioned to be attached. Metal pins  81  are retained in an array of pin holes  83  in the socket base  18  and are aligned with the pin holes  26  (FIG. 1) of the socket cover  22 . The socket base and cover  18  and  22  are aligned such that the cover interior walls  122  are offset from the base interior walls  125 . When the cover interior walls  122  and the base interior walls  125  are offset, as shown in FIG. 4, the bottom surface  130  of the socket cover  22  surrounding the clearance window  30  forms a ledge. By way of example, the cover interior walls  122  may be dimensional to form an interior envelope for the clearance window  30  that is smaller than the interior envelope formed between the base interior walls  125 .  
         [0027]    When the transport cover  14  is inserted into the clearance window  30  of the socket cover  22 , the latch beams  74  engage the cover interior walls  122  and the locating posts  38  are retained in the corners  123  (FIG. 1). In operation, the transport cover  14  is connected to the socket cover  22  by inserting the locating posts  38  downward into the clearance window  30  in the direction of arrow C such that the locating posts  38  slide along the cover interior walls  122  at the corners  123  (FIG. 1). The tapered edges  46  allow for the locating posts  38  to be slidably inserted into the corners  123  with little resistance and provide a greater tolerance for initially fitting the locating posts  38  into the clearance window  30 . Because the locating posts  38  extend further from the bottom surface  42  than the latch beams  74 , the locating posts  38  guide the transport cover  14  into the clearance window  30  such that the latch beams  74  are properly aligned within the clearance window  30  to engage the cover interior walls  122 .  
         [0028]    As the latch beams  74  are inserted into the clearance window  30 , the beveled surfaces  86  of the protrusions  82  ride over, and are resistibly engaged by, the cover interior walls  122  until the protrusions  82  are biased inward toward each other. As the transport cover  14  is further inserted into the socket cover  22 , the retention walls  94  slide past the cover interior walls  122  until the retention walls  94  snap past the cover interior walls  122  and the latch surfaces  98  engage the bottom surface  130 . When the latch surfaces  98  clear the cover interior walls  122 , the latch beams  74  return to their unbiased positions with the side surfaces  102  engaging the cover interior walls  122  and the latch surfaces  98  of the protrusions  82  engaging the bottom surface  130  of the socket cover  22 . Once the latch surfaces  98  engage the bottom surface  130  of the socket cover  22 , the contact rib  114  (FIG. 3) is seated on a top surface  142  (FIG. 1) of the socket cover  22 . A vacuum tool may then be used to form a vacuum seal on the top surface  34  (FIG. 2) of the transport cover  14  and transport the electronic socket  10  to a printed circuit board.  
         [0029]    The transport cover  14  is removed from the socket cover  22  by inserting a tool or fingernail into the relief areas  118  (FIG. 3) to pry the transport cover  14  out of the clearance window  30 . As the transport cover  14  is pulled out of the clearance window  30  in the direction of arrow D, the latch surfaces  98  slide by, and are resistibly engaged by, the cover interior walls  122  causing the latch beams  74  to be biased inward toward each other until the protrusions  82  slide fully past, and no longer engage, the cover interior walls  122 . The latch beams  74  then flex back to their unbiased position as the transport cover  14  is fully removed from the clearance window  30 .  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 5 illustrates a top isometric view of a transport cover  200  formed in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention. The transport cover  200  has panels  204  extending from opposite sides thereof. The transport cover  200  has a flat, uninterrupted top surface  208  that forms a vacuum seal with a vacuum tool.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 6 illustrates a bottom isometric view of the transport cover  200  of FIG. 5. Locating posts  216  extend from a bottom surface  212  of the transport cover  200  at the panels  204 . The locating posts  216  are rectangular with tapered walls  220  extending from top walls  224  to interior walls  228 . Pairs of flexible beams  232  extend from the bottom surface  212  of the panels  204  on opposite sides of the locating posts  216 . The flexible beams  232  are elbow shaped with first walls  236 , and oriented at an angle to, second walls  240 . The first walls  236  of a pair of flexible beams  232  are parallel to each other. The flexible beams  232  partially extend from the bottom surface  212  over beam gaps  244  situated in the panels  204 . The flexible beams  232  may therefore be biased sideways, thereby rocking into the beam gaps  244 .  
         [0032]    The first walls  236  of each pair of flexible beams  232  on a panel  204  have protrusions  248  extending outward away from each other. The protrusions  248  have tapered top and bottom walls  252  and  256  extending from a resistance wall  260 .  
         [0033]    In operation, the transport cover  200  is inserted onto the socket cover  22  (FIG. 1) by positioning the panels  204  over the cutouts  134  (FIG. 2) such that the locating posts  216  slidably engage the side edge walls  146  (FIG. 2) of the cutouts  134  and the first walls  236  of the flexible beams  232  slidably engage the end edge walls  150  (FIG. 2) of the cutouts  134 . The locating posts  216  and the flexible beams  232  guide the transport cover  200  into the cutouts  134  such that the transport cover  200  covers the entire array of pin holes  26  (FIG. 1) on the socket cover  22 . The locating posts  216  and second walls  240  tightly engage the side edge walls  146  in order to prevent the first walls  236  from loosely sliding along a longitudinal axis  264  against the end edge walls  150 .  
         [0034]    As the transport cover  200  is further inserted onto the socket cover  22  (FIG. 1), the protrusions  248  slidably engage, and are resisted by, the end edge walls  150  (FIG. 1) of the cutouts  134  (FIG. 1). As the bottom walls  256  and resistance walls  260  engage the end edge walls  150 , the flexible beams  232  on each panel  204  are biased inward toward each other into the beam gaps  244 . As the tapered top walls  252  slide past the end edge walls  150 , the flexible beams  232  on a panel  204  flex away from each other toward their unbiased position. When the protrusions  248  have been fully slid past the end edge walls  150 , the top walls  252  of the protrusions  248  snapably engage the bottom surfaces  130  (FIG. 1) of the end edge walls  150  such that the transport cover  200  is tightly retained on top of the socket cover  22 . Because the transport cover  200  covers the array of pin holes  26  (FIG. 1), the transport cover  200  not only provides a rigid surface for forming a vacuum seal with a vacuum tool, but also prevents dust and other contaminants from getting into the pin holes  26  and thus possibly affecting the pins.  
         [0035]    The transport cover  200  may be removed from the electronic socket  10  (FIG. 1) by pulling the panels  204  out of the cutouts  134  (FIG. 2) such that the flexible beams  232  on each panel  204  are biased inward toward each other and the protrusions  248  are snapped past the end edge walls  150  (FIG. 2).  
         [0036]    The transport covers of the various embodiments provide several advantages. First, the transport covers are cheap to produce and are reusable. Therefore, the transport covers are more cost effective than using tape as a cover. Also, the transport covers can be connected to a standard socket cover. Further, the transport covers are easy to install because the locating posts are slid vertically into corners and alongside walls in the socket cover without need of sliding or snapping supporting legs about the electronic socket. Finally, at least one of the embodiments of transport covers is large enough to cover the entire array of pin holes on the socket cover in order to protect the pins and pin holes from airborne contaminants.  
         [0037]    While the invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it while understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.