Patent Publication Number: US-2022216634-A1

Title: Electrical connector

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/133,348, filed Jan. 2, 2021, the content of which is incorporated entirely herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector for use with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or electronic package, and particularly to the electrical contact of the electrical connector having an angled resilient support side arm to sidewardly contact the primary resilient contacting arm. 
     2. Description of Related Arts 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,611 discloses an electrical connector with a plurality of contacts. Each contact has a stationary planar/flat body with a bottom end connected to a printed circuit board (PCB), and a resilient contacting arm located beside and sidewardly contacting the planar main body with an upward contacting section upward abutting against a conductive pad of the CPU, thus resulting in a dual-path transmission between the conductive pad of the CPU and the PCB when the contacting arm is downwardly deflected by the CPU. Anyhow, because the main body is flat and essentially immovable for retention consideration, the operational procedure of sideward contact between the flat body and the resilient contacting arm during downward deflection of the contacting arm may be relatively harsh disadvantageously. 
     Therefore, it is desired to provide an electrical connector with corresponding contacts with the dual-path transmission in a smooth manner. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To achieve the above object, an electrical connector includes an insulative housing with a plurality of passageways extending therethrough in a vertical direction. A plurality of contacts are disposed in the corresponding passageways, respectively. Each contact includes a base with a resilient contacting arm upwardly extending from an upper end of the base and equipped with a contacting section at a free end thereof. A retaining section is sidewardly linked to one side edge of the base. A supporting section is sidewardly linked to the other side edge of the base. In a top view, the supporting section is angled with regard to the base via an acute angle while the retaining section is angled with regard to the base via a right angle. An upwardly and upwardly curved abutting section is located at a top portion of the supporting section. The transitional line of curvilinear configuration of the abutting section is not horizontal but extending in a forwardly ad downwardly inclined manner for compliance with the downwardly deflected contacting arm. At least one of the base and supporting section forms a horizontal seat with a solder ball attached upon an underside thereof. A plurality of standoffs are formed upon an upper surface of the housing corresponding to each passageway. In a top view, the standoff and the supporting section are located by two opposite sides of the contacting arm in a transverse direction. 
     Other 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 DRAWING 
         FIG. 1(A)  is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to a first embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 1(B)  is another perspective view of the electrical of  FIG. 1(A) ; 
         FIG. 1(C)  is a top view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1(A) ; 
         FIG. 1(D)  is an elevational view of the electrical connector of FIG. (A) in a front-to-back direction; 
         FIG. 1(E)  is a side view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1(A)  in a transverse direction; 
         FIG. 2(A)  is an exploded view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1(A) ; 
         FIG. 2(B)  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 2(A) ; 
         FIG. 2(C)  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 2(A) ; 
         FIG. 2(D)  is a perspective view of the unfolded contacts of the electrical connector of  FIG. 2(A) ; 
         FIG. 3(A)  is a perspective view of the electrical connector according to a second embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 3(B)  is another perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 3(A) ; 
         FIG. 3(C)  is a top view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 3(A) ; 
         FIG. 3(D)  is an elevational view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 3(A)  along a front-to-back direction; 
         FIG. 3(E)  is a side view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 3(A)  along a transverse direction; 
         FIG. 4(A)  is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 3(A) ; 
         FIG. 4(B)  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 4(A) ; 
         FIG. 4(C)  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 4(A) ; 
         FIG. 4(D)  is a perspective view of the unfolded contacts of the electrical connector of  FIG. 4(A) ; 
         FIG. 5(A)  is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of a third embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 5(B)  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5(A) ; 
         FIG. 5(C)  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5(A) ; 
         FIG. 6(A)  is a top view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5(A) ; 
         FIG. 6(B)  is an elevational view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 6(A)  along the front-to-back direction; 
         FIG. 6(C)  is a side view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 6(A) ; 
         FIG. 7(A)  is a perspective view of the contacts of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5(A)  wherein the contacts are linked with the contact carrier and one of the contacts is disposed in the passageway of the housing; 
         FIG. 7(B)  is another perspective view of the contacts of the electrical connector of  FIG. 7(A)  wherein the contacts are linked with the contact carrier and one of the contacts is disposed in the passageway of the housing; and 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the contacts of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5(A)  wherein the contacts are linked with the contact carrier and one of the contacts is folded while others are unfolded. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1(A)-2(D)  which show a first embodiment of this invention, an electrical connector  100  for receiving a CPU or electronic package, includes an insulative housing  110  forming a plurality of passageways  112  (only one shown) extending therethrough in a vertical direction. Each passageway  112  receives a contact  120  therein. The contact  120  includes a base  122  with a resilient contacting arm  124  extending upwardly and obliquely from an upper end of the base  122  and equipped with a bulged contacting section  126  at a free end thereof. A retaining section  140  is sidewardly linked to one side edge of the base  122  with a connection upper end  142  for linking to a contact carrier (not shown) so as to downwardly assemble the contact  120  into the corresponding passageway  112 . A supporting section  130  is sidewardly linked to the other side edge of the base  122  with an outwardly and upwardly curved abutting section/head  132  at an upper end thereof and a solder pad  134  or horizontal seat at a lower end thereof. A solder ball  150  is attached on an underside of the solder pad  134  for mounting the solder pad to the PCB. The abutting section  132  is adapted to be outwardly deflected when the corresponding side edge of the downwardly deflected contacting arm  124  sidewardly pushes the abutting section  132 , and then an electrical path shown as S 1  from the contacting arm  124  to the supporting section  130  is formed. 
     In a top view shown by  FIG. 1(C) , the supporting section  130  is angled with the base  122  via an acute angle while the retaining section  140  is angled with regard to the base  122  via a right angle. In a side view shown by  FIG. 1(E) , a transitional line of the curvilinear configuration of the abutting section  132  as indicated with A in  FIG. 3(E) , is not horizontal but extending forwardly and downwardly in inclined manner for compliance with the downwardly deflected contacting arm  124  during the mating process with the CPU. As shown in  FIG. 2(D) , the side edge of the supporting section  130  is not vertical but extending in an oblique direction. Understandably, because the curved abutting section  132  is adapted to be outwardly deflected, the downward deflection of the contacting arm  124  during mating become easy and smooth. In addition, because the supporting section  130  and the associated abutting section  132  are essentially angled with regard to the base  122  via an acute angle to comply with the tapered configuration of the contacting arm  124 , the downward deflection of the contacting arm  124  during mating is relatively smooth. Moreover, the transitional line A (as shown and indicated in  FIG. 3(E)  and shown in  FIG. 1(E) ) which essentially extends transversely on the abutting section  132  is not horizontal but extending in a forwardly and downwardly inclined manner, the confrontation between the side edge of the contacting arm  124  and the abutting section  132 , when the CPU and the connector are fully mated with each other, may be compliant without harshness. In brief, all the novel features of the instant invention mentioned above may avoid the defects inevitably owned by the connector disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,611. 
     To comply with the angled supporting section  130 , the passageway  112  forms an oblique section  116  so as to compliantly receive the angled supporting section  130  of the contact  120  therein. A plurality of standoffs  114  are formed on an upper surface of the housing  110  and aligned with the corresponding retaining sections  140  in the front-to-back direction for upwardly abutment with the CPU. In a top view as shown by  FIG. 1(C) , supporting section  130  and the standoff  114  are located by two sides of the contacting arm  124  in the transverse direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction. Notably, the contacting arm  124  sidewardly contacts the curved section  132  while being space from the standoff  114 . Understandably, the standoff  114  is used to not only upwardly support the CPU for preventing over-deflection of the contacting arm  124  but also sidewardly protect the contacting arm  124  to prevent improper sideward invasion of an external piece. The retaining section  140  is equipped with side edge barbed structure for engagement within the passageway  112 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3(A)-4(C)  showing the second embodiment of this embodiment, the electrical connector  200  includes an insulative hosing  210  with a plurality of passageways  212  (only one shown) extending therethrough in the vertical direction. Each passageway  212  receives a contact  220  therein. Each contact  220  includes a base  222  with a resilient contacting arm  224  upwardly and obliquely extending from an upper end of the base  222  and equipped with a bulged contacting section  226  at a free end thereof. A retaining section  240  is sidewardly linked to a side edge of the base  222  with a connecting upper end  242  adapted to be originally connected to a contact carrier for downwardly assembling the contact  220  into the passageway  212 . The side edge of the retaining section  240  forms a barbed structure for engagement with the housing  210  to retaining the contact  220  within the passageway  212 . 
     A supporting section  230  is sidewardly linked to the other side edge of the base  222  with an outwardly and upwardly curved guiding and abutting head/section  232  at a free end thereof. Different from the first embodiment which discloses the solder pad  134  is solely formed on the supporting section  130 , in the second embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 3(A)-4(D) , the solder pad structure for attachment of the solder ball  230  thereon includes a first half  234  formed on a lower end of the supporting section  230  and a second half  228  formed on a lower end of the base  222 , therefore the contact  220  has dual electrical path shown as S 2  and S 3 , one is from the resilient contacting arm  224  to the second half  228 , and the other is from the abutting section  232  to the first half  234 . Another difference compared with the first embodiment, is that in this second embodiment, the abutting section  232  is wider, along the front-to-back direction, than supporting section  230  so as to result in more contacting areas with the side edge of the contacting arm  224 . 
     Similar to the first embodiment, in the second embodiment the housing  210  includes a plurality of standoffs  214  corresponding to the passageways  212 , and each passageway  212  includes an oblique section  216  to comply with the angled supporting section  230 . Understandably, the novel features and the operation way of the second embodiment are essentially same with those of the first embodiment without necessity of illustration again. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5(A)-7(B)  showing the third embodiment, an electrical connector includes an insulative housing  310  with a plurality of passageways  312  extending therethrough in a vertical direction. A plurality of standoffs  314  are formed on the upper surface of the housing  310  corresponding to the passageways  312 . 
     Each passageway  312  receives a contact  320  therein. Each contact  320  includes a base  322 , and a resilient contacting arm  324  upwardly and obliquely extending from an upper end of the base  322  and equipped with a bulged contacting section  326  at a free end of the resilient contacting arm  324 . A retaining/vertical section  340  is sidewardly linked to a side edge of the base  322 . Different from the first and second embodiments, in the third embodiment the connecting upper end  329  is formed on an upper portion of the base  322  rather than on the retaining section  340  and side by side spaced from the contacting arm  324  in the transverse direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction along which the contacting arm  324  extends in a top view. As shown in  FIGS. 7(A) and 7(B) , the connecting upper end  329  is unitarily formed with and connected to a contact strip  410  of the contact carrier  400  before assembling into the housing  310 . Different from the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the solder pad  328  is solely formed at a lower end of the base  322  for attachment of the solder ball  350  rather than being involved with the supporting section  330 . 
     The supporting section  330  is sidewardly linked to the other side edge of the base  233  with an upwardly and obliquely curved abutting section  322  at an upper end thereof. In the third embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 6(A)  both the retaining section  340  and the supporting section  330  are angled with regard to the base  322  via a right angle. Understandably, the novel features and the operation way of the connector disclosed in the third embodiment are similar to those disclosed in the first and second embodiments, thus requiring no detailed illustration. Understandably, the retaining section  340  may provide optimal capacitance to the whole contact. 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various alterations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without in any way departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.