Patent Publication Number: US-11381022-B2

Title: Electrical connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector for use with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and particularly to the contact of the connector being made of multiple pieces. 
     Description of Related Arts 
     U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0328550 discloses an electrical connector having a plurality of contact units each including a primary piece providing a pair of opposite deflectable contacting arms for respectively contacting the CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the PCB (Printed Circuit Board), and a secondary piece providing a side upstanding bar for respectively linking the two contacting arms to create a secondary transmission path other than the primary transmission path performed by the primary piece so as to enhance the high frequency signal transmission. Anyhow, such a side upstanding bar may take additional space in the passageway in the sideward direction, thus being unwelcome the miniaturization trend. 
     Therefore, it is desired to provide an electrical connector with a plurality of contact units each including a primary piece with a pair of opposite deflectable contacting arms, and a secondary piece opposite to the primary piece in the deflection direction of the contacting arms to contact the contacting arms in the deflection direction wherein the secondary piece is essentially encircled by the primary piece for saving space. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To achieve the above object, an electrical connector for mating with the CPU unit, includes an insulative housing with a plurality of passageways extending therethrough in the vertical direction. A plurality of contact units are disposed within the corresponding passageways, respectively. Each contact unit includes a primary piece essentially composed of an upper part and a lower part coupled with each other. The upper part includes an upper retaining section and a resilient upper contacting arm extending upwardly above the upper surface of the housing with an upper contacting section and an upper abutment section at a free end thereof. The lower part includes a lower retaining section and a resilient lower contacting arm extending downwardly below the lower surface of the housing with a lower contacting section and a lower abutment section at a free end thereof. A secondary piece is spaced from and opposite to the primary piece in a horizontal direction, and includes an upper abutment region adapted to be abutted against by the upper abutment section of the upper contacting arm, and a lower abutment region adapted to be abutted against by the lower abutment section of the lower contacting arm. The upper abutment section is essentially located on an outer side of the upper abutment region, and the passageway includes additional space to allow outward deflection of the upper abutment section in the deflection direction. The relation among the lower abutment section, the lower abutment region and the passageway is similar to that of the upper abutment section, the upper abutment region and the passageway. Therefore, the second piece is deemed encircled by the primary piece in a side view along another horizontal direction perpendicular to the deflection horizontal direction. To achieve the foregoing structures, the upper part is downwardly assembled into the passageway while the lower part is upwardly assembled into the passageway. 
     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  is a perspective view of an electrical connector of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is another perspective is another perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1  along line  3 - 3 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1  along line  4 - 4 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the contact of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is another perspective view of the contact of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view of the contact of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is another exploded perspective view of the contact of the electrical connector of  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-8 , an electrical connector  100  for connecting a PCU to a PCB, includes an insulative housing  10  with opposite upper surface  101  and lower surface  102 , and a plurality of passageways  11  (only one shown exemplarily) extending through both the upper surface  101  and the lower surface  102 . A plurality of contact units  20 A (only one shown exemplarily) are disposed in the corresponding passageways  11 , respectively. 
     Each contact unit  20 A includes a primary piece composed of the upper part, i.e., the first part  20 , and a lower part, i.e., the second part  30 , and a secondary piece composed of the middle part  40 , i.e., the third part. The upper part  20  includes an upper/first retaining section  21  retained in the housing  10 , and an upper/first contacting arm  22  upwardly extending from an upper end of the upper retaining section  21  with an upper/first contacting section  23  exposed above the upper surface  101  and an upper/first abutment section  24  at a free end. Similarly, and symmetrically, the lower part  30  includes a lower/second retaining section  31  retained in the housing  10 , and a lower/second contacting arm  32  downwardly extending from a lower end of the lower retaining section  31  with a lower/second contacting section  33  exposed below the lower surface  102  and a lower/second abutment section  34  at a free end thereof. The middle part  40  includes a middle/third retaining section  41 , an upper/first abutment region  42  at the upper end thereof for abutment with the upper abutment section  24 , and a lower/second abutment region  43  at a lower end thereof for abutment with the lower abutment section  34 . 
     Understandably, the upper abutment section  24  may downwardly move along the upper abutment region  42  when the upper contacting arm  22  is downwardly pressed by the CPU, and the lower abutment section  34  is upwardly moved along the lower abutment region  43  when the lower contacting arm  32  is upwardly pressed by the PCB. Notably, the upper part  20 , the lower part  30  and the middle part  40  are discrete from one another so that the material of the middle part  40  can be different from those of the upper art  20  and the lower part  30 . In this embodiment, as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , on one hand the middle part is thicker than the upper part  20  and the lower part  30  for enhancing electrical transmission. On the other hand, because the middle part  40  is not required to form the spring arm which requires the superior mechanical characteristic so that the material of the middle part  40  can be of a relatively inexpensive material compared with the upper part  20  and the lower part  30  which require the superior material for performing the required mechanical and electrical function. This allows flexible manufacturability thereof advantageously. 
     The upper abutment region  42  extends toward the upper contacting arm  22 , and the lower abutment region  43  extends toward the lower contacting arm  32  as well. Therefore, the upper abutment section  24  can slide upon the outer side of the upper abutment region  42 , and the lower abutment section  34  can slide upon the outer side of the lower abutment region  43 . Because of the structural relation among the upper part  20 , the lower part  30  and the middle part  40 , the middle part  40  is required to be firstly assembled into one side of the passageway  11 , and successively the upper part  20  is required to be downwardly assembled into the other side of the passageway  11 , and the lower part  30  is required to be upwardly assembled into the other side of the passageway  11  without hindrance. With this structure arrangement, the second piece may be deemed encircled within primary piece. 
     In this embodiment, the upper part  20  and the lower part  30  are mechanically and electrically connected with each other wherein the upper part  20  includes a middle abutment section  25  downwardly extending from a lower end of the upper retaining section  21  to abut against a middle abutment region (not labeled located on an upper end of the lower retaining section  31 . Based upon this structural arrangement, there are two parallel transmission paths between the upper contacting section  23  and the lower contacting section  33 , of which one is from the upper abutment section  24 , the upper abutment region  42 , the middle part  40 , the lower abutment region  43 , to the lower abutment section  34 , and the other is from the upper contacting arm  22 , the upper retaining section  21 , the middle abutment section  25 , the lower retaining section  31  to the lower contacting arm  32 . Therefore, the superior impedance match and the lower loss can be achieved for perfecting the high frequency transmission. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the passageway  11  includes a first groove  12  and a second groove  13  opposite to each other along an extending direction of the contacting arm. The upper retaining section  21  is received in an upper portion of the first groove  12 , and the lower retaining section  31  is received within a lower portion of the first groove  12 . The middle retaining section  41  is received within the second groove  13 . Notably, all the upper retaining section  21 , the lower retaining section  31  and the middle retaining section  41  are equipped with barbs on two sides for interference. 
     The upper retaining section  21  forms a slot so as to form an upward extension  211  for linking to a contact carrier (not shown) for downwardly assembling the upper part  20  into the passageway  11 , and an upper connecting section  212  spaced from the upward extension  211  for connecting the upper contacting arm  22 . Similarly, the lower retaining part  31  forms a slot to form the downward extension (not labeled) for linking to another contact carrier (not shown) for upwardly assembling the lower part  30  into the passageway  11 , and a lower connecting section (not labeled) spaced from the downward extension (not labeled) for connecting the lower contacting arm  32 . In addition, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the upper surface  101  and the lower surface  102  form standoffs  15  for supporting the CPU and the PCB. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the passageway  11  further includes an additional space  16  on an outer side of the first groove  12  for accommodating outward deflection of the abutment sections when the abutment section abuts against the abutment region. 
     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.