Patent Abstract:
A stackable connector is disclosed herein. The stackable connector includes an insulation housing having a plurality of trenches penetrating through the insulation housing, a protrusion portion, a concave portion opposite to the protrusion portion, and a plurality of terminals arranged in those trenches. The design, which the concave portion is engaged with the protrusion portion and the structure of the contact portions of those terminals are elastic, can achieve the stackable, space-saving, reliability-increasing and cost-down purposes.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly, to a package of the connector which may stack repeatedly. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Along with the rapid progress of the computer and internet communication, the semiconductor products needs to be multi-functional, portable, light, thin, and small-sized to satisfy the customers&#39; demand. Therefore, the industry of chip package has to develop towards the high accurate processes to comply with the requirements of high-power, high-density, lightness, thinness, compactness and mini-size. In addition, the electronics packaging also needs to have the features including high reliability and good thermal dissipation to transmit signals and provide electrical power, and provide effective routes for thermal dissipation, structural protection and support. 
     Presently, the three-dimensional (3-D) package may be distinguished into two categories, the Package on Package (PoP) and the Package in Package (PiP). The PoP is a typical 3-D package, which utilizes the process technology to stack two independent completed packages. In the other way, PiP utilizes a spacer to stack a single package without mounting solder balls onto a chip and then package them together using the Epoxy Molding Compound (EMC). Because the PoP utilizes the method of the Surface Mount Technology (SMT) to stack two independent packages which have been packaged and tested, it may reduce the process risk and so as to promote the product yield. 
     A manufacturing method for a conventional PoP is that it sets a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) spacer between the electrical connections of the carrier plates for two packages and utilizes the SMT method to fuse the two packages. Owing to the electrical terminals on the PCB spacer have to be set one on one corresponding to the terminals on the carrier plate of the package, the inaccurate alignment and the bad connection between the materials are two possible problems. Additionally, a warpage phenomenon may be induced by the different Thermal Expansion Coefficients (TECs) of the different materials, and the bad connection may further lead to a popcorn phenomenon. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In order to solve the aforementioned problems, one object of the present invention is to provide a stackable connector to replace the conventional soldering way adopting the solder balls, and so as to resolve the alignment problem of the surface mount technology. 
     One object of the present invention is to provide a stackable connector, utilizing the protrusion portion along with the concave portion of the connector to stack plural connectors may effectively reduce the stack height. 
     One object of the present invention is to provide a stackable connector, the terminals having the elastic structure may elastically and electrically contact with an external apparatus, such as a package. The design of the upper contact portion and the lower contact portion may fix and contact the connector with an external apparatus stably and tightly. 
     One object of the present invention is to provide a stackable connector, the terminals having the elastic structure may elastically and electrically contact with an external apparatus, such as a package. The tolerance can be easily adjusted because of the elastic design of the terminals, and so as to promote the reliability of the electrical connection. 
     One object of the present invention is to provide a stackable connector, the production cost can be reduced because of its simple manufacturing process. 
     To achieve the above-mentioned objects, one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a stackable connector, which includes: an insulation housing having a plurality of trenches and a protrusion portion, wherein the trenches are abreast arranged on one side of the insulation housing and the protrusion portion is protruded to the side of the insulation housing; a concave portion set oppositely to the protrusion portion on the other side of the insulation housing; and a plurality of terminals arranged in the trenches, wherein each of the terminals has a contact portion, an engagement portion and two electrical connection portions; each of the terminals is fixed in the insulation housing with the engagement portion; and one of the electrical connection portions is extended to the protrusion portion and partially exposed to the insulation housing. 
     To achieve the above-mentioned objects, another embodiment of the present invention is to provide a stackable connector, which includes: a first connector including: a first insulation housing having a plurality of trenches and a protrusion portion, wherein the trenches are abreast arranged on one side of the first insulation housing and the protrusion portion is protruded to the side of the first insulation housing; a concave portion set oppositely to the protrusion portion on the other side of the first insulation housing; and a plurality of first terminals arranged in the trenches, wherein each of the first terminals has a contact portion, an engagement portion and two electrical connection portions; each of the first terminals is fixed in the first insulation housing with the engagement portion; and one of the electrical connection portions is extended to the protrusion portion and partially exposed to the first insulation housing; and a second connector having: a second insulation housing; a plurality of second terminals abreast arranged in the second insulation housing and partially exposed; and an accommodating trench set in one side of the second insulation housing, wherein the protrusion portion of the first connector is correspondingly inserted into the accommodating trench of the second connector, and the first terminals and the second terminals are electrically connected to stack the first connector and the second connector. 
     Other objects, technical contents, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing aspects and many of the accompanying advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1A  is a solid schematic diagram of a stackable connector according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 1B  is a cross-sectional schematic diagram taken from the cross-segment AA′ in  FIG. 1A ; 
         FIG. 1C  and  FIG. 1D  are the cross-sectional schematic diagrams for the structures during and after the stack process according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2A  is a solid schematic diagram of a stackable connector according to another embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2B  is a cross-sectional schematic diagram taken from the cross-segment BB′ in  FIG. 2A ; 
         FIG. 2C  is a solid schematic diagram of a stackable connector according to another embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 2D  and  FIG. 2E  are the cross-sectional schematic diagrams for the structures during and after the stack process according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The detailed explanation of the present invention is described as following. The described preferred embodiments are presented for purposes of illustrations and description, and they are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. 
     Firstly, please refer to  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B ,  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B  are a solid schematic diagram and a cross-sectional schematic diagram taken from the cross-segment AA′ respectively according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figures, a stackable connector  100  includes: an insulation housing  110 ; a concave portion  116 ; and a plurality of terminals  120 . As shown in  FIG. 1B , the insulation housing  110  has a plurality of trenches  112  and a protrusion portion  114 , wherein the trenches  112  are abreast arranged on one side of the insulation housing  110  and the protrusion portion  114  is protruded to this side of the insulation housing  110 . A concave portion  116  is set oppositely to the protrusion portion  114  on the other side of the insulation housing  110 . It means, in this embodiment, the protrusion portion  114  and the concave portion  116  are correspondingly positioned on two opposite sides of the insulation housing  110 . A plurality of terminals  120  are arranged in the trenches  112 , wherein each of the terminals  120  has a contact portion  122 , an engagement portion  124  and two electrical connection portions  126 ,  127 . Anyone of the terminals  120  is fixed in the insulation housing  110  with the engagement portion  124 ; and one of the electrical connection portions, such as the electrical connection portion  126  is extended to the protrusion portion  114  and partially exposed to the insulation housing  110 . 
     Continuing the above description, in one embodiment, the shape of the concave portion  116  is accommodated to the shape of the protrusion portion  114  to facilitate stacking a successive connector. In addition, the connector  100  further includes a protrusion portion  125  protruded to the engagement portion  124  of each of the terminals  120  to facilitate the terminals  120  being engaged in the trenches  112  with the protrusion portion  125 . Further, in order to facilitate the terminals  120  having a good electrical contact with an external apparatus such as a package and accommodating the plugging stress of the external apparatus, the contact portion  122  of the terminals  120  is designed as an elastic structure to elastically contact with an external apparatus. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1B , in this embodiment, the contact portion  122  of the terminals  120  is defined as an upper contact portion and a lower contact portion, wherein the upper contact portion and the lower contact portion are arranged in opposite positions and connected by an elastic portion  123 . When an external apparatus is inserted, the upper contact portion and the lower contact portion of the terminals  120  will clip from the upper and lower sides to fix the external apparatus in the connector  100  and electrically connect with each other. The elastic structure of the contact portion  122  may provide not only a stable fixing function to clip from the upper and lower sides but also an tolerance to endure the deformation because of the thermal warpage or expansion. It can be appreciated that the structure of the terminals  120  is not limited by which depicted in  FIG. 1B . Only if satisfy the terminals  120  a requirement that the contact portion  122  has a clipping function, they are all enclosed in the scope of the present invention. Additionally, the structure of the electrical connection portions  126 ,  127  are not limited by which depicted in  FIG. 1B , either. Only if satisfy they a requirement that one end partially exposes to the insulation housing  110  and the other end may electrically connect with another connector, they are all enclosed in the scope of the present invention. 
     Continuing the above description, please refer to  FIG. 1C  and  FIG. 1D ,  FIG. 1C  and  FIG. 1D  are the cross-sectional schematic diagrams for the structures during and after the stack process according to one embodiment of the present invention. Firstly, please refer to  FIG. 1C , the connectors  100  and  100 ′ are stacked vertically according to the arrow direction. As shown in the figure, the protrusion portion  114  of the connector  100  is correspondingly inserted into the concave portion  116 ′ of the connector  100 ′ to stack the plural connectors  100  and  100 ′. In this embodiment, the connectors  100  and  100 ′ have the same structures, and the stack structure after the stack process is depicted in  FIG. 1D . The partially exposed electrical connection portion  126  of the connector  100  is electrically connected with the electrical connection portion  127 ′ of the connector  100 ′. The quantity of the stack connectors is not limited by which depicted in  FIG. 1D . The connectors may be repeatedly stacked via the protrusion portion and its matching concave portion. 
     Next, please refer to  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B ,  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B  are a solid schematic diagram and a cross-sectional schematic diagram taken from the cross-segment BB′ respectively according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 2B , the stack connectors include a first connector  100  and a second connector  200 . The first connector  100  includes: a first insulation housing  110  having a plurality of trenches  112  and a protrusion portion  114 , wherein the trenches  112  are abreast arranged on one side of the first insulation housing  110  and the protrusion portion  114  is protruded to this side of the first insulation housing  110 ; a concave portion  116  set oppositely to the protrusion portion  114  on the other side of the first insulation housing  110 , it means, similar to the previous embodiment, the protrusion portion  114  and the concave portion  116  are correspondingly positioned on two opposite sides of the insulation housing  110 ; and a plurality of first terminals  120  arranged in the trenches  112 . Wherein each of the first terminals  120  has a contact portion  122 , an engagement portion  124  and two electrical connection portions  126 ,  127 ; each of the first terminals  120  is fixed in the first insulation housing  110  with the engagement portion  124 ; and one of the electrical connection portions, such as the electrical connection portion  126  is extended to the protrusion portion  114  and partially exposed to the first insulation housing  110 . 
     Continuing the above description, please continuously refer to  FIG. 2B  along with  FIG. 2A , the second connector  200  has: a second insulation housing  210 ; a plurality of second terminals  220  abreast arranged in the second insulation housing  210  and partially exposed; and an accommodating trench  230  set in one side of the second insulation housing  210 . Wherein the protrusion portion  114  of the first connector  100  is correspondingly inserted into the accommodating trench  230  of the second connector  200  and the first terminals  120  and the second terminals  220  are electrically connected to stack the first connector  100  and the second connector  200 . 
     In one embodiment, the shape of the protrusion portion  114  is accommodated to the shape of the accommodating trench  230  to facilitate stacking the first connector  100  and the second connector  200  successively. Further, the shape of the concave portion  116  of the first connector  100  may also accommodate to the shape of the protrusion portion  114  to facilitate a connector with the same structure stacking successively. Additionally, the first connector  100  further includes a protrusion portion  125  protruded to the engagement portion  124  of each of the terminals  120  to facilitate the terminals  120  being engaged in the trenches  112  with the protrusion portion  125 . Further, in order to facilitate the terminals  120  having a good electrical contact with an external apparatus such as a package and accommodating the plugging stress of the external apparatus, the contact portion  122  of the terminals  120  is designed as an elastic structure to elastically contact with an external apparatus. The elastic structure of the terminals  120  is the same as the previous embodiment, so it is not further described herein. 
     Continuing the above description, in another embodiment, a solder pad may be further set on the second connector  200  to fix the stack structure to an apparatus, such as a mother board, to provide the electrical connection. As shown in  FIG. 2C , an external apparatus, such as a package  400  may electrically connect to a mother board via the terminals  120  of the first connector  100  and the second terminals  220  of the second connector  200 . In another embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 2D  and  FIG. 2E , the stack structure further includes a third connector  300  arranged on the first connector  100 . As shown in  FIG. 2D , the third connector  300  has a protrusion portion  314  correspondingly inserted into the trench  116  of the first connector  100  to form a stack structure. Additionally, the third connector  300  has a plurality of third terminals  320  partially exposed to the protrusion portion  314  and electrically connected to the first terminal  120  of the first connector  100 . The stack structure after the stack process is shown in  FIG. 2E . In this embodiment, the structure of the third connector  300  is the same as the structure of the first connector  100 , but it is not limited to this. Only if has the third connector a corresponding protrusion portion to insert into the first connector  100  to electrically connect, it will be complied with the spirit of the present invention. And, the quantity of the stack connectors is not limited by which depicted in  FIG. 2E . The connectors may be repeatedly stacked according to different demands. 
     According to the aforementioned description, one feature of the present invention is to implement a male plug and a female socket in one body to connect and engage with each other, and so as to stack plural connectors. The stackable connectors of the present invention may be applied to stack the semiconductor packages, but it may be appreciated which is not limited to this. And, the design of the upper and lower contact portions of the terminals can not only stably fix an external apparatus to provide the balanced upper and lower supporting forces, but also facilitate easy plugging by the elastic design for the elastic portion to avoid the damage of the terminals from the improper enforcing. 
     To summarize, the present invention provides a stackable connector. The stack connectors are used to replace the conventional soldering way adopting the solder balls, and so as to resolve the alignment problem of the surface mount technology. And, the design of the protrusion portion along with the trench of the connector to stack plural connectors may effectively reduce the stack height. In addition, the terminals having the elastic structure may elastically and electrically contact with an external apparatus, such as a package. The design of the upper contact portion and the lower contact portion may fix and contact the connector with an external apparatus stably and tightly. Besides, the tolerance can be easily adjusted because of the elastic design of the terminals, and so as to promote the reliability of the electrical connection. Furthermore, the production cost can be reduced for the present invention because of its simple manufacturing process. 
     The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustrations and description. They are not intended to be exclusive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7