Patent Abstract:
An electrical connector ( 1 ) for connecting an IC package to a printed circuit board (PCB) comprises an insulating base ( 10 ) arranged a plurality of terminals therein, a cover ( 11 ) moveable assembly on the base and a driver mechanism disposed on the insulating base and driving the cover to slide relatively to the insulating base. The driver at least comprises a hollow driver member ( 12 ) and the driver member ( 12 ) is rotated by an exterior force.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a zero insertion force (ZIF) connector, and particularly to a connector having a driving device drives a cover sliding on a base. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,309 issued to Lin et al. on Jan. 22, 2002 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,900 issued to Yu on Aug. 13, 2002 both disclose a conventional ZIF connector including a base housing, a cover movable on the base housing and a cam driver locating between the base housing and the cover. The cam driver is in a solid structure and can drive the cover to slide on the base housing, which will realize a zero insertion force for the IC package. 
   However, the solid cam driver needs a large amount of material to make of, which is disadvantage for cost-down. More, the cam driver has a high probability of defective and leads to poor production efficiency in production. Hence, a new design which can overcome the problem is required. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with an improved driver mechanism. 
   In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector for connecting an IC package to a printed circuit board (PCB) comprises: an insulating base arranged a plurality of terminals therein; a cover moveably assembled on the base; and a driver mechanism disposed on the insulating base and driving the cover to slide relatively to the insulating base; wherein the driver mechanism at least comprises a hollow driver member, the driver member is rotated by an exterior force. 
   Other objects, 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 DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a driver member of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is another view of the driver member shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a first retaining plate of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a connecting member of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a second retaining plate of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 8  is an assembled perspective view of a driver mechanism comprising the driver member, a first retaining plate and the connecting member shown in  FIG. 2 ; and 
       FIG. 9  is another view of the driver mechanism shown in  FIG. 8 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe a preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a ZIF connector  1  in accordance with the present invention is adapted for electrically connecting an IC package such as a CPU to a printed circuit board (PCB). The ZIF connector  1  comprises an insulating base  10 , an insulating cover  11  movable assembled on the insulating base  10  and a driver mechanism locating between the insulating base  10  and the cover  11 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , the insulating base  10  has a rectangular shape and comprises a base portion  101  with a plurality of terminals (not shown) received therein and a supporting portion  102  extending forward from one end of the base portion  101 . A sinking receiving recess  1021  in a rectangular shape is defined in the supporting portion  102  with a plurality of slots  1022  defined therein. 
   The cover  11  comprises a main body  111  and a head portion  112  extending from one end of the main body  111 . The main body  111  and the head portion  112  are respectively cooperating with the base portion  101  and supporting portion  102  of the insulating base. And a space is defined between the head portion  112  and the supporting portion  102  to receive the driver mechanism. The main body  111  defines a plurality of holes corresponding with the terminals retained in the base portion  101  for receiving pins of the IC package when the IC package is installed. A circle opening  1121  is defined adjacent to one end of the head portion  112 . A pair of transverse grooves  1122  are respectively defined at opposite ends of the head portion  112  and a pair of longitudinal grooves  1123  perpendicular to the transverse grooves  1122  are defined at opposite edges of a middle portion of the head portion  112 . 
   The driver mechanism comprises a driver member  12  and a an affiliated device  13  which comprises a series of parts cooperating with the driver member  12 . See  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the driver member  12  is similar to a cap like and comprises a hollow cylindrical operating portion  122  and a circular brim portion  121 . The brim portion  121  and the operating portion  122  are homocentric and the brim portion  121  is bigger than the operation portion  122  in dimension. A locking portion  1211  extends outward and then downward from an edge of the brim portion  121 , which forms an adverse L shape. The driver member  12  is made by drawing a metal piece and forms the hollow structure with a top wall  1221  thereon, wherein the top wall defines an elongated slot  1222  for an operator to use. 
   Referring to  FIG. 5  to  FIG. 7 , the affiliated device  13  comprises a first retaining plate  131 , a connecting member  132  and a second retaining plate  133 . See  FIG. 5 , the first retaining plate  131  is in an elongated shape with a plurality of bending portions and openings. A pair of first bending portions  1312  are bent upwardly from opposite ends of the first retaining plate  131  and a pair of second bending portions  1313  extend upwardly in middle of opposite lateral sides of the first retaining plate  131 . A pair of stopping portions  1315  extend downwards from opposite lateral sides of the first retaining plate  131 . A first locking portion  1317  extends downwardly from centre of the first retaining plate  131 . The first retaining plate  131  further defines a pair of receiving slots  1316  at two longitudinal ends thereof and a circle hole  1314  is defined between the first locking portion  1317  and the receiving slot  1316 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 6 , the connecting member  132  is in a wedge shape. The connecting member form a pair of third bending portions  1322  extending upwardly from opposite edges of a middle portion thereof. An irregular channel  1323  and an irregular gap  1324  are respectively defined between the third bending portions  1322 , and the irregular channel  1323  is adjacent to a narrow end of the connecting member  132 . At a wider end of the connecting member  132 , a rectangular opening  1321  is defined to receive the locking portion  1211  of the driver member  12 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 7 , the second retaining plate  133  comprises a plurality of holding portions  1333  extending downwardly to be inserted into the slots  1022  in the insulating base  10 . A pair of fourth bending portions  1331  extend upwardly from opposite ends of the second retaining plate  133 , and a second locking portion  1332  extends upwards from a middle portion of the second retaining plate  133 , which is to be inserted into the irregular channel  1323 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the operating portion  122  of the driver member  12  goes through the circle hole  1314  from a bottom face of the first retaining plate  131  with the brim portion  121  being blocked by the first retaining plate  131 . The connecting member  132  is attached to the driver member  12  by the rectangular opening  1321  being locked by the locking portion  1211 . The first locking portion  1317  of the first retaining plate  131  is loosely received in the irregular gap  1324 , therefore the connecting member  132  is controlled by the driver member  12  and rotated between the pair of stopping portions  1315 . Then, combined with  FIG. 2 , the second retaining plate  133  is positioned in the receiving recess  1021  with holding portions  1333  retained in the slots  1022  in the insulating housing. The second locking portion  1332  and the pair of bending portions  1331  are respectively inserted into the irregular channel  1323  of the connecting member  132  and receiving slots  1316  of the first retaining plate  131 , therefore the second retaining plate  133  is attached to and connecting with the connecting member  132  and the first retaining plate  131 . Therefore, the driver mechanism is assembled on the base  10 . When the cover  11  is assembled onto the base  10 , the first and the second bending portions  1312 ,  1313  of the first retaining plate  131  are respectively retained in the transverse grooves  1122  and longitudinal grooves  1123 , meanwhile the operating portion  122  is exposed to the circle opening  1121  of the cover  11 . 
     FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the ZIF electrical connector after it is completely assembled. User can use a screwdriver (not shown) to operate the driver member  12 , and the connecting member  132  is driven to urge the stopping portions  1315  to move forward or backward, which will actuate the cover  11  to move in a front-to-back direction. As the first retaining plate  131  and the second retaining plate  133  are respectively fixed in the cover  11  and the base  10 , a reliable relatively moving between the cover  11  and the base  10  will be produced by the connecting member  132 . The rectangular opening  1321 , the irregular gap  1324  and the irregular channel  1323  are respectively defined as first, second and third positions of the connecting member  132 , therefore, during the operating process, the third position  1323  is stationary with regard to the base  10  while said first and second positions are not; the second position  1322  is stationary with regard to the cover  11  while the first and third positions are not; the first position  1321  is stationary with regard to the driver member  12  while the second and third positions are not. It is noted that the connecting member  132  is essentially of an elongated piece and the first, second and third positions  1321 ,  1322  and  1323  are arranged to be spaced from one another along an elongated direction of said connecting member  132 . It is also noted that the driver member  12  is essentially rotated around the first position  1321  while the connecting member  132  is pivotal about the second position  1322 . The other work theory of the ZIF connector is common knowledge for people in the field, and further description will be omitted here. 
   In the present invention, the driver member  12  is configured as a hollow construction, which is advantage for decreasing the using material of each member and reducing the cost of each member. Furthermore, the present invention is not only adapted to the ZIF connector mentioned above, but also useful in other known ZIF connector. 
   It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7