Patent ID: 7167369

Claim:
A circuit board module, comprising: a circuit board having surface mount pads; a circuit board component mounted to the circuit board; and a heat sink assembly including: a heat sink, a first clip holder and a second clip holder, each clip holder being mounted to respective surface mount pads of the circuit board using a surface mount technology soldering process, and a clip having a first portion configured to fasten to the first clip holder, a second portion configured to fasten to the second clip holder, and a third portion coupled to the first and second portions, the third portion being configured to position the heat sink adjacent the circuit board component when the first and second portions are respectively fastened to the first and second clip holders; wherein each clip holder defines a cavity which is substantially cylindrical in shape; wherein the first portion of the clip defines a first tab; wherein the second portion of the clip defines a second tab; wherein each of the first and second tabs has a substantially cylindrical shape; wherein the third portion of the clip is configured to provide spring tension which simultaneously holds (a) the first tab in an inserted position within the cavity defined by the first clip holder and (b) the second tab in an inserted position within the cavity defined by the second clip holder, when the clip holders are mounted to the respective surface mount pads of the circuit board using surface mount technology and when the third portion of the clip positions the heat sink adjacent the circuit board component; wherein at least a portion of each clip holder extends beyond an edge of the circuit board component; wherein the first clip holder and the second clip holder reside adjacent corners of the circuit board component diagonally opposite each other; and wherein the cavities defined by the first and second clip holders are configured to respectively receive the first and second tabs when the first tab moves in a first direction along a first axis and the second tab moves in a second direction along a second axis, the first and second axes being substantially parallel to each other and the circuit board, and the first and second directions being substantially opposite each other.