Patent ID: 8291583

Claim:
A packaging method for assembling a captive screw to a printed circuit board (PCB), comprising the steps of: (1) providing a captive screw, which includes a screw head, a threaded shank downward extended from a lower end of the screw head, and a sleeve fitted around and movable along the threaded shank; (2) pressing a fixture against the screw head, and then, clamping the fixture on an outer surface of the sleeve; (3) providing a printed circuit board (PCB) having a plurality of through holes formed thereon, and applying a layer of solder on a top of the PCB; (4) bringing a tool to contact with the fixture so as to pick up the captive screw, and then moving the tool to align the exposed threaded shank with one of the through holes on the PCB; (5) releasing the tool from the fixture and the captive screw and allowing the fixture and the captive screw to fall, so that a flange axially extended from the second end of the sleeve is extended into the through hole; (6) heating and melting the layer of solder and then allowing the molten solder layer to cool down to room temperature and become hardened again, so that the second end of the sleeve is fixedly held to the PCB with the flange firmly fitted in the through hole; and (7) removing the fixture from the sleeve and the screw head.