Electrical circuit board interconnect

An electrical circuit assembly comprising an area array connector device, and first and second circuit boards, said first circuit board having a first surface with a plurality of first contact pads arranged thereon and said second circuit board having a second surface, opposed to said first surface, with a plurality of corresponding second contact pads arranged thereon,

• said area array connector device comprising
• an electrically nonconductive support member disposed between said circuit boards and comprising resilient elastomeric foam material defining a distribution of voids, said support member having support surfaces respectively opposed to the first and second surfaces of said first and second circuit boards and said support member adapted to be compressed by urging of said circuit boards together, and
• a plurality of bodily-rotatable, electrically conductive interconnect elements, each comprising a body extending generally in the direction of the thickness of the resilient elastomeric foam support member and tab portions projecting angularly from the respective ends of said body, said element defining a pair of pad engagement surfaces disposed to engage the respective corresponding contact pads, a line projected through said engagement surfaces being disposed at an initial, acute angle to the direction of thickness of said support member, and said tab portions defining engagement surfaces disposed at least closely in opposition to said support surfaces of said support member to engage upon said support surfaces during bodily rotation of said interconnect element to locally compress the elastomeric foam of said support member,
• said area array connector device disposed between said circuit boards in a clamped-together relationship with said interconnect elements in registry with their respective corresponding contact pads and with said interconnect elements rotated bodily as a result of said clamping so that said line projected through said pad engagement surfaces of each element lies at an acute angle greater than said initial angle, the interconnect elements being resiliently supported by said elastomeric foam to bear with force upon the contact pads, and said voids of said elastomeric foam of said support member serving locally to accommodate bodily rotation of said interconnect elements in a manner to avoid disturbance of adjacent elements whereby displacement of the elastomeric foam material of said support member about each said interconnect element is limited generally to the local region of said element.