Heat sink and retainer for electronic integrated circuits

In a heat sink assembly providing cooling to an electronic integrated circuit device wherein the device is mounted on a socket, the socket body of generally rectangular shape having at least two opposed side walls, each wall having a lug projecting laterally outward from the wall, the device having a relatively flat rectangular upper surface, and a heat sink formed from a highly heat conductive material, the sink having a generally flat bottom surface in heat conducting engagement with the device upper surface and a plurality of fins on the upper surface defining at least one channel, the improvement comprising:

• a single concave elongated means extending across the heat sink and received in one of said channels, said means biasing the heat sink bottom surface into heat conducting engagement with the device upper surface said biasing means having a free-end section longitudinally bifurcated so as to form two arms;
• first means connected to said biasing means releasably attaching said biasing means to one lug on the socket at one end;
• and
• second means loosely supported by said two arms of the bifurcated section of said biasing means for releasably attaching said biasing means to the other lug on the socket so that said biasing means is releasably attached to said socket to force said heat sink bottom surface into heat conductive engagement with the upper surface of the device.

In combination, a heat sink and a heat sink retainer clip for use in conjunction with an electronic device, such as a semiconductor, to provide cooling of the device, the device being mounted on a rectangular socket with opposing sidewalls, at least two opposed side walls having lugs projecting laterally outward from the walls, the heat sink comprising a flat plate with a plurality of fins projecting upwardly from the top surface of the plate, a central channel of the plate being free of the fins to receive the clip, the retainer clip comprising:

• a first member including a retaining section and a biasing section:
• said biasing section received in said central channel of the plate and extending substantially across the plate for biasing the heat sink against the device;
• said retaining section having an opening for receiving the lug on the socket side wall and connected to said biasing section adjacent one end thereof;
• said biasing section bifurcated at the end opposite to the retaining section to form two freely extending arms;
• and
• a second member including an opening for receiving the lug on the opposite side wall of the socket, at least one of said second member and said freely extending arms defining an opening for receiving the other of said second member and said freely extending arms so that said second member is rotatably supported on the freely extending arms.

A heat sink assembly including a heat sink and a spring retainer clip for providing cooling to an electronic integrated circuit device, the device being mounted on a socket having at least two opposed side walls, each wall having a lug projecting laterally outward from the wall;

• said heat sink comprising a metallic plate;
• and
• said spring retainer clip comprising two members:
• the first member comprising a single spring metal strap bent near one end so as to form a generally "L" shaped configuration, the longer leg of the "L" including a section for biasing the heat sink against the socket, and the shorter leg of the "L" having an opening adjacent one end for receiving one of the lugs on the socket sidewall;
• the second member having at least one opening for receiving the other lug on the opposite side wall of the socket;
• and means for loosely and rotatably supporting said second member from the free end of the longer leg of said first member.