Compliant connector for land grid array
AssigneeSamtec, Inc.
InventorsStephen P. Koopman, Joshua Ferry
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A connector assembly for providing electrical continuity between an array of contacts on an electrical component and a corresponding array of contacts on a printed circuit board. The connector assembly includes a plurality of floating pins. Floatation of the pin within a receptacle of the component body provides a first mode of compliance for electrical components, connector assemblies and printed circuit boards that are not coplanar. For a second mode of compliance to account for non-planarity, each pin includes an elongated, elastically deformable cantilever beam. Each pin is adapted and configured to accommodate the deformed cantilever beam of an adjacent pin without mechanical or electrical contact or interference.
Claims32
An apparatus for providing electrical continuity between two objects comprising:
- a body with a top surface and a bottom surface and having a thickness extending between the top surface and the bottom surface, a first of said two objects being located at the top surface thereof and a second of said two objects being located at the bottom surface thereof, said body having a plurality of pin receptacles, each of the plurality of pin receptacles including a guiding slot;
- and
- a plurality of pins, each one of said pins being located within a different one of said plurality of receptacles, each pin including a planar centerbody with two edges, a first member extending from said centerbody and coplanar with said centerbody, a first cantilever beam extending from one edge of said centerbody at an acute angle relative to said centerbody, and a second cantilever beam extending from the other edge of said centerbody at an acute angle relative to said centerbody;
- wherein the first member of each one of said plurality of pins cooperates with said guiding slot of the corresponding receptacle to guide said pin within said receptacle such that said pin is slidable within the guiding slot along the thickness of the body both in a direction toward the upper surface of the body in response to said pin contacting with the second of said two objects located at the bottom surface of the body and in a direction toward the bottom surface of the body in response to said pin contacting with the first of said two objects located at the top surface of the body.
An apparatus for providing electrical continuity between two objects, comprising:
- a body with a top surface and a bottom surface, said body defining a plurality of pin receptacles;
- and
- a plurality of pins, each one of said pins being loosely located within a different one of said plurality of receptacles, each pin including a centerbody with two edges, a first cantilever beam extending from one edge of said centerbody at an acute angle relative to said centerbody, and a second cantilever beam extending from the other edge of said centerbody at an acute angle relative to said centerbody;
- wherein the first cantilever beam of each one of said pins has a stiffness that is greater than that of the corresponding second cantilever beam of each one of said pins.
An apparatus for providing electrical continuity between two objects comprising:
- a body with top a surface and a bottom surface, said body defining a plurality of pin receptacles, each receptacle including a guiding slot within the body between the top and bottom surfaces;
- and
- a plurality of pins, each one of said pins being located within a different one of said plurality of receptacles, each pin including a planar centerbody and at least one member extending from said centerbody and cooperating with the guiding slot to loosely locate each said pin within a corresponding said receptacle, and first and second cantilever beams extending from said centerbody at an acute angle relative to said centerbody;
- wherein said first and second cantilever beams are deformed by different amounts when the body is compressed by contact with said two objects.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.