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US 6,631,556 B2Granted
Fixture to couple an integrated circuit to a circuit board
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorKen K. Lee
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fixture to couple an integrated circuit to a circuit board is disclosed and claimed. The fixture includes a base member and a holder to retain the circuit board in a selected position relative to the base member. A clamp assembly is included to hold a package containing the integrated circuit in a predetermined position on the circuit board and to cause electrical contact between the integrated circuit and the circuit board.
Claims50
A fixture, comprising:
- a base member;
- a holder to retain a circuit board in a selected position relative to the base member;
- and
- a clamp assembly to hold a package containing an integrated circuit in a predetermined position on the circuit board and to cause electrical contact between the integrated circuit and the circuit board, wherein the clamp assembly comprises:
- a riser mounted to the base member;
- a gantry mounted to the riser;
- and
- a plunger unit mounted to the gantry to apply a force against the package to cause a plurality of contact pins of the integrated circuit to electrically contact corresponding conductive pads formed on the circuit board, wherein the plunger unit comprises:
- a shaft extending through an opening formed in the gantry;
- and
- a biasing arrangement coupled to the shaft to apply the force to the package,
- wherein the shaft comprises a first segment and a second segment, the first segment having a smaller diameter than the second segment and wherein the biasing arrangement comprises a coil spring through which the first segment of the shaft is disposed with one end of the coil spring being in contact with the gantry and an opposite end of the coil spring being in contact with an edge of the second segment of the shaft.
9 more elements
A fixture, comprising:
- a base member;
- a holder to retain a circuit board in a selected position relative to the base member;
- and
- a clamp assembly to hold a package containing an integrated circuit in a predetermined position on the circuit board and to cause electrical contact between the integrated circuit and the circuit board, wherein the clamp assembly comprises:
- a riser mounted to the base member;
- a gantry mounted to the riser;
- and
- a plunger unit mounted to the gantry to apply a force against the package to cause a plurality of contact pins of the integrated circuit to electrically contact corresponding conductive pads formed on the circuit board, wherein the plunger unit comprises:
- a shaft extending through an opening formed in the gantry;
- a biasing arrangement coupled to the shaft to apply the force to the package;
- and
- a stop attached to the shaft,
- wherein the biasing arrangement comprises a coil spring through which the shaft is disposed with one end of the coil spring in contact with the gantry and an opposite end of the coil spring in contact with the stop.
10 more elements
A fixture, comprising:
- a base member;
- a holder to retain a circuit board in a selected position relative to the base member;
- and
- a clamp assembly to hold a package containing an integrated circuit in a predetermined position on the circuit board and to cause electrical contact between the integrated circuit and the circuit board, wherein the clamp assembly comprises:
- a riser mounted to the base member;
- a gantry mounted to the riser;
- and
- a plunger unit mounted to the gantry to apply a force against the package to cause a plurality of contact pins of the integrated circuit to electrically contact corresponding conductive pads formed on the circuit board, wherein the plunger unit comprises:
- a shaft extending through an opening formed in the gantry;
- a biasing arrangement coupled to the shaft to apply the force to the package;
- and
- an adjustment mechanism to control a distance of an end of the shaft that contacts the package from the base member and to select an amount of the force to be applied to the package by the plunger unit.
9 more elements
A fixture, comprising:
- a base member;
- a holder to retain a circuit board in a selected position relative to the base member;
- and
- a clamp assembly to hold a package containing an integrated circuit in a predetermined position on the circuit board and to cause electrical contact between the integrated circuit and the circuit board, wherein the clamp assembly comprises:
- a riser mounted to the base member;
- a gantry mounted to the riser;
- and
- a plunger unit mounted to the gantry to apply a force against the package to cause a plurality of contact pins of the integrated circuit to electrically contact corresponding conductive pads formed on the circuit board, wherein the plunger unit comprises:
- a shaft extending through an opening formed in the gantry;
- a biasing arrangement coupled to the shaft to apply the force to the package;
- a foot at one end of the shaft to apply the force to the package;
- and
- a conformable pad disposable between the foot and the package.
10 more elements
A fixture comprising:
- a base member;
- a holder to retain a circuit board in a selected position relative to the base member;
- a riser extending from the base member;
- a gantry movably mounted to the riser above the base member;
- and
- a plunger unit mounted to the gantry to apply a substantially uniform force over substantially the entire extent of a package containing an integrated circuit to cause a plurality of contact pins of the integrated circuit to electrically contact corresponding conductive pads formed on the circuit board.
3 more elements
A method of coupling an integrated circuit to a circuit board, comprising:
- aligning a plurality of pins of the integrated circuit with corresponding conductive pads on a circuit board;
- and
- positioning a clamp assembly to apply a substantially uniform force over substantially the entire extent of a package containing the integrated circuit to cause each of the plurality of pins of the integrated circuit to remain in electrical contact with a corresponding one of the conductive pads on the circuit board.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.