ZIF socket with improved lever mechanism

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket, and particularly to a ZIF socket having an improved lever mechanism.

[0004] 2. Description of Related Art

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,020 discloses a conventional ZIF socket including a base and a cover slidably relatively moveable to the base, and a lever sandwiched between the base and the cover, wherein the lever includes a handle exposed to and accessible from outside and a cam shaft embedded within an upper half channel formed in the cover and a lower half channel formed in the base. However, the conventional ZIF socket could not protect the handle from being damaged by misuse in a wrong operating direction.

[0006] Hence, an improved ZIF socket is required to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional ZIF socket.

[0007] Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a ZIF socket having an improved lever mechanism for protecting a handle of the lever mechanism from being moved in a lateral direction.

[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a ZIF socket having an improved cover for securely positioning a lever mechanism thereon.

[0009] In order to achieve the objects above mentioned, a ZIF socket adapted for retaining a chip, e.g. a Central Processing Unit chip, thereon, comprises an insulating base, a cover slidably attached on the base, a leve mechanism assembled between the base and the cover, and a plurality of contacts received in the insulating base. The cover has a side wall with a supporting piece defined thereon. A restriction lug projects from an end of the supporting piece. The lever mechanism is substantially L-shaped and includes a manual lever and a cam shaft connected to the manual lever at one end thereof The manual lever defines an upper face and a lower face thereon. A rectangular recess is defined on the lower face and receives the restriction lug of the cover for limiting a movement of the manual lever along a lateral direction so as to protect the manual lever from being damaged.

[0010] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0011] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a ZIF socket in accordance with the present invention;

[0012] FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial view of a cover of the ZIF socket shown in FIG. 1;

[0013] FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of a lever mechanism shown in FIG. 1; and

[0014] FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial view of an assembled ZIF socket being in a closed state.

[0015] Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail.

[0016] Referring to FIG. 1, a ZIF socket 100 of the present invention comprises an insulating base 2, a cover 1 slidably engaging on the insulating base 2, a lever mechanism 3 and a plurality of contacts 4 (only two shown) received in the base 2.

[0017] The insulating base 2 comprises a plate body 21 and a receiving portion 22 extending from a side edge of the plan body 21. A plurality of passageways 210 parallel to each other are defined in the plate body 21 for receiving corresponding contacts 4 therein. Each opposite side 211 of the plate body 21 perpendicular to the receiving portion 22 provides a pair of spaced elongate blocks 212. The receiving portion 22 defines a rounded channel 220 thereof for receiving the lever mechanism 3 therein.

[0018] The cover 1 covering the base 2 has a top face 10, a bottom face 11, and a pair of side walls 12 extending verticaly from opposite ends of the bottom face 11. A projecting member 13 perpendicular to the side walls 12 projects from a side edge of the top face 10 with an engaging portion 131 being defined thereof for engaging to corresponding part of the lever mechanism 3. A supporting piece 14 is provided on outside of one side wall 12. Referring to FIG. 2, the supporting piece 14 has a platform 142 at one end thereof and an inclined plane 140 at the other end thereof. A restriction lug 141 projects upwardly from the inclined plane 140 with a channel 143 being defined between the restriction lug 141 and the side wall 12. The side wall 12 having the supporting piece 14 further defines a projection 15 on an outside thereof and each side wall 12 defines a pair of recesses (not shown) at an inside thereof for slidably receiving the corresponding elongate blocks 212 therein. A plurality of through holes 16 are defined from the top face 10 to the bottom face 11 for communicating with the passageways 210 of the base 2.

[0019] Referring to FIG. 3, the lever mechanism 3 is substantially L-shaped and comprises a manual lever 31 and a cam shaft 30 vertical thereto. The cam shaft 30 is provided with three round pivoting portions 301 at intervals spaced by a pair of driven portions 302. The manual lever 31 is quite similar to a cuboid and connects to the cam shaft 30 at an end thereof opposite to a free end 314. The free end 314 is a little thinner than other part of the lever 31 and parallel to an upper face 312 and a lower face 310 formed on the manual lever 31. The lower face 310 defines a rectangular recess 311 thereon for receiving the restriction lug 141 and the upper face 312 defines a cutout 313 at an edge thereof for retaining the projection 15 of the cover 1 therein. A width of the rectangular recess 311 is larger than that of the restriction lug 141 to provide a margin for the restriction lug 141 to be inserted thereinto easier.

[0020] In assembly, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, firstly, the cam shaft 30 is placed in the rounded channel 220 of the receiving portion 22 of the base 2. Then, the cover 1 is movably assembled on the base 2 and covers the base 2 through the bottom face 11 thereof, whereby the cam shaft 30 is sandwiched between the engaging portion 131 of the cover 1 and the receiving portion 22 of the base 2. When the manual lever 31 is located in a direction vertical to the cover 1, a chip (not shown), e.g. a Central Processing Unit chip, can be attached on the socket 100 by inserting a plurality of terminals hereof into the passageways 210 of the base 2 through the through holes 16 of the cover 1 without inserting force. Upon rotating the manual lever 31 to a horizontal position, the pivoting portions 301 rotates in the engaging portion 131, and the driven potions 302 rotate together with the pivoting portions 301 and drive the cover 1 to slide on the base 2. When the manual lever 31 is in a horizontal position, the restriction lug 141 of the supporting piece 14 is received in the rectangular recess 311 of the manual lever 31 and protects the manual lever 31 from moving along a lateral direction, thereby protecting the lever mechanism 3 from being damaged.

[0021] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. Understandably, the spirit of the invention is to provide means for restricting lateral movement of the manual lever 31 relative to the base 2 (or the cover 1) when the manual level 31 is in the horizontal position. Thus, any configurations of portions provided by the manual level 31 and by the supporting piece 14 both of which generally comply with and engage each other for restricting outwardly lateral mutual movement of the manual level 31 relative to the base 2 when the manual level 31 is in a horizontal position, are intentionally included in the scope of the appended claims.