WO1998056074A1 - Spiral leaf spring contact - Google Patents

Spiral leaf spring contact Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1998056074A1
WO1998056074A1 PCT/US1997/009899 US9709899W WO9856074A1 WO 1998056074 A1 WO1998056074 A1 WO 1998056074A1 US 9709899 W US9709899 W US 9709899W WO 9856074 A1 WO9856074 A1 WO 9856074A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
contact
base
leaves
integral
central
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1997/009899
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Louis Difrancesco
Original Assignee
Particle Interconnect Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Particle Interconnect Corporation filed Critical Particle Interconnect Corporation
Priority to PCT/US1997/009899 priority Critical patent/WO1998056074A1/en
Publication of WO1998056074A1 publication Critical patent/WO1998056074A1/en

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/02—Contact members
    • H01R13/22—Contacts for co-operating by abutting
    • H01R13/24—Contacts for co-operating by abutting resilient; resiliently-mounted
    • H01R13/2407—Contacts for co-operating by abutting resilient; resiliently-mounted characterized by the resilient means
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
    • H01R12/50—Fixed connections
    • H01R12/51—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures
    • H01R12/52—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures connecting to other rigid printed circuits or like structures
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K3/00—Apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits
    • H05K3/30—Assembling printed circuits with electric components, e.g. with resistor
    • H05K3/32—Assembling printed circuits with electric components, e.g. with resistor electrically connecting electric components or wires to printed circuits
    • H05K3/325—Assembling printed circuits with electric components, e.g. with resistor electrically connecting electric components or wires to printed circuits by abutting or pinching, i.e. without alloying process; mechanical auxiliary parts therefor
    • H05K3/326—Assembling printed circuits with electric components, e.g. with resistor electrically connecting electric components or wires to printed circuits by abutting or pinching, i.e. without alloying process; mechanical auxiliary parts therefor the printed circuit having integral resilient or deformable parts, e.g. tabs or parts of flexible circuits

Definitions

  • the invention relates to electrical contact devices finding particular but not exclusive utility in electronic apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to electrical contacts having particle enhanced contact surfaces and adapted for connecting various electronic devices .
  • U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,842 discloses an application plate to hold a canted coiled spring in place, thereby urging stacked substrates into electrical contact.
  • U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,191 discloses stacked, mechanically fastened components with conductive coiled springs electrically interconnecting the components.
  • U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,055 discloses cantilevered contact fingers which provide an electrical contact between circuit board components.
  • Spring leaf electrical contacts embodying the present invention are formed from sheets of electrically conductive materials by a stamping or other appropriate forming process.
  • the contacts thus formed define a central base with spring legs or leaves extending tangentially or spirally therefrom. Mounting tabs extend radially from the base adjacent to and integral with each leaf.
  • the contacts are laminated into an array in an appropriate laminated board. Following lamination, selected areas of the contacts are plated with a nickel plating which may contain hard particles to facilitate electrical contact, using appropriate plating processes.
  • the spiral contact legs or leaves are shaped to form independent spring leafs.
  • BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a top view of a contact array embodying the present invention.
  • Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a contact forming a part of the contact array shown in Fig. 1.
  • Fig. 3 is a section view taken substantially in the plane of line 3-3 on Fig. 1.
  • a contact array embodying the present invention is mounted in a substrate 150 and includes a plurality of two-sided contacts 151, as shown in Fig. 1.
  • Each contact 151 includes a first contact area 156 that projects from the plane of the contact, and thus of the substrate, in a first direction, and a second contact area 155 that projects from the plane of the contact and thus of the substrate in an opposite direction.
  • the substrate and contacts form an interposer that is capable of interfacing a plurality of devices such as contact arrays.
  • the projecting areas 155, 156 of each contact area includes a particle interconnect material.
  • the first contact area 156 is generally circular in shape and is formed to project from the center of a central bridge portion 158 of a sheet material base 152, and defined by a punched out area 153.
  • the second contact 155 is defined by two or more wing portions or leaves 154 also formed by the punched out area 153.
  • the contact provides a spiral, radial leaf structure, as shown in Fig. 2.
  • the substrate itself may be formed of a conductive material such as a sheet of a metal, beryllium copper or other conductive material.
  • this embodiment of the invention is particularly useful for such applications as a die interposer or as a keyboard switch, where a button array is placed above a contact array, and an interconnect array is formed below the contact array.
  • the contact wings 154 typically project about 10-20 mil or less above or below the plane of the substrate 150.
  • Spring leaf electrical contacts are formed by stamping metal sheets to form a plurality of the contacts. After stamping or forming a sheet of blank contacts, the sheets are laminated into an array in an appropriate laminated board structure with opening surrounding each individual contact. Following lamination, selected areas of the contacts are plated with a nickel plating which may contain hard interconnect particles to facilitate electrical contact.
  • the plating is accomplished by appropriate commercial plating processes. Following plating, the spiral contact legs or leaves 154 of each individual contact are shaped to extend above or below the plane of the board as shown in Fig. 3.
  • the contacts 151 described above find particular utility in an array thereof in an interposer or interface device for electrically connecting printed circuit boards, microchips and the like. To this end, an array of contacts 151 are provided in a laminated substrate 150 of plastic or other non-conductive sheet material. The spacing of the contacts 151 is such that the contacts correspond with the spacing of contacts, such as solder balls, contact tabs or the like on a printed circuit board or microchip.
  • An intermediate contact board (not shown) may be provided to facilitate electrical connection between electronic devices.
  • a plurality of mounting tabs 159 extend radially outwardly from the base 157 circumferentially intermediate the leaves 154.
  • the particles utilized in the plating on the contacts are typically diamond crystals of about 5 to 100 microns in diameter, and may be coated with a hard metal, as described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,697.
  • the particles are plated onto the contact surfaces with a metallic plating such as nickel from a typical nickel sulfamate electroplating solution.

Abstract

A contact (151) comprising an electrically conductive material plate defining a central planar contact base (152). A plurality of integral leaves (154) extend spirally from the base, and a plurality of integral mounting tabs (159) extend radially from the base. The leaves are mechanically deformed from the plane of the base to form independent spring contacts. The tabs are coplanar with the base. A particle containing metal plating (156, 155) is provided on the contact base (152) and leaves (154), respectively.

Description

SPIRAL LEAF SPRING CONTACT
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electrical contact devices finding particular but not exclusive utility in electronic apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to electrical contacts having particle enhanced contact surfaces and adapted for connecting various electronic devices .
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,842 discloses an application plate to hold a canted coiled spring in place, thereby urging stacked substrates into electrical contact.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,191 discloses stacked, mechanically fastened components with conductive coiled springs electrically interconnecting the components. U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,055 discloses cantilevered contact fingers which provide an electrical contact between circuit board components.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,132 and U.S. Pat No. 5,083,697 disclose particle interconnect materials and describe various uses thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Spring leaf electrical contacts embodying the present invention are formed from sheets of electrically conductive materials by a stamping or other appropriate forming process. The contacts thus formed define a central base with spring legs or leaves extending tangentially or spirally therefrom. Mounting tabs extend radially from the base adjacent to and integral with each leaf. After stamping or forming a blank contact, the contacts are laminated into an array in an appropriate laminated board. Following lamination, selected areas of the contacts are plated with a nickel plating which may contain hard particles to facilitate electrical contact, using appropriate plating processes. Following plating, the spiral contact legs or leaves are shaped to form independent spring leafs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a top view of a contact array embodying the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a contact forming a part of the contact array shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a section view taken substantially in the plane of line 3-3 on Fig. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A contact array embodying the present invention is mounted in a substrate 150 and includes a plurality of two-sided contacts 151, as shown in Fig. 1. Each contact 151 includes a first contact area 156 that projects from the plane of the contact, and thus of the substrate, in a first direction, and a second contact area 155 that projects from the plane of the contact and thus of the substrate in an opposite direction. The substrate and contacts form an interposer that is capable of interfacing a plurality of devices such as contact arrays. The projecting areas 155, 156 of each contact area includes a particle interconnect material. The first contact area 156 is generally circular in shape and is formed to project from the center of a central bridge portion 158 of a sheet material base 152, and defined by a punched out area 153. The second contact 155 is defined by two or more wing portions or leaves 154 also formed by the punched out area 153. The contact provides a spiral, radial leaf structure, as shown in Fig. 2. The substrate itself may be formed of a conductive material such as a sheet of a metal, beryllium copper or other conductive material. Because the contact herein described is provided with an opposing, projecting set of contact wings, this embodiment of the invention is particularly useful for such applications as a die interposer or as a keyboard switch, where a button array is placed above a contact array, and an interconnect array is formed below the contact array. The contact wings 154 typically project about 10-20 mil or less above or below the plane of the substrate 150. Spring leaf electrical contacts, as shown in the drawings, are formed by stamping metal sheets to form a plurality of the contacts. After stamping or forming a sheet of blank contacts, the sheets are laminated into an array in an appropriate laminated board structure with opening surrounding each individual contact. Following lamination, selected areas of the contacts are plated with a nickel plating which may contain hard interconnect particles to facilitate electrical contact. The plating is accomplished by appropriate commercial plating processes. Following plating, the spiral contact legs or leaves 154 of each individual contact are shaped to extend above or below the plane of the board as shown in Fig. 3. The contacts 151 described above find particular utility in an array thereof in an interposer or interface device for electrically connecting printed circuit boards, microchips and the like. To this end, an array of contacts 151 are provided in a laminated substrate 150 of plastic or other non-conductive sheet material. The spacing of the contacts 151 is such that the contacts correspond with the spacing of contacts, such as solder balls, contact tabs or the like on a printed circuit board or microchip. An intermediate contact board (not shown) may be provided to facilitate electrical connection between electronic devices. A plurality of mounting tabs 159 extend radially outwardly from the base 157 circumferentially intermediate the leaves 154.
The particles utilized in the plating on the contacts are typically diamond crystals of about 5 to 100 microns in diameter, and may be coated with a hard metal, as described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,697. The particles are plated onto the contact surfaces with a metallic plating such as nickel from a typical nickel sulfamate electroplating solution.

Claims

1. A contact, comprising: a substrate; a first contact segment projecting in a first direction from a substrate plane; and at least one second contact segment formed in a radial spiral relative to said first contact segment and projecting in a second direction from said substrate which is opposite that of said first contact.
2. A contact, comprising, a central contact segment projecting in a first direction from a substrate plane; and at least one contact wing contiguous with, and bent to project in a second direction from said substrate which is opposite that of said central contact.
3. The contact of Claim 2, further comprising: a particle enhanced material formed on at least one of said central contact and said contact wing.
4. The contact of Claim 2, further comprising: a spring segment formed on either side of said central contact, wherein said first contact is supported for biased projection in said first direction from said substrate plane.
5. A contact comprising an electrically conductive material plate defining a central planar contact base, a plurality of integral leaves extending spirally from said base, and a plurality of integral mounting tabs extending radially from said base, said leaves being mechanically deformed from the plane of said base to form independent spring contacts and said tabs being coplanar with said base.
6. A contact comprising an electrically conductive material plate defining a central planar contact base, a plurality of integral leaves extending spirally from said base, and a plurality of integral mounting tabs extending radially from said base, said leaves being mechanically deformed from the plane of said base to form independent spring contacts and said tabs being coplanar with said base, and a particle containing metal plating on said contact base.
7. A contact comprising an electrically conductive material plate defining a central planar contact base, a plurality of integral leaves extending spirally from said base, and a plurality of integral mounting tabs extending radially from said base, said leaves being mechanically deformed from the plane of said base to form independent spring contacts and said tabs being coplanar with said base, a particle containing metal plating on said contact base, and a particle containing metal plating on each of said leaves.
8. A contact as defined in claim 5, 6 or 7 having two leaves.
AMENDED CLAIMS
[received by the International Bureau on 13 October 1997 ( 13.10.97) ; original claims 1 -8 replaced by amended claims 1 -7 (2 pages) ]
1. A contact, comprising, a central contact segment projecting in a first direction from a substrate plane and a contact leaf contiguous with and bent to project in a second direction from said substrate plane characterized by a particle enhanced material on at least one of said central contact and said leaf.
2. A contact comprising an electrically conductive material plate defining a central planar contact base and a contact leaf integral with and extending spirally from said base, characterized by a plurality of integral mounting tabs coplanar with and extending radially from said base and a particle enhanced material on at least one of said central contact and said leaf.
3. A contact as defined in claim 1 or 2 further characterized by at least one additional contact leaf contiguous with and bent to project in said second direction from said substrate.
4. A contact as defined in claim 3 further characterized by a particle enhanced material on each said leaf.
5. A contact comprising an electrically conductive material plate defining a central planar contact base, characterized by a plurality of integral leaves extending spirally from said base, said leaves being mechanically deformed from the plane of said base to form independent spring contacts, a plurality of integral mounting tabs coplanar with and extending radially from said base, and an interconnect particle containing metal plating on said contact base.
6. A contact comprising an electrically conductive material plate defining a central planar contact base, characterized by a plurality of integral leaves extending spirally from said base, said leaves being mechanically deformed from the plane of said base to form independent spring contacts, a plurality of integral mounting tabs coplanar with and extending radially from said base, an interconnect particle containing metal plating on said contact base, and an interconnect particle containing metal plating on each of said leaves.
7. A contact as defined in claim 5 or 6 having two leaves.
PCT/US1997/009899 1997-06-06 1997-06-06 Spiral leaf spring contact WO1998056074A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/US1997/009899 WO1998056074A1 (en) 1997-06-06 1997-06-06 Spiral leaf spring contact

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/US1997/009899 WO1998056074A1 (en) 1997-06-06 1997-06-06 Spiral leaf spring contact

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1998056074A1 true WO1998056074A1 (en) 1998-12-10

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US1997/009899 WO1998056074A1 (en) 1997-06-06 1997-06-06 Spiral leaf spring contact

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO1998056074A1 (en)

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4893172A (en) * 1987-01-19 1990-01-09 Hitachi, Ltd. Connecting structure for electronic part and method of manufacturing the same
US5173055A (en) * 1991-08-08 1992-12-22 Amp Incorporated Area array connector
US5228861A (en) * 1992-06-12 1993-07-20 Amp Incorporated High density electrical connector system

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4893172A (en) * 1987-01-19 1990-01-09 Hitachi, Ltd. Connecting structure for electronic part and method of manufacturing the same
US5173055A (en) * 1991-08-08 1992-12-22 Amp Incorporated Area array connector
US5228861A (en) * 1992-06-12 1993-07-20 Amp Incorporated High density electrical connector system

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