Shielded Microprocessor Sockets via Overmolding and Plating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional CPU sockets face challenges in manufacturing complex and costly shielded designs that provide both mechanical and electrical performance, particularly for high-end microprocessor applications with increasing pin counts and bandwidth requirements, often suffering from manufacturing and grounding issues.
Innovation Solution
The fabrication of shielded sockets using overmolding and plating techniques, where contact strips with carrier arms are stamped from metal sheets, overmolded with plastic, and coated with metal, forming a hexagonal pattern for 360-degree shielding, simplifying manufacturing and enabling common grounding without separate ground contacts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional shielded socket designs are used for high-end microprocessors, then electrical performance and signal integrity are improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the shielding structure with the socket housing into a single integrated component. The housing itself forms the shield by surrounding the contact strips with conductive walls, eliminating the need for separate shielding components and complex assembly processes while maintaining electrical performance and signal integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The socket housing serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides mechanical support for the contact strips, forms the shielding structure for electrical performance, and creates the overall socket assembly. This multi-functionality reduces manufacturing complexity by consolidating multiple components into one.
2Reliability
If separate ground contacts are used for shielding, then electrical performance is improved, but device complexity and number of components increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the ground function into the housing structure itself. The conductive walls of the housing serve as the ground path, eliminating the need for separate ground contacts. This reduces the number of components while maintaining the electrical shielding performance necessary for high-end microprocessors.
3Reliability
If complex shielded socket designs are manufactured using conventional methods, then electrical performance is improved, but manufacturing time and tooling costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the contact strips from the housing, allowing the contact strips to be inserted into pre-formed housing cavities. This segmentation enables independent manufacturing of components using optimized processes for each, reducing overall manufacturing time and tooling costs while maintaining the shielded structure's electrical performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing is pre-formed with cavities and conductive walls before the contact strips are inserted. This preliminary action allows the shielding structure to be prepared in advance using efficient molding processes, reducing assembly time and overall manufacturing complexity while preserving electrical performance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces tooling costs and time, enhances manufacturability, and improves electrical performance by providing a robust and scalable solution for high-speed input/output operations with reduced risk of signal loss and mechanical failure.
Implementation Method 1
overmolded, with plastic, a vertical region of each of the plurality of contacts
Implementation Method 2
The fabrication of shielded sockets using overmolding and plating techniques, where contact strips with carrier arms are stamped from metal sheets, overmolded with plastic, and coated with metal
Data Source
AI summary
Shielded sockets for microprocessors and fabrication of shielded sockets by overmolding and plating techniques are described. In an example, a socket for a packaged semiconductor device includes a plastic housing having walls surrounding a cavity. A plurality of contact strips is disposed in the cavity and supported by one or more of the walls of the plastic housing. Each of the plurality of contact strips includes a plurality of contacts. Each of the plurality of contacts includes a vertical region overmolded with plastic, a contact portion, and a J-lead portion. The plastic is coated with a metal layer.