<s>
Zero	B-General_Concept
insertion	I-General_Concept
force	I-General_Concept
(	O
ZIF	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
IC	O
socket	O
or	O
electrical	B-Protocol
connector	I-Protocol
that	O
requires	O
very	O
little	O
(	O
but	O
not	O
literally	O
zero	O
)	O
force	O
for	O
insertion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
a	O
ZIF	B-General_Concept
socket	I-General_Concept
,	O
before	O
the	O
IC	O
is	O
inserted	O
,	O
a	O
lever	O
or	O
slider	O
on	O
the	O
side	O
of	O
the	O
socket	O
is	O
moved	O
,	O
pushing	O
all	O
the	O
sprung	O
contacts	O
apart	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
IC	O
can	O
be	O
inserted	O
with	O
very	O
little	O
force	O
-	O
generally	O
the	O
weight	O
of	O
the	O
IC	O
itself	O
is	O
sufficient	O
and	O
no	O
external	O
downward	O
force	O
is	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZIF	B-General_Concept
sockets	I-General_Concept
are	O
much	O
more	O
expensive	O
than	O
standard	O
IC	O
sockets	O
and	O
also	O
tend	O
to	O
take	O
up	O
a	O
larger	O
board	O
area	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
space	O
taken	O
up	O
by	O
the	O
lever	O
mechanism	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Low	B-Algorithm
insertion	I-Algorithm
force	I-Algorithm
(	O
LIF	O
)	O
sockets	O
reduce	O
the	O
issues	O
of	O
insertion	O
and	O
extraction	O
,	O
but	O
because	O
of	O
its	O
lower	O
insertion	O
force	O
than	O
a	O
conventional	O
socket	O
,	O
are	O
likely	O
to	O
produce	O
less	O
reliable	O
connections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Large	O
ZIF	B-General_Concept
sockets	I-General_Concept
are	O
only	O
commonly	O
found	O
mounted	O
on	O
PC	B-Device
motherboards	I-Device
,	O
being	O
used	O
from	O
about	O
the	O
mid	O
1990s	O
forward	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
sockets	I-General_Concept
are	O
designed	O
to	O
support	O
a	O
particular	O
range	O
of	O
CPUs	B-Device
,	O
allowing	O
computer	O
retailers	O
and	O
consumers	O
to	O
assemble	O
motherboard/CPU	O
combinations	O
based	O
on	O
individual	O
budget	O
and	O
requirements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Smaller	O
ZIF	B-General_Concept
sockets	I-General_Concept
are	O
commonly	O
used	O
in	O
chip-testing	O
and	O
programming	B-General_Concept
equipment	O
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
programming	B-General_Concept
and	O
testing	O
on	O
EEPROMs	O
,	O
Microcontrollers	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Standard	O
DIP	B-Algorithm
packages	I-Algorithm
come	O
in	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
widths	O
(	O
measured	O
between	O
pin	O
centers	O
)	O
,	O
with	O
0.3	O
in	O
(	O
7.62mm	O
)	O
and	O
0.6	O
in	O
(	O
15.24mm	O
)	O
being	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZIF	B-General_Concept
sockets	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
ball	B-Algorithm
grid	I-Algorithm
array	I-Algorithm
chips	O
,	O
particularly	O
during	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
type	O
of	O
BGA	O
socket	O
,	O
also	O
free	O
of	O
insertion	O
force	O
but	O
not	O
a	O
"	O
ZIF	B-General_Concept
socket	I-General_Concept
"	O
in	O
the	O
traditional	O
sense	O
,	O
does	O
a	O
better	O
job	O
by	O
using	O
spring	O
pins	O
to	O
push	O
up	O
underneath	O
the	O
balls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
would	O
be	O
the	O
cable	O
between	O
the	O
LCD	O
screen	O
and	O
motherboard	B-Device
in	O
laptops	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZIF	O
tape	O
connections	O
are	O
used	O
for	O
connecting	O
Parallel	B-Protocol
ATA	I-Protocol
and	O
Serial	O
ATA	O
disk	O
drives	O
(	O
mostly	O
drives	O
in	O
the	O
1.8-inch	O
form	O
factor	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PATA	B-Protocol
hard	O
drives	O
with	O
ZIF-style	O
connectors	O
were	O
used	O
primarily	O
in	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
ultra-portable	O
notebooks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZIF	O
tape	O
connections	O
are	O
also	O
heavily	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
the	B-Device
iPod	I-Device
range	O
of	O
portable	O
media	O
players	O
,	O
not	O
just	O
for	O
the	O
hard	O
drive	O
but	O
also	O
for	O
other	O
connections	O
from	O
the	O
main	O
circuit	O
board	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Three	O
types	O
of	O
ZIF	O
connectors	O
are	O
known	O
to	O
exist	O
on	O
1.8	O
inch	O
PATA	B-Protocol
drives	O
.	O
</s>
