Zig-zag in-line package

The zig-zag in-line package or ZIP was a short-lived packaging technology for integrated circuit

Integrated circuit

In electronics, an integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...

s, particularly dynamic RAM

Dram

Dram or DRAM may refer to:As a unit of measure:* Dram , an imperial unit of mass and volume* Armenian dram, a monetary unit* Dirham, a unit of currency in several Arab nationsOther uses:* Dynamic random access memory...

 chips. It was intended as a replacement for dual in-line packaging

Dual in-line package

In microelectronics, a dual in-line package , sometimes called a DIL package, is an electronic device package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows of electrical connecting pins. The pins are all parallel, point downward, and extend past the bottom plane of the package at least enough...

 (DIL or DIP). A ZIP is an integrated circuit encapsulated in a slab of plastic, measuring about 3 mm x 30 mm x 10 mm. The package's pins protrude in two rows from one of the long edges. The two rows are staggered by 1.27 mm (0.05"), giving them a zig-zag appearance, and allowing them to be spaced more closely than a rectangular grid would allow.

The zig-zag in-line package or ZIP was a short-lived packaging technology for integrated circuit

Integrated circuit

In electronics, an integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...

s, particularly dynamic RAM

Dram

Dram or DRAM may refer to:As a unit of measure:* Dram , an imperial unit of mass and volume* Armenian dram, a monetary unit* Dirham, a unit of currency in several Arab nationsOther uses:* Dynamic random access memory...

 chips. It was intended as a replacement for dual in-line packaging

Dual in-line package

In microelectronics, a dual in-line package , sometimes called a DIL package, is an electronic device package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows of electrical connecting pins. The pins are all parallel, point downward, and extend past the bottom plane of the package at least enough...

 (DIL or DIP). A ZIP is an integrated circuit encapsulated in a slab of plastic, measuring about 3 mm x 30 mm x 10 mm. The package's pins protrude in two rows from one of the long edges. The two rows are staggered by 1.27 mm (0.05"), giving them a zig-zag appearance, and allowing them to be spaced more closely than a rectangular grid would allow. The pins are inserted into holes in a printed circuit board

Printed circuit board

A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, or traces, etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring board...

, with the packages standing at right-angles to the board, allowing them to be placed closer together than DIPs of the same size. ZIPs have now been superseded by surface-mount packages such as the thin small-outline packages (TSOP

Thin small-outline package

Thin small-outline packages, or TSOPs are a type of surface mount IC package. They are notably very low-profile and have tight lead spacing ....

s) used on single-in-line memory modules (SIMM

SIMM

A SIMM, or single in-line memory module, is a type of memory module containing random access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module , the most predominant form of memory module today, in that the contacts on a SIMM are redundant...

s) and dual-in-line memory modules (DIMM

DIMM

A DIMM, or dual in-line memory module, comprises a series of dynamic random access memory integrated circuits. These modules are mounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personal computers, workstations and servers...

s).
ZIP memory devices are now only to be found in obsolete computers, some of these are:

• Commodore Amiga 500 expansion packs
• Commodore Amiga 3000 on-board memory and some expansion boards

As of 2008, some high-power devices (such as high-voltage op-amp ICs, voltage regulators, and motor driver ICs) are still being manufactured in a package with a zig-zag pinout.

These zig-zag packages include variations on the TO220

TO220

The TO-220 is a style of electronic component package, commonly used for transistors, silicon-controlled rectifiers, and integrated circuits. TO-220 packages commonly have three leads although units with two, four, five or seven leads are also manufactured. A notable characteristic is a metal tab...

such as "TO220S", "staggered leads TO-220-11", "staggered leads TO-220-15", and HZIP. The name pentawatt or hexawatt is also used with chips like TDA2002/2003/2020/2030 and L200.