Circuit board contact contamination probe
First Claim
1. Apparatus for testing circuit boards (100), said apparatus havingcircuitry (50) for measuring electrical resistance, andtesting apparatus (1) for coupling said measuring circuitry to conducting fingers (101) of a circuit boardCHARACTERIZED IN THATsaid testing apparatus comprisesa probe assembly (33) having electrodes (330) corresponding to each of the circuit board conducting fingers, said electrodes each comprising a needle member and a contact member,guide apparatus (11) for receiving and holding the circuit board,positioning apparatus (20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32) for securing the circuit board to said guide apparatus and for positioning said probe assembly to simultaneously engage said contact members of a pair of said electrodes with each circuit board conducting finger, andcoupling apparatus (40, 42, 43, 44-, 45-, 46-, 400, 401, 402) for sequentially connecting said needle members and said contact members of each of said pair of engaged electrodes with said measuring circuitry to measure the resistance of a contamination film and foreign material appearing on a conducting finger between said contact members of said engaged pair of electrodes.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus for detecting the presence of contamination films and foreign material on the conducting fingers of a circuit board. The apparatus includes a guide block assembly (11) designed to receive and momentarily hold a circuit board (100) and a spring biased hold down bar (25) for securely holding the circuit board in the guide block assembly. The apparatus further includes apparatus (23, 31) for use in positioning a plurality of probe assemblies (33) to simultaneously engage a pair of electrodes (330) with each one of the circuit board conducting fingers (101). A controller (43) enables switch apparatus (42) to selectively connect each pair of electrodes with electrical resistance measuring apparatus (50) to measure the resistance of any contamination film and foreign material appearing on a circuit board conducting finger between the electrodes of each electrode pair.
-
Citations
17 Claims
-
1. Apparatus for testing circuit boards (100), said apparatus having
circuitry (50) for measuring electrical resistance, and testing apparatus (1) for coupling said measuring circuitry to conducting fingers (101) of a circuit board CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said testing apparatus comprises a probe assembly (33) having electrodes (330) corresponding to each of the circuit board conducting fingers, said electrodes each comprising a needle member and a contact member, guide apparatus (11) for receiving and holding the circuit board, positioning apparatus (20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32) for securing the circuit board to said guide apparatus and for positioning said probe assembly to simultaneously engage said contact members of a pair of said electrodes with each circuit board conducting finger, and coupling apparatus (40, 42, 43, 44-, 45-, 46-, 400, 401, 402) for sequentially connecting said needle members and said contact members of each of said pair of engaged electrodes with said measuring circuitry to measure the resistance of a contamination film and foreign material appearing on a conducting finger between said contact members of said engaged pair of electrodes.
-
10. Apparatus for testing circuit boards (100), said apparatus having
circuitry (50) for measuring electrical resistance, and test apparatus (1) for coupling said measuring circuitry to conducting fingers (101) of a circuit board CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said testing apparatus comprises a plurality of electrodes (330), a probe assembly (33) for resiliently mounting a pair of said electrodes, a block assembly (11) for receiving a circuit board and for aligning a conducting finger of the circuit board with said probe assembly, resiliently biased retaining apparatus (24, 25, 26) for securely holding the circuit board in said block assembly, carrier apparatus (30, 31) for securely holding said probe assembly, operating apparatus (20, 21, 22, 23, 32) coupled to said resiliently biased retaining apparatus and said carrier apparatus for enabling said resiliently biased retaining apparatus to clamp the circuit board to said block assembly and for enabling said carrier apparatus to move said pair of electrodes into engagement with the circuit board conducting finger, coupling apparatus (40, 42, 43, 44-, 45-, 46-, 400, 401, 402) for selectively connecting said pair of engaged electrodes with said measuring circuitry to measure the resistance of contamination films and foreign material appearing on the conducting finger between said pair of electrodes.
-
15. Apparatus for testing circuit boards (100), said apparatus having
a constant current source (501), a voltage measuring device (502), and testing apparatus (1) for coupling said constant current source and said voltage measuring device to conducting fingers (101) of a circuit board CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said testing apparatus comprises a plurality of electrodes (330) each of said electrodes having a needle member (3300) and a contact member (3301) affixed to an end of said needle member, plug apparatus (331, 332, 333) for resiliently mounting pairs of said electrodes, guide apparatus (11) for receiving a circuit board and for aligning each conducting finger of the circuit board with respect to a corresponding pair of said electrodes, resiliently biased apparatus (24, 25, 26) for retaining the circuit board in a fixed relationship to said guide apparatus, carrier apparatus (30, 31) for securely holding said plug apparatus and for moving pairs of said electrodes into and out of engagement with the circuit board conducting fingers, operating apparatus (20, 21, 22, 23, 32) coupled to said resiliently biased apparatus and to said carrier apparatus for enabling said resiliently biased apparatus to clamp the circuit board to said guide apparatus and for enabling said carrier apparatus to simultaneously move said electrode contact members into engagement with the circuit board conducting fingers, controller apparatus (43) for selecting ones of said pairs of contacts, and coupling apparatus (40, 42, 44-, 45-, 46-, 400, 401, 402) coupled to said pairs of electrodes and controlled by said controller apparatus for selectively coupling said voltage measuring device to said electrode contact members and said constant current source to said electrode needle members to measure the resistance of contamination films and foreign matter appearing on the conducting fingers between a pair of said electrodes.
-
16. Apparatus for testing conducting fingers of a circuit board, said apparatus comprising
a plurality of electrodes each having a needle member and a contact member, means for receiving and holding the circuit board, means for mounting pairs of said electrodes, means for positioning said mounting means to simultaneously engage said contact members of a pair of said electrodes with each circuit board conducting finger, means for measuring electrical resistance, and means for selectively connecting said electrical resistance measuring means to both said needle members and said contact members of each engaged pair of said electrodes to measure the resistance of contamination films and foreign material appearing on a circuit board conducting finger between said pair of electrode contact members.
-
17. A method of testing a circuit board with test apparatus comprising a probe assembly having electrodes comprised of a needle member and a contact member corresponding to each circuit board conducting finger, guide apparatus for receiving a circuit board, and electrical resistance measuring means, said method comprising the steps of
receiving and securing a circuit board to the guide apparatus, positioning the probe assembly with respect to said secured circuit board to simultaneously engage the contact members of a pair of the electrodes with each circuit board conducting finger, and selectively coupling the electrical resistance measuring means to the needle members and the contact members of each pair of said engaged electrodes to detect the presence and measure contamination films and foreign material appearing on a circuit board conducting finger between the contact members of an engaged pair of electrodes.
Specification