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Non-contact board inspection probe

  • US 6,201,398 B1
  • Filed: 02/06/1997
  • Issued: 03/13/2001
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/28/1996
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A bare-board inspection system for inspecting a bare circuit board, prior to being subjected to part mounting, on which are provided a plurality of electrode terminals and a plurality of rows of conductive pattern lines, said plurality of rows of conductive pattern lines having a narrow width and narrow pitch, said apparatus comprising:

  • a plurality of contact probes each contacting a respective one of said plurality of electrode terminals;

    a sensor body having a sensing surface and a grounded shield;

    means for bringing said sensing surface toward said plurality of rows of conductive pattern lines including a first row of said conductive pattern lines in a non-contact manner;

    contacting means for contacting a first electrode terminal with a contact probe to feed an inspection signal to said first row of said conductive pattern lines connecting to the first electrode terminal, while contacting second electrode terminals other than the first electrode terminal with contact probes fed to ground to second rows of conductive pattern lines connected to the second electrode terminals, said inspection signal having an alternating current component; and

    means for evaluating a detected radiant wave to inspect the circuit board for a defect, wherein said sensing surface comprises a longitudinal length which covers said plurality of rows of conductive pattern lines in a direction of the columns thereof, and said shield is arranged so that the shield prevents radiant waves radiated from any parts of said first row of said conductive pattern lines between said first electrode terminal and a portion of said first row of said conductive pattern lines that is beneath said shield, from being received by said sensing surface.

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