GB2229540A - Testing printed circuit boards - Google Patents
Testing printed circuit boards Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2229540A GB2229540A GB9004467A GB9004467A GB2229540A GB 2229540 A GB2229540 A GB 2229540A GB 9004467 A GB9004467 A GB 9004467A GB 9004467 A GB9004467 A GB 9004467A GB 2229540 A GB2229540 A GB 2229540A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- printed circuit
- circuit board
- conveyor
- pressure element
- testing
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
- G01R31/00—Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
- G01R31/28—Testing of electronic circuits, e.g. by signal tracer
- G01R31/2801—Testing of printed circuits, backplanes, motherboards, hybrid circuits or carriers for multichip packages [MCP]
- G01R31/2806—Apparatus therefor, e.g. test stations, drivers, analysers, conveyors
- G01R31/2808—Holding, conveying or contacting devices, e.g. test adapters, edge connectors, extender boards
Abstract
Test apparatus for printed circuit boards comprises a first conveyor (15) for conveying printed circuit boards to a test station at which a "bed of nails" (12) and a pressure element (14) are automatically brought together for a test to be carried out on the printed circuit board. After the test, the bed (12) and pressure element (14) are moved apart and the printed circuit board is advanced away from the testing station on a second conveyor (not illustrated). A third conveyor (20) is arranged between the first and second conveyors. <IMAGE>
Description
PCB Testing Apparatus
This invention relates to an apparatus for testing printed circuit boards.
One form of printed circuit board testing apparatus is the so-called "bed of nails" tester, which comprises a base from which a number of conductive pins project upwardly. In use, a printed circuit board is laid on this base so as to be supported by the pins, which make contact with desired points on the underside of the printed circuit board. Then usually suction is applied to pull the printed circuit board down firmly onto the pins of the base. These pins are connected into a computer which now runs tests on the printed circuit board and provides an indication of any fault in the board. The tester is effective in operation but it is loaded and unloaded manually and these are time consuming and labour intensive processes.
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a testing apparatus for printed circuit boards, comprising a first conveyor for conveying printed circuit boards to be tested to a testing station, a test bed at the testing station which test bed comprises a plurality of upstanding conductive pins, a pressure element at the testing station, means for moving the test bed and pressure element towards and away from each other, a second conveyor for conveying tested printed circuit boards away from the testing station, and control means for advancing a printed circuit board on the first conveyor into the test station, closing the pressure element and test bed for carrying out a test and then opening the pressure element and test bed, and advancing the tested printed circuit board away from the testing station on the second conveyor.
In use of this apparatus, a succession of printed circuit boards can be advanced to the testing station, tested one-by-one and then advanced away from the testing station, all automatically and without the intervention of manual operatives.
Preferably the testing station includes an intermediate conveyor onto which each printed circuit board passes from the first or feed conveyor, the intermediate conveyor supporting the printed circuit board at a fixed level. Preferably then the test bed, or "bed of nails", is moved vertically upwards and the pressure element is moved vertically downwards, to grip the printed circuit board between them. Preferably the control means for the movements of the conveyors, test bed and pressure element comprises a microprocessor separate from the computer which carries out the tests on the printed circuit boards.
An embodiment of this invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, the single figure of which is a schematic isometric view of a printed circuit board testing apparatus in accordance with the invention.
Referring to the accompanying drawing, there is shown a printed circuit board testing apparatus which comprises a cabinet 10 supporting a test station of the apparatus. This test station comprises a "bed of nails" or base 12 having a plurality of conductive pins (not shown) projecting upwardly from its top, and a pressure element 14. The "bed of nails" is a replaceable element received by a support and its arrangement of pins suits the specific printed circuit boards to be tested. The pressure element 14 comprises a support for a replaceable member 17 having projections to engage plain areas of the circuit board to be tested. The base 12 and pressure element 14 are mounted for vertical movement towards and away from each other on a post 11 and hydraulic rams 13 are is coupled between them to effect this movement.A feed conveyor 15 is provided to advance successive printed circuit boards to the testing station, and a delivery conveyor (not shown) is provided to advance each printed circuit board after test away from the testing station. An intermediate conveyor 20 extends across the testing station from the end of the feed conveyor 15 to the end of the delivery conveyor. The intermediate conveyor 20 comprises two continuous bands 21, 22 trained around pulleys at the opposite ends of the conveyor, the two bands being arranged parallel to each other and positioned to the front and rear of the testing station. Angle members 23, 24 cover the top and side of each of the bands 21, 22 and include a horizontal strip below the upper run of each band, to support this upper band and in particular printed circuit boards when resting thereon.The structure at the rear which supports band 22 can be displaced forwardly or rearwardly by means of a hand-wheel 19, to suit the width of printed circuit boards to be tested. The feed and delivery conveyors are similarly constructed.
In operation, successive printed circuit boards are advanced onto the intermediate conveyor 20 from the feed conveyor and are brought to rest against a mechanical stop and between the base or "bed of nails" 12 and the pressure element 14. Each printed circuit board rests with its opposite edges supported on the upper runs of bands 21, 22 of the conveyor, and located below the top flanges of the angle members 23, 24. When a printed circuit board has been brought automatically to the correct position between the "bed of nails" 12 and pressure plate 14, the intermediate conveyor 20 is stopped. Then the "bed of nails" and pressure plate are moved vertically upwards and downwards respectively, the pressure plate engaging the printed circuit board first to hold it down and then the "bed of nails" engaging the printed circuit board a fraction later.The conductive pins of the "bed of nails" make contact with the required points of the underside of the printed circuit board, and are connected into a mainframe computer (located separately) which now carries out predetermined tests on the printed circuit board and records the results of these tests. Then the "bed of nails" and pressure element are lowered and raised, respectively, the mechanical stop is retracted and the intermediate conveyor 20 is driven again to advance the printed circuit board which has been tested onto the delivery conveyor.
The movements of the conveyors and of the "bed of nails" and its pressure element are controlled by a microprocessor which is housed within the cabinet 10. When a printed circuit board is in its correct position with the pressure element and "bed of nails" closed together, this microprocessor sends a signal to the mainframe computer to initiate the testing procedure. Preferably a diverting arrangement is provided on the delivery conveyor, for diverting any printed circuit boards which fail the tests.
Preferably each printed circuit board is provided with a bar code identifying that board and the mainframe computer records the test results for each board against its identifying code. Then if any board fails the tests and requires re-working, the person at the rework station can read the bar code with a bar code reader which is linked to the mainframe computer, to cause the computer to give an immediate display or print-out of the fault which has been diagnosed in that particular board.
Claims (8)
1) A testing apparatus for printed circuit boards, comprising a first conveyor for conveying printed circuit boards to be tested to a testing station, a test bed at the testing station which test bed comprises a plurality of projecting conductive pins, a pressure element at the testing station, means for moving the test bed and pressure element towards and away from each other, a second conveyor for conveying tested printed circuit boards away from the testing station, and control means for advancing a printed circuit board on the first conveyor into the test station, closing the pressure element and test bed for carrying out a test and then opening the pressure element and test bed, and advancing the tested printed circuit board away from the testing station on the second conveyor.
2) A testing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the testing station includes an intermediate conveyor to receive each printed circuit board from the first conveyor and support the printed circuit board at a predtermined level.
3) A testing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which the intermediate conveyor comprises two elements for supporting each printed circuit board adjacent opposite edges thereof.
4) A testing apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the test bed and pressure element are arranged for movement vertically towards and away from each other.
5) A testing apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the pressure element is arranged to engage the printed circuit board and hold it against fixed structure at the testing station before the test bed engages the printed circuit board.
6) A testing apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the pressure element comprises a replaceable member having projections to engage the printed circuit board being tested.
7) A testing apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the test bed comprises a removable element having said conductive pins.
8) A testing apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB898904663A GB8904663D0 (en) | 1989-03-01 | 1989-03-01 | Pcb testing apparatus |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB9004467D0 GB9004467D0 (en) | 1990-04-25 |
| GB2229540A true GB2229540A (en) | 1990-09-26 |
Family
ID=10652531
Family Applications (2)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB898904663A Pending GB8904663D0 (en) | 1989-03-01 | 1989-03-01 | Pcb testing apparatus |
| GB9004467A Withdrawn GB2229540A (en) | 1989-03-01 | 1990-02-28 | Testing printed circuit boards |
Family Applications Before (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB898904663A Pending GB8904663D0 (en) | 1989-03-01 | 1989-03-01 | Pcb testing apparatus |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (2) | GB8904663D0 (en) |
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0651260A2 (en) * | 1993-11-02 | 1995-05-03 | Circuit Line S.P.A. | Machine with press assembly for electrically testing a printed circuit board |
| FR2752060A1 (en) * | 1996-07-31 | 1998-02-06 | Int Market Dev | Securing printed circuit in test equipment accessibly |
| GB2328287A (en) * | 1997-06-17 | 1999-02-17 | Samsung Electronics Co Ltd | Voltage testing apparatus |
| WO2002025300A1 (en) * | 2000-09-21 | 2002-03-28 | Pmj Automec Oyj | Testing system in a circuit boardmanufacturing line for automatic testing of circuit boards |
Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2061529A (en) * | 1979-05-08 | 1981-05-13 | Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co | Automatic testing system for printed circuit boards |
| GB2136140A (en) * | 1983-03-04 | 1984-09-12 | Circuit Line Srl | Automatic Testing Machine for Printed Circuits |
| WO1987002784A1 (en) * | 1985-10-28 | 1987-05-07 | Cimm, Inc. | System for testing and repairing printed circuit boards |
-
1989
- 1989-03-01 GB GB898904663A patent/GB8904663D0/en active Pending
-
1990
- 1990-02-28 GB GB9004467A patent/GB2229540A/en not_active Withdrawn
Patent Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2061529A (en) * | 1979-05-08 | 1981-05-13 | Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co | Automatic testing system for printed circuit boards |
| GB2136140A (en) * | 1983-03-04 | 1984-09-12 | Circuit Line Srl | Automatic Testing Machine for Printed Circuits |
| WO1987002784A1 (en) * | 1985-10-28 | 1987-05-07 | Cimm, Inc. | System for testing and repairing printed circuit boards |
Cited By (11)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0651260A2 (en) * | 1993-11-02 | 1995-05-03 | Circuit Line S.P.A. | Machine with press assembly for electrically testing a printed circuit board |
| EP0651260A3 (en) * | 1993-11-02 | 1995-07-26 | Circuit Line Spa | Machine with press assembly for electrically testing a printed circuit board. |
| US5614819A (en) * | 1993-11-02 | 1997-03-25 | Circuit Line S.P.A. | Multi-station machine and press assembly for electrically testing a printed circuit board having manual and automatic operating modes |
| US5889407A (en) * | 1993-11-02 | 1999-03-30 | Circuit Line S.P.A. | Press assembly for electrically testing a printed circuit board having an exchangeable lower adapter |
| FR2752060A1 (en) * | 1996-07-31 | 1998-02-06 | Int Market Dev | Securing printed circuit in test equipment accessibly |
| GB2328287A (en) * | 1997-06-17 | 1999-02-17 | Samsung Electronics Co Ltd | Voltage testing apparatus |
| GB2328287B (en) * | 1997-06-17 | 2000-02-16 | Samsung Electronics Co Ltd | Voltage testing apparatus and method |
| WO2002025300A1 (en) * | 2000-09-21 | 2002-03-28 | Pmj Automec Oyj | Testing system in a circuit boardmanufacturing line for automatic testing of circuit boards |
| WO2002025301A1 (en) * | 2000-09-21 | 2002-03-28 | Pmj Automec Oyj | Testing system in a circuit board manufacturing line for automatic testing of circuit boards |
| US6867579B2 (en) | 2000-09-21 | 2005-03-15 | Pmj Automec Oyj | Testing system in a circuit board manufacturing line for automatic testing of circuit boards |
| US6876192B2 (en) | 2000-09-21 | 2005-04-05 | Pmj Automec Oyj | Testing system in a circuit board manufacturing line for a automatic testing of circuit boards |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB8904663D0 (en) | 1989-04-12 |
| GB9004467D0 (en) | 1990-04-25 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAP | Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1) |