JP2014209417A - Contact device and contact method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the conduction operation and the conduction release operation of a terminal part and a contact part, without providing any exceptional power.SOLUTION: A contact device includes a clip part provided with a contact part at the front end, a relay part for bringing the front end of the clip part into open state by pressing the rear end thereof, and a hand part including a substrate holding part for holding a substrate that is brought into contact with the contact part, and a pressing part for bringing the front end of the clip part into open state via the relay part. The clip part includes a first block and a second block combined openably and closably by a first shaft member, and the relay part is supported pivotally by a second shaft member arranged on the rear side of the first shaft member. When pressed by the pressing part, the relay part pivots about the second shaft member, as a fulcrum, and brings the front end of the clip part into open state by pressing the rear end of any one of the first block or second block.

Description

  The present invention relates to a contact device and a contact method.

  Conventionally, a contact portion such as a probe pin or a contact provided on the apparatus side is brought into contact with a terminal portion provided on the substrate to establish electrical continuity between the substrate and the apparatus. Here, if the terminal portion and the contact portion are relatively slid to contact each other, there is a concern that the life of both of them may be shortened or the contact accuracy may be reduced due to rubbing. In order to avoid such a concern, a configuration is known that employs a swing mechanism for opening and closing the upper plate, an elastic support mechanism, and a clamp mechanism (see Patent Document 1). In the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, an upper plate that is overlaid on a lower plate is supported together with a swing mechanism by an elastic support mechanism. And the structure disclosed by patent document 1 presses the upper plate 30 below with a clamp mechanism, and the probe pin provided in the lower surface side of the upper plate is made to contact a terminal part. An inspection contact probe unit having an opening / closing mechanism that presses an electrode portion of an object to be inspected against a contact is also known (Patent Document 2). Furthermore, a clip-type relay connector provided with a lower clip and an upper clip is known (see Patent Document 3). In addition, when holding a printed board in contact with both sides from the front and back with a probe pin, a jig is known that is pressed by a pressing member facing one probe pin and then held by a pressing member facing the other probe pin after shifting the timing. (See Patent Document 4). Any of the techniques disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents can improve the contact state between the terminal portion and the contact portion.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-257834 JP 2002-367702 A JP-A-11-183521 JP-A-4-339279

  However, none of the above-mentioned patent documents discloses any power for operating the apparatus. That is, in the case of a clip-shaped device, some power is required to open and close the clip portion. Even if this operation is performed manually, it is troublesome to manually perform repeated operations. When operating with some power, there is also a problem of the arrangement of the power source. Further, for example, when a contact device such as a probing device is incorporated in a test device, various mechanisms such as a sensing means for aligning a substrate to be tested, a controller, and a communication interface are also required. As a result, the apparatus becomes larger and the cost increases.

  Therefore, the contact device and the contact method disclosed in the present specification have an object to perform the electrical continuity operation and the electrical continuity release operation between the terminal portion and the contact portion without any special power. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described problems, and is an operational effect derived from each configuration shown in the embodiment for carrying out the invention to be described later. Can be positioned as one of

  The contact device disclosed in the present specification includes a clip portion provided with a contact portion at a front end portion, a relay portion that presses a rear end portion of the clip portion and opens the front end portion of the clip portion, and the contact point A substrate holding portion for holding a substrate to be brought into contact with the portion, and a pressing portion that presses the relay portion when moving toward the clip portion and opens the front end portion of the clip portion via the relay portion A hand unit comprising:

  The clip portion can be opened and closed by the operation of the hand portion that conveys the substrate. That is, no special power is required to open and close the clip portion, and the electrical connection between the terminal portion and the contact portion and the release operation of the electrical connection are performed in the series of operations for the hand portion to carry the substrate. Can be realized. In other words, since the clip portion can be opened and closed by power for driving the hand portion, power for opening and closing the clip portion is not necessary.

  In the contact method disclosed in the present specification, a clip portion provided with a contact portion at a front end portion and a hand portion mounted with a substrate provided with a terminal portion are arranged in a state where the contact portion and the terminal portion face each other. And the step of moving the hand part to the clip part side and pressing the relay part by the pressing part provided in the hand part to rotate the push-up part provided in the relay part to form the clip part. Of the first block and the second block, the step of pushing up the rear end portion of the second block located below by the push-up portion to open the front end portion of the clip portion, and the clip portion in the open state Inserting the terminal part into the front end part of the first part, retracting the hand part downward, releasing the pressing of the relay part by the pressing part, and closing the front end part of the clip part With contacting the contact portion to the terminal portion, and a step of separating the substrate from the hand portion.

  The clip unit is opened and closed in a series of operations for the hand unit to transport the substrate, and the electrical conduction between the terminal unit and the contact unit and the electrical conduction release operation can be realized.

  According to the contact device and the contact method disclosed in the present specification, the operation of electrical continuity between the terminal portion and the contact portion and the release of electrical continuity can be performed without any special power.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a contact device according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the contact device according to the embodiment. Drawing 3 is an explanatory view showing the state which looked at the contact device of an embodiment from the side in the section of a clip part. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a clip portion and a relay portion included in the contact device of the embodiment. FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing the clip portion and the relay portion in the closed state, and FIG. 5B is a perspective view showing the clip portion and the relay portion in the open state. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the clip portion and the relay portion taken along line AA in FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the second block due to the rotation of the relay section, where (A) shows the closed state and (B) shows the open state. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating another example of the relay unit. 9A to 9D are explanatory views showing a series of operations for setting a substrate on the contact device according to the embodiment. 10E to 10H are explanatory views showing a series of operations for recovering the substrate from the contact device according to the embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, in the drawings, the dimensions, ratios, and the like of each part may not be shown so as to completely match the actual ones. In addition, in some drawings, components that actually exist may be omitted for convenience of explanation. In the present specification, the vertical direction and the front-back direction are described as the directions shown in FIG.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a contact device 1 according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the contact device 1 according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the clip unit 10 as a cross section when the contact device 1 of the embodiment is viewed from the side. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the clip unit 10 and the relay unit 20 included in the contact device 1 of the embodiment. FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing the clip portion 10 and the relay portion 20 in the closed state, and FIG. 5B is a perspective view showing the clip portion 10 and the relay portion 20 in the open state. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the clip portion 10 and the relay portion 20 taken along line AA in FIG. The contact device 1 is incorporated in a part of a testing machine that performs various tests on the substrate 2.

  Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the contact device 1 includes a clip unit 10, a relay unit 20, and a hand unit 30. The clip unit 10 includes a first block 11 and a second block 13 which are combined so as to be opened and closed by a first shaft member 14 as will be described in detail later. And the clip part 10 is provided with the some contact part 17 in the front-end part 10a. The contact portion 17 is a spring probe and is arranged in alignment with the second block 13. The relay part 20 presses the rear end part 10b of the clip part 10, more specifically, the second block 13, and opens the front end part 10a of the clip part 10. Note that the first block 11 includes an attachment portion to the testing machine. Each of the first block 11 and the second block 13 is preferably formed of an insulating engineering plastic material, and is made of acrylic in the present embodiment.

  The hand unit 30 includes a hand base unit 31 and a substrate holding unit 32 that holds the substrate 2. The substrate holding part 32 in the present embodiment is a pin-shaped portion that is inserted into the mounting hole 2 a provided in the substrate 2, and holds the substrate 2 on the hand base portion 31 while positioning the substrate 2. Can do. The form of the substrate holding part 32 is not limited to a pin shape, and may be a frame shape or a bank shape, for example. In short, any substrate that can hold the substrate 2 while being positioned on the hand base portion 31 can be employed. The substrate 2 includes an edge connector 2b at the tip. The edge connector 2b corresponds to a terminal portion.

  The hand unit 30 is connected to a forward / backward / lifting actuator 34 that operates according to a command from the control unit 35. As a result, the hand unit 30 can move forward and backward, and move up and down. The hand unit 30 can supply the substrate 2 held by the substrate holding unit 32 to the clip unit 10 or collect the substrate 2 supplied to the clip unit 10. can do. The hand unit 30 includes a pressing unit 33 that presses the relay unit 20 at an end on the side facing the clip unit 10. The pressing portion 33 is a bar-like portion, and is provided in a state of protruding toward the clip portion 10 side from the end portion of the substrate 2 held by the substrate holding portion 32, more specifically from the edge connector 2b. The pressing portion 33 acts on the rear end portion of the second block 13 by pressing the relay portion 20, and the front end portion of the clip portion 10 is in an open state. Note that the shape of the pressing portion 33 is not limited to a bar shape, and may be any shape as long as the relay portion 20 can be pressed as the hand portion 30 moves.

  Here, the clip unit 10 and the relay unit 20 will be described in more detail. The clip unit 10 includes a first block 11 and a second block 13. The first block 11 is located on the upper side, and the second block 13 is located on the lower side. The second block 13 includes a first shaft member 14. Both end portions of the first shaft member 14 are inserted into a first shaft hole 11a provided in the first block 11, and the second block 13 is combined with the first block 11 so as to be opened and closed by the first shaft member 14. . The clip portion 10 is divided into a front end portion 10a and a rear end portion 10b with the first shaft member 14 as a boundary. The clip portion 10 includes a contact portion 17 at the front end portion 10a. In the present embodiment, the contact portion 17 is provided in the second block 13. However, the contact portion 17 can be provided on the first block 11 side according to the type of the substrate to be tested. It can also be provided in both the block 13 and the first block 11. In addition, the clip portion 10 has an elastic member, more specifically, a spring 18 incorporated between the first block 11 and the second block 13 of the rear end portion 10b. Thereby, the front-end part 10a of the clip part 10 will be in a closed state in normal time. In this embodiment, the spring 18 uses a coil spring, but other elastic members can be used as long as the clip portion 10 can be closed.

  Referring to FIG. 4, a tester side relay board 16 is disposed below the second block 13. The tester side relay board 16 is attached to the lower side of the second block 13 by adhesion. The tester side relay board 16 is connected to the contact part 17. That is, the tester side relay board 16 relays the exchange of signals between the contact point 17 and the tester. The contact device 1 only needs to be able to exchange signals between the contact portion 17 and the tester. For this reason, if the exchange of signals between the contact point 17 and the tester is realized by other means, the tester-side relay board 16 may be removed.

  The relay unit 20 is disposed below the second block 13. Referring to FIG. 4, the relay unit 20 is a block-like member having a pentagonal shape when viewed from the side, and the material is required to be slippery with the pressing unit 33. For this reason, the relay part 20 in the present embodiment is made of engineering plastic material, more specifically, polyacetal. The relay unit 20 includes two surfaces facing the second block 13, and in the present embodiment, a first surface 20 a and a second surface 20 b which are two surfaces facing the tester-side relay substrate 16. The second surface 20b is located in front of the first surface 20a. The edge that separates the first surface 20a and the second surface 20b is such that the relay portion 20 rotates around the second shaft member 15 as a fulcrum, and acts on the rear end portion of the second block 13 to cause the rear end of the second block 13 It becomes the pushing-up part 20c which pushes up the part. The third surface 20d, which is the surface opposite to the first surface 20a and the second surface 20b, is the lower surface of the block-shaped relay unit 20, and the pressing unit 33 is in contact with the third surface 20d so that the relay unit 20 is pressed. It is. The relay part 20 rotates about the second shaft member 15 as a fulcrum when pressed by the pressing part 30.

  The relay part 20 is rotatably supported by the second shaft member 15 as described above. The second shaft member 15 is supported by second shaft holes 12 a provided in shaft support portions 12 extending downward on both sides of the first block 11. Here, the positional relationship of each part including the positional relationship between the first shaft member 14 and the second shaft member 15 will be described.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the second block 13 due to the rotation of the relay unit 20, wherein (A) shows a closed state and (B) shows an open state. In FIG. 7, the pressing portion 33 is omitted for convenience of explanation. Moreover, the hatching process which shows the cross section of the clip part 10 is also abbreviate | omitted. With reference to FIG. 7A, when focusing attention on the arrangement of the first shaft member 14 and the second shaft member 15 in the front-rear direction, the second shaft member 15 is rearward from the first shaft member 14 by a distance X. Has been placed. Further, in the relay portion 20 in the closed state shown in FIG. 7A, the push-up portion 20 c is located on the rear side of the second shaft member 15. The relay unit 20 in the closed state takes a posture in which the second surface 20 b is parallel to the lower surface of the second block 13. Here, a symbol L1 in FIGS. 7A and 7B indicates a distance from the second surface 20b to the second shaft member 15. Reference sign L2 indicates the distance from the push-up portion 20c to the second shaft member 15. The relationship between the distance L1 and the distance L2 is L1 <L2. When the third surface 20d of the relay unit 20 having such a dimensional relationship is pressed by the pressing unit 33 and rotated as indicated by an arrow 22 with the second shaft member 15 as a fulcrum, the vertical position of the push-up unit 20c, that is, The vertical position is increased by the distance S. At this time, the vertical positions of the first shaft member 14 and the second shaft member 15 do not change, and the posture of the first block 11 does not change. When the vertical position of the push-up portion 20c changes upward by the distance S, the rear end portion of the second block 13 is pushed up against the urging force of the spring 18, and the tip end portion of the second block 13 is indicated by an arrow. It moves down like 23. Thereby, the front-end part 10a of the clip part 10 will be in an open state.

  A symbol GC shown in FIG. 7A indicates the position of the center of gravity of the relay unit 20. The center of gravity position GC is located on the rear side of the second shaft member 15. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7A, the rear end portion is lowered in a state where the pressing portion 33 is not pressed. As a result, when the pressing of the relay portion 20 by the pressing portion 33 is released, the vertical position of the pushing-up portion 20c is lowered, and the pushing-up state of the rear end portion of the second block 13 by the pushing-up portion 20c is released. That is, the clip part 10 returns to the closed state.

  In addition, although the relay part 20 in this embodiment is a block-shaped member, it does not necessarily need to be a block shape. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, it is good also as the relay part 21 provided with the raising part 21a and the contact part 21b of the press part 33 which were provided continuously through the rotating shaft part 21c. The push-up portion 21a and the abutting portion 21b are not limited in shape, and can be either plate-shaped or rod-shaped. In short, the relay unit rotates by moving the pressing unit 33 toward the clip unit 10 or moving upward, and can change the vertical position of the tip of the push-up unit to open the clip unit 10. Anything is acceptable. When the relay portion 21 having the shape shown in FIG. 8 is adopted, the center of gravity position GC is behind the rotating shaft portion 21c, and thus the pressing by the pressing portion 33 is released as in the relay portion 20. Thus, the clip portion 10 can be closed.

  Next, the operation of the contact device as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 9A to 9D show a series of operations for setting the substrate 2 on the contact device 1. 10E to 10H show a series of operations for recovering the substrate 2 from the contact device 1.

  First, referring to FIG. 9A, the clip portion 10 and the hand portion in which the substrate 2 is mounted on the substrate holding portion 32 are opposed to the contact portion 17 provided in the clip portion 10 and the edge connector 2b corresponding to the terminal portion. Arrange in a state to do. At this stage, the relay portion 20 is in a state where the rear end portion is lowered by the center of gravity position GC, and the clip portion 10 is in a closed state of the front end portion 10a. The substrate 2 may be held by the substrate holding unit 32 using a machine, or may be held by an operator. In any case, since the substrate 2 is aligned when placed on the substrate holding portion 32, the substrate 2 is easily set on the substrate holding portion 32.

  Next, referring to FIG. 9B, the hand unit 30 is moved to the clip unit 10 side as indicated by an arrow 41. And the 3rd surface 20d of the relay part 20 is pressed by the press part 33 with which the hand part 30 is provided. Thereby, the pushing-up part 20c with which the relay part 20 is provided is rotated by using the second shaft member 15 as a fulcrum. By rotating the push-up portion 20c, the rear end portion of the second block 13 positioned on the lower side of the first block 11 and the second block 13 forming the clip portion 10 is pushed up. Thereby, the front-end part of the clip part 10 will be in an open state. In this state, the edge connector 2b is inserted into the front end portion 10a of the clip portion 10 which has been opened when the hand portion 30 further moves as indicated by an arrow 41.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 9C, the hand unit 30 is retracted downward. Thereby, the pressing of the relay unit 20 by the pressing unit 33 is released. The relay portion 20 that is no longer pressed by the pressing portion 33 is rotated clockwise around the second shaft member 15 because its center of gravity position BC is located behind the second shaft member 15. Return to the state. The relay part 20 returns to the original state, and the push-up part 20c releases the push-up of the rear end part of the second block 13, whereby the front end part 10a of the clip part 10 is closed, and the contact part 17 is connected to the edge connector 2b. Touch. That is, electrical conduction between the edge connector 2b and the contact portion 17 is achieved. By the retracting operation of the hand unit 30 downward, the substrate 2 is detached from the hand unit 30, more specifically from the substrate holding unit 32.

  Referring to FIG. 9D, the hand unit 30 then moves away from the clip unit 10 as indicated by an arrow 43. Thus, a series of operations for setting the substrate 2 on the contact device 1 is completed. In this state, various tests of the substrate 2 are performed.

  As described above, only the hand unit 30 is actually operating directly by power, and no special power for opening and closing the clip unit 10 is required. Further, a series of operations of the hand unit 30 are conventionally performed by the hand unit 30. Therefore, the operation of this embodiment can be easily performed using a conventional apparatus.

  Next, referring to FIG. 10E, the hand unit 30 maintains a height at which the substrate holding unit 32 does not contact the substrate 2 and the pressing unit 33 does not contact the relay unit 20. Then, as shown in FIG. 10 (F), the hand portion 30 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 44, and the substrate holding portion 32 is disposed at a position that coincides with the mounting hole 2a provided in the substrate 2, and is pressed. The unit 33 is positioned below the relay unit 20.

  Then, referring to FIG. 10 (G), the hand unit 30 moves up as indicated by an arrow 45. Thereby, the substrate 2 is held by the substrate holding part 32. Further, the relay portion 20 is pushed up by the pressing portion 33 and rotates around the second shaft member 15 as a fulcrum. Thereby, the push-up part 20 rotates and pushes up the rear end part of the second block 13. Thereby, the front-end part of the clip part 10 will be in an open state.

  Then, referring to FIG. 10 (H), when the hand part 30 is retracted as indicated by an arrow 46, the electrical continuity between the edge connector 2b and the contact part 17 is released, and the board 2 can be recovered. it can. Further, as the hand unit 30 is retracted, the pressing of the relay unit 20 by the pressing unit 33 is released, so that the clip unit 10 also returns to the closed state.

  As described above, when the substrate 2 is recovered, no special power for opening and closing the clip portion 10 is required. Further, a series of operations of the hand unit 30 are conventionally performed by the hand unit 30. Therefore, the operation of the present embodiment can be easily realized using a conventional device.

  As described above, according to the contact device 1 of the present embodiment, the electrical continuity between the terminal portion and the contact portion and the electrical continuity release operation can be performed without any special power.

  Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment, and various modifications, within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims, It can be changed. For example, the contact device in the above embodiment is assumed to be incorporated in a testing machine for testing a substrate, but for various other uses in which electrical connection between a terminal portion and a contact portion included in the substrate is required. Can be used. Moreover, although the said embodiment showed the example which pushes up the rear end part of the 2nd block arrange | positioned below by the movement to the clip part side of the press part 33, the back of the 1st block arrange | positioned above is shown. You may make it push down an edge part.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Contact apparatus 2 Board | substrate 2a Mounting hole 2b Edge connector 10 Clip part 10a Front end side 10b Rear end side 11 1st block 11a 1st shaft hole 12 Shaft support part 12a 2nd shaft hole 13 2nd block 14 1st shaft member 15 2nd Shaft member 16 Test machine side relay substrate 17 Contact portion 18 Spring 20 Relay portion 20a First surface 20b Second surface 20c Push-up portion 30 Hand portion 32 Substrate holding portion 33 Press portion 34 Forward / backward actuator

Claims (5)

A clip portion provided with a contact portion at a front end portion;
A relay portion that presses the rear end portion of the clip portion and opens the front end portion of the clip portion; and
A substrate holding portion that holds a substrate to be brought into contact with the contact portion, and when moving toward the clip portion, the relay portion is pressed and the front end portion of the clip portion is opened via the relay portion. A hand portion comprising a pressing portion;
A contact device. The clip portion includes a first block and a second block combined in an openable and closable manner by a first shaft member,
The relay portion is rotatably supported by a second shaft member disposed behind the first shaft member, and rotates about the second shaft member by being pressed by the pressing portion, The contact device according to claim 1, wherein the rear end portion of either the first block or the second block is pressed to open the front end portion of the clip portion. The clip portion includes a first block located on the upper side and a second block located on the lower side and combined with the first block so as to be opened and closed by a first shaft member,
The relay portion is disposed below the second block while being rotatably supported by a second shaft member disposed on the rear side of the first shaft member, and is pressed by the pressing portion. The contact device according to claim 1, further comprising a push-up portion that pushes up a rear end portion of the second block by rotating the second block.   The relay portion has a center of gravity position on the rear side of the second shaft member, the rear end portion is lowered without being pressed by the pressing portion, and the rear end of the second block by the push-up portion The contact device according to claim 3, wherein the push-up state of the part is released. A step of arranging a clip portion provided with a contact portion at a front end portion and a hand portion mounted with a substrate provided with a terminal portion in a state where the contact portion and the terminal portion face each other;
The first block and the first block forming the clip part are rotated by moving the hand part toward the clip part and rotating the push-up part provided in the relay part by pressing the relay part by the pressing part provided in the hand part. Of the two blocks, the step of pushing up the rear end portion of the second block located on the lower side by the push-up portion to open the front end portion of the clip portion; and
Inserting the terminal portion into the front end portion of the clip portion in an open state;
The hand part is retracted downward, the pressing of the relay part by the pressing part is released, the front end part of the clip part is closed, the contact part is brought into contact with the terminal part, and the substrate is moved to the hand. A step of separating from the part;
Including contact methods.

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