JP3310073B2 - Probe fixed position detection method for automatic probe change unit - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for detecting a probe fixed position of an automatic probe changing unit, and more particularly, to a method for smoothly changing a contact probe for an XY type fixtureless in-circuit tester. -Position detection method for an automatic probe replacement unit that can easily and accurately detect whether or not a contact probe is properly housed in a fixed position in a probe holder provided in the automatic probe replacement unit About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An XY type fixtureless in-circuit tester is usually equipped with a chuck unit for holding a contact probe, and a contact probe held on the chuck unit is a probe automatic exchange unit separately prepared. The automatic exchange can be performed smoothly by using.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional automatic probe exchange unit 1. As shown in FIG.

According to FIG. 1, a chuck 21 provided in an XY fixtureless in-circuit tester employs a so-called collet chuck structure in which a member to be chucked is attached and detached by moving a ring 21a up and down. Is formed.

The probe automatic exchange unit 1 includes air cylinders 3 and 4 disposed on a base 2 and guide rods 5.
And a chuck release plate 8 which moves up and down independently of each other by passing through the probe holder 6.
The plurality of probe holders 9 implanted and arranged on the
The contact probe 10 is formed so as to be freely accommodated in a state where one side portion 10a including the chucked portion held by the chuck portion 21 is protruded.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the interrelationship between the probe holder 9 and the contact probe 10 in the probe automatic exchange unit 1 having the above configuration.

According to FIG. 1, a pin is provided at an appropriate position on an inner wall surface defining a hole provided in the probe holder 9 for introducing the other end of the contact probe 10 in the direction of the central axis. The pin-shaped projection 9a is provided at an appropriate position on the outer peripheral surface located on the side of the other side 10b of the contact probe 10 determined by the relationship with the projecting position of the pin-shaped projection 9a. An engagement groove 10c that engages with is formed.

Therefore, when trying to return the contact probe 10 held by the chuck 21 to the probe holder 9 at the original position, first, the chuck 2
1 is moved onto the probe holder 9 at a predetermined position, and thereafter, the other side portion 10b including the probe pin of the contact probe 10 is introduced into the probe holder 9 by raising the probe holder base 7 to the predetermined position. I do.

When the contact probe 10 is introduced into the probe holder 9, the state where the engaging groove 10 c of the contact probe 10 is engaged with the pin-like projection 9 a projecting from the probe holder 9 is in a fixed position. Is held in a normal storage state.

After the other side portion 10b of the contact probe 10 is correctly introduced into the probe holder 9 up to a predetermined position in this way, the chuck release plate 8 is raised to push up the ring 21a of the chuck portion 21 and to contact the contact probe. 10 is released, and the chuck portion 2 is released.
The contact probe 10 released from 1 is transferred to the probe holder 9 side and stored.

After the transfer of the contact probe 10 to the probe holder 9 side, the probe holder
When the contact probe 10 is completely disengaged from the chuck portion 21 side, the contact groove 10c of the contact probe 10 is secured by locking the pin-shaped projection 9a in the probe holder 9. The collecting operation of the contact probe 10 is completed by lowering the chuck release plate 8 to the original position while holding the position.

[0012]

By the way, the contact probe 10 is introduced into the probe holder 9 in a state where the engaging groove 10c is engaged with the pin-shaped projection 9a projecting from the probe holder 9. As long as it is possible, the probe can be held in the probe holder 9 while keeping the fixed position.

However, if necessary, the contact probe 1
In some cases, the contact probe 10 may be protruded into the probe holder 9 due to some factor such as a human error that tends to occur in such a case. The pin-like projection 9a may be unnecessarily raised without retaining a fixed position secured by locking the engagement groove 10c to the pin-shaped projection 9a, and may be stored in an incorrect state. .

When the automatic probe changing unit 1 operates without knowing that the contact probe 10 is stored in the probe holder 9 in an erroneous state in this manner, the chuck release plate 8 is also operated from the mechanism. Do not operate correctly, so that the chuck 21 cannot hold the contact probe 10.

In some cases, the probe automatic replacement unit 1 itself may be damaged due to the contact of the contact probe 10 with the chuck portion 21.

[0016]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and has a structural feature that the chuck provided in the XY fixtureless in-circuit tester is provided. In a probe automatic replacement unit in which a plurality of probe holders for accommodating a contact probe for measurement by projecting one side portion including a chucked portion held by a portion are arranged in a straight line, a probe holder is fixed at a fixed position. A light emitting portion is provided outside one end in the arrangement direction of the probe holder under the positional relationship in which horizontal light passes closely on the top end surface of the one side portion of the contact probe when normally stored in the contact probe, and the other side. A light-receiving part is arranged outside the end to form a transmission-type optical sensor, and a contact probe is pro- jected according to whether or not the horizontal light reaches the light-receiving part side of the transmission-type light sensor. It is to detect whether or not it is normally housed in Buhoruda.

[0017]

For this reason, horizontal light is emitted from the side of the light emitting section to the side of the light receiving section in the transmission type optical sensor, and the presence or absence of light reception at that time is detected, thereby maintaining a fixed position with respect to the probe holder. It is possible to reliably detect whether or not the probe is correctly housed.

Therefore, the operation of the probe automatic exchange unit can be controlled by using the output corresponding to the presence or absence of light reception detected by the transmission type optical sensor as a control signal, so that the automatic exchange of the contact probe is always performed. It can be executed smoothly under normal conditions.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The automatic probe changing unit to which the present invention is applied has the same basic configuration as that of the conventional example shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to these drawings. This will be described below.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the probe automatic exchange unit 1 to which the present invention is applied has a correspondence relationship with a chuck portion 21 provided with an XY type fixtureless in-circuit tester (not shown). The probe holder 7 and the chuck, which are individually moved up and down independently via air cylinders 3 and 4 and guide rods 5 and 6 disposed on the base 2, respectively. A release plate 8 is provided.

In the probe holder 9 which is arranged and arranged in a straight line on the probe holder table 7, a contact probe 10 is provided with a chucking portion for the chuck portion 21. Including one side 10
It is formed so that it can be stored and arranged in a state where a is protruded.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, a pin-like projection 9a is provided at an appropriate position on the inner wall surface of the probe holder 9 in the direction of the central axis.
Contact probe 10 determined by the relationship with the projecting position of a
At an appropriate position on the outer peripheral surface of the other side portion 10b, an engagement groove 10c that engages with the pin-shaped projection 9a is formed, and the pin-shaped projection 9 projected into the probe holder 9 is formed.
The state where the engagement groove 10c of the contact probe 10 is locked to the position a is a normal storage state where the home position is maintained.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, the probe automatic exchange unit 1 having the above-described structure has the one side portion 10a of the contact probe 10 when normally stored in the probe holder 9 at a fixed position. The probe holder 9 is placed under the positional relationship where the horizontal light R passes close to the top end face 10d.
A light-emitting unit 12 including a light-emitting element such as an LED is provided outside the probe holder 9 located at one end in the arrangement direction, and a light-receiving unit 13 such as a photodiode is provided outside the probe holder 9 located at the other end. By arranging them, the transmission type optical sensor 11 is formed, and thereby a function as a photoelectric switch or a laser photoelectric switch is provided.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention which is applied to the above-mentioned probe automatic exchange unit 1 will be described.

That is, when the automatic probe changing unit 1 starts its operation, a voltage is applied to the light emitting unit 12 constituting the transmission type optical sensor 11 and the light receiving unit 13 is irradiated with the horizontal light R.

In this case, the contact probe 10 is provided in the probe holder 9 with one side portion 10a including the portion to be chucked.
When the camera is properly stored in a state where it is held in a fixed position with the horizontal light R as shown in FIG.
To detect that the probe automatic exchange unit 1 is in a normal state by passing close to the top end surface 10d of the one side portion 10a of the contact probe 10 and reaching the light receiving portion 13 and being turned on. Can be.

On the other hand, the pin-like projection 9 in the probe holder 9
When the engagement groove 10c of the contact probe 10 is not locked to the position a, that is, when the contact probe 10 is incorrectly stored in the probe holder 9 without holding the home position, the state shown in FIG. As horizontal light R
The horizontal light R cannot reach the light receiving portion 13 because the contact probe 10 abuts against the one side portion 10a of the contact probe 10 that is unnecessarily raised, and the light is switched off. It is possible to detect that the probe automatic replacement unit 1 is in an abnormal state.

As described above, by detecting whether or not the contact probe 10 is housed in a fixed position via the transmission type optical sensor 11, it is possible to know whether or not the probe automatic replacement unit 1 is abnormal. As a result, the operation is controlled as follows.

That is, when the chuck section 21 is about to enter the operation of holding the contact probe 10 housed in the probe holder 9 at a desired position, the contact probe 10 holds the fixed position and is correctly housed in the probe holder 9. When the transmissive optical sensor 11 detects that the operation is performed, the switch is turned on in response to the arrival of the horizontal light R at the light receiving unit 13, and the automatic probe exchanging unit 1 operates to operate each of the probe holder tables 7 and the like. When the constituent members perform a predetermined operation, the chuck portion 21 can hold the contact probe 10 as originally planned.

However, when the transmissive optical sensor 11 detects that the contact probe 10 is erroneously stored in the probe holder 9 without holding the home position because the horizontal light R does not reach the light receiving section 13. Is turned off, the probe automatic replacement unit 1 stops its operation, and the chuck unit 21 cannot hold the contact probe 10.

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, horizontal light R is emitted from the light emitting section 12 side of the transmission type optical sensor 11 to the light receiving section 13 to detect the presence or absence of light reception at that time. By doing so, it is possible to reliably detect whether or not the contact probe 10 is correctly housed while holding the fixed position with respect to the probe holder 9.

Therefore, by using the output corresponding to the presence or absence of light reception detected by the transmission type optical sensor 10 as a control signal, the operation of the probe automatic exchange unit 1 can be controlled. Originally, each component such as the chuck release plate 8 can be operated.

When the transmission type optical sensor 11 detects that the contact probe 10 is erroneously stored in the probe holder 9 without holding the home position, the probe automatic exchange unit 1 immediately starts the operation. Since the operation can be interrupted and the holding operation of the chuck portion 21 with respect to the contact probe 10 can be stopped, it is possible to prevent a problem such as contacting the contact probe 10 with the chuck portion 21 beforehand. An accident such as damage to the probe automatic replacement unit 1 can be prevented.

In this manner, by using the output corresponding to the presence or absence of light reception detected by the transmission type optical sensor 11 as a control signal, the operation of the probe automatic exchange unit 1 can be controlled. Can be smoothly executed under normal conditions.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, a probe is provided by irradiating horizontal light to the light receiving portion from the light emitting portion side of the transmission type optical sensor and detecting the presence or absence of light reception at that time. It is possible to reliably detect whether or not the contact probe is correctly stored while holding the fixed position with respect to the holder.

Accordingly, the operation of the probe automatic exchange unit can be controlled by using the output corresponding to the presence or absence of light detected by the transmission type optical sensor as a control signal, so that the automatic exchange of the contact probe is always performed. It can be executed smoothly under normal conditions.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a main part of an automatic probe replacement unit provided for carrying out the present invention, as viewed from the front side.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the state of storage of a contact probe in a probe holder and horizontal light.
(A) shows the state where it is stored correctly at the fixed position,
(B) shows the case where the user deviates from the home position and is erroneously stored.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an outline of a basic configuration of a conventional probe automatic exchange unit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a mutual relationship between a probe holder and a contact probe stored in the probe holder in the probe automatic exchange unit of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Probe automatic exchange unit 2 Base 3,4 Air cylinder 5,6 Guide rod 7 Probe holder base 8 Chuck release plate 9 Probe holder 9a Pin-shaped projection 10 Contact probe 10a One side part 10b Other side part 10c Engagement groove 10d Top end Surface 11 Transmission type optical sensor 12 Light emitting unit 13 Light receiving unit 21 Chuck unit 21a Ring R Horizontal light

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01R 31/28-31/3193 G01R 1/06-1/037 G01B 11/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A probe holder for accommodating a contact probe for measurement by protruding one side including a chucked portion held by a chuck portion provided in an XY-type fixtureless in-circuit tester and aligning the probe holder in a straight line. In a probe automatic exchange unit in which a plurality of probe probes are arranged, when the probe is normally housed in a probe holder at a fixed position, the horizontal position of the contact probe on the top end face of the one side portion is closely passed. In the arrangement direction of the probe holder, a light emitting portion is arranged outside one end of the probe holder, and a light receiving portion is arranged outside the other end to form a transmission type optical sensor. Detecting whether or not the contact probe is normally housed in a probe holder based on whether or not the horizontal light has arrived; Position detection method.