JP4965299B2 - Circuit board holding device, circuit board inspection apparatus, and circuit board holding method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a circuit board holding device for holding a circuit board when a circuit board is inspected by contacting the inspection probe, a circuit board inspection method provided with the circuit board holding apparatus, and a test probe. The present invention relates to a circuit board holding method for holding a circuit board when inspecting the circuit board.

As this type of circuit board holding device, a board holding mechanism disclosed by the applicant in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-133520 is known. This board holding mechanism has four holding parts (an upper holding part, a lower holding part, a left holding part, and a right holding part) that hold each end (upper end, lower end, left end, and right end) of the circuit board. ). In this board holding mechanism, each holding part that holds each end part moves in each of the up, down, left, and right directions to stretch the circuit board, whereby the circuit board can be held in a flat state.
JP 2001-133520 A (page 4-5, FIG. 1-2)

  However, the substrate holding mechanism has the following problems to be improved. That is, in this board holding mechanism, the circuit board is held in a flat state by directly holding and stretching each end of the circuit board. However, for example, when a thin and soft circuit board such as a flexible board is held using this board holding mechanism, the end directly held by the holding part may be damaged, and improvement of this point is desired.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem to be solved, and is a circuit board holding device, a circuit board inspection device, and a circuit board holding device that can hold a thin and soft circuit board such as a flexible board in a flat state without damaging it. The main object is to provide a circuit board holding method.

  In order to achieve the above object, the circuit board holding device according to claim 1 is a circuit board holding device for holding the circuit board when the inspection probe is brought into contact with the circuit board for inspection. The circuit board is maintained by maintaining a pair of sheet bodies, at least one of which can be inserted through the tip of the inspection probe, and the two sheet bodies sandwiched between the circuit boards in a stretched state. Holding mechanism for holding.

  A circuit board holding device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the circuit board holding device according to the first aspect, wherein both of the pair of sheet bodies are capable of being inserted through the distal end portion of the inspection probe.

  A circuit board holding device according to a third aspect is the circuit board holding device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the sheet member is made of a stretchable fabric.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a circuit board inspection apparatus that brings the inspection probe into contact with the circuit board holding device according to any one of the first to third aspects and a circuit board held by the circuit board holding apparatus. A probing mechanism; and an inspection unit that performs a predetermined electrical inspection based on an electrical signal input through the inspection probe.

  The circuit board holding method according to claim 5 is a circuit board holding method for holding a circuit board when an inspection probe is brought into contact with the circuit board for inspection, and at least one of the circuit boards is flexible and has the inspection. The circuit board is sandwiched between a pair of sheet bodies that can be inserted through the distal end portion of the probe for use, and the circuit boards are held by maintaining the two sheet bodies in a stretched state.

  According to the circuit board holding device according to claim 1 and the circuit board holding method according to claim 5, the circuit board is sandwiched between the pair of sheet bodies that have flexibility and at least one of which can be inserted through the tip of the inspection probe. By holding the circuit boards by superimposing them on each other and maintaining the two sheet bodies in the stretched state, the pressing force due to the tension generated in the two sheet bodies maintained in the stretched state is reduced. Unlike the conventional configuration in which the circuit board is held by pinching the edge of the circuit board and pulling it with a strong force, the circuit board can be curved, for example. The circuit board can be held in a flat state without damaging the circuit board. Further, according to the circuit board holding device and the circuit board holding method, at least one of the sheet bodies is configured so that the distal end portion of the inspection probe can be inserted, so that the inspection probe can be held with the circuit board sandwiched therebetween. The tip can be reliably brought into contact with the circuit board.

  Further, according to the circuit board holding device according to claim 2, both of the sheet bodies are configured so that the distal end portion of the inspection probe can be inserted, so that the conductor pattern is formed on both surfaces of the board body. Since the inspection probe can be simultaneously brought into contact with the conductor patterns on both sides when the inspection is performed, the inspection efficiency can be sufficiently improved.

  Further, according to the circuit board holding device of the third aspect, since the sheet body is constituted by the stretchable cloth, both sides of the circuit board are pressed with a large force by the restoring force of the sheet body when stretched. Therefore, the circuit board can be held in a flatter state. In addition, since the sheet body is constituted by the cloth, the tip of the inspection probe can be inserted into the stitch of the sheet body at an arbitrary position, so that the inspection probe can be reliably brought into contact with an arbitrary conductor pattern on the circuit board. Can be made.

  According to the circuit board inspection apparatus of the fourth aspect, by providing the circuit board holding device, it is possible to achieve the same effect as the effect of the circuit board holding device.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The best mode of a circuit board holding device, a circuit board inspection apparatus, and a circuit board holding method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, the configuration of the circuit board inspection apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The circuit board inspection apparatus 1 is an example of a circuit board inspection apparatus according to the present invention, and includes a holding device 2, a probing device 3, and a processing unit 4, as shown in FIG. The flexible substrate 100 shown in FIG. In this case, the flexible substrate 100 is an example of a circuit board according to the present invention. For example, a flexible substrate body formed in a rectangular shape and conductor patterns (not shown) formed on the front and back surfaces of the substrate body, respectively. Z)).

  The holding device 2 is an example of a circuit board holding device according to the present invention, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, sheet bodies 11 a and 11 b (hereinafter, also referred to as “sheet body 11” when not distinguished) and a holding mechanism. 12 is comprised.

  As an example, the sheet bodies 11a and 11b are each composed of a stretchable woven fabric (an example of a fabric in the present invention) woven with polyamide synthetic fibers. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, the sheet bodies 11 a and 11 b are stretched (stretched) by the holding mechanism 12 in a state where the flexible boards 100 are sandwiched therebetween and are overlapped with each other. By being maintained in this state, it functions as a holding member that holds the flexible substrate 100. In this case, in the circuit board inspection apparatus 1, since the sheet bodies 11a and 11b are formed of a stretchable woven fabric, the stitches of the sheet bodies 11a and 11b are expanded by being stretched, and the stitches are formed. The tip of an inspection probe 31 in a probing device 3 to be described later is inserted. Therefore, in this circuit board inspection apparatus 1, the inspection probe 31 can be brought into contact with the flexible board 100 while the flexible board 100 is sandwiched between the sheet bodies 11a and 11b.

  The holding mechanism 12 is an example of a holding mechanism in the present invention, and can hold the flexible substrate 100 by holding the sheet bodies 11a and 11b in a state where the flexible substrate 100 is sandwiched and overlapped with each other. It is configured. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the holding mechanism 12 includes a base plate 21, air cylinders 22a to 22c (hereinafter also referred to as “air cylinder 22” when not distinguished), a rail 23, and sliders 24a to 24d. (Hereinafter also referred to as “slider 24” when not distinguished), sandwiching portions 25a to 25d (hereinafter also referred to as “holding portion 25” when not distinguished), compressor 26 (see FIG. 1) and solenoid valve 27 (see FIG. 1). It is configured with.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the base plate 21 is formed in a rectangular plate shape having an opening 21a at the center. The air cylinders 22a to 22c are configured as rodless air cylinders as an example. In this case, the air cylinder 22a is fixed to the base plate 21 and driven by the supply of compressed air from the compressor 26 to move the slider 24a in the directions of arrows A1 and A2 shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the air cylinder 22b is perpendicular to the air cylinder 22a, and is attached to one end portion Pa1 of the air cylinder 22a and one end portion Pd1 of the rail 23 for height adjustment, The one end Pb1 and the other end Pb2 are fixed to 28, respectively. The air cylinder 22b is driven by the supply of compressed air from the compressor 26, and moves the slider 24b in the directions of arrows B1 and B2 shown in FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the air cylinder 22c is parallel to the air cylinder 22b (that is, perpendicular to the air cylinder 22a), and the slider 24a and the rail 23 disposed on the air cylinder 22a. One end portion Pc1 and the other end portion Pc2 are fixed to the slider 24d disposed in the head. The air cylinder 22c is driven by the supply of compressed air from the compressor 26, and moves the slider 24c in the directions of arrows B1 and B2 shown in FIG. The rail 23 is fixed to the base plate 21 so as to be parallel to the air cylinder 22a.

  The sliders 24a to 24c are slidably disposed on the air cylinders 22a to 22c, respectively, and the slider 24d is slidably disposed on the rail 23. As shown in FIG. 4, the clamping unit 25 includes a clamp 29 and is configured to be able to fix the end portions (corner portions) of the stacked sheet bodies 11 a and 11 b. In this case, the clamping part 25a is fixed to one end part Pb1 of the air cylinder 22b as shown in FIG. The clamping portions 25b and 25c are fixed to the sliders 24b and 24c, respectively. Further, the sandwiching portion 25d is fixed to one end portion Pc1 of the air cylinder 22c. The compressor 26 supplies compressed air. The electromagnetic valve 27 supplies and stops the supply of compressed air from the compressor 26 to the couplers 41a and 41b of each air cylinder 22 according to the control of the processing unit 4.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the probing device 3 moves the inspection probe 31 to be in contact with the conductor pattern of the flexible substrate 100 and the conductor pattern on one surface (the lower surface in the figure) of the flexible substrate 100. The moving mechanism 32a and the moving mechanism 32b for moving the inspection probe 31 to the conductor pattern on the other surface (upper surface in the figure) side of the flexible substrate 100 (hereinafter also referred to as “moving mechanism 32” when not distinguished from the moving mechanism 32a). And is configured. The processing unit 4 drives the air cylinder 22 by controlling the electromagnetic valve 27 to supply and stop supplying compressed air to the air cylinder 22. In addition, the processing unit 4 controls the moving mechanism 32 of the probing device 3 to bring the inspection probe 31 into contact with the conductor pattern of the flexible substrate 100. Further, the processing unit 4 functions as an inspection unit in the present invention, and executes a predetermined electrical inspection based on the electrical signal S input through the inspection probe 31.

  Next, a method for inspecting the flexible substrate 100 using the circuit board inspection apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the circuit board inspection device 1, in the initial state, as shown in FIG. 2, the sliders 24a to 24d of the holding mechanism 12 in the holding device 2 are arranged at one end Pa1 side of the air cylinder 22a and one end of the air cylinder 22b. Assume that they are located on the Pb1 side, one end Pc1 side of the air cylinder 22c, and one end Pd1 side of the rail 23, respectively.

  In this inspection, as shown in FIG. 5, first, the flexible substrate 100 is sandwiched between the sheet bodies 11a and 11b, and the both sheet bodies 11a and 11b are overlapped. Next, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the four corners of the sheet bodies 11 a and 11 b in that state are fixed to the clamping portions 25 a to 25 d using the clamps 29, respectively. Subsequently, the circuit board inspection apparatus 1 is operated. At this time, the compressor 26 starts supplying compressed air. Further, the processing unit 4 controls the electromagnetic valve 27 to supply compressed air to the coupler 41a of each air cylinder 22a to 22c.

  Thereby, each air cylinder 22a-22c act | operates. In this case, the air cylinder 22a slides the slider 24a in the direction of the arrow A1 shown in FIG. At this time, the air cylinder 22c having one end Pc1 fixed to the slider 24a is moved in the direction of the arrow A1 as the slider 24a slides, and the other end Pc2 of the air cylinder 22c is fixed. 24d is slid on the rail 23 in the direction of arrow A1 with the movement of the air cylinder 22c. The air cylinders 22b and 22c slide the sliders 24b and 24c in the direction of the arrow B1 shown in FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, as the air cylinder 22c is moved and the sliders 24b and 24c are slid, the holding part 25d fixed to one end part Pc1 of the air cylinder 22c and the sliders 24b and 24c are fixed respectively. The holding parts 25b and 25c are moved away from the holding part 25a. At this time, since the sheet bodies 11a and 11b whose four corners are fixed by the respective sandwiching portions 25 are made of stretchable woven fabric, as shown in FIG. Will be extended. Next, when the air cylinder 22c and the sliders 24b and 24c are further moved, the sheet bodies 11a and 11b are sufficiently stretched, and tension is generated in the sheet bodies 11a and 11b. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, even if the flexible substrate 100 is curved, the pressing force caused by the tension generated in the sheet bodies 11 a and 11 b acts on both surfaces of the flexible substrate 100 as a result. As shown in FIG. 7, the curved flexible substrate 100 is corrected to a flat state.

  Next, the processing unit 4 controls the electromagnetic valve 27 to stop the supply of compressed air to the coupler 41 a of each air cylinder 22. Thereby, the slide of each slider 24 stops, the sheet bodies 11a and 11b are maintained in a stretched state, and the flexible substrate 100 sandwiched between the sheet bodies 11a and 11b is replaced with the sheet bodies 11a and 11b and the holding mechanism. 12 is held in a flat state.

  Subsequently, the processing unit 4 controls the moving mechanisms 32 a and 32 b of the probing device 3 to bring the inspection probe 31 into contact with the conductor patterns on both surfaces of the flexible substrate 100 held by the holding device 2. In this case, the sheet bodies 11a and 11b are made of woven fabric, and the tip of the inspection probe 31 is easily inserted into the stitches of the sheet bodies 11a and 11b, and the flexible substrate 100 is held in a flat state by the holding device 2. Therefore, the distal end portion of the inspection probe 31 is reliably brought into contact with the conductor pattern of the flexible substrate 100 while the flexible substrate 100 is sandwiched between the sheet bodies 11a and 11b.

  Next, the processing unit 4 performs a predetermined electrical inspection based on the electrical signal S input through the inspection probe 31. Subsequently, when the inspection of the flexible substrate 100 is finished, the processing unit 4 controls the electromagnetic valve 27 to supply compressed air to the coupler 41b of each of the air cylinders 22a to 22c.

  At this time, the air cylinder 22a slides the slider 24a in the direction of the arrow A2 shown in FIG. 2, and the air cylinders 22b and 22c slide the sliders 24b and 24c in the direction of the arrow B2 shown in FIG. Thereby, the clamping part 25d fixed to one end part Pc1 of the air cylinder 22c and the clamping parts 25b and 25c fixed to the sliders 24b and 24c are moved so as to be close to the clamping part 25a. The stretched state of the sheet bodies 11a and 11b is released. Next, the fixing of the four corners of the sheet bodies 11a and 11b is released, and the flexible substrate 100 sandwiched between the sheet bodies 11a and 11b is removed. Hereinafter, when performing an inspection for another flexible substrate 100, the other flexible substrate 100 is sandwiched between the sheet bodies 11a and 11b, and the same procedure as described above is performed.

  As described above, according to the holding device 2, the circuit board inspection apparatus 1, and the circuit board holding method, the flexible board 100 is sandwiched between the pair of flexible sheet bodies 11a and 11b and overlapped with each other, and both sheets in that state are placed. By maintaining the bodies 11a and 11b in the stretched state by the holding mechanism 12 and holding the flexible substrate 100, the pressing force resulting from the tension generated in the sheet bodies 11a and 11b maintained in the stretched state is applied to the flexible substrate 100. It can act on both sides. For this reason, unlike the conventional structure which hold | maintains the flexible substrate 100 by pinching the edge part of the flexible substrate 100 and pulling with a strong force, even if the flexible substrate 100 is curved, for example, the flexible substrate 100 is damaged. It is possible to hold the flexible substrate 100 in a state where the flexible substrate 100 is corrected to a flat state without imparting. In addition, according to the holding device 2, the circuit board inspection device 1, and the circuit board holding method, the sheet bodies 11 a and 11 b are configured so that the distal end portion of the inspection probe 31 can be inserted, whereby the flexible substrate 100 is sandwiched. The tip of the inspection probe 31 can be reliably brought into contact with the flexible substrate 100 as it is.

  In addition, according to the circuit board inspection apparatus 1, the holding apparatus 2, and the circuit board holding method, both the sheet bodies 11a and 11b are configured so that the distal end portion of the inspection probe 31 can be inserted. When inspecting the flexible substrate 100 on which the conductor pattern is formed, the inspection probe 31 can be simultaneously contacted with the conductor patterns on both sides, so that the inspection efficiency can be sufficiently improved.

  In addition, according to the circuit board inspection apparatus 1, the holding apparatus 2, and the circuit board holding method, the sheet bodies 11a and 11b are formed of stretchable fabric, so that the sheet bodies 11a and 11b when stretched are stretched. Since both surfaces of the flexible substrate 100 can be pressed with a great force by the restoring force, the flexible substrate 100 can be held in a flatter state. In addition, since the sheet bodies 11a and 11b are made of cloth, the tip of the inspection probe 31 can be inserted into the stitches of the sheet bodies 11a and 11b at an arbitrary position. The inspection probe 31 can be reliably brought into contact with.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said structure. For example, although the example using the air cylinder 22 as the slide mechanism has been described above, a configuration using a motor or the like instead of the air cylinder 22 may be employed. In addition, the configuration in which the flexible substrate 100 is held between the sheet bodies 11a and 11b and then the sheet bodies 11a and 11b in that state are stretched to hold the flexible substrate 100 has been described. However, as illustrated in FIG. 11a and 11b are fixed in advance in a state of being stretched on the frames 13a and 13b, respectively, and the flexible substrate 100 is held by sandwiching the flexible substrate 100 with the sheet members 11a and 11b (that is, the frames 13a and 13b) in that state. It is also possible to adopt a configuration that does this.

  In addition, the example in which both the sheet bodies 11a and 11b are configured so that the distal end portion of the inspection probe 31 can be inserted has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only one of the sheet bodies 11a and 11b It can also comprise so that a front-end | tip part can be penetrated. Moreover, although it described above about the example which comprised the sheet bodies 11a and 11b with the woven fabric, the sheet bodies 11a and 11b can also be comprised with the nonwoven fabric which has a stretching property. Furthermore, instead of the sheet bodies 11a and 11b, a configuration using a sheet body formed of, for example, a resin having flexibility and having an insertion hole through which the tip of the inspection probe 31 can be inserted may be employed. it can.

1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a circuit board inspection device 1. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the holding device 2. FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the holding device 2. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the fixing method of the sheet | seat bodies 11a and 11b to the clamping part 25. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of sheet bodies 11a and 11b and a flexible substrate 100. FIG. It is a side view of the holding | maintenance apparatus 2 seen from the arrow C side in FIG. It is a side view of the holding | maintenance apparatus 2 seen from the arrow D side in FIG. 4 is a perspective view of frame bodies 13a and 13b, sheet bodies 11a and 11b, and flexible substrate 100. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Circuit board inspection apparatus 2 Holding apparatus 3 Probing apparatus 4 Processing part 11a, 11b Sheet body 12 Holding mechanism 31 Probe for inspection 100 Flexible board S Electrical signal

Claims (5)

A circuit board holding device for holding a circuit board when an inspection probe is brought into contact with the circuit board for inspection.
The circuit is maintained by maintaining a stretched state between a pair of sheet bodies that are flexible and at least one of which can be inserted through the tip of the inspection probe, and the sheet bodies that are sandwiched and overlapped with each other. A circuit board holding device comprising a holding mechanism for holding a board.   2. The circuit board holding device according to claim 1, wherein both of the pair of sheet bodies are configured to be able to pass through a distal end portion of the inspection probe.   The circuit board holding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet body is made of a stretchable fabric.   A circuit board holding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, a probing mechanism for bringing the inspection probe into contact with a circuit board held by the circuit board holding device, and the inspection probe A circuit board inspection apparatus comprising: an inspection unit that performs a predetermined electrical inspection based on an input electrical signal. A circuit board holding method for holding a circuit board when an inspection probe is brought into contact with the circuit board for inspection,
The circuit board is sandwiched between a pair of sheet bodies that have flexibility and at least one of which can be inserted through the tip of the inspection probe, and the circuit boards are overlapped with each other, and the two sheet bodies in the state are maintained in a stretched state. A circuit board holding method for holding a circuit board.

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