JP5724095B2 - Spring probe and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a spring probe used when inspecting electrical characteristics of a semiconductor component, a printed wiring board, and the like.

  Conventionally, semiconductor parts such as IC and LSI are inspected for electrical characteristics at each manufacturing stage such as a stage where they are formed on a wafer, a stage where they are packaged, etc., and a non-defective product or a defective product is selected. . As an inspection apparatus for inspecting such electrical characteristics, a tester and an IC socket having a probe card are generally known.

  Probe cards and IC sockets are provided with a plurality of conductive contact probes. These contact probes are interposed between the electrodes of semiconductor components and the electrodes of the inspection circuit, and the electrodes are energized. As a result, the electrical characteristics of semiconductor components are investigated.

  For example, a spring probe as shown in FIG. 7 is known as this type of contact probe. The spring probe includes a cylindrical sleeve 50, a terminal 51 attached to one end of the cylindrical sleeve 50 so as to be able to protrude and retract, and a coiled spring 52 that urges the terminal 51 in the protruding direction. The terminal 51 is brought into contact with the electrode of the semiconductor component, the other end of the cylindrical sleeve 50 is connected to the electrode of the circuit for inspection, and the terminal 51 is stabilized to the electrode of the semiconductor component by the bias of the spring 52. By properly pressing, the current-carrying state between the electrodes is favorably maintained.

  However, the conventional spring probe shown in FIG. 7 is manufactured by separately manufacturing each component such as the cylindrical sleeve 50, the terminal 51, and the spring 52, and manually assembling these components. There were problems such as poor production efficiency and high production costs.

  In the conventional spring probe, separate components contact each other to form a conduction path. However, the electrical resistance increases at these contact portions, and the electrical characteristics of the entire probe are poor. There were also problems such as being easily stable and adversely affecting inspection accuracy.

  Therefore, as a solution to the above problems, the sleeve forming portion, the terminal forming portion, and the spring forming portion are integrally punched from the conductive substrate, and each is subjected to a bending process, whereby the cylindrical sleeve, the terminal, A spring probe that integrally molds a spring is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Special table 2010-532908 gazette

  However, in the spring probe disclosed in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 8B, each apex 61... Of the spring forming portion 60 formed as a corrugated strip as shown in FIG. Since it is formed in a coil shape by alternately twisting the back side and the near side toward the plate thickness direction, plastic deformation at the apex is severe, and there is a possibility that cracks, fractures, etc. may occur at the apex 61, and durability. There was a problem with sex.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a spring probe and a method for manufacturing the same, in which the above-described problems are solved and the durability of the spring is improved.

In order to solve the above problems, the spring probe of the present invention expands the sleeve forming portion 21, the spring 4 extending from the sleeve forming portion 21 through the bent boundary portion 11, and the tip portion of the spring 4. Are formed on the same plane, and the molded portions 21 and 31 are respectively bent, so that the cylindrical sleeve 2 and an object to be inspected provided at one end of the cylindrical sleeve 2 are formed. A spring probe in which a body-contacting terminal 3 and a spring 4 that is housed in the cylindrical sleeve 2 and biases the terminal 3 are integrally formed, and the spring 4 is connected to the bent boundary portion 11. from the above and the terminal forming portion connecting portion 41 is intermittently disposed towards the 31 ..., a substantially U-shaped, which is provided so as to connect the ends facing each other of the connecting portion 41 ... And a sex unit 42, from the bent boundary portion 11 over to the terminal forming portion 31, and the connecting portion 41 and the elastic portion 42 has an alternating sequence, the connecting portion 41, the elastic portion 42 The length L1 with respect to the contraction direction is the contraction width L2 of the elastic portion 42.
As described above, the elastic portion 42 is housed in the cylindrical sleeve 2 in a wound state.

Alternatively, the sleeve molding portion 21, the spring 4 extending from the sleeve molding portion 21 via the bending boundary portion 11, and the terminal molding portion 31 formed by extending the tip portion of the spring 4 are on the same plane. And the molded portions 21 and 31 are respectively bent, so that the cylindrical sleeve 2, the terminal 3 for contact with an object to be inspected provided at one end of the cylindrical sleeve 2, and the cylindrical sleeve 2 is a spring probe which is integrally formed with a spring 4 which is housed in 2 and biases the terminal 3, and the spring 4 is intermittently moved from the bent boundary portion 11 toward the terminal forming portion 31. Provided with connecting portions 41... And substantially U-shaped elastic portions 42 provided so as to connect opposite ends of the connecting portions 41. The connecting portion 41 and the elastic portion 42 are alternately continued over the child forming portion 31, and the elastic portion 42 is spirally wound toward the connecting portion 41, and the cylindrical sleeve is formed. It is characterized by being furnished in 2. Further, the cylindrical sleeve 2 is housed in a state of being positioned on the same surface side of the connecting portion 41 so that the axial centers of the elastic portions 42.

  Furthermore, the elastic part 42 has one end connected to the mutually opposing ends of the adjacent connecting parts 41, 41 and a pair of extending parts 42a, 42a provided substantially parallel to each other, The extended portions 42a and 42a are connected to the other ends of the curved portions 42b. The extended portions 42a are provided substantially orthogonal to the connecting portions 41.

  Further, the elastic portion 42 has a protruding length L3 from the connecting portion 41 larger than the diameter R of the cylindrical sleeve 2.

  Furthermore, the elastic portion 42 is such that one elastic portion 42 is positioned on one side with respect to the axis of the connecting portion 41... And the other elastic portion 42 adjacent to the one elastic portion 42 is on the other side. It is provided alternately so that it may be located in.

  An upper contact portion 23 extends from the end of the sleeve forming portion 21 on the bent boundary portion 11 side toward the terminal forming portion 31.

  Further, in the method for manufacturing the spring probe of the present invention, the substrate 10 having conductivity is punched, and the sleeve forming portion 21 and the spring 4 extending from the sleeve forming portion 21 through the bent boundary portion 11 are obtained. And a first step of forming the terminal molding portion 31 formed by extending the tip of the spring 4 on the same plane, and a step of bending the terminal molding portion 31 to mold the terminal 3. Two steps, a third step of winding the elastic portion 42 of the spring 4, a fourth step of bending the bending boundary portion 11 and overlapping the sleeve forming portion 21 and the spring 4, and the sleeve And a fifth step of forming the cylindrical sleeve 2 so as to wrap the base portion of the terminal 3 and the spring 4 by bending the forming portion 21.

  According to the spring probe of the present invention, since the elastic portion of the spring is wound, that is, only small plastic deformation is uniformly generated over the entire length of the elastic portion, severe plastic deformation such as torsion is severe. There are no spots, and it has excellent durability with few cracks and breaks, thereby extending the product life.

  Moreover, since it is set as the structure which winds an elastic part and is comprised in a cylindrical sleeve, it is also possible to make the length of an elastic part longer than the diameter of a cylindrical sleeve. And if the length of an elastic part is lengthened, since the deformation | transformation of the elastic part at the time of spring contraction can be suppressed small, the damage by shrinkage | contraction can be suppressed and a product life can be extended.

  Furthermore, it is provided with a plurality of connecting portions that are intermittently provided from the bent boundary portion toward the terminal molding portion, and an elastic portion is provided so as to connect opposite ends of these connecting portions, that is, adjacent elastic portions. Since the connecting portion is interposed between the portions, adjacent elastic portions are less likely to interfere with each other when the spring is contracted, and the spring can be contracted smoothly.

  In particular, by setting the length of the connecting part to be equal to or greater than the contraction width of the elastic part with respect to the expansion / contraction direction of the elastic part, the adjacent elastic parts do not interfere with each other, so that the spring can be contracted more smoothly. . In addition, by ensuring sufficient spacing between the elastic parts, it is possible to prevent interference between the elastic parts even if errors occur during processing, such as errors during punching or errors during bending. Inexpensive equipment can be used, and the number of defective products can be reduced, thereby reducing the cost. In addition, if a device with high processing accuracy is used, a smaller spring probe can be manufactured with good yield.

  Further, by providing the pair of extending portions in parallel with each other and substantially orthogonal to the connecting portion, it is possible to suppress interference between adjacent elastic portions.

  Furthermore, the elastic part is wound in a spiral shape and positioned on the same surface side of the connecting part so that the axial centers of the elastic parts formed into a spiral are substantially coincident with each other, so that even a cylindrical sleeve with a small diameter is impossible. There is no spring inside.

  Further, by providing the elastic portions alternately, it is possible to bias the terminals evenly, and the inspection accuracy can be improved.

  In addition, since the spring probe is manufactured by integrally molding each component by punching or bending the substrate, it eliminates the need for manual assembly of each component and improves production efficiency. Thus, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Furthermore, since each component part is integrally connected to form a conduction path, the electrical resistance can be suppressed to be small, and the electrical characteristics can be stabilized, thereby improving the inspection accuracy.

It is a front view which shows the spring probe which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state of a board | substrate when each process is performed sequentially. It is a figure which shows the state of a board | substrate when each process is performed sequentially. It is a figure which shows each part shape | molded by the 1st process. It is a figure which shows a spring, Comprising: (a) is an enlarged view which shows the spring before a 3rd process, (b) is AA sectional drawing which shows the winding state of the elastic part in a 3rd process. It is a perspective view of a spring probe, (a) is the principal enlarged view which shows the spring probe before the 3rd process, (b) is the principal enlarged view which shows the spring probe after the 3rd process. It is a front view which shows the conventional spring probe. It is a perspective view which shows the spring of the conventional spring probe, Comprising: (a) is a principal enlarged view which shows the spring before a bending process, (b) is a principal enlarged view which shows the spring after a bending process.

  Hereinafter, the spring probe of this invention is demonstrated in detail based on figures. As shown in FIG. 1, a spring probe 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cylindrical sleeve 2, a terminal 3 for contact with an object to be inspected provided at one end of the cylindrical sleeve 2, and A spring 4 is integrally formed with the cylindrical sleeve 2 and urges the terminal 3 in the protruding direction.

  The spring probe 1 is mounted on an inspection device such as a tester equipped with a probe guard or an IC socket, for example, and the terminal 3 is brought into contact with an electrode of an object to be inspected such as a semiconductor component. The end (upper contact portion 23 described later) is connected to the electrode of the circuit for inspection, and the terminal 3 is stably pressed against the electrode of the semiconductor component by the bias of the spring 4, so that the energization state between the electrodes is good It is supposed to keep on. Note that the spring probe 1 has a minimum size, for example, a total length of 1 to 50 mm, and a cylindrical sleeve diameter of, for example, 0.2 to 5 mm.

  Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing the spring probe 1 will be described. In this manufacturing method, an automatic assembly method using a progressive die is adopted. For example, a thin belt-like substrate 10 made of beryllium copper or beryllium nickel and having high hardness and excellent conductivity is conveyed in the longitudinal direction, By sequentially executing each process on the substrate 10, a large number of spring probes 1 can be manufactured continuously.

  2 and 3 show the state of the substrate 10 when the respective steps are sequentially performed. 2 and 3, hatched portions (colored portions) are punched portions. First, in the first step, a punching process is performed on the substrate 10, and a substantially rectangular sleeve forming portion 21 and the sleeve forming portion 21 extend from the center of one end portion in the short direction through the bent boundary portion 11. The formed spring 4 and the terminal molding portion 31 formed by expanding the tip portion of the spring 4 are formed on the same plane. In addition, parts other than the spring 4 and each molding part 21 and 31 of the board | substrate 10, and the spring 4 and each molding part 21 and 31 are the connection part 12 extended from the front-end | tip part of the terminal molding part 31, and sleeve molding. The connection portion 13 is extended from the other end of the portion 21 in the short direction. In addition, when the connection portions 12 and 13 cannot maintain stability, the number of connection portions may be increased separately.

  At this time, specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, as a portion constituting the sleeve forming portion 21, a substantially rectangular base portion 22 and one end portion of the base portion 22 in the short direction are formed from the bending boundary portion 11. A pair of terminal contact protrusions formed by pressing the pair of upper contact portions 23, 23 extending toward the terminal molding portion 31 and the other end side in the short direction of the base portion 22 so as to be located on both sides. 24, 24 and a pair of stroke adjustment projections 25, 25 are formed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal molding portion 31 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape, and the contact pieces 32, 32 are extended from the end portion (tip portion) opposite to the spring 4. Further, concave grooves 33 and 33 are formed at locations corresponding to the stroke adjusting protrusions 25 and 25 formed on the sleeve forming portion 21. Specifically, the concave groove 33 is provided so as to be parallel to the contraction direction of the spring 4, and the length thereof is substantially the same as or shorter than the spring contraction length.

  Further, as the constituent parts of the spring 4, a plurality of connecting portions 41... Intermittently provided from the bent boundary portion 11 toward the terminal molding portion 31, and mutually opposing ends of the connecting portions 41. A substantially U-shaped elastic portion 42... To be connected is formed. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5A, the elastic portion 42 has one end connected to the ends of the connecting portions 41 and 41 facing each other and a pair of extending portions provided substantially parallel to each other. It is comprised from the installation parts 42a and 42a and the curved part 42b which connects the other ends of this pair of extension parts 42a and 42a, and the extension part 42a is provided in the connection part 41 substantially orthogonally. Further, the elastic portions 42... Have one elastic portion 42 positioned on one side with respect to the axis of the connecting portion 41... And the other elastic portion 42 adjacent to the one elastic portion 42 on the other side. They are staggered to be positioned.

  That is, the spring 4 is connected to the upper end portion of the connecting portion 41 extending from the bending boundary portion 11 at the end portion (the elastic portion of the elastic portion) of the extending portion 42a on the lower side of the elastic portion (left elastic portion) 42 on one side. The lower end portion of another connecting portion 41 is connected to the end portion of the extending portion 42a above the left elastic portion 42 (the upper side of the opening end portion of the elastic portion). Are connected to the upper end side of the connecting portion 41 and an end portion of the extending portion 42a on the lower side of the other elastic portion (right elastic portion) 42. The extending portion on the upper side of the right elastic portion 42 is connected. A further connecting portion 41 is connected to the end portion of 42a, and the end portion of the extending portion 42a on the lower side of another left elastic portion 42 is connected to the connecting portion 41, that is, the connecting portion 41 and The elastic portions 42 are alternately and continuously formed, and this form is bent from the bent boundary portion 11 to the terminal molding portion 31. Spring 4 by repeating successive over is formed.

  Further, the length L1 of the connecting portion 41 is not less than the interval L2 between the extending portions 42a and 42a with respect to the contraction direction of the spring 4, that is, not less than the contraction width of one elastic portion 42. Further, the width W1 between the curved portions 42b and 42b is larger than the width W2 of the sleeve forming portion. Further, the protruding length L3 of the elastic portion 42 from the connecting portion 41 is larger than the diameter R of the cylindrical sleeve 2.

  Subsequently, in the second step, the terminal molding portion 31 is bent, and the terminal molding portion 31 is rounded into a cylindrical shape to mold the terminal 3. At this time, the grooves 33 and 33 are located on the outer peripheral side of the terminal 3.

  Subsequently, in the third step, the elastic portions 42 of the spring 4 are bent. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 5 (b) and 6 (b), the distal end portion (curved portion 42 b) of the elastic portion 42 is positioned at the center and is directed from the curved portion 42 to the connecting portion 41. And spirally wound. At this time, the elastic portions 42... That are alternately extended are positioned on the same surface side (for example, the front surface side), and the axial centers of the spiral elastic portions 42. Further, bending is performed to the base portion of the elastic portion 42 so that the axis of the spiral elastic portion 42 and the axis of the connecting portion 41 are substantially parallel.

  Subsequently, in the fourth step, the connecting portion 12 connecting the substrate 10 and the tip of the terminal 3 is cut, the bending boundary portion 11 between the sleeve forming portion 31 and the spring 4 is bent, and the spring The sleeve forming portion 21 and the spring 4 are overlapped so that the center axis of 4 is along the longitudinal center line of the sleeve forming portion 21.

  Subsequently, in the fifth step, the sleeve forming portion 21 is bent, and the sleeve forming portion 21 is rounded into a cylindrical shape so that the cylindrical sleeve 2 is wrapped so as to wrap each root portion of the terminal 3 and the spring 4. Mold.

  Then, in the sixth step, after hardening and tempering to give the whole product including the spring 4 hardness and tenacity, the terminal 3 is pushed into the cylindrical sleeve 2 against the urging force of the spring 4. Then, the stroke adjusting protrusions 25, 25 positioned on the inner peripheral surface side of the cylindrical sleeve 2 are fitted into the concave grooves 33, 33 of the terminal 3. At this time, the terminal contact protrusions 24 and 24 located on the inner peripheral surface side of the cylindrical sleeve 2 are brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the terminal 3. Finally, the connecting portion 13 that connects the substrate 10 and the cylindrical sleeve 2 is cut, and the product, that is, the spring probe 1 shown in FIG. By sequentially executing the above steps on the substrate 10 to be conveyed, the spring probe 1 in which the component parts 2, 3, and 4 are integrally formed is continuously manufactured.

  Thus, since the spring probe 1 in which the component parts 2, 3, 4 are integrally formed is manufactured by punching or bending the substrate 10, each component part 2 by manual operation as in the related art is manufactured. The assembly work of 3, 4 and 4 is not required, the production efficiency can be increased, and the production cost can be reduced. Moreover, since the component parts 2, 3, and 4 are integrally connected to form a conduction path, the electrical resistance can be suppressed to be small, and the electrical characteristics can be stabilized, thereby improving the inspection accuracy. be able to.

  Further, since the elastic portion 42 of the spring 4 is wound, that is, only a small plastic deformation is uniformly generated over the entire length of the elastic portion 42, there is no portion where the plastic deformation such as torsion is severe, It has excellent durability with few cracks and breaks, thereby extending the product life.

  Further, since the length L3 of the elastic portion 42 is longer than the diameter R of the cylindrical sleeve 2, the protruding length L3 can be increased with respect to the contraction width L2 of the elastic portion 42, and the spring is contracted. Deformation of the elastic part 42 (deformation angle of the curved part 42b) can be suppressed small, damage during contraction can be suppressed, and the product life can be extended. In addition, since the elastic portion is wound in a spiral shape and is positioned on the same surface side of the connecting portion so that the axial centers of the elastic portions that are spiraled are substantially coincident with each other, the length of the elastic portion 42 is increased. However, a spring can be comfortably installed in a cylindrical sleeve having a small diameter.

  Furthermore, the connecting portion 41 is interposed between the adjacent elastic portions 42, 42, and the length L 1 of the connecting portion 41 is set to the contraction width (extension portion) of the elastic portion 42 with respect to the elastic direction of the elastic portion 42. Since the distance L2) between 42a and 42a is greater than or equal to, the adjacent elastic portions 42 and 42 do not interfere with each other when the spring is contracted, and the spring 4 can be contracted smoothly. In addition, by providing a sufficient space between the elastic portions 42 and 42, even when errors in processing such as errors in punching and errors in bending occur, interference between the elastic portions 42 and 42 is prevented. Therefore, it is possible to use an inexpensive device with inferior processing accuracy, to reduce the number of defective products, and to reduce the cost. In addition, if a device with high processing accuracy is used, a smaller spring probe can be manufactured with good yield.

  In addition, since the elastic portions 42 are provided alternately, the terminals 3 can be evenly biased, and the inspection accuracy can be improved.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the plurality of elastic portions 42 are provided, but one may be used. Further, the width W1 between the curved portions 42b and 42b may be smaller than the width W2 of the sleeve forming portion 21 . Also, instead of providing such a staggered elastic portion 42 ... it may be provided in the same direction.

  1 .... Spring probe, 2 .... Cylinder sleeve, 3 .... Terminal, 4 .... Spring, 10 .... Substrate, 11 .... Bending boundary, 21 ... Sleeve molding part, 23 ... Upper contact part, 31 .. Terminal forming part, 41 .. Connection part, 42 .. Elastic part, 42 a .. Extension part, 42 b .. Bending part, L 1 .. Length of elastic part of connection part in contraction direction, L 2. Shrinkage width of the elastic part, L3 .. Projection length of the elastic part from the connecting part, R..Cylinder sleeve diameter

Claims (8)

A sleeve molding part (21), a spring (4) extending from the sleeve molding part (21) via a bending boundary part (11), and a terminal molding formed by expanding the tip of the spring (4) The portion (31) is formed on the same plane, and the molded portions (21) and (31) are respectively bent so that the cylindrical sleeve (2) and one end portion of the cylindrical sleeve (2) are formed. A spring probe formed integrally with a terminal (3) for contact with an object to be inspected and a spring (4) that is built in the cylindrical sleeve (2) and biases the terminal (3). The spring (4) includes a connecting portion (41...) Intermittently provided from the bent boundary portion (11) toward the terminal molding portion (31), and the connecting portion (41. So that the ends facing each other Comprising a substantially U-shaped elastic portion (42) to be kicked, over to the terminal forming portion (31) from the bent boundary portion (11), the connecting portion (41) and the resilient portion (42) and is alternately The connecting portion (41) has a length (L1) with respect to a contraction direction of the elastic portion (42) equal to or greater than a contraction width (L2) of the elastic portion (42). (42) is a spring probe that is wound and is housed in the cylindrical sleeve (2). A sleeve molding part (21), a spring (4) extending from the sleeve molding part (21) via a bending boundary part (11), and a terminal molding formed by expanding the tip of the spring (4) The portion (31) is formed on the same plane, and the molded portions (21) and (31) are respectively bent so that the cylindrical sleeve (2) and one end portion of the cylindrical sleeve (2) are formed. A spring probe formed integrally with a terminal (3) for contact with an object to be inspected and a spring (4) that is built in the cylindrical sleeve (2) and biases the terminal (3). The spring (4) includes a connecting portion (41...) Intermittently provided from the bent boundary portion (11) toward the terminal molding portion (31), and the connecting portion (41. So that the ends facing each other Comprising a substantially U-shaped elastic portion (42) to be kicked, over to the terminal forming portion (31) from the bent boundary portion (11), the connecting portion (41) and the resilient portion (42) and is alternately And the elastic part (42) is spirally wound toward the connecting part (41) and is housed in the cylindrical sleeve (2). As above Symbol spirally and is elastic section axis between the (42 ·) substantially coincides, the connecting portion (
The spring probe according to claim 2, wherein the spring probe is housed in the cylindrical sleeve (2) in a state of being located on the same surface side of 41). The elastic portion (42) has a pair of extending portions (42a) each having one end portion connected to opposite ends of the adjacent connecting portions (41) and (41) and substantially parallel to each other. (42a) and a curved portion (42b) for connecting the other ends of the pair of extending portions (42a) (42a), the extending portion (42a) being substantially omitted from the connecting portion (41). The spring probe according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the spring probe is provided orthogonally. The elastic part (42) has a protruding length (L3) from the connecting part (41) larger than a diameter (R) of the cylindrical sleeve (2) . The spring probe described in 1 . The elastic part (42) has one elastic part (42) positioned on one side with respect to the axis of the connecting part (41...) And the other elastic part adjacent to the one elastic part (42). The spring probe according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the portions (42) are provided alternately so as to be positioned on the other side. The bent boundary portion of the sleeve forming portion (21) (11) side both from the end upper contact portion toward the terminal forming portion (31) (23) of claims 1 to 6 is extended for Crab spring probe. The method for manufacturing a spring probe according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the conductive substrate (10) is punched and folded from the sleeve molded portion (21) and the sleeve molded portion (21). A first step of forming, on the same plane, a spring (4) extending through the curved boundary portion (11) and a terminal molding portion (31) formed by extending the tip of the spring (4), respectively; A second step of bending the terminal molding part (31) to mold the terminal (3), a third step of winding the elastic part (42) of the spring (4), and the folding. A fourth step of bending the curved boundary portion (11) and superimposing the sleeve forming portion (21) and the spring (4), and bending the sleeve forming portion (21) to form the terminal (3 ) And the above spring ( Method of manufacturing a spring probe, characterized in that it comprises a fifth step of forming said tubular sleeve (2) so as to wrap the).