JPH08262061A - Probe for circuit inspection, and circuit-inspecting instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the twisting of a probe, even when it is used with a strong contact force, and which allows exchanging of the probe individually by arranging a part to be mounted to contact a probe mounting part of a circuit inspecting instrument elastically, a plurality of beams and a tip part at the tips thereof to provide a protrusion projecting at the tip part in the direction of the beams deflect. CONSTITUTION: Housing elastic contact parts 5 and 6 are arranged above and below a part 9 to be mounted respectively. A pair of beams 3, upper and lower, is extended parallel from a front vertical part 9a of a mounting part 9, a probe tip part 4 is arranged at the tips thereof protruding and moreover, a protrusion 4a at the tip thereof projecting. Beams 3 act as parallel springs to make the tip part 4 defect at right angles to the mounting part 9. A probe 1 is mounted by a spring action and the absence of any adhesive facilitates the mounting or withdrawal of any probe 1. An insulating sheet is disposed between the part and the probe 1 and the probe 1 abuts the insulating sheet or the like even when twisted to prevent possible twisting. Thus the tip 4a can gain an intense contacting pressure thereby achieving higher reliability of inspection.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention ensures reliable contact with a fine electrode portion of a semiconductor IC wafer or a flat panel display (circuit board) formed on a large scale with high accuracy and high density, and conducts an electrical inspection. The present invention relates to a probe device equipped with a probe for performing a test.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an electrical inspection / test probe device for a flat panel display (circuit board), a plurality of probes made of metal needles arranged in parallel and fixed with resin are used and formed on an upper circuit board. The circuit has been checked by bringing the electrodes into contact with each other and energizing them.

However, in this method, since the probes are manually assembled one by one, accuracy, pitch limitation and cost increase are caused for the above-mentioned densely formed electrode portions of the circuit board. It has been pointed out. Further, due to the progress of the element and circuit technologies, the distance between electrodes tends to be narrowed, and the inspection apparatus main body to which the probe is attached is required to be miniaturized because of electrical obstacles and the installation area.

Therefore, it is desired to reduce the thickness of the probe as much as possible so as to downsize the inspection device and to cope with the miniaturization and high accuracy of the assembly cost and the distance between the electrodes. It was

In response to such a demand, a thin plate probe as shown in FIG. 8 has been proposed. This probe (51)
Is a mounted part (55) fitted and fixed in a narrow groove formed in the probe mounting part of the probe device, a plurality of beams (53) extending in parallel from the mounted part, and a beam ( The electrode contact projection (54) is formed at the tip of the beam (53) and protrudes in the bending direction of the beam (53).

As a manufacturing method, a thin parallel plate member in which a conductive material is coated on a conductive material or a non-conductive material is formed into a predetermined shape by a fine etching technique using precision photoengraving, and an attached portion (55 ) And the electrode contact protrusion (54), a plurality of beams (53) are formed. The beam (53) is formed by extracting the slot (52) (= rectangular through hole) by etching. This beam (53) portion functions as an elastic parallel spring, and when the attached portion (55) of the probe is attached to the probe attaching portion of the inspection device, the electrode contact protrusion (54) formed at the tip of the attached portion (55) is attached. When contact pressure is applied from below, the beam (53) can be repeatedly moved up and down. In FIG. 8, the state where the beam (53) is bent is shown by a chain double-dashed line (this is schematically shown to explain the way of bending, and shows the range in which it can actually be bent. It's not something). As a result, the electrode contact protrusion (54) is maintained at a constant pressure.
Can be brought into contact with the microelectrode portion of the circuit board.

[0007]

However, the probe is adhered to the mounting portion of the probe device with an adhesive, and if even one of the many probes of the probe device is damaged or worn, the probe device is replaced. Maintenance costs are high.

Further, the probe bends in the vertical direction (the bending direction of the beam) when a contact pressure is applied, but when the contact pressure increases, not only the probe bends in the vertical direction, but also the probes are twisted to be adjacent to each other. It may come into contact with the probe and prevent accurate inspection. Therefore, it must be used with a small contact pressure, and if there is slight variation in the mounting of the probe or if there is slight unevenness on the surface of the substrate to be measured, contact with the circuit for some probes May be insufficient.

Further, it is expected that the density of integrated circuits will be further increased in the future, but the distance between adjacent probes will be narrowed accordingly, so that how to maintain the insulation between the probes is an important issue. Becomes Further, if the distance between the probes becomes narrow, the adverse effect of dust and the adhesion of dust cannot be ignored.

Therefore, the probes can be individually replaced, the probes are not twisted even when used with a relatively strong contact pressure, and the probes are electrically insulated from each other, and are not easily affected by dust and dirt. A device is needed.

[0011]

A circuit inspection probe (1) according to the present invention comprises a mounted portion (9) having elastic contact portions (5) and (6) which elastically contact the probe mounting portion of a circuit inspection device. , This mounted part
(9) is provided with a plurality of beams (3) extending in parallel and a tip portion (4) formed at the tip of the beam (3), and the tip portion (4) is in the bending direction of the beam. It has a protruding protrusion (4a).

The circuit inspection device of the present invention comprises a plurality of the above-mentioned circuit inspection probes (1), the probe mounting portions are housing blocks (11) and (12), and the probe (1) is mounted on the probe. The elastic contact parts (5) and (6) of the part (9) are
They are attached by elastic contact with the inside of 1) and 12), and an insulating member (14) is arranged between adjacent probes (1) .The insulating member (14) is a parallel thin wire inside the housing block. It is attached to the width grooves (15) and (16), and the insulating member (14) or the inner surface of the housing block is located at least on the side surface of the beam (3) of the probe (1). Furthermore, the insulating member is a conductive sheet (17a) coated with an insulating film (17b),
The conductive sheet (17a) is grounded.

[0013]

[Operation] The probe (1) is attached by spring action, and no adhesive is used for attachment, so any probe
Only (1) can be removed and a new probe (1) can be attached. Therefore, if one of the probes is damaged, only that probe can be replaced.

An insulating sheet (insulating member) (1
4) are arranged so that the insulation sheets (14) are located on both sides of the beam (3) part of the probe (the probe located at the end has the insulation sheet on one side and the inner wall of the housing on the other side). To). Therefore, even if the probe (1) is twisted, the insulating sheet (14) (or the inner wall of the housing) comes into contact with the side surface of the probe, which makes it more difficult to twist. Therefore, the probe tip (4a) can be brought into contact with the circuit to be measured with a relatively strong contact pressure, so that sufficient contact can be obtained and the reliability of the inspection becomes high. Further, even if the distance between the adjacent probes (1) is short, the insulating sheet (14) arranged therebetween serves as a separator, so that it is possible to prevent the probes from coming into contact with each other. Further, since the attached portion of the probe and the beam are housed in the housing blocks (11) and (12), the influence of dust and the like can be greatly reduced.

[0015]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below with reference to preferred examples. [Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a probe (1) of the present invention. (9) is the attached part, the upper housing elastic contact part (5) on the upper part, the lower housing elastic contact part on the lower part
It has (6).

A pair of upper and lower beams (3) extend in parallel from a front vertical portion (9a) of the attached portion (9). A probe tip (4) is integrally provided at the tip of the beam (3), and a projection (4a) is projected downward from the lower surface of the tip. The beam (3) functions as a kind of parallel spring, and the probe tip (4) is bent in a direction perpendicular to the attached portion (9). That is, the protrusion (4a) is projected so as to match the bending direction of the probe tip (4). In the present embodiment, the projecting direction of the beam (3) is formed to be downwardly inclined toward the probe tip (4), but it is not limited to this, and it may be horizontally projected, or conversely it is formed to be upwardly inclined. May be.

In the present embodiment, the thickness of the probe (1) is as narrow as several tens to several hundreds of microns / millimeter (μm), and the total length is very short, about 10 mm. The width of (4b) is equal to the plate thickness and its height is 200-2.
It is extremely small, about 50 microns / millimeter.

As the probe member, for example, a beryllium copper solubilizing material, a stainless steel ultrathin plate, or a conductive material such as a nickel alloy is used according to the application. In this embodiment, the beryllium copper solubilizing material is used. Was processed and then hardened.

The entire shape of the probe (1) is formed, for example, by a fine etching technique using precision photolithography. Beam
The slot (2) (= rectangular through hole) for forming (3) is also extracted by the fine etching technique. The planar shape of the contact tip of the probe tip (4) is a semicircular arc.
In this embodiment, the number of beams (3) is two, but the number of beams is not limited to this and may be three or more.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a state in which the probe shown in FIG. 1 is attached to the probe attaching portion. 3 to 5 are external views thereof, FIG. 3 is a front view, FIG. 4 is a left side view, and FIG. 5 is a bottom view. In the figure, (10) is a mounting block to which the upper housing block (11) and the circuit board (13) of the inspection device are attached. The lower housing block (12) is connected to the upper housing block (11). A probe mounting portion is formed between the upper housing block (11) and the lower housing block (12). (15) is an upper slit provided in the upper housing block (11), and (16) is a lower slit provided in the lower housing block (12). All of these slits are provided in parallel at the same intervals. An insulating sheet (14) as an insulating member is arranged between the slits facing the upper slit (15) and the lower slit (14) to partition the probe mounting portion into a plurality of parts.

The probe (1) is a housing block (11),
It is inserted from the opening on the left side surface of (12) and attached between adjacent insulating sheets (14) and between the insulating sheet (14) and the inner side surface of the housing block. In this embodiment, the probe is provided with a stopper (7) for facilitating the positioning in the insertion direction, and the stopper (7) is prevented from being unnecessarily inserted by being caught on the end portion of the lower housing block (12). It is preventing. The probe (1) can be easily attached because no adhesive is used to attach the probe (1) and only the probe (1) is inserted. When the probe (1) is inserted into the housing block, the elastic contact part provided on the attached part (9) of the probe (1) bends and is fixed by pressing the upper and lower inner surfaces of the housing block by the spring action. There is. In this embodiment, the upper housing elastic contact portion (5) elastically contacts the inner surface of the upper housing block (11), and the lower housing elastic contact portion (6) elastically contacts the inner surface of the lower housing block (12). In addition, the circuit board contact portion (8) is the board (1
Probe by contacting the circuit pattern (13a) in 3)
By electrically connecting (1) and the circuit (13a) and pressing the circuit board, the probe can be used in the same way as the housing elastic contact part.
It also has the function of fixing (1). Although the elastic contact portions are provided above and below the probe in the present embodiment as described above, they may be provided only on one side.

In this embodiment, only the tip portion (4) of the probe (1) on the side of the circuit board to be inspected is covered with the housing blocks (11), (12).
Beams (3) that are more exposed and easier to twist are housing blocks
Although the insulating member (14) is housed in (11) and (12) and positioned on its side surface, the beam (3) is not completely removed as long as it can effectively prevent the twist of the probe (1). It is not necessary to place it within the housing block and position the insulating member (14) on all sides thereof.

In order to prevent the probe from coming off easily, a recess may be provided on the inner surface of the housing block where it contacts the probe, and the probe mounting portion (9) may be provided with a projection that abuts the recess, for example. it can.

When a circuit is inspected, the circuit board to be inspected is set in the inspection device, and the probe mounting portion is lowered toward the circuit board (or the circuit board may be raised conversely). By doing so, the protrusion (4a) of the tip (4) of the tip of the probe (1) comes into contact with the electrode portion of the circuit under test with a predetermined pressure, and the beam (3) bends. The contact pressure is defined by the bending force of the beam (3),
Since the twist of (3) is suppressed by the insulating sheet (14) located on the side surface and the inner side surface of the housing block, the contact pressure can be made larger than that conventionally proposed, and the probe tip (4) The contact between the protrusion (4a) and the circuit under test can be made more reliable. As described above, the circuit is checked by energizing the probe tip (4) at a constant pressure with the projection (4a) of the probe tip (4) in contact with the electrode portion of the circuit to be inspected.

A probe due to wear or damage caused by use
When replacing (1), it is advisable to pull out the damaged probe from the opening of the housing block (the tip of the probe, to the left in FIG. 3) and insert a new probe instead. Since the probe mounting portion and the probe which is not damaged or the like can be continuously used as they are, the replacement cost is low. Also, the probe (1) has a tip (4)
Since it is housed in the housing blocks (11) and (12) except for, it is unlikely to be adversely affected by dust and dirt.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 6 is a view showing another embodiment of the present invention. Insulating sheet used in Example 1 (1
Instead of 4), as an insulating member (17), a conductive sheet (17a) whose surface is coated with an insulating film (17b) as shown in FIG.
Was used.

This is in consideration of a case where adjacent probes (1) are close to each other and electric charges are generated in the insulating sheet, which makes it difficult to perform an accurate inspection. Is electrically connected to a ground portion provided in a part of the housing block. Therefore, the insulating member (1
7) can be made to have the same potential as the ground, and the adverse effect due to the charge between the probes can be prevented. Also, conductive sheet
Since the surface of (17a) is covered with the insulating film (17b), it is possible to insulate between adjacent probes. Usage (circuit inspection), replacement of the probe (1), etc. are the same as in the first embodiment.

In each of the above embodiments, the substrate to be inspected located below the probe is inspected with the protrusion (4a) at the tip of the probe facing downward, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the protrusion ( The substrate to be inspected located above may be inspected by a probe having 4a) directed upward. ,

[0029]

According to the present invention, the contact pressure between the tip of the probe and the circuit to be measured can be increased, so that more accurate contact measurement can be performed accurately. Further, since the probes can be individually replaced, repairs when the probes are damaged can be easily and inexpensively performed.

Further, since the insulating member is arranged between the probes, it is possible to prevent adjacent probes from coming into contact with each other, so that the probes can be arranged densely, and the circuit under test can be miniaturized and highly integrated. Can correspond to. or,
Since the probe is housed in the housing block except the tip, it is less likely to be affected by dust.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a circuit inspection probe of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state of a probe when mounted on a casing.

FIG. 3 is a view (front view) showing a probe mounting portion on which a probe is mounted.

FIG. 4 is a diagram (left side view) showing a probe mounting portion on which a probe is mounted.

FIG. 5 is a view (bottom view) showing a probe mounting portion on which a probe is mounted.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a probe mounting portion on which a probe is mounted (Example 2, left side view).

7 is a diagram showing an insulating member used in Example 2. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventionally proposed probe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (1) Circuit inspection probe (2) Rectangular opening (3) Beam (4) Probe tip (5) Upper housing elastic contact (6) Lower housing elastic contact (7) Stopper (8) Inspection device board Contact part with (9) Probe mounting part (10) Mounting block (11) Housing block (upper part) (12) Housing block (lower part) (13) Circuit board of inspection device (14) Insulating member (insulating sheet) ( 15) Slit (upper) (16) Slit (lower) (17) Insulating member (conductive sheet covered with insulating film)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A mounted portion having an elastic contact portion that elastically contacts a probe mounting portion of a circuit inspection device, a plurality of beams extending in parallel from the mounted portion, and a tip portion formed at a tip of the beam. The probe for circuit inspection is characterized in that the tip has an electrode contact protrusion formed so as to protrude in the bending direction of the beam. 2. A circuit inspection device comprising a plurality of circuit inspection probes according to claim 1, wherein the probe attachment portion is a housing block, and the probe has an elastic contact portion of an attachment portion thereof inside the housing block. It is attached by elastic contact, and an insulating member is arranged between adjacent probes.The insulating member is installed in parallel narrow grooves inside the housing block, and at least the side surface of the probe beam is insulated. A circuit inspection device, wherein an inner surface of a member or a housing block is located. 3. The circuit inspection device according to claim 2, wherein the insulating member is a conductive sheet covered with an insulating film, and the conductive sheet is grounded.