JPH09113536A - Probe to inspect substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To partially replace it when a comparatively soft contact is abraded. SOLUTION: A probe 11 to inspect a substrate is dividedly constituted into a main probe part 12 held by a barrel part 15 by projecting a sharp contact part 14 and a rear end part 13a of a contact 13 and an auxiliary probe part 18 having a pressing member 19 to be electrically connected to the contact 13 of this main probe part 12 by always energizing pressing force from the side of the rear end part 13a. In these main probe part 12 and auxiliary probe part 18, fixing arrangement to a raising-lowering part is freely formed by holding the positional relationship in which pressing force from the pressing member 19 is applied to the contact 13 by an interposing member, and the side of the main probe part 12 is made partially replaceable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a probe for inspecting a substrate, and more particularly to a probe used in a substrate inspecting machine such as an in-circuit tester, in which the contactor side is partially replaced. The present invention relates to a probe for inspecting a substrate, which can be reused and can apply a pressing force to the contactor with a simple structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A substrate inspection machine such as an in-circuit tester is provided with a movable arm portion which is arranged above a substrate to be inspected horizontally and which is movable in XY directions above the substrate. ing. In addition, the movable arm portion is provided with an elevating portion that can move in the Z-axis direction, that is, ascend / descend with respect to the portion to be inspected on the inspected substrate. The attached board inspection probe can be used to inspect the electrical characteristics of the portion to be inspected.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a conventional structure for the board inspection probe. In this case, a contactor 2 for contacting an inspected portion of a board to be inspected and the contactor 2 in the axial direction. And a compression coil spring member 4 which is interposed between the barrel portion 3 and the contactor 2 and constantly urges the contactor 3 side in the protruding direction. The entire substrate inspection probe 1 is configured with an insulating sleeve 5 that holds the barrel portion 3 and is fixed to the side of the elevating portion of the substrate inspection machine.

[0004]

By the way, the board inspection probe 1 shown in FIG. 7 can also inspect the board to be inspected for necessary electrical characteristics.

However, the contactor 2 which constitutes the probe 1 for board inspection is formed by cutting the step portion 2a necessary for mounting the compression spring material 4 interposed therein. Need to be kept. Therefore, the contactor 2 is made of a soft conductive metal material having relatively good workability, which is disadvantageous in that it is easily worn.

On the other hand, since the substrate inspection probe 1 has a structure in which the whole is integrated, it is not possible to partially replace a part of the probe 1, and the contact 2
When it is worn, it is necessary to replace the whole with another probe for inspecting the printed circuit board, resulting in an inconvenience of raising the maintenance cost.

Moreover, when replacing the board inspection probe 1 with another one, the lead wire 6 which is soldered to the original contact 2 and connected is removed, and a new board inspection probe after replacement is used. Since it is necessary to reattach it to the contactor, the work of exchanging the board inspection probe 1 is complicated and the workability is deteriorated.

In view of the above problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a substrate inspection probe in which the substrate inspection probe is divided into two parts so that only the contact side can be partially replaced. Has that purpose.

[0009]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to achieve the above object, and the structural features thereof are XY
The movable arm is mounted on the board inspection machine so that it can move freely in any direction. It is fixed through an interposition member to the movable arm, and has a biasing force in the protruding direction to move it back and forth in the axial direction. In a board inspection probe for inspecting the electrical characteristics of a predetermined portion of a mounting board through a contact freely held in a barrel, the board inspection probe includes the contact and a sharp contact portion and a rear end portion of the contact. And a main probe part that is held in the barrel part and is supported by a pressing member that constantly applies a pressing force to the contact of the main probe part from the rear end side to electrically connect the contact part. The probe portion is divided into the main probe portion and the auxiliary probe portion. The fixed arrangement is free.

In this case, the auxiliary probe portion has an auxiliary contactor as the pressing member, which can be pressed from the rear end face side with respect to the contactor provided in the main probe portion. Is formed by allowing the barrel portion to freely move back and forth in the direction, and the pressing force of the auxiliary contactor is such that the one end portion of the auxiliary contactor is the rear end of the auxiliary contactor protruding from the barrel portion. The other end may be fixed to the portion and the tension may be applied via a tension coil spring material.

Further, the pressing member provided in the auxiliary probe section is formed of a compression coil spring material capable of freely pressing the contact in the main probe section from the rear end direction, as described in claim 3. One end of the compression coil spring material is supported by a holding portion,
The other end is brought into contact with and supported by the rear end side of the contactor to apply a pressing force to the contactor, as in claim 4,
The main probe portion is formed of a piston material that can be pressed from the rear end direction to the contactor, and the pressing force applied to the piston material is enclosed in the barrel portion so that the piston material can be pressed freely. It may be formed by the pressure of the fluid.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which a main probe portion 12 having a contactor 13 for contacting a portion to be inspected and the main probe portion 12 described above. The entire board inspection probe 11 is configured with an auxiliary probe portion 18 including a pressing member 19 that constantly applies a pressing force to the contactor 13 from the rear end portion 13a side. It should be noted that the board inspection probe 11 according to the present invention is, for example, as shown in FIG. It is fixed via the mounting member 33.
In this case, the board inspection probe 11 fixed on the side of the elevating part 32 is moved to the Z direction via the elevating part 32 directly connected to the belt 31b driven by the rotational movement of the motor 31a.
The vertical movement is controlled. Further, the interposition member 33 for fixing the board inspection probe 11 on the side of the elevating part 32 is different from the first interposition member 33a in that the board inspection probe 11 is divided into two parts. It is arranged in the elevating part 32 separately from the second interposition member 33b.

Of the above board inspection probe 11, the main probe portion 12 has the contactor 13 having a sharp contact portion 14 at its tip end that abuts against a portion to be inspected, and the contactor 13 in the axial direction. Barrel part 15 that holds forward and backward freely
And holding the barrel portion 15 so that the first portion of the elevating portion 33
It is formed with the sleeve portion 17 that functions as an interposition material when it is mounted on the interposition member 34.

In this case, the contactor 13 is made of a superhard material such as a conductive superhard alloy or a conductive diamond material, and is formed into a needle shape having an appropriate length, for example, a diameter of about 0.1 to 0.2 mm. What has been carried out can be used conveniently.

Further, the barrel portion 15 includes the contactor 1.
The contactor 1 is formed by a guide tube made of a metal pipe material such as a stainless steel pipe material that holds the sharp contact portion 14 and the rear end portion 13a of the wire 3 bidirectionally by a proper length.
It is formed with a diameter capable of holding 3 slidably.

Moreover, it is necessary to support the contactor 13 with respect to the barrel portion 15 so as not to fall off. Specifically, the barrel portion 15 is provided on the rear end portion 13a side of the contactor 13. It is formed by fixing a stopper 16 of an appropriate structure that abuts the upper end surface of the.

Further, the sleeve portion 17 is formed of an insulating member such as an insulating synthetic resin material or a member that has been subjected to an insulating treatment, and moreover, the first interposition provided in the elevating unit 33. A suitable structure which can be attached as an attachment to the mounting member 33a, for example, when a female screw portion is engraved on the inner peripheral surface of the first interposing member 33a, a male screw portion 17a screwed with this is formed on the outer periphery thereof. It is formed by providing it on the surface.

On the other hand, the auxiliary probe portion 18 holds the pressing member 19 which can press the contactor 13 from the rear end surface 13b side, and holds the pressing member 19 in the axial direction freely. It is composed of an insulating barrel portion 20.

In this case, it is preferable that the pressing member 19 is formed as a rod-shaped auxiliary contact 21 made of a conductive material such as a conductive metal material and having an appropriate length.

The pressing member 19 has an auxiliary contact 21.
When it is formed as, the barrel portion 20 is preferably formed as a guide cylinder that holds the front end portion 21a and the rear end portion 21b of the auxiliary contactor 21 by bidirectionally projecting them by an appropriate length.

In this case, the auxiliary contact 21 and the barrel portion 20 have one end 22 on the side of the barrel portion 20.
a is a tension coil spring material 22 in which the other end portion 22b is fixedly attached to the rear end portion 21b side of the auxiliary contact 21 protruding from the barrel portion 20.
Are interconnected. Therefore, the auxiliary contactor 21 is supported by the barrel portion 20 while maintaining the biasing force in the direction in which the auxiliary contactor 21 is always returned to the original position even if the tip end 21a side is pushed. .

The tension coil spring material 22 is used.
Is, for example, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG.
a is used as an enlarged diameter portion to be fitted into a fitting groove 20a spirally engraved on the peripheral surface of the rear end portion of the barrel portion 20, and the other end portion 2
The rear end portion 21b of the auxiliary contactor 21 has a reduced diameter portion 2b.
It is arranged under an appropriate fixing structure such as soldering.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing another example (corresponding to claim 3) of the auxiliary probe portion 18, which can be pressed from the rear end direction of the contactor 13 through one end portion 23a thereof. A pressing member 19 made of a compression coil spring material 23 and a holding portion 24 formed in, for example, a bottomed cylindrical shape to support and accommodate the compression coil spring material 23 at the other end 23b are provided as a whole. It is configured.

In this case, the compression coil spring material 2
3 is formed so that the outer diameter thereof is smaller than the outer diameter of the contactor 13, and the rear end surface 1 of the contactor 13 is formed.
In addition to freely arranging the pressure from the side of 3b, as shown in FIG. 4, an interposing conductive material 25 made of, for example, a sphere may be interposed between the two.

FIG. 5 shows a further example (corresponding to claim 4) of the auxiliary probe portion 18, which is arranged so as to be freely pressed against the contact 13 from the rear end face 13b side. Piston material 26 as the pressing member 19
And a barrel portion 27 having a cylindrical shape with a bottom, in which a fluid 28 made of gas or liquid is enclosed via the piston material 26. A stopper 27a is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the barrel portion 27 to prevent the piston material 26 from coming off due to the pressure of the enclosed fluid 28. Further, the piston member 26 has a sealing flange portion 26a provided with a sealing treatment at a base end portion thereof, and a guide flange portion 26b provided at a distal end portion thereof, and the sealing flange portion 26a is provided. It is adapted to engage with the stopper 27a.

Further, the rear end portion 13a of the contactor 13 in the main probe portion 12 (the portion surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1) may have a needle tip shape as shown in FIG. The contact resistance may be further reduced and the auxiliary probe unit 18 may be electrically connected by forming it in a sawtooth shape as shown in FIG.

Since the present invention is constructed in this manner, as shown in FIG. 2, the main probe section 12 is provided with the first interposition member 33a so that the auxiliary probe section 18 is provided.
Can be separately mounted on the side of the interposing member 33 included in the elevating part 32 to form the substrate inspection probe 11 by interposing the second interposing member 33b.

In this case, the main probe portion 12 has the contactor 1.
3 is attached to the ascending / descending portion 32 via the first interposition member 33a under the state of being hooked to the barrel portion 15 via the stopper 16, and the auxiliary probe portion 18 includes the pressing member 19 and the contact member 13 Will be attached to the elevating part 32 via the second interposition member 33b under the positional relationship of closely contacting the rear end face 13b.

Moreover, when the elevating part 32 is lowered to bring the sharp contact part 14 of the contact 13 into contact with the mounting board side, the pressing force of the pressing member 19 urged by the tension coil spring material 22. Since the contactor 13 can be retracted against the contact, it is possible to ensure a close contact with the mounting board, and thus it is possible to accurately perform the necessary inspection.

Further, the contactor 13 of the main probe unit 12
The pressing force applied to the main probe unit 1 is transmitted through the pressing member 19 of the auxiliary probe unit 18.
Since it is possible to simplify the structure by eliminating the need to incorporate a spring material or the like on the side of 2, the contactor 13 itself can also be formed from a hard material having a high wear resistance, which is a difficult-to-process material. .

Further, since the main probe portion 12 is formed separately from the side of the auxiliary probe portion 18, when the contact 13 is worn, the side of the auxiliary probe portion 18 is left as it is, This can be dealt with by removing and replacing only the probe unit 12 side from the first interposition member 33a, which can contribute to the suppression of maintenance cost.

Further, in the case where the side of the auxiliary probe portion 18 is formed by integrating the auxiliary contactor 21 and the barrel portion 27 via the tension coil spring material 22 as shown in FIGS. Can be attached very easily to the side of the elevating part 32 via the second interposition member 33b, so that the attaching work can be performed efficiently.

On the other hand, the auxiliary probe section 18 may be provided in a third aspect.
As described above, at least the pressing member 19 formed of the compression coil spring material 23 and the holding portion 24 that accommodates the compression coil spring material 23 are provided, and further, the rear end surface 13b of the contactor 13 and the When the interposed conductive material 25 is also provided between the compression coil spring material 23 and the one end portion 23a, when the sharp contact portion 14 of the contact 13 is brought into pressure contact with the site to be inspected. The pressure applied to the inspected site can be relieved. Moreover, the contact 13 has a rear end face 13
Since the pressing force is constantly applied to b, a sharp output is applied to the sharp contact portion 14 so that the sharp contact portion 14 can be more stably and surely brought into contact with the inspected portion.

Further, the auxiliary probe section 18 is defined by claim 4.
As described above, the pressing member 19 formed by the piston material 26 and the barrel portion 27 in which the fluid 28 is sealed.
In the case of being formed by, it is possible to relieve the pressure applied to the inspection site when the sharp contact portion 14 of the contactor 13 is pressed against the inspection site. Moreover, as a result of the pressing force of the piston member 26, which is urged by the repulsive force obtained by compressing the fluid 28, the contact 13 is constantly urged to the rear end surface 13b, and as a result, the contact portion 13 is pressed against the portion to be inspected. The sharp contact portion 14 can also be contacted more stably and surely.

The lead wire 35 for transmitting the measurement signal taken in through the main probe portion 12 has a rear end portion of the contactor 13 as shown in FIG. 2 from the viewpoint of reducing the contact resistance. It is preferable to attach directly to 13a. However, when the main probe portion 12 and the auxiliary probe portion 18 are attached to the interposing member 33 while maintaining the electrical connection relationship, as shown by the broken line in FIG. In addition to the auxiliary contactor 21, it may be fixed to the holding portion 24 in FIG. 4 or the rear end portion of the barrel portion 27 in FIG. 5 by soldering or the like.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the substrate inspection probe is divided into the main probe portion and the auxiliary probe, the contact may be damaged or Even if the tip contact portion is worn, it can be dealt with by simply replacing the main probe portion side, and the maintenance cost can be reduced.

Further, since the pressing force which is prepared as a separate body is always applied to the contactor from the rear end side, the contactor side is biased by a spring material or the like. The structure can be simplified by eliminating the need to directly connect the members. Therefore, the contactor can be formed by using a hard-working super-hard conductive material, and as a result, it is possible to impart quality performance with rich wear resistance.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the auxiliary probe portion is formed by accommodating and supporting the pressing member made of the compression coil spring material in the holding portion, the structure thereof is Not only is the structure simplified, but it is maintenance-free after being mounted on the interposition member, so that the work efficiency can be improved.

Further, according to the invention as set forth in claim 4, the auxiliary probe portion applies a fluid to the barrel portion through the pressing member made of a piston material which can press the contactor from the rear end direction. Since it is formed by enclosing, not only the strength of the pressing force can be easily changed by appropriately changing the fluid to be enclosed, but especially when gas is used as the fluid, Since maintenance is not required even after fastening, it is possible to reduce complexity of work and improve work efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a mounted state of the board inspection probe shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an enlarged rear end side of the auxiliary probe in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the auxiliary probe side.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing still another example of the auxiliary probe side.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing another example of a portion surrounded by an alternate long and short dash line in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional example of a substrate inspection probe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Substrate Inspection Probe 12 Main Probe Part 13 Contact 13a Rear End 13b Rear End Face 14 Sharp Contact Part 15 Barrel Part 16 Stopper 17 Sleeve Part 17a Male Thread Part 18 Auxiliary Probe Part 19 Pressing Member 20 Barrel Part 20a Fitting Groove 21 Auxiliary Contactor 21a Tip part 21b Rear end part 19 Barrel part 22 Tensile coil spring material 22a One end part 22b Other end part 23 Compression coil spring material 23a One end part 23b Other end part 24 Holding part 25 Interposed conductive material 26 Piston material 26a Sealing Collar part 26b Guide collar part 27 Barrel part 27a Stopper 28 Fluid 31 Movable arm part 31a Motor 31b Belt 32 Elevating part 33 Interposer member 33a First interposer member 33b Second interposer member 34a Female screw part 35 Lead wire

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An X-Y direction movable unit is fixed to an elevating unit of a movable arm unit arranged in a substrate inspecting machine through an interposing member, and has a biasing force in a protruding direction. In the board inspection probe for inspecting the electrical characteristics of a predetermined portion of the mounting board through the contact held in the barrel portion so as to freely move back and forth in the axial direction, the board inspection probe is The main probe portion having the sharp contact portion and the rear end portion projected and held in the barrel portion, and the contact point of the main probe portion is always urged by a pressing force from the rear end side to electrically connect the main probe portion. Divided into an auxiliary probe section including a pressing member connected to the main probe section and the auxiliary probe section, and the main probe section and the auxiliary probe section have a positional relationship in which the pressing force from the pressing member is applied to the contactor by the interposing member. It can be held and fixed to the lifting unit freely. Substrate inspection probe, characterized in that the. 2. The barrel portion that allows the auxiliary probe portion to freely advance and retreat in the axial direction of the auxiliary contactor as the pressing member that can be pressed from the rear end face side of the contactor provided in the main probe portion. And the pressing force of the auxiliary contact is fixed by fixing one end of the auxiliary contact to the barrel and the other end to the rear end of the auxiliary contact projected from the barrel. The probe for board inspection according to claim 1, wherein the probe coil is provided through a tension coil spring material that is interposed. 3. The pressing member provided in the auxiliary probe section is formed of a compression coil spring material that can press the contact in the main probe section from the rear end direction, and the compression coil spring material is housed therein. The substrate inspection probe according to claim 1, wherein one end is supported by the holding part, and the other end is brought into contact with and supported by the rear end side of the contactor to apply a pressing force to the contactor. . 4. The pressing member provided in the auxiliary probe section is formed of a piston material that can press the contact in the main probe section from the rear end direction, and the pressing force applied to the piston material is The probe for board inspection according to claim 1, wherein the pressing of the piston material is formed by the pressure of the fluid freely enclosed in the barrel portion.