JPS6184503A - Contact probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the contact resistance of a contact probe and to prolong its life by fitting a conductive contact terminal to one terminal of an expansible bellows and fitting a conductive base to the other terminal of the bellows. CONSTITUTION:The conductive bellows 5 is soldered to the flange 19 of a sleeve 16. Further, the bellows 15 is soldered to a flange 18. The flange 18 is provided with the contact terminal 14 and a plunger 17. The plunger 17 is inserted into the sleeve 16 and moves smoothly with a lubricant. When the tip of the contactor 14 is applied to a body to be tested, the bellows 15 is contracted with a contact pressure and the plunger 17 slides in the sleeve. Electricity, however, is fed through the bellows 15. The bellows 15 prevents foreign matter from entering the inside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a contact probe, and particularly to a contact probe that has a long life with little wear on contact terminals and has high electrical conductivity.

[Technical Background of the Invention] Contact probes as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 have been known (US Pat. No. 3,435.168).

This kind of contact probe 5 has a body barrel 3 and a spring 4.
The spring 4 generates a stroke and torque of several millimeters to bring the terminal 1 into close contact with the measurement location. In addition, the ball 2 is incorporated to improve the adhesion between the sliding surface of the terminal 1 and the inner surface of the body barrel 3, and the contact part of the terminal l with the ball 2 is sloped so that the terminal l always moves in one direction. It's being forced upon me. Further, the components are surface-treated by gold plating or the like.

[Problems with the background art] However, this type of contact probe has a problem in that its reliability is reduced due to the excessive number of parts required to construct it, and that there is a problem in that there is a problem between the sliding surface of the contact terminal and the contact surface of the body barrel. There is a problem in that the contact resistance increases due to wear of the plating layer as the number of contacts increases.

Further, there are problems such as the formation of a plating layer that cannot be prevented from a structural standpoint, and the shortening of the service life due to the contamination of solder, flux, and harmful gases. Another problem is that lubricant cannot be injected into the moving parts.

[Purpose of the Invention] The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has a small number of parts, is less likely to be contaminated by foreign matter, is highly reliable, has low friction resistance, and is injected with lubricant. It is an object of the present invention to provide a contact 1-probe that can have a long service life.

[Summary of the Invention] To achieve this object, the contact probe of the present invention includes a conductive bellows that is expandable and retractable, a conductive contact terminal attached to one end of the bellows, and a contact probe other than the bellows. A conductive support is attached to the end.

[Embodiments of the invention] A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The contact probe 7 of the present invention is composed of a bellows 8, a contact terminal 9, a plunger 10, a support 11, and a flange 12. First, the elastic conductive bellows 8
This is a shingle-shaped joint formed from a single layer or a layered film made of nickel, steel, cobalt, etc. or an alloy thereof. The bellows 8 is electroformed and rolled.

Shaped by processing such as hydraulic molding. Its surface is plated with gold, its alloy, rhodium, or the like, if necessary. Further, the conductive contact terminal 9 has a bellows 8
A terminal attached to one end of the terminal is, for example, a press-fit terminal, and is formed by cutting, rolling, or pressing beryllium, copper, nickel alloy, brass, phosphor bronze, or the like. If necessary, its surface is plated with the same material as the bellows 8. Further, a plunger 10 serving as a guide means for the bellows 8, which allows the bellows 8 to be highly flexible, is attached to the contact terminal 9 and is inserted into the bellows 8 which is contracted in response to the contact pressure applied to the contact terminal 9. It is like a rod-shaped piston.

Furthermore, the conductive support 11 is located at the other end of the bellows 8, the so-called
It is attached to the opposite side of the contact terminal 9 to support the whole, and is made of metal, and its surface is plated with gold, its alloy, rhodium, etc., as necessary. The flange 12 is a protrusion that is interposed between the contact terminal 9 and the plunger 10 and protrudes around the entire periphery.

The operation of the contact probe of the present invention configured as described above is as follows. First, when a test object is applied to the tip of the contact terminal 9, the contact terminal 9 is forced to contract the bellows 8 under the contact pressure. As a result, the plunger 10 is inserted by sliding on the inside of the bellows 8 by a predetermined stroke. However, no matter how much the plunger 10 slides, the current flowing from the contact terminal 9 continues to flow through the bellows 8 to the support 11.

Another embodiment will now be described with reference to FIG.

The contact probe 13 has a contact terminal 14 and a bellows 1.
5, sleeve 16, plunger 17, and flange 18.
19, and has a structure in which the plunger 17 slides in the hollow part of the sleeve 16. In this case, both ends of the bellows 15 have flanges 18 and 19, respectively.
It is soldered or brazed to the By doing so, lubricant can be injected between the plunger 17 and the sleeve 16 to facilitate smooth operation and extend the life of the contact probe 13.

Another embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.

This is an application example using a plurality of contact probes shown in FIG. 1 or 2.

By doing so, it can be used as a connector when a circuit requiring a large number of parts is to be tested. In this figure, in addition to contactor 1 and probe 7, holder 20. Bellows 21. It has a connector 22, a spacer 23, a bush 24, an electric wire 25, and a socket 26. Holder 20° bellows 21, connector 22,
The spacer 23 and the bushing 24 are made of rubber or plastic, and each contact probe 7 has a screw on its tip and is connected to the socket 26 and fixed. Nine.

Further, an electric wire 25 is soldered to the socket 26, and each contact probe 7 is electrically connected to other external circuits through the electric wire 25.

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. 4 below. The contact terminal 28 and support body 30 of this contact probe 31 are similar to those described above, except that the bellows 29 is spiral-shaped.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above embodiments, the contact probe of the present invention has a structure in which the contact terminal is attached to a stretchable conductive bellows, so the number of parts is small, and foreign matter is prevented. It has the remarkable effects of being difficult to mix with, high reliability, low contact resistance, high conductivity, and the use of lubricant allows for smoother operation and longer life.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural cross-sectional view of a contact probe according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 4 are structural cross-sectional views of other contact probes according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a structure showing an example of use of the contact probe according to the present invention. 5 and 6 are structural cross-sectional views of a conventional contact probe. 7...Contact probe 8...Bellows 9...Contact terminal 11...Support agent Patent attorney Moriya - Miscellaneous l Diagram 2 Figure 103 Supplementary Figure 5 Figure 6 Cause

Claims (1)

[Claims] A contact comprising a stretchable conductive bellows, a conductive contact terminal attached to one end of the bellows, and a conductive support attached to the other end of the bellows. probe.