JPH0619370B2 - probe - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a probe, and more particularly to a probe for accessing the terminals of an integrated circuit mounted on the surface of an etched circuit board.

<Problems to be Solved by Conventional Techniques and Inventions> In recent years, the number of integrated circuits used has greatly increased. Along with this, it is possible to check the operation of integrated circuits in which these are mounted, to develop products, repair failures, and so on. Has become important at the stage. Various probes have been developed for inspecting the operation of such integrated circuits, and the conditions desired for these probes include the following, depending on each case.

(1) It is possible to access the integrated circuit while it is mounted on the circuit board on which the integrated circuit is used.

(2) It can be easily attached and detached.

(3) A plurality of terminals (pins) included in the integrated circuit can be accessed simultaneously.

(4) The probe can be reliably positioned with respect to the integrated circuit. Therefore, ensure that each probe tip contacts only the corresponding integrated circuit terminal.

(5) The impedance between the terminal of the integrated circuit and the probe of the probe is small.

(6) The probe tip has a structure that makes it easy to selectively connect to a measuring instrument such as an oscilloscope.

(7) Probing can be performed in a narrow space where it is hard to reach.

FIG. 8 shows an IC clip for a flat package IC disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-67871. In this conventional example, when the pair of support plates (10) are pressed so as to be closed toward the center at the upper part, the pair of terminal holding plates (12) are also closed at the upper part and opened at the lower part so that they can be attached to and detached from the integrated circuit. You can do it. A pair of support plates (10) and a pair of terminal holding plates (1
The total of four members in 2) is the front view of the conventional example No. 8
(B) It is attached to a leaf spring (14) shown by a broken line in the figure, and its lower portion is biased so as to close toward the center. The support plate (10) and the terminal holding plate (12) are in cam-like engagement with each other as shown in FIG. 8 (c) which is a plan view of this conventional example.

In this conventional example, the lower part of the support plate (10) that can contact the integrated circuit can be used for positioning the probe with respect to the integrated circuit, but on the other hand, the terminals arranged on two side surfaces (corresponding to the terminal holding plate side) of the integrated circuit. Only accessible to.

FIG. 9 shows a clip connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-63865. This conventional example also
When the pair of levers (16) are pressed so as to close toward the center at the upper part as in the prior art example, the legs (20) and (22) of the clip body (18) are accordingly bottom views of the prior art example. Is opened in the vertical direction in FIG. 9 (b),
At the same time, the lower part of the lever (16) is also opened, so that the lever (16) can be attached to and detached from the integrated circuit to be measured. The lever (16) and the clip body are still in cam-like engagement as shown in FIG. 9 (b). The difference from the conventional example shown in FIG. 8 is that
Corresponding covers and clip bodies (18) so that the terminals arranged on all four sides of the integrated circuit can contact
That is, a probe (24) is provided in the lower part of the.

However, in the case of this conventional example, the positioning of each probe (24) of the clip connector and the pin of the integrated circuit under test must be performed visually, which is troublesome.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a probe that can simultaneously access all the terminals arranged on the side surface of the integrated circuit and can surely and easily align the probe with the integrated circuit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a probe that can be probed into an integrated circuit in a narrow space where it is difficult to reach.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a probe which is automatically fixed to an integrated circuit while the terminals of the integrated circuit to be measured and the probe of the probe are automatically aligned when probing. Is.

<Means and Actions for Solving the Problems> A probe according to the present invention comprises a guide member, which engages with an outer surface of a package of an integrated circuit under test so as to hold the package, and positions the probe with respect to the integrated circuit. I do. The adapter is provided with a probe corresponding to the arrangement of the terminals of the integrated circuit under test. The adapter is slidably engaged with the guide member, and the probe slid on the guide member engaged with the package of the integrated circuit under test causes the probe implanted in the adapter to move. , Contact with or separate from the terminals of the integrated circuit. A fixing means such as a magnet, a suction cup, or a vacuum means is provided to fix the guide member to the integrated circuit package.

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of the probe of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the probe shown in FIG. 1 as seen from below, and FIG. The top plan view of the probe shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 (b) are sectional views taken along the line III-III in FIG. 3 (a). In FIG. 3 (b), the adapter (28) is not slid downward on the right side of the central incision line (26), and the adapter (28) is on the left side of the incision line (26). Slide the probe downward (3
0) is in contact with the terminal (34) of the integrated circuit (32). Further, the adapter (28) is provided with the probe sockets (36) arranged in three rows along the four sides, which are not actually arranged in phase on the cutting plane III-III (Fig. 3 (a)). For reference, the cross-sections are drawn as if they were arranged in the same phase for the sake of clarity.

As shown in FIG. 1, the probe according to the present invention comprises an adapter (28) and a guide member (38). The adapter (28) comprises an adapter body (40) and a probe guide plate (41) attached thereto. The probe guide plate (41) is drawn on each of four sides, although only two pieces attached to the front right side surface and the front left side surface of the adapter body (40) are drawn. Guide member (3
8) is composed of a pedestal portion (42) and a prismatic portion (44). The prismatic portion (44) enters the slide hole (46) of the adapter body (40) and guides the vertical slide of the adapter (28). The pedestal part (42) has a hollow structure having an opening on the lower surface, and several holes (48) are opened from the outside to this hollow part.

In the assembly of this embodiment, first, each probe socket (36) of the adapter body (40) is provided with a probe. Next, the probe guide plate (41) is attached to the adapter body. Then, the prismatic portion (44) of the guide member is engaged with the slide hole (46) provided in the adapter body. Projection (50) to hole (4
8) Inserted into the guide member (38) and projected from below the guide member (38).
Insert a magnet (described later) into and fix it.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pedestal portion (4) of the guide member (38) is
2) has a hollow structure, and as described above, the first magnet (51) as the fixing means is housed in this hollow portion. The lower inner edge (52) of the pedestal (42) engages the integrated circuit package to position the probe.
The probe (54) is exposed from between the pedestal portion (42) and the probe guide plate (41).

As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the probe socket (36) is arranged in three rows along each side of the adapter body (40).
Is provided. The probe socket (36) is a hole set to have a predetermined depth, and a probe is projected from the lower side into the hole. When measuring with this probe,
A lead (not shown) with a receptacle is inserted into the probe socket (36) and connected to a measuring instrument such as an oscilloscope.

In FIG. 3 (b), the integrated circuit (3
The probe attached to 2) is shown. To mount the probe, first the inner edge (52) of the lower end of the guide member (38) is fitted to the outside of the integrated circuit package. Next, the second magnet (60) as a fixing means housed in the insulating case (58) is attached from the back surface of the circuit board. The insulating case (58) is provided so that the second magnet (60) does not come into direct contact with a component on the circuit board to prevent a short circuit. Then, the adapter (28) is slid from above to the lower end of the probe (30) so that the pin (3
4) Contact with. The insulating case (58) has shoulders (6
2) is provided for the purpose of engaging with a mounting jig which will be described later. On the contrary, when removing the probe, slide the adapter upward to move the probe (30) and pin (3
4) are separated from each other, and then the second magnet (60) is removed together with the insulating case (58) from the back surface of the circuit board (56),
The guide member (38) is removed from the integrated circuit package (32).

FIG. 4 is a plan view and a side sectional view showing a second embodiment of the probe of the present invention. The most different point from the first embodiment is that the probe guide plate (41 ') is not fixed to the adapter body (40) but to the prismatic portion (44) and constitutes a part of the guide member. is there. The upper part (64) of the probe guide plate (41 ') has a comb shape and is attached to the prism from the outside so that the probe (30) is housed in the gap. Except for the points described above, the assembling method, the procedure for attaching and detaching to and from the integrated circuit, etc. are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a jig for attaching the probe of the present invention to a circuit board incorporated in a housing, and FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the jig as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG. FIG. 7 is a view showing how the probe according to the present invention is attached to the circuit board incorporated in the housing by the jig shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, this jig has two arms (68) and (70) that are rotatably engaged with each other at one end and extend in the longitudinal direction so that the other end can be opened and closed. . Arm (6
One end of 8) and (70) forms a hinge (72) and is rotatable. The other ends of the two arms (68) and (70) can be opened and closed, and two sets of claws (74) and (7) are provided, respectively.
5) is provided. A cam mechanism (76) is provided in the vicinity of the hinge (72) as shown in FIG. 6 in order to maintain a predetermined space between the arms (68) and (70). The cam mechanism (76) includes a first cam (7) fixed to the arm (70).
8) and a second cam (8) rotatably engaged with the arm (68).
0) and a rotation knob (82) for rotating the second cam (80). The engagement surface of the first cam and the second cam is not perpendicular to the rotation axis as shown in the figure, so that the cams push the arms toward each other depending on the rotation angle. This allows the arm spacing to be adjusted to the desired width. A spring (84) may be provided between the arms if desired.

When the probe of the present invention is attached to the circuit board incorporated in the housing by using the jig (66), the probe is attached to the nail of one arm of the jig, for example, the nail (74), as shown in FIG. The assembly of the guide member (38) and the adapter (28) is attached, and the fixing means including the second magnet is attached to the claw (75) of the other arm so that the two arms straddle the circuit board. Carry to position. The claws (74) and (75) are engaged with the shoulder portion (61) of the adapter (28) and the shoulder portion (62) of the insulating case (58), respectively, and hold them. At this time, an attractive force by the magnet acts between the assembly and the fixing means including the second magnet, and the frictional force with the claw is also assisted to hold the fixing means including the assembly and the second magnet between the claws. As one can easily imagine, the attractive force of the magnet needs to be strong enough for the weight of the probe. The guide member is attached to the integrated circuit under test while closing the arm at a desired position, the probe is fixed by the attracting force of the opposing magnets sandwiching the circuit board, and the adapter is slid.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the magnets attracting from both sides of the circuit board are used as the fixing means, but this may be replaced with, for example, a sucker sucking on the upper surface of the package of the integrated circuit under test. In addition, a hole is made to penetrate through the prismatic portion of the guide member in the longitudinal direction,
Alternatively, the integrated circuit may be extended downward from the embodiment so that the lower end is in close contact with the upper surface of the integrated circuit package, and the integrated circuit is sucked and fixed from above the probe by some vacuum means.

<Effects of the Invention> According to the present invention, terminals on the side surface of an integrated circuit to be measured can be accessed at the same time, and an adapter can be securely attached to the integrated circuit to be measured even in a narrow place where a circuit board is mounted in a slot or the like and cannot be accessed. Can be attached to. Further, since the first magnet is fixed to the adapter, the adapter is automatically fixed to the integrated circuit or the circuit board while being automatically aligned by attracting the second magnet.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view from below of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view, FIG. 4 is a top plan view and a side sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a view for attaching the probe of the present invention to an integrated circuit on a circuit board mounted in a housing. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the jig, FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of an essential part of the jig shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a view showing a method of using the jig shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 8 and FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional probe. In these, (28) is an adapter, (32) is an integrated circuit, (38) is a guide member, (51) and (60) are fixing means, and (54) is a probe.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of probes corresponding to a plurality of terminal arrangements on a side surface of an integrated circuit to be measured, an adapter in which the plurality of probes are implanted, and a slide hole provided in the center, and the adapter described above. A guide member slidably engaged with the slide hole to guide the plurality of terminal arrangements of the integrated circuit to be measured to the plurality of probes in an accurate positional relationship, and a first magnet provided in the adapter. , Having first and second arms whose one end forms a rotatable hinge, and the adapter and the second magnet being fixed to the other ends of the first and second arms, respectively. A probe comprising a jig for sandwiching the integrated circuit to be measured between two magnets.