System and method for confirming electrical connection defects
AssigneeAgilent Technologies, Inc.
InventorsHorst Mueller, Sunit Bhalla, Kris Kanack, Stig Oresjo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved circuit board inspection system incorporates a technique that confirms observed electrical connection defects. The improved circuit board inspection system applies a localized investigative routine upon portions of a printed circuit board having one or more identified defects. The technique accounts for the slope of a portion under test of the printed circuit board and provides results that are more accurate from inspection systems that report electrical connection defects.
Claims42
A method for confirming defects, comprising the following steps:
- dividing the surface of a printed circuit board into a plurality of views;
- associating an electrical connection with a corresponding view when a characteristic associated with the connection in an observed image indicates that the connection is defective;
- analyzing the corresponding view to determine the slope of the surface of the printed circuit board across the view;
- adjusting the distance between the printed circuit board and a sensor in response to the slope of the view;
- and
- observing the characteristic associated with the connection in a subsequent image.
An improved circuit board inspection system, comprising:
- means for segmenting a surface of a circuit board in response to an indication that an electrical connection on the circuit board is defective;
- means for associating the defective electrical connection with at corresponding segment;
- and
- means for observing a characteristic of each defective electrical connection that accounts for variation in height of the surface of the circuit board over the corresponding segment.
A defect confirmation program stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising:
- logic configured to segment a surface of a circuit board in response to an indication that at least one of a plurality of electrical connections is defective;
- logic configured to associate the at least one defective electrical connection with a corresponding segment;
- logic configured to adjust the focal plane of a sensor that accounts for variation in height of the surface of the circuit board across the corresponding segment;
- logic configured to record a characteristic of the at least one defective electrical connection;
- logic configured to identify the electrical connection as acceptable in response to a condition where a measured characteristic value falls within a designated range;
- logic configured to supersede a previous indication that the electrical connection is defective in response to the logic configured to identify.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.