Fixturing system

A receiver for use in a fixturing system comprised of:

• a base plate having a field of probes mounted thereon;
• at least one rail connected to the base plate and being adapted to contain a track, said rail having slotted portions therein for receiving mating guides;
• a track contained within each rail, said track being slideably mounted on the base plate, having a slotted portion adapted to be aligned with the slots in the rail and also having a camming surface in communication with each slotted portion for engaging the mating guides;
• and
• actuating means connected to each track for sliding same within its rail.

A fixturing system for making electrical connections between selected points on a product and an electrical apparatus comprised of:

• a vacuum-operated product access unit adapted to mate with a receiver and having a field of test probes for contacting the selected points, and also having a field of contact posts electrically connected to the probes, said product access unit also having
• a vacuum well having the field of probes mounted therein, said well being connectable to a vacuum source,
• a plate resiliently mounted on the well for holding the product, said plate being adapted to be drawin into the well by a vacuum and having at least one opening therein to permit the probes to pass therethrough to the product,
• said well having sidewalls which slope inwardly, at least in part, in the direction in which the plate is drawn and said plate including a perimeter gasket extending beyond the edge of the plate so as to contact the sidewalls near the beginning of the sloped portion of the sidewalls before evacuation of the well and adapted to be in contact with an increasingly large area of the sloped portion as the plate is drawn into the well, thereby forming an increasingly effective seal between the gasket and the sidewalls;
• a receiver having a field of receiver probes connected to the apparatus and adapted to make electrical contact with the posts when the receiver is mated with the product access unit;
• and
• means for mating the product access unit with the receiver.

Apparatus for mechanically joining two objects comprised of:

• a contact panel attached to one of the objects, said contact panel adapted to mate with a receiver by having a plurality of mating guides protruding therefrom in a repetitive pattern in at least two rows;
• a receiver attached to the other object;
• a pair of tracks slideably mounted on the receiver, each having a plurality of slots and camming surfaces in a corresponding pattern for engaging a row of the guides and drawing the contact panel into the receiver when the tracks are slid;
• and
• means for simultaneously sliding the tracks.

An improved product access unit for use in an automatic test system having a receiver with electrical connector elements therein, said product access unit being of the type having a field of electrical probes for making contact with selected points on a product to be tested wherein the improvement comprises:

• a frame;
• a contact panel attached to the frame and adapted to mate with the receiver;
• a field of contact posts mounted in the contact panel, each post being adapted to make contact with a corresponding electrical connector element of the receiver when the panel is mated therewith, and each of said posts being electrically connected to a corresponding one of the probes;
• a well attached to the frame for holding the field of probes, said well having an interior to be evacuated connectable to a vacuum source and having a bottom and sidewalls, said sidewalls each having a sloped portion formed thereon so as to make the interior of the well narrower towards its bottom;
• a plate slideably fit within the well for movement between an upper position before evacuation and a lower position after evacuation, said plate being adapted to hold the product to be tested and having at least one hole therein permitting the probes to pass therethrough to contact the product when the plate is in the lower position;
• and
• a gasket attached to the plate around its perimeter for movement therewith, said gasket overhanging the plate so as to make contact with the sloped portions of the sidewalls within the well at a level above the narrowest part thereof when the plate is in its upper position and so as to be in contact with a relatively larger area of the sloped portions of the sidewalls when the plate is in its lower position.