Electronic component temperature test system with flat ring revolving carriage

A test system for electrical components, the test system comprising:

• a carriage for carrying a plurality of components to be tested, the carriage including:
• a first series of electrical contacts having a relatively hard surface,
• a second series of electrical contacts having a relatively hard surface,
• a plurality of sockets for removably receiving electrical components to be tested, the sockets being electrically connected with the first and second series of contacts;
• a turntable means for rotatably supporting the carriage;
• first and second electrically conductive spring members of a relatively soft electrically conductive material, the first and second spring members being mounted such that the first spring member is biased into frictional contact with the first series of electrical contacts and the second spring member is biased into frictional contact with the second series of electrical contacts, such that the relatively hard surface of first and second series of electrical contacts and the relatively soft material of the spring members cause the spring members to wear, with minimal wear on the first and second series of contacts;
• an electrical characteristic measurement means connected with the spring members for sequentially measuring characteristics of the components received in the sockets.

A carriage for carrying electrical components in a test system, the carriage comprising:

• a carriage body having a circular periphery;
• a first series of electrical contacts disposed adjacent the carriage body circular periphery;
• a second series of electrical contacts disposed adjacent the carriage body circular periphery;
• the first and second series of electrical contacts having a surface of a relatively hard conductive material as compared to electrical contact elements that selectively make rubbing friction contact therewith such that relative wear between the first and second series of electrical contacts and the electrical contact elements causes the electrical contact elements to wear, rather than the first and second series of contacts;
• a plurality of sockets for removably receiving electrical components to be tested, the sockets being disposed on the carriage body concentric with the circular periphery and electrically connected with the first and second series of contacts.

A method of testing the temperature dependence of electronic components, the method comprising:

• providing a flat dielectric disk having oppositely disposed first and second faces and a circular peripheral edge, at least first and second series of electrical contacts being arranged peripherally on the flat dielectric disk along the peripheral edge with at least one of the series of contacts being disposed on the first disk face, a plurality of sockets for receiving components being electrically connected with the electrical contacts;
• inserting electronic components into the sockets such that each electronic component is connected with one of the first series of contacts and with one of the second series of contacts;
• removably mounting the flat disk on a rotary turntable in an environmental test chamber;
• in the environmental test chamber, rotating the disk such that the electrical contacts are rotated successively into electrical connection with electrical contact elements which are connected with a test instrument for testing electrical parameters;
• changing temperature in the environmental test chamber to each of a plurality of temperatures and bringing the electronic components into temperature equilibrium at each of the plurality of temperatures;
• at each of the plurality of temperatures, rotating the disk such that the first and second series of electrical contacts are brought progressively into electrical connection with the electrical contact elements and testing each associated electronic component with the test instrument to obtain temperature dependence of the electrical parameters.

A method of testing temperature dependent electronic components, the method comprising:

• inserting electrical components into sockets of a circular carriage, the sockets being connected with at least two series of electrical contacts arranged peripherally around the carriage, the two series of electrical contacts having a relatively hard conductive surface;
• rotating the carriage such that the electrical contacts are rotated successively into frictional contact with electrically conductive spring members which are connected with a test instrument for testing temperature dependent electrical parameters, the spring members being of relatively soft material such that the frictional contact of the spring members and the electrical contacts wears the spring members and leaves the electrical contacts with minimal wear;
• bringing the electrical components into temperature equilibrium at each of a plurality of temperatures;
• at each of the plurality of temperatures, rotating the disk such that the first and second series of electrical contacts are brought progressively into electrical connection with the spring members;
• as the spring members come in sequential contact with the electrical contacts, testing each associated component with the test instrument to obtain the temperature dependent electrical parameters.