Semi-automated probe bender

An apparatus for bending a probe pin comprising:

• a base structure having two guide blocks attached to the top of said base structure;
• a fixture also attached to the top of said base structure and located behind and between the two guide blocks;
• said fixture having vertical and horizontal portions with respect to the base structure resulting generally in an upside down L shape;
• said horizontal portion of the fixture having a bending fixture located at a far end of the horizontal portion with respect to the vertical portion;
• said bending fixture being movable between two positions in order to facilitate the bending of a probe pin;
• said vertical portion of the fixture having a vision camera;
• such that a probe pin can be placed on the guide block and pushed into place, then measured by the vision camera to check on positioning and subsequently beat by the bending fixture.

The method of bending probe pins comprised of:

• placing a probe pin on a guide block;
• bending the probe pin with a bending fixture;
• measuring the bending angle and distance with a vision camera;
• loading second guide block with a second probe pin while the first guide block is bending said probe pin.