Apparatus and method for the testing of circuit boards, and test probe for this apparatus and this method
Assigneeatg test systems GmbH & Co. KG
InventorsUwe Rothaug, Oleh Yuschuk
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and a method for the testing of circuit boards, together with a test probe for this apparatus and this method, in which the contact tips of a test finger of a finger tester are monitored during the testing process by an optical detection device and their movement, at least when approaching a part of the circuit board test points of a circuit board to be tested, is corrected on the basis of the result determined by the optical detection device in such a way that the contact tip makes reliable contact with the circuit board test point concerned. The correction data hereby obtained may be used in the calculation of calibration data.
Claims34
Apparatus for the testing of circuit boards, comprising:
- a mounting area for holding a circuit board to be tested;
- test fingers for serially contacting of circuit board test points of a circuit board to be tested with contact tips, wherein the test fingers are capable of being moved along the surface of a circuit board to be tested by a movement device and being lowered so that the contact tips contact the circuit board;
- an optical detection device for the optical detection of at least one of the contact tips of the test fingers, optical detection device moving with the contact tip at least in a direction along the surface of the circuit board to be tested;
- an analysis unit to record an image of the at least one contact tip and to determine the distance of the contact tip from the center of a circuit board test point to be contacted, and
- a control unit to control the movement of the contact tip on the basis of the distance of the contact tip from the circuit board test point to be tested, as determined by the analysis unit.
Method for the testing of circuit boards with an apparatus for the testing of circuit boards, comprising:
- a mounting area for holding a circuit board to be tested;
- test fingers for the serial contacting of circuit board test points of a circuit board to be tested by means of corresponding a contact tips, wherein the test fingers are capable of being moved along the surface of a circuit board to be tested by means of a movement device and contacting the circuit board with the contact tips;
- and an optical detection device for the optical detection of the position of at least one of the contact tips of the test fingers, in which a method for approaching selected circuit board test points with a contact tip comprises:
- execution of a positioning movement of one of the contact tips, which is arranged at a distance from the surface of a circuit board to be tested, wherein the contact tip is moved parallel to the surface of the circuit board until the contact tip is positioned approximately on a solder standing vertically in the center of a circuit board test point;
- moving the optical detection device with the contact tip;
- moving the contact tip at right-angles to the surface of the circuit board to be tested wherein the optical detection device determines the position of the contact tip relative to the circuit board test point to be contacted at least once, and the movement device for executing a correction movement directed parallel to the surface of the circuit board to be tested is driven in such a way that the contact tip is moved towards the solder.
A finger tester, comprising:
- a mounting area for holding a circuit board to be tested;
- a test head;
- a test probe being mounted on the test head, the test probe comprising a contact tip for the contacting of a circuit board test point of the circuit board to be tested held in the mounting area, wherein the test probe moves along a surface of the circuit board to be tested and perpendicular to the surface so that the contact tip contacts the circuit board test points;
- an optical detection device for the test probe that moves with the test probe at least in a direction along the surface of the circuit board to be tested for optically detecting the contact tip relative to the circuit board test point;
- and
- a control unit controlling movement of the contact tip based on an optically detected relationship between the contact tip and the test point that is detected by the optical detection device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.