JPH058525Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] This invention is used as a measurement terminal for testers, checkers, sensors, etc. that perform circuit checks by making point or surface contact with printed wiring boards and various electronic components. The present invention relates to pin probes, and particularly to improvements in the measurement pins (probe pins) thereof.

[Conventional technology]

This type of pin probe consists of a cylindrical sleeve that is fixed to the mounting board of the measuring device, a measuring pin that is slidably inserted into the fixing sleeve, and whose tip abuts the point to be measured. It consists of a coil spring that is wound around the pin and biases the measuring pin in the axial direction against the fixing sleeve. When making measurements, either move this pin probe, and therefore its mounting board, etc., toward the point to be measured, or move the point to be measured, that is, the printed wiring board, etc., toward the pin probe, and then move the tip of the measuring pin. and the point to be measured, and then move the fixing sleeve and the point to be measured closer together against the elastic force of the coil spring, and retract the measuring pin, the tip of which is in contact with the point to be measured, into the sleeve; At this time, the restoring force of the coil spring presses the tip of the measuring pin against the point to be measured with appropriate contact pressure to ensure reliable contact.

By the way, the measurement pin used in this pin probe has conventionally been made of a metal material such as nickel. Alternatively, measurements can be taken by plating the surface of a metal substrate made of nickel, copper, etc. with a noble metal such as gold or rhodium to a thickness of approximately 1 to 5 μm in order to lower the contact resistance and prevent metal corrosion. They were making pins.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

As described above, conventional measuring pins have been manufactured from metal materials, and therefore have been manufactured by machining such as cutting. However, the measuring pin is usually about 0.5 to 2.0 mm in diameter and 20 to 50 mm in length, and the contacting part at the tip can be machined into various shapes depending on the type, shape, and properties of the part to be measured. It needs to be processed. For this reason, the processing requires a considerable number of man-hours, making manufacturing difficult and making mass production difficult, leading to high costs. In particular, the more complicated or irregularly shaped the tip contact portion is, the more the number of steps increases.

The technical problem of this invention is to provide a pin probe with a measuring pin that can be manufactured through a relatively simple process without using machining, and can significantly reduce the number of man-hours.

[Means for solving problems]

The gist of this invention is that the measuring pin of the pin probe is constructed by depositing a metal thin film by plating on the surface of a base made of conductive ceramics.

[Effect]

The measuring pin in the pin probe according to this invention has a base made of ceramics, so even if it has a complicated or irregular shape, it can be done with relatively few man-hours once the mold is manufactured. It can be manufactured through a simple process. A thin metal film is adhered to the surface of the base by plating, and electricity flows through this thin metal film during testing. In addition, since the ceramic that makes up the base has a certain degree of hardness, even if the tip of the measuring pin is sharp,
The edge portion of the base body will not be damaged due to contact with the point to be measured. Furthermore, since the ceramic that makes up the base is electrically conductive, even if some of the thin metal film on the edge of the measuring pin peels off during repeated use, the peeling will not occur. Even if the degree of peeling is slight, electricity will flow through the substrate at the peeled portion, so the reliability of the test results will not be immediately lost.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of this invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The figures show one embodiment of this invention; Fig. 1 is a partially vertical cross-sectional view of the pin probe, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken at -' of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the measuring pin. FIG. In these figures, the pin probe is composed of a measuring pin 1, a fixing sleeve 2, and a coil spring 3. Measuring pin 1 is attached to a cylindrical fixing sleeve 2
is slidably inserted into the fixing sleeve 2.
is fixed to the mounting board 4 of the measuring instrument. A coil spring 3 is wound around the measuring pin 1, and each end of the coil spring 3 is attached to the measuring pin 1.
It is fixed to the rear end base 10 and the rear end of the fixing sleeve 2, and a coil spring 3 is interposed therebetween. Due to the action of the coil spring 3, the tip abutting portion 12 of the measuring pin 1 is pressed against the point to be measured with an appropriate contact pressure, and a reliable contact state is obtained. That is, when the tip contact portion 12 of the measuring pin 1 is brought into contact with the point to be measured and further pressed,
Measuring pin 1 receives a reaction force in the direction shown by arrow 5,
The coil spring 3 expands as it retreats relative to the fixing sleeve 2, but the elastic force of the coil spring 3 at this time presses the tip contact portion 12 of the measuring pin 1 against the point to be measured. be.
When the contact with the point to be measured is released, the measuring pin 1 returns to its original state due to the restoring force of the coil spring 3. In addition, 22 in the figure is a retainer for the fixing sleeve.

The measuring pin 1 has a structure in which a metal thin film 16 is deposited on the entire surface of a base body 14 made of conductive ceramics by plating. Base 1
The conductive ceramics constituting 4 are made by mixing metal powder such as iron powder, copper powder, or conductive material such as carbon into ceramic raw materials such as alumina before forming, and then shaping and firing the base material. . In this way, the base 14 is made to have electrical conductivity, for example, to have a resistance value of about 10 ^-3 to ^{10 5} Ω.

Since the base body 14 is molded using ceramics as described above, even complex shapes or irregular shapes can be easily molded as long as a mold is made, and mass production becomes possible. Furthermore, since ceramics have a certain degree of hardness, even if the tip of the measuring pin 1 is formed into a sharp shape, the edge of the tip may be damaged due to contact with the point to be measured. There's nothing to do. The reason why ceramics are conductive is that even if a part of the metal thin film 16 at the edge of the tip of the measuring pin 1 peels off during repeated use of the pin probe, even if the extent of the peeling is slight, For example, this is to ensure that electricity is maintained through the base at the peeled portion, and also for manufacturing reasons such as the plating process.

The metal thin film 16 is a part that becomes a current conducting path during measurement, and is made of a metal with low contact resistance, such as nickel, nickel-gold, nickel-rhodium, etc., and has a thickness of about 1 to 60 μm, preferably 40 to 60 μm. It is applied to the entire surface of the base 14 by plating (electroplating, vapor deposition plating, etc.) so that it is evenly coated.

Although this invention is constructed as described above, the scope of this invention is not limited by the contents of the above description and drawings, and may include various modifications without departing from the gist. In other words, any material can be used for the base and the metal thin film as long as it can achieve the same effects as the above-mentioned materials.
Furthermore, the configuration of the pin probe, such as the winding state of the coil spring, the shape of the fixing sleeve, and the cross-sectional shape of the measuring pin, are not limited to those of the above embodiments.

[Effect of idea]

Since this device is constructed and operates as described above, the pin probe according to this device has the following features:
The measurement pin can be easily manufactured with a small number of man-hours, and mass production can be easily carried out. In particular, the more complex and unusual the shape of the tip contact part of the measuring pin is, the more remarkable the effect will be when compared with conventional products. Furthermore, the performance, that is, the contact resistance of the measurement pin, is comparable to that of conventional products. This invention could provide a pin probe having such advantages.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure shows one embodiment of this invention,
Figure 1 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the pin probe, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view at -' of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the measuring pin cut away. be. 1... Measuring pin, 2... Fixing sleeve, 3...
...Coil spring, 4...Mounting board, 14...
Substrate, 16...metal thin film.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. A measuring pin whose tip is in contact with a point to be measured is slidably inserted into a fixing sleeve, and
In the pin probe in which the measuring pin is wound with a coil spring to elastically support the measuring pin in the axial direction with respect to the fixing sleeve, the measuring pin is plated on the surface of a base made of conductive ceramics. A pin probe characterized in that it is constructed by depositing a metal thin film on it. 2. The pin probe according to claim 1, wherein the base body made of conductive ceramics is obtained by mixing metal powder into a ceramic raw material, molding it, and firing it.