JP2004061180A - Contact probes - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contact probe at a low cost by rationalizing working of a sleeve. <P>SOLUTION: The contact probe is equipped with a rod element 20 and a sleeve 30 for holding the rod element 20, and telescoped and contracted when the rod body moves to the sleeve. The sleeve is formed by press molding of a plate-like material A, thereby constituting the contact probe. The press molding includes a blank forming process, a curling process and a separation process. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a contact probe that includes a rod body and a sleeve that holds the rod body, and that expands and contracts as the rod body moves relative to the sleeve.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As an extremely fine contact probe used in an inspection device for an IC element or a circuit board, one having a rod body held by a sleeve is known. This type of contact probe expands and contracts when the rod body moves with respect to the sleeve, and the sleeve further stores an elastic body that biases the rod body toward the outside of the sleeve. Each of the sleeve and the rod body is a metal member having excellent conductivity, and one of them is conducted to the inspection apparatus, and the other is brought into contact with the object to be inspected.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the sleeve of the contact probe described above is conventionally produced by finishing the inner and outer diameters of a bar or pipe material by machining and then cutting out the tip shape by milling. That is, regarding the manufacturing cost of the contact probe, the sleeve machining and milling are very expensive at present.
[0004]
In particular, if the rod body or the sleeve is plated with gold or the like, the conductivity of the contact probe can be further improved. However, since the inner diameter of the sleeve is very small, it is difficult for the plating solution to enter the inner surface of the sleeve, which may cause a problem in plating quality.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an inexpensive contact probe by rationalizing the processing of the sleeve.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention described in claim 1 of the present application is a contact probe comprising a rod body and a sleeve for holding the rod body, and the rod body is expanded and contracted by moving with respect to the sleeve. This is a contact probe having a configuration formed by press-molding a shaped material. According to such a configuration, it is possible to rationalize the processing of the sleeve, and an inexpensive contact probe can be obtained.
[0007]
In other words, in the past, the sleeve was made by cutting the tip shape by milling after finishing the inner diameter and outer diameter of the bar or pipe material by machining, but in the present invention, the sleeve is made of a plate-like material. Since it is produced by press molding, it can be produced relatively easily.
[0008]
The invention described in claim 2 of the present application is the contact probe according to claim 1, wherein the press molding includes a step of forming a blank of the sleeve on the material and a step of curling the blank. According to such a configuration, press molding can be performed extremely efficiently.
[0009]
The invention described in claim 3 of the present application is the contact probe according to claim 2, wherein the press molding includes a step of separating the curled blank from the material. According to such a configuration, press molding can be performed extremely efficiently.
[0010]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the sleeve accommodates an elastic body that urges the rod body to the outside of the sleeve, and supports the elastic body. It is a contact probe having a configuration in which a protrusion is provided. That is, when the elastic body is accommodated in the sleeve, it is preferable to provide a projecting portion for supporting the elastic body at a point of the sleeve. According to press molding, such a protrusion can be easily provided.
[0011]
The invention described in claim 5 of the present application is the contact probe according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sleeve is plated. That is, in the past, there was a disadvantage that the plating solution was difficult to enter the inner surface of the sleeve having a small inner diameter. In the present invention, since the sleeve is formed by press-molding a plate-like material, the inner surface of the sleeve is not formed. There is an advantage that the plating solution enters from the joint of the material. As a result, the plating quality is improved and the conductivity is more reliably ensured.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0012]
The contact probe 1 of the present example shown in FIGS. 1 to 2 is of an extremely fine type (cross-sectional diameter of 1 mm or less, total length of about several mm) used in an inspection device for IC elements or circuit boards. And a sleeve 30 that holds the body 20, and is configured to expand and contract as the rod body 20 moves relative to the sleeve 30. One of the rod body 20 and the sleeve 30 is electrically connected to the inspection apparatus, and the other of them is brought into contact with the object to be inspected. A sharp apex is formed at each of the distal end portion 21 of the rod body 20 and the distal end portion 31 of the sleeve 30, and these apexes are abutted against the object to be examined.
[0013]
The sleeve 30 accommodates an elastic body (in the illustrated example, a coil spring) 40 that urges the rod body 20 to the outside of the sleeve 30. In addition, a protrusion 32 that supports the elastic body 40 is provided at an important point of the sleeve 30. The protrusion 32 is a portion protruding into the sleeve 30 and is formed by cutting and raising a part of the wall of the sleeve 30 in this example. Alternatively, the protrusion 32 can be formed by punching a part of the wall. A ball or the like may be disposed between the protrusion 32 and the elastic body 40.
[0014]
On the other hand, the base end portion 22 of the rod body 20 is inserted into the opening of the sleeve 30 and is prevented from coming off by crimping the opening edge portion 33 using a predetermined jig.
[0015]
According to such a configuration, the rod 20 or the sleeve 30 can be brought into contact with the object to be inspected with an appropriate pressure by the elastic force of the elastic body 40.
[0016]
In the figure, reference numeral 34 denotes a fixing protrusion used when positioning the probe 30 with respect to the inspection apparatus. The fixing projection 34 is formed by punching a part of the wall of the sleeve 30.
[0017]
In particular, the rod body 20 and the sleeve 30 are plated to improve the conductivity of the contact probe 1. In the figure, reference numeral 35 denotes a slit corresponding to a seam of the material A described later. When plating the sleeve 30, the plating solution enters the inner surface of the sleeve 30 from the slit 35. Therefore, the sleeve 30 can be efficiently plated.
[0018]
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 9, the sleeve 30 of this example is formed by press-molding a plate-shaped material A. As shown in these drawings, the press molding includes a process of forming a blank 30a as a semi-finished product of the sleeve 30 on the material A (process1), a process of curling the blank 30a (process2), and a curled blank 30a as the material A. And a process of separating from (process 3).
[0019]
The press apparatus 100 that performs press molding intermittently conveys the strip-shaped material A and press-molds it, and predetermined molds are sequentially arranged in the conveyance path (see FIG. 3). . Two sleeves 30 are configured to be taken in the width direction of the material A.
[0020]
According to the first die 101 of the press apparatus 100, the material A is provided with pilot holes B for use in conveyance.
[0021]
In the subsequent blank forming step (process 1), the first mold 111 is punched into the portion that becomes the opening edge 33, the next mold 112 is rolled to some extent, and the next mold 113 is fixed to the fixing protrusion. The part 34 is formed, and in the next mold 114, the part that becomes the tip part 31 is partially punched and the side part of the blank 30a is punched, and in the next mold 115, the part that becomes the tip part 31 is completely punched. In this mold 116, the outline of the projection 32 is punched out, and in the next mold 117, the portion provided with the outline is bent to make this a projection 32. Thus, a blank 30a is formed on the material A leaving the joint C (see FIGS. 4 and 5).
[0022]
Here, the reason why the opening edge portion 33 is rolled to some extent is that when the rod body 20 is held on the sleeve 30 later, this is easily caulked. Moreover, the formation of a sharper apex is achieved by punching out the portion to be the tip 31 stepwise.
[0023]
In the subsequent curling step (process 2), the blank 30a is curled by a mold 121 in which predetermined parts are continuously arranged while appropriately setting an idle (see FIGS. 6 and 7). According to this mold 121, the blank 30a is gradually plastically deformed into a cylindrical shape as shown in the order of (1) to (10) in the figure. The joint of the material A formed by abutting both sides of the blank 30a becomes the slit 35 described above. Further, the plastically deformed blank 30 a is sized at the subsequent stage of the mold 121. The dimensional accuracy of the blank 30a becomes extremely accurate by sizing.
[0024]
In the subsequent separation process (process 3), the first die 131 is bent at the joint C to slightly tilt the blank 30a, and the second die 132 is separated from one blank 30a from the material A, In the next mold 133, the other blank 30a is separated (see FIGS. 8 and 9). The blank 30 a separated from the material A is a sleeve 30, which is plated and assembled with the rod body 20 and the elastic body 40.
[0025]
The separation of the blank 30a is performed by shearing the boundary between the blank 30a and the connection C. The arrow in FIG. 9 shows the shear direction. Here, by bending the connection C and slightly inclining the connection C, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the mold comes into contact with an unnecessary portion, and there is an advantage that such shearing is performed accurately.
[0026]
As described above, the contact probe of this example achieves the remarkable effect of rationalizing the processing of the sleeve, which is conventionally expensive, by press molding and reducing the manufacturing cost.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention provides a contact probe that includes a rod body and a sleeve that holds the rod body, and that expands and contracts when the rod body moves relative to the sleeve. The sleeve is formed by press-molding a plate-shaped material. This is a contact probe configured as described above. According to such a configuration, the processing of the sleeve can be rationalized, and an inexpensive contact probe can be obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view showing a contact probe according to a specific example of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a contact probe according to a specific example of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of press molding according to a specific example of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a blank forming process according to a specific example of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a blank according to a specific example of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a curling process according to a specific example of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a cross-sectional shape of a blank in a curling process according to a specific example of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a separation process according to a specific example of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a sheared part in a separation process according to a specific example of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Contact probe 20 Rod body 21 Tip part 22 Base end part 30 Sleeve 30a Blank 31 Tip part 32 Projection part 33 Opening edge part 34 Projection part 35 Slit 40 Elastic body 100 Press molding apparatus 101 Mold (for pilot hole formation)
111-117 Mold (for blank forming process)
121 Mold (for curling process)
131-133 Mold (for separation process)
A Material B Pilot hole C

Claims (5)

In a contact probe comprising a rod body and a sleeve for holding the rod body, the rod body is expanded and contracted by moving relative to the sleeve.
The sleeve is formed by press-molding a plate-shaped material. The contact probe according to claim 1, wherein the press molding includes a step of forming a blank of the sleeve on the material and a step of curling the blank. The contact probe according to claim 2, wherein the press molding includes a step of separating the curled blank from the material. 4. The contact according to claim 1, wherein an elastic body that urges the rod body to the outside of the sleeve is housed in the sleeve, and a protrusion that supports the elastic body is provided. 5. probe. The contact probe according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve is plated.

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