JP2014211378A - Spring probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable mass production, cost reduction, and improvement of replacement workability of probes.SOLUTION: A spring probe is composed of a slender pipe-shaped barrel, and a coil spring inserted into the barrel with both end portions projected from barrel ends. The coil spring has tightly-wound portions formed at an intermediate portion and both end portions in the length direction, and a coarsely-wound elastic portion at each intermediate position between the tightly-wound portions at both end portions and the tightly-wound portion at the intermediate portion. While the coil spring is inserted into the barrel, the barrel center portion is cramped to an inner intermediate portion tightly-wound portion of the coil spring to fix the coil spring. Therefore, a cost is reduced, and productivity is improved. Furthermore, installation/replacement workability is improved.

Description

  The present invention is used, for example, to inspect electrical characteristics of a semiconductor integrated circuit formed on a wafer or to inspect both ends of a semiconductor in a wafer inspection process for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit used in an electronic device. An object of the present invention is to provide a probe that is a part for semiconductor inspection, such as performing the measurement, to achieve more precise measurement, to reduce the cost, and to eliminate the mounting direction and improve the detachability.

This type of probe known so far is based on a circular base, for example, in order to be able to measure between a conductive part of a semiconductor device and a connection pad on the connection board side. A cylindrical contact having a lower tip sharply provided on the lower surface of the base portion, and a cylindrical main body having a connection portion at the upper end provided on the upper surface of the base portion described above. A cylindrical guide member (contact pin) having a ring-shaped flange portion disposed at a distance from the base portion on the cylindrical main body portion; Between the upper and lower end winding portions and the upper and lower end winding portions that are installed on the upper surface of the section and have a sharpened upper end portion that slides with the upper end portion of the guide element. Having an elastically deformable portion (coarse winding portion) and a contact pin guide described above A coil spring having a flat inner peripheral surface, and the lower end winding portion of the coil spring is pushed into the outer peripheral surface of the ring-shaped flange portion of the cylindrical guide, thereby the ring-shaped flange portion. Is fixed by caulking with the lower end winding portion of the coil spring (see Japanese Patent No. 4566248).

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-258547 discloses a cylindrical metal tube barrel having conductivity and a coil spring having the same conductivity, and the coil spring accommodated in the barrel has both ends in the length direction. A connection pin with a structure in which the middle coil portion is loosely wound and elastically deformed with an intermediate portion, accommodated in the barrel, and then caulked near the bottom of the barrel to fix the lower coiled portion of the coil spring. Is described. In this conventional invention, the bottom side of the barrel is an open end, and the lower coiled portion of the coil spring is protruded downward from the bottom of the barrel, and the lower end of the barrel is caulked to lower the coil spring. A connection pin having a configuration in which the tightly wound portion is fixed is also described (second embodiment).

Japanese Patent No. 4566248 JP 2011-258547 A

  Recently, in the field of semiconductor devices such as various electronic devices, there is a tendency to become smaller and lighter, and the probes used for these inspections are inevitably miniaturized. The probe described in Patent Document 1 also requires an extremely advanced technique for producing a cylindrical guide, and is not necessarily suitable for mass production because of its high cost.

  Further, even in the connection pin described in Patent Document 2, the upper part of the coil spring that is in contact with the electrode of the main board in use is inclined with the tip part as a fulcrum and in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the barrel, or Since the lower part of the coil spring crimped to the lower end of the barrel is in contact with the through hole of the wiring board to form an electrical path, the barrel material used here is made of a metal material having very good conductivity In this case, the cost is unavoidable.

  In addition, the connection pins in this case, including the probe described in Patent Document 1 described above, have a mounting direction when used as a whole, and the connection pins are inserted into the guide holes of the guide plate. When crimping, it is necessary to insert the crimped portion formed at one end (lower end) of the barrel, that is, the connecting pin side first, and the overall outer diameter is about 0.6 mm and the length is about 7 to 8 mm. It is not easy to mount / replace new connection pins, and there is a problem that skill is required from the viewpoint of workability.

Therefore, in the present invention, there is no directionality in mounting, and the barrel material does not necessarily have a good conductivity, which makes it easy to handle and replace and can reduce costs. The spring probe has been developed. Specifically, it is composed of an elongated pipe-shaped barrel and a coil spring that is inserted into the barrel in a state in which both end portions protrude from the end of the barrel. A densely wound portion is formed at each end portion, and a loosely wound elastic portion is formed between each of the densely wound portion at both end portions and the densely wound portion at the intermediate portion. The present invention relates to a spring probe in which the center portion of the barrel is crimped to the intermediate winding portion of the internal coil spring and the coil spring is fixed.

  According to the present invention, the barrel has a simple pipe shape, and it is necessary to form a bottom portion by narrowing one end portion or forming a tapered surface to make the upper end opening sharp. In addition, it is not always necessary to use an expensive metal having good conductivity. Coil springs can also be easily produced by using materials with good conductivity, and can be mass-produced at low cost because they can be wound and formed with high accuracy simply by winding a wire with a circular cross section. Suitable for

Furthermore, the coil spring has both ends in the length direction as densely wound portions, and is also provided at an intermediate portion between the densely wound portion at one end and the densely wound portion at the other end, that is, at the intermediate portion of the coil spring. In addition to forming a densely wound portion, and forming a loosely wound elastic portion in the middle of each of the densely wound portion at both ends and the densely wound portion at the intermediate portion, a coil spring is thereby inserted into the barrel. When inserting, either one should be inserted at the head, with both ends projecting the same length from the end of the barrel after insertion, and the middle part of the barrel to the middle coiled part of the coil spring inside Since it is completed only by caulking, the productivity of the probe is good, and there is no directionality especially when using the probe, and either side may be inserted at the head, so the workability is remarkably excellent.

The enlarged view which represented only the barrel part of the spring probe which is one Example of this invention with the half-cut cross section. The enlarged view showing only the coil spring part in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged half-sectional view showing only a barrel portion in FIG. 1. The external appearance enlarged view of the barrel in this invention. The reference figure showing the attachment state of the spring probe of the present invention.

  The details of the present invention will be described below. The probe of the present invention comprises an elongated pipe-shaped barrel and a coil spring loaded in the barrel. The coil spring loaded in the barrel has both end portions. Are protruded outward (in the axial direction) from both ends of the barrel, and in this state, the intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the barrel is protruded toward the internal coil spring. It is fixed by caulking on the outer peripheral surface.

  Specifically, as shown in an enlarged manner in each of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 4, an elongated pipe-shaped barrel 1 and a state in which a part of each end protrudes from the barrel end in the barrel 1. The coil spring 2 is formed with densely wound portions 2c and 2a and 2b at the intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction and at both ends, respectively, and the densely wound portions at both ends. The loosely wound elastic portions 2d and 2e are formed in the middle between the intermediate winding portions 2a and 2b and the densely wound portion 2c.

  As for the material of the barrel 1, a material material with high conductivity that has been conventionally used, such as copper alloy and nickel silver, is generally used. However, in the present invention, since both end portions of the coil spring 2 are in direct contact with the contact portions of the semiconductor substrate 3 and the contact object 4, it is not always necessary to use an expensive highly conductive material. If the properties are good, the densely wound portions 2a and 2b of both ends of the coil spring 2 are deformed when they are pressed from the end side and contact the inner peripheral surface of the barrel 1 during use. The overall electrical resistance value can be further reduced. The specific dimensions of the barrel 1 are too thick when the outer diameter exceeds A0.8 mm, making it difficult to cope with recent semiconductor device inspections, etc. From the viewpoint of handleability, the limit is 0.4mm.

Accordingly, it is desirable that the outer diameter A of the barrel 1 is in the range of about 0.4 mm to 0.8 mm (average: 0.6 mm ± 0.01 mm). The length B is not particularly limited, but the tightly wound portions 2a, 2b and 2c are formed at both ends and the middle of the wound coil spring 2, and elastic portions 2d and 2e by loose winding are formed between them. Therefore, at least 4 mm or more is necessary, and about 10 mm is sufficient (average: 5.6 mm).

  Although the thickness depends on the material used, the strength is such that it does not easily buckle when the protruding portion of the coil spring 2 protruding from both ends when the probe is used is pressed against a contact such as a semiconductor or measuring instrument. It is enough to maintain Therefore, it can be said that the thickness is preferably in the range of about 0.02 mm to 0.6 mm (average: 0.06 mm), and the inner diameter of the barrel 1 is preferably about 0.27 to 0.65 mm (average: 0.48 mm ± 0.01 mm).

  On the other hand, the coil spring 2 is made of a conductive material having a circular cross section, such as nickel gold (Ni + Au), amorphous alloy, stainless steel, and piano wire, and is mechanically wound into a cylindrical shape to have a certain length. Formed. Specifically, densely wound portions 2c and 2a, 2b are formed at the intermediate portion and both end portions in the length direction, respectively, and the densely wound portions 2a, 2b at both ends, and the densely wound portion 2c at the intermediate portion, Are formed by forming loosely wound elastic portions 2d and 2e in the middle of each.

  As for the dimensions of the coil spring 2, the thickness (outer diameter) C is preferably such that it can be inserted into the barrel 1, that is, about 0.25 mm to 0.64 mm (average: 0.45 mm ± 0.01 mm). Further, the length D needs to be a length in which both end portions sufficiently protrude outward in the axial direction from the end portion of the barrel 1, and specifically, about 6 mm to 14 mm (average: 7.68 mm). Further, the winding pitch of each part constituting the coil spring 2 and the dimensions of each part of the winding pitch will be described with reference to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The part E constituting the closely wound part 2a at one end is adjacent. The matching windings are wound 22 times in close contact with each other, and the length of the portion E is 1.32 mm.

  The same applies to the portion F constituting the closely wound portion 2b at the opposite end, in which adjacent windings are wound 22 times in close contact with each other, and the length of the portion F is 1.32 mm. Further, in the central densely wound portion 2c, adjacent windings are wound four times in close contact with each other to form a portion G, and the length of the portion G is 0.24 mm. Further, the portions H and I of the loosely wound elastic portions 2d and 2e are formed in the middle between the densely wound portions 2a and 2b at both ends and the densely wound portion 2c at the intermediate portion.

The loosely wound elastic portions 2d and 2e are both wound 14 times, and the lengths of the portion H and the portion I are both 2.40 mm. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, when the outer diameter is slightly reduced toward the end, the vicinity of the tip ends of both ends 2 a and 2 b of the coil spring 2 is in contact with the contact of the substrate 3 and the contact object 4. In addition to being better in performance, the barrel 1 does not get caught on the edge of the barrel opening when entering and exiting the barrel 1 and becomes smooth. In addition, about the length dimension of each part E * F * G * H * I of the above-mentioned coil spring 2, it is possible to increase / decrease to the range of about 20% with respect to each dimension described above.

  Next, the assembly of the barrel 1 and the coil spring 2 will be described. The coil spring 2 is inserted into the pipe-shaped barrel 1. In this case, the coil spring 2 may be inserted with the end on either side of the both ends 2a and 2b as the head, and after loading, approximately half of both ends 2a and 2b are both attached to the barrel 1. It protrudes outward in the axial direction from the end. In this case, the protrusion lengths E1 and F1 are both about 1.04 mm as shown in FIG.

In this state, the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the barrel 1 is depressed inward to crimp the tightly wound portion 2c formed in the middle portion of the coil spring 2 in the barrel 1 to the crimping portion. The barrel 1 can be fixed to the coil spring 2 by forming 1a. In this case, the caulking portion 1a is formed at four equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the barrel 1 as shown in FIG. 3 in this embodiment, but it is not limited to four exceptional locations. There may be one place or two or more places.

However, if the caulking portion is formed in a strip shape over the entire circumference, the strength of the barrel 1 may be deteriorated, so that one to four locations is sufficient. Note that FIG. 3 shows only the barrel 1 portion for convenience of explaining the crimping portion of the crimping portion 1a, and does not have the crimping portion 1a before the coil spring 2 is inserted. The barrel 1 and the coil spring 2 depicted in FIGS. 1 to 3 are enlarged for convenience of explanation, and the length dimension becomes too large with the expansion, so that the length relative to the thickness is increased. The ratio is reduced.

  The use of the spring probe according to the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 5. For example, when the electrical characteristics are inspected via a conductive pad (not shown) on the substrate 3 such as a semiconductor integrated substrate. The inspection insulating plate 5 is provided with a guide hole 5a at a position corresponding to the conductive pad, and can be easily attached by inserting a spring probe into the guide hole 5a. In addition, in this case, since the spring probe of the present invention does not have a special direction of attachment, the spring probe can be inserted regardless of which end portion of the both ends in the length direction is the head.

5 shows a case where only one guide hole 5a is provided in the inspection insulating plate 5, normally, at least a plurality of guide holes 5a are formed, and a spring probe is provided in each guide hole 5a. Each of the tightly wound portions 2a and 2b protruding from both ends of the barrel 1 of the coil spring 2 by attaching and short-circuiting between the conductive parts of the contact object 4 and moving the contact object 4 in the direction of the substrate 3 The end portions are contacted and pressurized, and the loosely wound elastic portions 2d and 2e of the coil spring 2 are contracted by this pressurization to absorb the applied pressure to some extent, and the conductive portions of the substrate 3 and the contact object 4 are The contact is made more reliable, and the electrical connection is made more reliable.

1 Barrel 1a Caulking part 2 Coil spring 2a Closely wound part 2b Closely wound part 2c Closely wound part 2d Sparsely wound elastic part 2e Sparsely wound elastic part

Claims (3)

An elongated pipe-shaped barrel and a coil spring inserted into the barrel in a state in which both end portions protrude from the end of the barrel, respectively. A densely wound portion is formed, and a loosely wound elastic portion is formed between the densely wound portion at both ends and the densely wound portion at the intermediate portion, and a part of both ends of the coil spring is formed in the barrel. A spring probe in which the center portion of the barrel is crimped to the middle portion of the coil spring inside and the coil spring is fixed in a state where each is inserted in a state protruding from the barrel end.   The spring probe according to claim 1, wherein the center portion of the barrel is caulked to an intermediate densely wound portion of the internal coil spring to fix the coil spring at one location. 2. The spring probe according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of caulking locations for fixing the coil spring by caulking the middle portion of the barrel to an intermediate dense winding portion of the internal coil spring are a plurality of locations in the barrel circumferential direction.

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