International Business Machines Corporation

Louis H Faure

Terence W Spoor

Dana Roberts Townsend

Thomas J Walsh

Alfred H Johnson

Philo B Hodge

Charles P Coughlin

Edward Thomas Bernardo

Donald G Pittwood

Howard Thomas Johnston, Jr

Testing probes in a testing apparatus are supported in a unitary structure to provide rigidity of the supports for the probes in testing. The spring probes have a contact head at the distal end from the probe tip with a set of antirotation tabs which lock in a cooperating antirotation slot in the probe guide. The contact head has a cone-shaped pilot at its tip which is engaged with a gold-plated contact spring. The inner diameter is integrally in contact with the pilot by mechanical engagement or bonding by soldering or laser welding or the like. A method of forming a probe tip on an array of test probes in a support member of a test apparatus includes inserting a plurality of probes into an array of probe cylinders in the member with the ends of the probes extending below the ends of the cylinders, the probes being retained by fixturing means at a predetermined position in the cylinders, the ends of the probes are planarized to provide a smooth surface of the member with the probes flush therewith, apply a layer of resist to the lower surface of the member covering the guide plate and the newly planarized lower ends of the probes, after the resist has been exposed to a pattern through a high precision mask, a set of rings at the base of the planarized probes is formed in the resist by etching the tips through the resist, and then remove the fixturing means.

Method of making spring probe with piloted and headed contact

Method of tip formation for spring probe with piloted and headed contact

Spring probe with piloted and headed contact and method of tip formation

A test probe assembly is disclosed having bucking beam displacement test probe units which are easily replaceable. Each test probe unit includes a wire and a slotted tube containing the wire,one end of the wire being attached to one end of the tube and the other end of the wire protruding from the other end of the tube. The wire slidably engages an inner diameter of the tube. Each tube is slotted at a plurality of locations along the longitudinal axis thereof to provide spaces for the buckling beam displacement of the respective wire when the protruding end of the wire is brought to bear against a device point to be tested. The slots are staggered so that adjacent ones are disposed radially opposite to each other with some overlap along the longitudinal axis of the tube. The test probe units are inserted in predetermined respective holes of an apertured block of insulating material in accordance with a pattern of device points to be tested.

Test probe assembly using buckling wire probes within tubes having

A test probe employing a buckling beam array for testing integrated circuits. A pair of identical sets of guides are positioned on either side of a centerpost to align the buckling beams. In one embodiment the holes in one set of guides is offset by a key to induce prebow in the beams. In another embodiment prebow is induced by a floating asymmetric separator positioned on the centerpost between the guide sets. When a force is applied to the probe, the beams deflect in the direction but to different extents so that a uniform force is applied to the surface of the IC irrespective of variations in height.

Modular test probe

A sensing apparatus for determining the precise location of a conductive feature on an insulating substrate which has a base, a plurality of flexible flat elongated contact blade elements having end portions for contacting and establishing electrical contact to a conductive surface feature, insulating means between the blade elements, and a base member for supporting the blade elements in a bowed condition with the end portions arranged in a plane parallel to the plane of the top surface of the insulating substrate.

Sensing probe for determining location of conductive features

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device mounting element embodying a wire fan-out wherein the ends of a plurality of insulated wires are supported in a spatial parallel arrangement of columns and rows between two spaced apertured die elements, the spacing of the wires is reduced at a first location between the die elements while maintaining the spatial arrangement of columns and rows, forming an enclosure about the wire portions positioned adjacent one of the die elements and the location where the spacing of the wires is reduced, injecting an organic hardenable resin material into the enclosure thereby encapsulating the wires positioned within, severing the wires, and removing the die. An apparatus for fabricating a semiconductor device mounting element embodying a fan-out arrangement of embedded wires, the apparatus having a pair of die elements each die element provided with a plurality of apertures arranged in columns and rows and adapted in an operation to receive and position insulated wires, the apertures in the dies being in axial alignment, a first set of parallel spaced wires, a second set of spaced parallel wires position in transverse relation to the first set of wires, a means to support the first and second set of spaced wires in a first widely spaced relationship and in a second closely spaced relationship, and a means to support the die elements in the first closed position and in the second open position, a means to load a plurality of insulated wires through the apertures in the pairs of die elements, a means to support the pair of dies in the first closed position and move the dies to a second open position, a means to move the first and second sets of parallel space wires to the second closely spaced relationship to compress the wires, a retractable mold that surrounds portions of the insulated wires positioned between one of the die elements and the location where the wires are compressed, and a means to introduce a hardenable resin material into the enclosure to thereby encapsulate the enclosed wires.

Method and apparatus for making a semiconductor device mounting element

A connector for forming a plurality of electrical wiring connections having a first mateable coupling member with a flat surface and a plurality of openings arranged in a predetermined configuration, a plurality of headed elements disposed in the openings, a second mateable coupling member provided with a flat surface, a set of elongated axially flexible metal buckling beam elements supported on the mateable coupling member and arranged in a predetermined configuration, corresponding to the headed elements on the first member, a means for supporting the buckling beam elements in a position generally perpendicular to the flat surface on the second member, with the ends of the buckling beam elements protruding slightly beyond the flat surface, a means for aligning the first and second members in mateable relation with the respective flat surfaces in opposed relation, and means for securing and maintaining the first and second members in mateable relation with the ends of the beam elements in a flexed position and in contact with the headed elements.

High density cable connector

A multiple site probe for simultaneous probing of multiple chip site clusters of pads. The multiple site probe assembly includes a mounting plate having a plurality of groups of adjustably mounted probes thereon. A plurality of cams cooperate with cam followers associated with individual groups of probes, each of the cam and cam followers having a displacement which is dependent upon its distance from a predetermined and fixed reference relative to the mounting plate. An actuator is connected to the cams so as to effect simultaneous actuation of the cams and to allow for differential displacement of each group of the groups of probes so as to compensate for accumulated tolerances and/or shrinkage of the substrate.

Multiple site, differential displacement, surface contacting assembly

Disclosed is a method of aligning a plurality of probes to a plurality of contacts, the contacts being arragned in a pattern on a substrate. The method includes the steps of powering one of a selected pattern of probes or a like pattern of selected contacts such that upon the selected patterns being in coincidence, the plurality of probes will be in contact with predetermined contacts on the substrate. This is accomplished by providing a circuit path through all of the other probes or contacts which are not powered and then bringing the plurality of probes into contact at random with the contacts of the substrate and then moving one of the substrate and probes until the selected patterns coincide as by indication of a completed circuit path between selected patterns.

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Poughkeepsie, NY, United States of America

Louis H Faure