International Business Machines Corporation

Noel Patrick Glancy

Stuart P Lees

Inspection apparatus is disclosed for providing a visual indication of the proper merger of the conductive pins of an electrical component in the corresponding openings in a printed circuit board. The apparatus includes an inspection plate which has a plurality of channels defined between first and second opposite faces. In the channels are mounted a plurality of inspection pins which move between a first, rest position (countersunk with respect to the top surface of the inspection plate) and a second, extended position (flush with the plate's top surface). The inspection pins in the plate correspond in number and configuration to the component conductive pins but have a greater cross sectional area than that of the conductive pins. When the component is merged with the printed circuit board, each connector pin passes through the corresponding circuit board opening and pushes against the corresponding inspection pin to cause it to move to the extended position. If the conductive pin is bent or deformed, the inspection pin remains in the rest position such that the apparatus operator is provided with a visual indication of which conductive pins have not merged correctly with the circuit board.

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Renfrewshire, United Kingdom

Noel Patrick Glancy