The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 16, 1988
Filed:
Aug. 29, 1986
Robert M Zeh, East Berne, NY (US);
Testamatic Corporation, Scotia, NY (US);
Abstract
An automatic, electro-optical testing apparatus which employs electro-luminescence for the testing of items such as printed circuit boards, ceramic substrates and the like for electrical continuity. A unipotential array of conductor wires lying in substantially the same plane is supported within a sealable test chamber over an item under test to develop a desired electric field between exposed conductive surfaces of the item under test and the unipotential array of parallel conductors. Electro-luminescence is produced in a gaseous atmosphere within the sealable test chamber around test points contacted by a movable probe and around all conductive parts on the item under test and having electrical continuity with the test point contacted by the movable probe. The invention thus comprised eliminates the source of undesired background noise illumination while maintaining all of the transparent parallel conductor grid wires of a unipotential array at the same electric potential. This feature in conjunction with scanning with an automatic electro-optical scanning photometer in desired scanning paths parallel to the axes of the unipotential array of conductor wires reduces to a minimum the possibility of error occurring in the test results by reason of undesired background light noise illumination.