Interconnection device for connecting test equipment with a circuit

Abstract

An apparatus and method for reliably interconnecting a test device with a circuit board designed for fine pitch solder lead surface mounted components is described. The test equipment interface system of the present invention includes a board interconnect unit, an interposer, and a test device cable. The test device cable is coupled to a test device, which can receive and manipulate signals via the cable. These signals correspond to signals provided by a component being emulated by the present invention. A component being emulated is replaced on the circuit board by the board interconnect unit. The board interconnect unit has leads or pins in a quantity, size, and configuration corresponding to a component being emulated and is typically soldered to a circuit board under test for the purpose of analyzing and debugging the circuitry on the circuit board. The board interconnect unit features a lead frame which is attached to a metal body. The lead frame is used to route or convert the pins into an array of contact pads. The contact pads are relatively widely spaced for better access to and connection with an array of electrically conductive spring pins or contact pins of the interposer. Because the lead frame converts the fine dimension pins to a more widely spaced array of contact pads, the corresponding spring pins of the interposer do not have to be manufactured with the precise dimensional tolerances required for the manufacture of the pins.