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:
Apr. 09, 1996
Filed:
May. 18, 1994
Steven M Blumenau, Royalston, MA (US);
GenRad, Inc., Concord, MA (US);
Abstract
A probe fixture for an automatic circuit board tester has a high density array of probe pads. The array of probe pads are sized and spaced apart to ensure contact with all of the test points on the device under test (DUT). The width of the pads is made smaller than the known minimum separation of the test points, and the separation of the pads is made smaller than the known width of the test points. The pads are connected to remote contacts of the fixture. A multiplexer unit may be provided to connect the desired test circuits to different probe pads of the fixture. Using the multiplexer unit, a controller of the tester can individually test the relative connection status of each of the probes of the fixture. By comparing to the known test point layout of the DUT, the controller then determines which of the probe pads is in contact with which of the test points and proceeds with the desired test functions accordingly.