Apparatus and method for thermal and vibrational stress screening

Abstract

Environmental screening of products is facilitated and enhanced by employing screening compartments to subject products to differing environmental and functional conditions to expose latent defects in the products such as conductor weaknesses and discontinuities, component defects, material defects, and fragility. Within each compartment, products can be simultaneously subjected to various temperature and vibrational conditions as well as to stresses such as electric power cycling, voltage changes, frequency variations, and other functional stimuli. The thermal, vibrational, and other environmental and functional conditions created in each compartment are independently controlled and monitored from those conditions in other compartments. Products are readily transported between screening compartments, which can be adjacent each other, in order to rapidly subject the products to differing screening conditions while minimizing time and energy waste. Products can be visually and electronically monitored during the screening process to determine if the products are functioning as expected. The present invention reduces the level of time, manual intervention, cost, and energy required in order to evaluate product tolerance to differing environmental and functional conditions.