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.

Date of Patent:
Mar. 30, 2004

Filed:

Oct. 22, 2001
Applicant:
Inventors:

Martin Theriault, Houston, TX (US);

Philippe Blostein, Paris, FR;

Assignee:
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 1/700 ; G01N 2/500 ; G01R 3/126 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 1/700 ; G01N 2/500 ; G01R 3/126 ;
Abstract

Methods and apparatus are presented which allow efficient environmental testing of components such as printed circuit boards, integrated circuits, sub-systems and other components. In one method of the invention, a component can be placed into a chamber having an internal space filled with a gaseous atmosphere. The component is indirectly cooled by smartly positioning one or more cooling coils near the component to be tested, and the cooling coils are fed with a cryogenic fluid from a source of cryogenic fluid. The warm cryogenic fluid is recycled by one of two means: a thermosiphon conduit loop, and a storage and compression facility for reusing the warm cryogenic fluid. The internal space is preferably filled with a dry gas.


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