JP2009186380A - Electrical connection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the degree of freedom of winding of wiring by suppressing partial increase in arrangement density of wiring route in a rigid wiring board of an electrical connecting device. <P>SOLUTION: On the rigid wiring board 12 of this electrical connecting device 10, a plurality of through-holes 22 are formed at an interval, in the circumferential direction for surrounding a support block 16 outside the support block. A plurality of support sections 26a, elongating through the through-hole along the corresponding through-hole 22, are formed on the support plate 26. A flat spring member 14 is supported on the support sections of the support plate 26 by an attaching mechanism 36 separately from the surface of the rigid wiring board 12 so as to allow elastic displacement of the support block 16, in the thickness direction of the rigid wiring board 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connection apparatus suitable for use in an electrical test of a flat test object such as an integrated circuit formed collectively on a semiconductor wafer.

  As a conventional device of this type, for example, there are electrical connection devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2. The main part of this electrical connection device is shown in FIG. The electrical connection device includes a rigid wiring board 1 provided therein with a wiring path 1a (see FIG. 6) connected to a tester (not shown) and a central opening 1b, and one of the rigid wiring boards. And a support plate 2 fixed to the rigid wiring board 1 so as to cover the central opening 1b. In the central opening 1b, a plate-like spring member 3 is disposed across the opening. The edge of the spring member 3 is clamped by the annular mounting plate 4 a and the annular clamping plate 4 b of the mounting mechanism 4, whereby the spring member 3 is supported by the support plate 2. A block 5 is supported at the central portion of the spring member 3 located in the central opening 1b. The block 5 elastically supports the contactor region 6a of the flexible multilayer wiring board 6 on the back surface. Each wiring path 1a is shown by a solid line in FIG. 6 for the sake of clarity.

  On the surface of the contact area 6a, a large number of contacts 7 that can contact the corresponding electrode pads of an object to be inspected (not shown) are provided. An extended region 6 b of the flexible multilayer wiring board 6 extends angularly toward the rigid wiring substrate 1 beyond the edge of the block 5 from the contact region 6 a. In the contact area 6a and the overhang area 6b, conductive paths corresponding to the respective contacts 7 are formed, and the conductive paths are connected to the corresponding wiring paths of the rigid wiring board 1 by the flexible multilayer wiring board 6b. . Although not shown, this wiring path is connected to the tester via an electrical connection portion such as a socket provided on the surface of the rigid wiring board 1. Therefore, when each contactor 7 is suitably pressed against the electrode pad of the device under test by the elasticity of the spring member 3, the electrode is connected to the conductive path and the conductive path of the flexible multilayer wiring board 6b. The rigid wiring board 1 is connected to the electric circuit of the tester through the wiring path and the socket.

JP 2007-278860 A JP 2007-278861 A

  However, as shown in FIG. 5, it is necessary to form a central opening 1 b having a relatively large diameter at the center of the rigid wiring board 1 in order to hold the spring member 3 appropriately. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, since the wiring path 1a provided in the rigid wiring board 1 needs to be routed around the central opening 1b, the degree of freedom of the wiring path 1a is strongly limited. Further, since the wiring path 1a is formed avoiding the relatively large diameter central opening 1b, the arrangement density of the wiring path may be partially increased. In a test using an alternating current signal, there is a possibility that capacitive noise may occur between the wiring lines 1a adjacent to each other in the high-density arrangement portion. Therefore, it is desirable to partially avoid the high-density arrangement.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to suppress a partial increase in the arrangement density of the wiring paths in the rigid wiring board of the electrical connection device and to increase the degree of freedom of the wiring.

  An electrical connection device according to the present invention includes a rigid wiring board having a connection portion to a tester on one surface and a wiring path corresponding to the connection portion, and the rigid wiring board at a substantially central portion of the rigid wiring board. A support plate that is disposed to face the one surface of the wiring board and is fixed to the wiring board, a leaf spring member that is supported by the support plate via an attachment mechanism, and is attached to the leaf spring member. A support block that is elastically supported on the other surface side of the rigid wiring board via the leaf spring member so as to be displaceable in the thickness direction of the rigid wiring board, and is supported on the back surface by the support block. A contact region in which a plurality of contacts are formed, and a projecting region extending from the contact region toward the rigid wiring substrate and coupled to the rigid wiring substrate, and the corresponding rigid wiring substrate corresponding to the contact The arrangement of And a flexible probe sheet conductive path for connecting to the road is formed.

  In the rigid wiring board of the electrical connection device according to the present invention, a plurality of through holes are formed at intervals in the circumferential direction surrounding the support block outside the support block. Are formed with a plurality of support portions extending along the corresponding through hole, and the leaf spring member is formed from the other surface of the wiring board to enable the displacement of the block. It is supported on the support portion by the attachment mechanism at an interval.

  In the electrical connection device according to the present invention, the leaf spring member is connected to the other end of the rigid wiring board via the mounting mechanism to the support portion extending to each of the through holes provided in the rigid wiring board. It is supported at a distance from the surface. Therefore, the conventional large-diameter opening for receiving the leaf spring at the center of the rigid wiring board becomes unnecessary. Moreover, although the said through-hole receives the said support part, it is a very small aperture compared with the conventional center opening which receives a leaf | plate spring.

  Therefore, in the design of the wiring path formed in the rigid wiring board, it is not necessary to carry out the operation to avoid the large-diameter central opening as in the prior art, and the large-diameter central opening is unnecessary. In particular, the area of the wiring region is increased, and the degree of freedom in handling the wiring path is increased. Furthermore, since it is not necessary for the wiring path to avoid a central opening having a large diameter, the wiring path is laid in a straight line as compared with the prior art without providing a large curved portion that avoids the central opening in the wiring path. Therefore, the wiring path can be shortened. This shortening is advantageous in increasing the signal noise (SN) ratio. Further, since the wiring density can be reduced as the area of the wiring region of the wiring path increases, it is also possible to expect a noise reduction effect on the AC signal.

  By extending the support portion through the through hole, a terminal end protruding from the other surface of the rigid wiring board can be formed on the support portion. In this case, the leaf spring member is coupled to the end by the attachment mechanism.

  As the through holes, three through holes can be formed at an angle of 120 degrees with respect to the circumferential direction surrounding the support block. In this case, the support member is formed with the three support portions corresponding to the through holes.

  The attachment mechanism is removable to the base member so as to clamp an edge of the leaf spring member in cooperation with the annular base member coupled to the terminal end of the support portion via a screw member and the base member And an annular clamping plate that is coupled to the screw plate, and a screw member that removably couples the clamping plate and the base member.

  The attachment mechanism may be provided with a parallel adjustment portion for adjusting a support posture of the leaf spring member to the rigid wiring board.

  An electrical connection device 10 according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electrical connection device 10, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connection device 10. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the electrical connection device 10 includes a rigid wiring board 12, a support block 16 elastically supported by the rigid wiring board via a plate-like spring member 14, and a flexible multilayer wiring board. And a probe sheet 20 comprising: The probe sheet 20 is electrically connected to a plurality of wiring paths 18 (see FIG. 3) formed in the rigid wiring board 12 using a laminate of a flexible film having electrical insulation properties such as a polyimide resin film as a base material. A plurality of well-known conductive paths (not shown) connected to each of these are incorporated.

  As is well known in the art, the rigid wiring board 12 is made of a circular printed wiring board in which, for example, a wiring path 18 is formed on a polyimide resin plate in which glass fibers are dispersed. The upper surface 12a, which is one surface of the rigid wiring board 12, is omitted for simplification of the drawing, but is connected to the wiring path 18 corresponding to each wiring path 18 as is well known in the art. Tester lands or sockets are arranged along the edge of the rigid wiring board 12. Further, the other end of each wiring path 18 is exposed on the lower surface 12 b which is the other surface of the rigid wiring substrate 12. Each wiring path 18 is shown as a solid line in FIG. 3 for the sake of clarity.

  A support block 16 is elastically supported below the central portion of the lower surface 12 b of the rigid wiring board 12 via a spring member 14 as will be described later. A plurality of through holes 22 are formed in the rigid wiring board 12 at intervals in the circumferential direction surrounding the support block 16.

  In the illustrated example, each through hole 22 is formed outside the virtual circle 24 centered on the center point 12c of the rigid wiring board 12, as is apparent from FIG. 3 showing a plan view of the rigid wiring board 12. It is arranged to touch. Moreover, it arrange | positions so that each through-hole 22 may mutually be spaced apart in the angle range of 120 degree | times, Therefore, the three through-holes 22 are located on the vertex of an equilateral triangle.

  The virtual circle 24 has a radius sufficient to substantially inscribe the maximum outer shape of the planar shape of the support block 16. Therefore, when the electrical connection device 10 is seen through from the upper surface 12 a of the rigid wiring board 12, each through hole 22 is located outside the support block 16. In the illustrated example, each through-hole 22 has an oval cross-sectional shape in which the radial direction of the virtual circle 24 is the major axis direction.

  In the illustrated example, a support plate 26 having a circular planar shape is disposed on the upper surface 12a at the center of the rigid wiring board 12. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, on the surface of the support plate 26 facing the upper surface 12 a of the rigid wiring substrate 12, three columnar support portions extending into the through holes 22 corresponding to the through holes 22. 26a is formed. Each support portion 26a has an elliptical cross-sectional shape corresponding to the through hole 22, and each support portion 26a penetrates in the thickness direction of the support plate 26, as clearly shown in FIG. A through hole 32 that allows insertion of the screw hole 28 and the bolt 30 is formed in alignment in the long axis direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the support plate 26 is disposed on the rigid wiring board 12 so that each support portion 26 a extends into the corresponding through-hole 22, and a mounting bolt 34 whose front end is screwed to the rigid wiring board 12. It is fixed to the rigid wiring board 12. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the end, that is, the tip of the support portion 26 a is located outside the rigid wiring board 12 beyond the lower surface 12 b of the rigid wiring board 12. In the rigid wiring board 12 of FIG. 3, the screw holes for the mounting bolts 34 are omitted for clarity.

  As clearly shown in FIG. 1, the edge of the spring member 14 is coupled to the lower end of each support portion 26 a by an attachment mechanism 36. In the illustrated example, the attachment mechanism 36 sandwiches the edge of the spring member 14 together with the annular base member 36a disposed in contact with the end surface, that is, the lower end surface of the support portion 26a. And a screw member 36c whose tip is screwed into the base member 36a to fasten both members 36a, 36b with the edge of the spring member 14 positioned between the members 36a, 36b. . In FIG. 2, the base member 36a is omitted for simplification, and the sandwiching plate 36b is shown as a combination of arcuate members divided in the circumferential direction.

  As clearly shown in FIG. 2, the spring member 14 is made of a flat spring material, and includes a cross-shaped center portion 14 a to which the support block 16 is attached, and an annular outer edge portion 14 b surrounding the center portion. Prepare. As described above, the spring member 14 is supported by the support portion 26a of the support plate 26 via the attachment mechanism 36 at the outer edge portion 14b. A support block 16 is attached to 14 a of the spring member 14. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the support block 16 has a body portion 16 a having a regular octagonal planar shape as a whole, a mounting portion 16 b having a square planar shape connected to the upper end of the body portion, and a joint with the mounting portion. And a mounting plate 16c that clamps the central portion 14a of the spring member 14. The mounting plate 16c is fastened to the mounting portion 16b by a screw member 16d whose tip is screwed into the mounting portion 16b in a state where the central portion 14a of the spring member 14 is positioned between the mounting plate and the mounting portion 16b. . Thereby, since the support block 16 is elastically supported at a distance from the lower surface 12b of the rigid wiring board 12, according to the bending deformation of the central portion 14a of the spring member 14, the support block 16 approaches and separates from the lower surface 12b. The rigid wiring board 12 can be elastically displaced in the thickness direction.

  As is well known in the art, the probe sheet 20 includes an octagonal contact region 38a (see FIG. 1) supported by the main body 16a of the support block 16, and a rigid portion from each side of the contact region. And an overhanging region 38b extending toward the upper surface 12a of the wiring board 12. The contact region 38 a is fixed to the lower surface of the main body portion 16 a of the support block 16 on the back surface of the probe sheet 20. Further, a contact 40 such as a probe (see FIG. 1), which is well known in the art, is applied to a contact region 38a on the surface of the probe sheet 20, that is, a surface of the contact region 38a. It is provided corresponding to the electrode pad of each IC collectively formed on the inspection body.

  Each contact 40 is connected to the conductive path embedded in the flexible resin film of the probe sheet 20 as is well known in the art. A connection end portion (not shown) of the conductive path is provided at the front end portion of the back surface facing the rigid wiring board 12 at the end portion of the overhang region 38b.

  An elastic member 42a such as an annular silicon rubber sheet and an annular pressing plate 42b are disposed so as to cover the surface of the protruding region 38b of the probe sheet 20. The elastic member 42 a and the holding plate 42 b press the overhang region 38 b against the lower surface 12 b of the rigid wiring board 12 by tightening the bolts 44 whose ends are screwed into the rigid wiring board 12. As a result, the connection end of the conductive path of the probe sheet 20 is connected to the other end of the corresponding wiring path 18 of the rigid wiring board 12, so that each contact 40 is connected to the conductive path of the probe sheet 20. The tester land is connected via the corresponding wiring path 18 of the rigid wiring board 12. Therefore, each contact 40 can be connected to the tester by connecting the tester wiring to each tester land. Further, the overhang region 38b of the probe sheet 20 gives a slight slack so that it can be deformed so as not to restrain the elastic displacement of the support block 16 when the contact 40 is pressed against the object to be inspected. It has been.

  Further, in the illustrated example, as clearly shown in FIG. 1, the parallel adjusting portion 46 for adjusting the contact region 38 a of the probe sheet 20 and the rigid wiring board 12 to be correctly parallel to each other. Are provided in connection with the mounting mechanism 36. The adjustment portion 46 includes an adjustment screw member 46a that is screwed into the screw hole 28 provided in the support portion 26a. The lower end of the adjustment screw member 46a can protrude from the lower end of the support portion 26a, and can thereby contact the base member 36a of the base member 36a. Accordingly, after the bolt 30 is loosened, the adjustment screw member 46a is rotated to adjust the amount by which the lower end protrudes from the lower end of the support portion 26a, and then the bolt 30 is tightened to thereby support the support block 16 of the spring member 14. Can be adjusted, and thereby the inclination posture can be corrected so that the needle tip surface of each contact 40 provided in the contact region 38a of the probe sheet 20 is aligned with a predetermined horizontal plane. it can.

  In the electrical connection device 10 according to the present invention, as described above, the plate-like spring member 14 for elastically supporting the support block 16 that supports the contactor region 38a of the probe sheet 20 is provided via the attachment mechanism 36. The support member 26a is preferably supported by a support portion 26a extending in each of the through holes 22 provided in the rigid wiring board 12. Therefore, the conventional large-diameter opening for receiving the leaf spring 14 at the center of the rigid wiring board 12 is not necessary. As shown in FIG. 3, the rigid wiring board 12 is formed with a plurality of through holes 22 that receive the support portions 26 a, but each through hole 22 is compared with a conventional central opening that receives the leaf spring 14. Extremely small caliber. Further, the plurality of through holes 22 are dispersed at intervals, and are not provided continuously or close to each other.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the wiring path 18 formed in the rigid wiring board 12 does not have to avoid a central opening having a large diameter as in the prior art, and the area of the wiring area of the rigid wiring board 12 is substantially reduced. Since it increases, the freedom degree of management of the wiring path 18 increases. Further, since it is not necessary for the wiring path 18 to avoid the central opening having a large diameter, the wiring path 18 is not provided with a large curved portion that avoids the conventional central opening. Roads can be laid. Therefore, the wiring path can be shortened, which is advantageous for increasing the signal noise (SN) ratio. Further, as the area of the wiring area of the wiring path 18 increases, the wiring density of the wiring path 18 can be reduced, so that the noise reduction effect for the AC signal can also be achieved.

  As described above, the example in which the lower end of the support portion 26a is protruded from the lower surface 12b of the rigid wiring board 12 is shown. However, the lower end of the support portion 26a is terminated in the through hole 22 and can be brought into contact with the end. Can be provided on the base member 36a. By the spacer function of the base member 36a, the spring member 14 can be held at a predetermined distance from the lower surface 12b of the rigid wiring board 12.

  Although the example in which the three through holes 22 and the support portion 26a are provided is shown, at least two through holes 22 and the support portion 26a can be arranged in the diameter direction of the virtual circle 24, respectively. However, for stable support of the spring member 14, it is desirable to arrange the three through holes 22 and the support portions 26a at the apexes of the regular triangle as shown in the figure. Of course, four or more through-holes 22 and support portions 26 a can be provided, but the reduction of the wiring area for the wiring path 18 of the rigid wiring board 12 is prevented, the mounting mechanism 36 is simplified, and the adjustment portion 46 is parallel. From the viewpoint of adjusting the degree, the illustrated example is preferable.

  Moreover, the clamping mechanism provided with the base member 36a and the clamping board 36b as the attachment mechanism 36 was shown. Instead, the base member 36a and the sandwiching plate 36b that perform the spacer function can be eliminated by increasing the projecting dimension of the support portion 26a of the support plate 26 projecting from the lower surface 12b of the rigid wiring board 12. In this case, the outer edge portion 14b of the spring member 14 can be directly coupled to the lower end surface of the support portion 26a by, for example, a screw member 36c.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, a reinforcing plate that reinforces the rigid wiring board can be inserted between the support plate 26 and the rigid wiring board 12 as necessary.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the electrical connection apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the electrical connection apparatus shown in FIG. It is a top view of the rigid wiring board of the electrical connection apparatus shown in FIG. It is the perspective view which looked at the support plate of the electrical connection apparatus shown in FIG. 1 from the other surface. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the conventional electrical connection apparatus. It is a top view of the rigid wiring board of the conventional electrical connection apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electrical connection apparatus 12 Rigid wiring board 14 Spring member 16 Support block 18 Wiring path 20 Probe sheet 22 Through-hole 26 Support plate 36 Attachment mechanism 38a Contact area 38b Overhang area 40 Contact 46 Adjustment part

Claims (5)

A rigid wiring board having a connection portion to a tester on one side and a wiring path corresponding to the connection portion, and facing the one surface of the rigid wiring board at a substantially central portion of the rigid wiring board. A support plate that is disposed and fixed to the wiring board, a leaf spring member that is supported by the support plate via an attachment mechanism, and the rigid plate that is attached to the leaf spring member via the leaf spring member. A support block that is elastically supported so as to be displaceable in the plate thickness direction of the rigid wiring board on the other surface side of the wiring board, and a contact that is supported on the back surface by the support block and has a plurality of contacts formed on the surface A region extending from the contact region toward the rigid wiring substrate and an overhang region coupled to the rigid wiring substrate, and a conductive layer for connecting the contact to the wiring path of the corresponding rigid wiring substrate The road is shaped An electrical connecting device and a flexible probe sheets,
The rigid wiring board is formed with a plurality of through holes spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction surrounding the support block outside the support block, and the support plate is formed along the corresponding through hole. A plurality of support portions extending in the through hole are formed, and the leaf spring member is spaced apart from the other surface of the wiring board by the attachment mechanism so as to enable the displacement of the support block. An electrical connection device supported by the support portion.   The support portion extends through the through hole and has a terminal end protruding from the other surface of the rigid wiring board, and the leaf spring member is coupled to the terminal end by the attachment mechanism. Item 2. The electrical connection device according to Item 1.   The three through holes are arranged at an angle of 120 degrees with respect to a circumferential direction surrounding the support block, and the three support portions are provided corresponding to the through holes. Electrical connection device.   The attachment mechanism is removable to the base member so as to clamp an edge of the leaf spring member in cooperation with the annular base member coupled to the terminal end of the support portion via a screw member and the base member 4. The electrical connection device according to claim 2, further comprising: an annular sandwiching plate coupled to the base plate; and a screw member that removably couples the sandwiching plate and the base member.   The electrical connection device according to claim 4, wherein the attachment mechanism further includes a parallel adjustment unit for adjusting a support posture of the leaf spring member to the rigid wiring board.

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