Probe

Abstract

The present invention reliably generates an internal side pressure of a plunger and stabilizes a resistance value. Comprises: a first plunger having a hollow cylindrical portion; a second plunger which can slide freely in the cylinder part and protrudes from the end part of the opening of the cylinder part; and a spring which is provided on the inside of the cylindrical section and which biases the first plunger and the second plunger in a direction in which the first plunger and the second plunger are separated from each other, the second plunger having a hollow section into which a part of the spring enters. The spring has a sparsely wound portion, a first race portion that is positioned on one end side of the sparsely wound portion and that is in contact with the first plunger, and a second race portion that is positioned on the other end side of the sparsely wound portion and that is in contact with the second plunger, and the diameter of the first race portion and the diameter of the second race portion are different from the diameter of the sparsely wound portion. The central axes of the first and second race sections are offset in the same direction with respect to the central axis of the sparsely wound section.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to probes. Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a probe is known that includes a conductive first plunger having a hollow barrel, a conductive second plunger that is slidable in the barrel and projects from an open end of the barrel, and a spring that urges the first plunger and the second plunger in a direction away from each other.

[0003] However, the conventional common spring does not have an eccentric structure, so in the case of the probe, the spring is not easily bent even if it is compressed. Therefore, it is not easy to generate lateral pressure in the direction of pressing the second plunger toward the inner wall of the barrel, and the resistance value of the probe, that is, the resistance value between the first plunger and the second plunger, is unstable.

[0004] In addition, the following patent document 1 discloses a probe pin, in which the portion of the pin contacting the spring (hereinafter referred to as the pin bottom surface) is processed into a cone, and the spring is set in the space formed by the pin and the hole of the tube. In this case, the spring is characterized by a shape, which is curved as a whole, has a central portion with a substantially equal diameter and a tapered portion adjacent to the central portion, the diameter of which gradually decreases and the central axis of which is obliquely offset relative to the central axis of the central portion. When in use, if the two ends of the spring are compressed by the conical portion of the pin bottom surface and the bottom surface of the tube hole, the pin is subjected to a load in a direction inclined from the axial direction of the tube due to the tapered portion of the spring, and therefore, the pin is in an inclined state and is pressed against the inner wall of the tube, thereby generating a lateral pressure corresponding to the amount of compression in the axial direction of the spring. However, the structure of the spring may be complicated and troublesome to manufacture.

[0005] Prior art literature

[0006] Patent Literature

[0007] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 5197754 Summary of the invention

[0008] Problems to be solved by the invention

[0009] As described above, if the probe pin does not have a normal eccentric spring structure, the lateral pressure cannot be stably generated, and the resistance value of the probe pin is unstable. In addition, in the case of the probe pin of Patent Document 1, it is difficult to apply to a case where the spring structure is complicated.

[0010] The present invention has been proposed in view of this situation, and one of its objects is to provide a probe that can reliably generate internal lateral pressure of a plunger with a simple spring structure to stabilize the resistance value. Other objects of the present invention can be understood from the description of this specification.

[0011] Means for solving problems

[0012] One embodiment of the present invention is a probe comprising:

[0013] A conductive first plunger having a hollow cylindrical portion;

[0014] a conductive second plunger that is slidable in the barrel and protrudes from an end portion of the opening of the barrel; and

[0015] a spring disposed inside the cylinder portion and biasing the first plunger and the second plunger in a direction away from each other,

[0016] The spring comprises: a sparsely wound portion; a first seat ring portion, which is located at one end side of the sparsely wound portion and abuts against the first plunger; and a second seat ring portion, which is located at the other end side of the sparsely wound portion and abuts against the second plunger, and the diameters of the first seat ring portion and the second seat ring portion are different from those of the sparsely wound portion.

[0017] The central axes of the first race portion and the second race portion are offset in the same direction with respect to the central axis of the sparse winding portion.

[0018] According to the above aspect of the present invention, it is possible to realize a probe that can reliably generate the internal lateral pressure of the plunger with a simple spring structure and stabilize the resistance value. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 It is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of the probe of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 It is a front view of the spring used in the embodiment.

[0021] Figure 3 This is a left side view of the spring.

[0022] Figure 4 This is a right side view of the spring.

[0023] Figure 5 This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of use of the probe shown in the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the same or equivalent components, parts, processes, etc. shown in the various drawings are marked with the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are appropriately omitted. In addition, the embodiments do not limit the invention but are illustrative, and all the features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily the essential features or combinations of the present invention.

[0025] use Figures 1 to 4In these figures, the probe 1 includes: a conductive first plunger 10 integrally provided with a barrel 11; a conductive second plunger 20 slidably disposed in the barrel 11 and protruding from the open end of the barrel 11; and a spring 30 disposed inside the barrel 11 and urging the first plunger 10 and the second plunger 20 in a direction of separating from each other.

[0026] The barrel 11 of the first plunger 10 is a bottomed cylindrical shape having a cylindrical hollow portion 12 inside, and one end is open. The opposite side of the opening of the first plunger 10 is a tip 13 that contacts a bump or electrode of an inspection object such as a semiconductor, and the tip 13 has a plurality of, for example, sharp protrusions 14.

[0027] The second plunger 20 is a bottomed cylindrical shape having a cylindrical hollow portion 21 into which a part of the spring 30 is inserted. The second plunger 20 has an entry tube portion 22 that can slide freely inside the barrel 11, and a front end portion 23 that has a smaller diameter than the entry tube portion 22 and protrudes from the end of the barrel 11. The front end portion 23 is provided with a protrusion 24 that contacts the electrode of the inspection substrate. The entry tube portion 22 is held by the rivet portion 15 at the open end of the barrel 11 so as not to fall off from the barrel 11.

[0028] Figure 2 is a front view of the spring 30 when there is no external force, Figure 3 This is the left side view. Figure 4 It is a right side view. As shown in these figures, the spring 30 is a conductive coil spring formed by winding an elastic metal wire, and has a sparsely wound portion 31 wound into a constant outer diameter, a first seat ring portion 32 located at one end side of the sparsely wound portion 31 and abutting against the inner bottom surface of the first plunger 10, and a second seat ring portion 33 located at the other end side of the sparsely wound portion 31 and abutting against the inner bottom surface of the second plunger 20. The sparsely wound portion 31 is an effective winding portion that functions as a compression spring, for example, a densely wound portion. The diameters of the first seat ring portion 32 and the second seat ring portion 33 are different from those of the sparsely wound portion 31. In the case shown in the figure, the major diameters of the first seat ring portion 32 and the second seat ring portion 33 are larger than those of the sparsely wound portion 31, Figure 3 and Figure 4 It can be seen that the center axis a of the first seat ring portion 32 and the center axis b of the second seat ring portion 33 are offset (eccentric) in the same direction relative to the center axis c of the sparse winding portion 31, and the outer peripheral end of the sparse winding portion 31 is aligned with the outer peripheral ends of the first seat ring portion 32 and the second seat ring portion 33 on the outside on the opposite side of the offset direction relative to the center axis c of the sparse winding portion 31.

[0029] like Figure 1As shown, a recess 16 is formed on the inner bottom surface of the barrel 11 for the first seat ring portion 32 of the spring 30 to be embedded. In order to stabilize the first seat ring portion 32, the bottom surface 16a of the recess 16 abutting against the first seat ring portion 32 is formed into a flat surface perpendicular to the central axis 11a of the barrel 11 by, for example, end milling. It should be noted that a flat surface will not be formed by ordinary drilling.

[0030] In the above-mentioned embodiment, if Figure 1 When a load is applied to the probe 1 in the unloaded state to press the front end portion 23 of the second plunger 20, the spring 30 is compressed. At this time, since the first seat ring portion 32 and the second seat ring portion 33 are formed at an eccentric position relative to the sparse winding portion 41, the spring 30 is bent into an arch shape, in other words, a bow shape. As a result, the inner wall of the second plunger 20 is pushed by the spring 30, generating a lateral pressure in the direction of pressing the inlet tube portion 22 of the second plunger 20 toward the inner wall of the barrel 11. Due to this lateral pressure, the inlet tube portion 22 of the second plunger 20 is in stable contact with the inner wall of the barrel 11, and the contact resistance value between the first plunger 10 and the second plunger 20 can be stably maintained at a low value.

[0031] Figure 5 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of use of the probe 1 shown in the embodiment. In this case, the probe 1 is assembled into a socket 90 having an insulating support 100. The insulating support 100 is a structure in which a first insulating support 101 having a through hole 101a and a second insulating support 102 having a through hole 102a are overlapped, and the probe 1 is held in the through hole 101a and the through hole 102a so as not to fall off.

[0032] When inspecting an inspection object 110 such as a semiconductor using the socket 90, the inspection object 110 is pressed down, the protrusion 14 of the first plunger 10 is brought into contact with the bump 111 of the inspection object 110, and the protrusion 24 provided at the front end 23 of the second plunger 20 is brought into contact with the electrode 121 of the inspection substrate 120. Thus, the bump 111 of the inspection object 110 and the inspection substrate 120 are electrically connected via the probe 1.

[0033] According to this embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.

[0034] (1) The diameters of the first and second seat rings 32 and 33 of the spring 30 that urges the first plunger 10 and the second plunger 20 in the direction of separation from each other are different from those of the sparse winding portion 41, and the central axes of the first and second seat rings 32 and 33 are offset (eccentric) in the same direction relative to the central axis of the sparse winding portion 31. Therefore, the spring 30 is easily bent into an arch shape. As a result, the inner wall of the second plunger 20 is pressed by the spring 30, and the inlet tube portion 22 of the second plunger 20 is stably in contact with the inner wall of the barrel 11, so that the contact resistance value between the first plunger 10 and the second plunger 20 can be stably maintained at a low value.

[0035] (2) When the diameters of the first seat ring portion 32 and the second seat ring portion 33 of the spring 30 are made larger than the sparsely wound portion 31, the first and second seat ring portions 32 and 33 can be easily formed even when the spring 30 is set to a small diameter. In addition, the spring 30 abuts against the inner bottom surface of the first plunger 10 with a large diameter, and the end of the spring 30 is kept stable.

[0036] (3) The recess 16 for the first seat ring portion 32 to be embedded is formed on the inner bottom surface of the cylinder 11, and the bottom surface 16a of the recess 16 abutting against the first seat ring portion 32 is a flat surface perpendicular to the central axis 11a of the cylinder 11. Therefore, the positioning of the first seat ring portion 32 relative to the inner bottom surface of the first plunger 10 is stable.

[0037] (4) The spring 30 having the sparsely wound portion 31 and the first and second seat ring portions 32 and 33 on both sides thereof is bilaterally symmetrical and exhibits the same performance even when turned upside down, so it is easy to assemble. There is no need to consider the insertion direction of the spring 30 into the barrel 11 during assembly.

[0038] (5) The center axis a of the first race portion 32 and the center axis b of the second race portion 33 are offset (eccentric) in the same direction relative to the center axis c of the sparse winding portion 31. In addition, the outer peripheral end of the sparse winding portion 31 and the outer peripheral end of the first race portion 32 are aligned on the opposite side of the offset direction relative to the center axis c of the sparse winding portion 31. That is, Figure 1 In the embodiment, the lower part of the sparse winding portion 31 is aligned with the lower part of the first seat ring portion 32. In addition, the outer peripheral end of the sparse winding portion 31 is aligned with the outer peripheral end of the second seat ring portion 33 on the opposite side of the offset direction relative to the central axis c of the sparse winding portion 31. Figure 1 In the above, the lower part of the sparsely wound portion 31 is aligned with the lower part of the second race portion 33. Thus, the probe 1 can be easily manufactured.

[0039] The present invention has been described above by taking the embodiments as examples, but it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various components and processes of the embodiments can be modified in various ways within the scope of the claims.

[0040] In the embodiment, the first plunger is a single member having a cylindrical portion integrally therewith, but may also be a structure in which the hollow cylindrical portion and the distal end portion are formed of separate members and are joined to each other and integrated.

[0041] In the embodiment, the first race portion and the second race portion located on both sides of the sparsely wound portion have larger diameters than the sparsely wound portion. However, the first race portion and the second race portion may have smaller diameters than the sparsely wound portion.

[0042] In the embodiment, the first plunger has a case where the tip portion has a plurality of sharp protrusions, but the protrusion may be one, and the shape and arrangement of the protrusion may be appropriately changed according to a bump or electrode of the inspection object.

[0043] In the embodiment, the case where the spring 40 is clockwise wound when viewed from the first plunger 10 is shown, but the spring 40 may be counterclockwise wound.

[0044] According to the present specification, the following probes are provided.

[0045] (Method 1)

[0046] Mode 1 is a probe, characterized by comprising:

[0047] A conductive first plunger having a hollow cylindrical portion;

[0048] a conductive second plunger that is slidable in the barrel and protrudes from an end portion of the opening of the barrel; and

[0049] a spring disposed inside the cylinder portion and biasing the first plunger and the second plunger in a direction away from each other,

[0050] The spring comprises: a sparsely wound portion; a first seat ring portion, which is located at one end side of the sparsely wound portion and abuts against the first plunger; and a second seat ring portion, which is located at the other end side of the sparsely wound portion and abuts against the second plunger, and the diameters of the first seat ring portion and the second seat ring portion are different from those of the sparsely wound portion.

[0051] The central axes of the first race portion and the second race portion are offset in the same direction with respect to the central axis of the sparse winding portion.

[0052] According to aspect 1, the second plunger is pressed by the spring and stably contacts the inner wall of the tube portion, and the contact resistance between the first plunger and the second plunger can be stably maintained at a low value.

[0053] (Method 2)

[0054] In aspect 2, the diameters of the first race portion and the second race portion are larger than the sparsely wound portion.

[0055] According to the second aspect, even when the spring is small in diameter, the first and second races can be easily formed. In addition, the spring with a large diameter abuts against the inner bottom surface of the first plunger, and the end of the spring is stabilized.

[0056] (Method 3)

[0057] In aspect 3, the diameters of the first race portion and the second race portion are smaller than the sparsely wound portion.

[0058] According to the third aspect, the outer diameter of the spring can be reduced, which is advantageous in achieving a smaller diameter of the probe.

[0059] (Method 4)

[0060] In aspect 4, the outer peripheral end of the sparsely wound portion is aligned with the outer peripheral ends of the first race portion and the second race portion on the outer side opposite to the offset direction with respect to the central axis of the sparsely wound portion.

[0061] According to the fourth aspect, the offset amount of the first and second race portions relative to the sparsely wound portion can be increased, and manufacturing is also easy.

[0062] (Method 5)

[0063] In the fifth aspect, a recessed portion into which the first race portion is fitted is formed on the inner bottom surface of the cylindrical portion.

[0064] According to the fifth aspect, the positioning of the first race portion relative to the inner bottom surface of the tube portion is stabilized.

[0065] Description of Reference Numerals

[0066] 1 Probe

[0067] 101st plunger

[0068] 11. Barrel

[0069] 12 cylindrical hollow part

[0070] 13 Front end

[0071] 16 recess

[0072] 16a Bottom

[0073] 20 2nd plunger

[0074] 21 cylindrical hollow part

[0075] 22 Admissions Department

[0076] 23 Front end

[0077] 30 Spring

[0078] 31 Sorting Department

[0079] 32 1st seat ring

[0080] 33 2nd seat ring

[0081] aCenter axis of the first race

[0082] bCenter axis of the second race

[0083] cCentral axis of the sparse winding part

Claims

1. A probe, characterized in that: include: A conductive first plunger having a hollow cylindrical portion; a conductive second plunger that is slidable in the barrel and protrudes from an end portion of the opening of the barrel; as well as a spring disposed inside the cylinder portion and biasing the first plunger and the second plunger in a direction away from each other, The spring comprises: a sparsely wound portion; a first seat ring portion, which is located at one end side of the sparsely wound portion and abuts against the first plunger; and a second seat ring portion, which is located at the other end side of the sparsely wound portion and abuts against the second plunger, and the diameters of the first seat ring portion and the second seat ring portion are different from those of the sparsely wound portion. The central axes of the first race portion and the second race portion are offset in the same direction with respect to the central axis of the sparse winding portion.

2. The probe according to claim 1, characterized in that The diameters of the first seat ring portion and the second seat ring portion are larger than the sparse winding portion.

3. The probe according to claim 1, characterized in that The diameters of the first seat ring portion and the second seat ring portion are smaller than the sparse winding portion.

4. The probe according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The outer peripheral end of the sparse winding portion is aligned with the outer peripheral ends of the first race portion and the second race portion on the outer side opposite to the offset direction with respect to the central axis of the sparse winding portion.

5. The probe according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that A recessed portion into which the first race portion is fitted is formed on the inner bottom surface of the cylindrical portion.

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