Socket

Abstract

To provide a socket which has a simplified structure, can be easily assembled and in which replacement of a contact probe is facilitated.SOLUTION: A socket comprises: a contact probe having a conductive plate spring where a pair of facing elastic piece parts is formed; and a housing having a fitting hole into which the contact probe is inserted. The pair of elastic piece parts has a tip curve part which is curved toward a tip in a direction where a facing interval of the piece parts becomes wider, and has a retaining salient which protrudes in a width direction of the elastic piece parts or in a direction orthogonal to the width direction. The fitting hole is configured so that, the interval between the pair of elastic piece parts is made narrow, the contact probe can be detachably fitted, and in a steady state where the interval between the pair of elastic piece parts is expanded, the retaining salient contacts a narrow part of the fitting hole, for retaining the contact probe.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a socket. [Background technology]

[0002] Pogo pin-type contact probes are designed to apply load to the plunger using a coil spring to compensate for height variations between the device under test and the probe when contacting the device under test. Because they are made up of several components, the electrical contacts between these components are expensive and do not allow for a large current capacity. Furthermore, when constructing a socket, multiple pogo pins are placed in a split housing at once, and then the split housings are integrated. Conversely, if the housing is split to replace some of the pogo pins, all of the pogo pins become free and may fall out, making it difficult to replace specific pogo pins.

[0003] On the other hand, the following patent document discloses a structure suitable for when the device under test has bumps such as solder balls, in which a pair of elastic contact portions is formed with a leaf spring to form a probe. In this patent document, the leaf spring as the probe is inserted into the inspection jig member from below (from the side of the inspection board), which causes the problem that all the probes fall out when the inspection board is removed, making it difficult to replace a specific probe. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-39418 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] An example of an object of the present invention is to provide a socket that has a simple structure, is easy to assemble, and allows easy replacement of contact probes. Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a socket, comprising: a contact probe having a conductive leaf spring formed with a pair of elastic pieces facing each other, and a housing portion having an attachment hole into which the contact probe is inserted, The pair of elastic pieces have tip curved portions bent in a direction in which the opposing distance between them increases toward the tip, and each have a protrusion for preventing slipping out that protrudes in a width direction of the elastic piece or in a direction perpendicular to the width direction, When the spacing between the pair of elastic pieces is narrowed, the contact probe can be attached and detached from the mounting hole, and when the spacing between the pair of elastic pieces is widened in a steady state, the anti-slip protrusion comes into contact with the narrowed part of the mounting hole to prevent the contact probe from falling out.

[0007] According to the above aspects of the present invention, it is possible to realize a socket that has a simple structure, is easy to assemble, and allows easy replacement of contact probes.

[0008] Any combination of the above components and conversion of the present invention between methods, systems, etc. are also valid aspects of the present invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a socket 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, with a cross section of a housing portion in a steady state in which no external force is applied to a contact probe 5. FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view of the socket 1 in a steady state. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the socket 1 in a steady state. [Figure 4] 1 is a perspective view of the socket 1, showing a cross section of the housing portion in an inserted / extracted state in which the gap between a pair of elastic pieces of a contact probe 5 is narrowed. [Figure 5]1 is a front cross-sectional view of the socket 1 in an inserted state in which the gap between a pair of elastic pieces of a contact probe 5 is narrowed. [Figure 6] 1 is an enlarged plan view of the socket 1 in an inserted state in which the gap between a pair of elastic pieces of the contact probe 5 is narrowed. [Figure 7] 1 is a perspective view of contact probe 5 used in embodiment 1, in a state where the gap between a pair of elastic pieces is narrowed. FIG. [Figure 8] 3 is a partially enlarged front view showing the state of the contact probe 5 when measuring the device under test. FIG. [Figure 9] 10 is a front cross-sectional view of a socket 1A according to a second embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a procedure for inserting a contact probe 5A into a housing portion. FIG. [Figure 10] 10 is a side view of a contact probe 5A used in a second embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] (Embodiment 1) A socket 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described using Figures 1 to 8. For convenience of explanation, the up and down directions are defined in Figure 1. As shown in these figures, the socket 1 has a plurality of contact probes 5, a housing portion 30 made of an insulating hard resin that is inelastic and rigid, and a testing board 40 fixed to the bottom surface of the housing portion 30. Each contact probe 5 is inserted into and positioned in a mounting hole 35 formed at a predetermined pitch in the housing portion 30. Note that the electrode pads of the testing board 40 are not shown in the figures.

[0011] As shown in Fig. 7, contact probe 5 is a conductive leaf spring 10 integrally having a pair of opposing elastic pieces 11, and each elastic piece 11 has a tip curved portion 12 bent in a direction such that the spacing between them increases toward the tip. As shown in Figs. 1 and 7, tip curved portion 12 has a notch 13 formed from tip edge 12a toward the base end.

[0012] The conductive leaf spring 10 is formed by pressing a single sheet of conductive and elastic material, such as phosphor bronze or beryllium copper, to form two overlapping elastic pieces 11. The elastic pieces 11 have a generally rectangular tongue shape when viewed from the side. The distal curved portions 12 are curved or bent into a generally arcuate shape so that the distal edges 12a move away from each other. The notch 13 has a slit shape of a constant width extending from the distal edge 12a toward the base end. The notch 13 has vertical edges. The base of the conductive leaf spring 10 forms a generally arcuate curved portion 14. The base end of the generally arcuate curved portion 14 electrically contacts the electrode pad of the testing circuit board 40. Furthermore, retaining protrusions 17 are formed on both sides of the elastic piece 11 in the width direction (the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction). The retaining protrusions 17 are located at the mid-height position of the elastic piece 11.

[0013] The housing 30 has a main body 31 and a bottom plate 32 integrated with the bottom surface thereof. As shown in Figures 4 to 7, the attachment hole 35 formed in the main body 31 of the housing 30 is configured so that the contact probe 5 can be attached and detached when the spacing between the pair of elastic pieces 11 is narrowed by an external force (arrow X in Figure 7), and in a steady state where the spacing between the pair of elastic pieces 11 is widened (a state in which no external force is present in Figures 1 to 3), the retaining protrusions 17 come into contact with the narrowed portion of the attachment hole 35 to prevent the contact probe 5 from being removed. That is, the attachment hole 35 has a base-side accommodating portion 38 located on the base side of the tip hole 37 having the opening 36, and the base-side accommodating portion 38 is a prismatic space with an inner dimension in which the retaining protrusions 17 protruding in the width direction of the pair of elastic pieces 11 can move freely. The tip hole 37 has a square hole 37a through which the portion of the pair of elastic pieces 11 excluding the retaining protrusions 17 can pass, and on both sides of the square hole 37a are formed grooves 37b that can pass through only when the spacing between the pair of elastic pieces 11 is narrowed, in other words, only when the spacing between the retaining protrusions 17 is narrowed, extending from the opening 36 to the base-side accommodating portion 38. A positioning hole 39 that forms the base of the mounting hole 35 is formed in the bottom plate 32 of the housing 30.

[0014] The contact probe 5 is inserted into the mounting hole 35 of the housing part 30 in the following procedure. The gap between the pair of elastic pieces 11 of the contact probe 5 is narrowed by an external force (arrow X in FIG. 7 ), and in this state the gap between the retaining protrusions 17 is narrowed, the retaining protrusions 17 are passed through the grooves 37b, and the part of the pair of elastic pieces 11 including the retaining protrusions 17 is placed in the base-side accommodating part 38. The external force is then removed, and the pair of elastic pieces 11 enters a steady state where the gap between the pair of elastic pieces 11 has widened. In the steady state, the gap between the retaining protrusions 17 has widened, so that the upper end surface 38a of the base-side accommodating part 38 where the grooves 37b are open functions as a stopper that prevents the retaining protrusions 17 from moving in the removal direction.

[0015] As shown in Figure 8, when measuring a device under test 50, the device under test 50 is placed on a socket 1, bumps 51 such as solder balls that constitute electrodes of the device under test 50 are brought into contact with contact probes 5, and a load F is applied downward. When the load F causes the bumps 51 to be inserted between the tip curved portions 12 of the contact probes 5, the tip curved portions 12 are pushed open, thereby generating contact pressure on the bumps 51 and absorbing variations in the height of the bumps 51. Furthermore, by forming a slit-shaped notch 13 at the contact point of the tip curved portions 12 with the bumps 51, the inner edge of the notch 13 comes into contact with the bumps 51, further improving contact with the bumps 51. Furthermore, the amount by which the tip curved portions 12 open can be reduced.

[0016] When it is desired to replace some of the contact probes 5 in the socket 1, the gap between the pair of elastic pieces 11 can be narrowed by external force, narrowing the gap between the retaining protrusions 17 as shown in Figures 4 to 7, that is, with the gap between the retaining protrusions 17 narrowed, the contact probes can be passed through the grooves 37b and pulled out of the mounting holes 35. This eliminates the need to disassemble the housing 30, and there is no risk of other contact probes 5 falling off. This makes it easy to replace the contact probes 5.

[0017] According to this embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.

[0018] (1) In a socket 1 having a contact probe 5 having a conductive leaf spring 10 forming a pair of elastic piece portions 11 facing each other, and a housing portion 30 having a mounting hole 35 into which the contact probe 5 is inserted, the elastic piece portion 11 has a protrusion 17 for preventing it from coming off that protrudes in the width direction. Therefore, when the spacing between the pair of elastic piece portions 11 is narrowed, the contact probe 5 can be freely attached and detached to the mounting hole 35 of the housing portion 30, and in a steady state when the spacing between the pair of elastic piece portions 11 is widened, the protrusion 17 for preventing it from coming off comes into contact with the narrowed part of the mounting hole 35, preventing the contact probe from coming off.

[0019] (2) The mounting hole 35 of the housing portion 30 has a base-side accommodating portion 38 on the base side of the tip hole portion 37 having the opening 36, and the base-side accommodating portion 38 has an inner dimension that allows the retaining protrusion 17 to move freely, and the tip hole portion 37 is formed with a groove 37b that can pass through only when the spacing between the pair of elastic pieces 11 is narrowed. Therefore, in the steady state where the spacing between the pair of elastic pieces 11 is widened, the open upper end surface 38a of the groove 37b in the base-side accommodating portion 38 functions as a stopper that prevents the retaining protrusion 17 from moving in the removal direction. This reliably prevents the contact probe 5 from coming off during normal use.

[0020] (3) The tip curved portion 12 of the elastic piece portion 11 of the contact probe 5 has a notch 13 formed from the tip edge 12a toward the base end, so that during measurement the inner edge of the notch 13 comes into contact with the bump 51 of the device under test 50, providing good contact with the bump 51. The contact probe 5 can be constructed from a single part, has low resistance, can have a large allowable current, and is low cost.

[0021] (Embodiment 2) A socket 1A according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described using Figures 9 and 10. In this second embodiment, the elastic piece portion 11 of the contact probe 5A included in the socket 1A has, instead of the retaining protrusion 17 in the first embodiment, a retaining protrusion 17A that protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the elastic piece portion 11. The retaining protrusion 17A has an outwardly convex surface, that is, a convex surface that faces the inner surface of the mounting hole 45 of the housing portion 30A. The other configuration of the contact probe 5A is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment described above.

[0022] The housing 30A has a main body 31 and a bottom plate 32, and the mounting hole 45 formed in the housing 30A consists of a tip hole 47 for preventing the tip from coming off, a base-side accommodating portion 48 on the inside dimension into which the anti-fall-out projection 17A fits, and a positioning hole 49 at the bottom end. The tip hole 47 and the base-side accommodating portion 48 are formed in the main body 31, and the positioning hole 49 is formed in the bottom plate 32. The electrode pads of the testing board 40 are not shown in the illustration. The other configuration of the housing 30A is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment described above.

[0023] The procedure for inserting housing portion 30A of contact probe 5A will be described with reference to Figure 9. At position A before insertion, a force is applied in the direction of arrow H to narrow the gap between pair of elastic piece portions 11 of conductive leaf spring 10, the base of conductive leaf spring 10 is inserted into mounting hole 35A as shown at position B, and conductive leaf spring 10 is further inserted until it reaches position C, after which the force narrowing the pair of elastic piece portions 11 is released. In a steady state with no external force, retaining protrusions 17A at the middle of the pair of elastic piece portions 11 are caught on tip hole portions 47 of mounting hole 35A to prevent them from coming out.

[0024] In this second embodiment as well, a retaining projection 17A is formed in the middle of the pair of elastic pieces 11, so that the elasticity of contact probe 5A made of conductive leaf spring 10 can be utilized to easily insert contact probe 5A into mounting hole 35A of housing part 30A and prevent it from falling out. Other effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

[0025] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, these are merely examples of the present invention, and various other configurations can also be adopted.

[0026] In the first and second embodiments, the sockets 1 and 1A are described as having the test board 40, but the sockets may not have a test board. For example, there may be a configuration in which the test board is in a separate device and the socket without a test board is attached to the test board of the separate device.

[0027] The housing parts 30, 30A are exemplified as being divided into a main body part 31 and a bottom plate part 32, but this is to make it easier to mold them from resin, etc., and since each contact probe can be attached and detached from the top of the housing part, the housing part does not have to have a divided structure.

[0028] According to the present specification, there are provided a contact probe and a socket of the following aspects.

[0029] (Aspect 1) a contact probe having a conductive leaf spring formed with a pair of elastic pieces facing each other, and a housing portion having an attachment hole into which the contact probe is inserted, The pair of elastic pieces have tip curved portions bent in a direction in which the opposing distance between them increases toward the tip, and each have a protrusion for preventing slipping out that protrudes in a width direction of the elastic piece or in a direction perpendicular to the width direction, The socket has a mounting hole through which the contact probe can be attached and detached when the gap between the pair of elastic pieces is narrowed, and in a steady state where the gap between the pair of elastic pieces is widened, the anti-slip protrusion comes into contact with the narrowed portion of the mounting hole to prevent the contact probe from falling out.

[0030] According to the above-mentioned first aspect, when the gap between the pair of elastic pieces is narrowed, the contact probe is detachable from the mounting hole of the housing, and when the gap between the pair of elastic pieces is widened in a steady state, the retaining projections come into contact with the narrowed portion of the mounting hole, preventing the contact probe from falling out. Therefore, the contact probe can be inserted from the tip opening side of the mounting hole of the housing, and there is no need to disassemble the housing or remove the testing circuit board during assembly. Furthermore, specific contact probes can be selectively attached and detached without disassembling the housing or removing the testing circuit board, making socket maintenance easy.

[0031] (Aspect 2) The pair of elastic pieces have anti-slip projections that protrude in the width direction, the mounting hole has a base-side accommodating portion located on the base side of a tip hole portion having an opening, and the base-side accommodating portion has an inner dimension that allows free movement of the retaining projections that project in the width direction of the pair of elastic pieces, a groove portion that can pass through only when the distance between the pair of elastic pieces is narrowed is formed in the tip hole portion from the opening to the base-side housing portion; In a steady state where the gap between the pair of elastic pieces is widened, the end face of the base-side accommodating portion where the groove portion is open prevents the retaining projection from moving in the removal direction.

[0032] According to the second aspect described above, the pair of elastic pieces have retaining projections that protrude in the width direction, and in a steady state where the gap between the pair of elastic pieces is widened, the end face of the base-side accommodating part where the groove is open acts as a stopper that prevents the retaining projections from moving in the removal direction, thereby reliably preventing the contact probe from being removed from the housing part.

[0033] (Aspect 3) The socket has a notch formed in the distal curved portion extending from the distal edge toward the proximal end.

[0034] According to the above-mentioned third aspect, a notch is formed in the tip curved portion of the elastic piece from the tip edge toward the base end, so that the edge of the notch comes into contact with the electrode of the device under test, such as a bump, during measurement, resulting in good contact. During measurement, the amount of separation between the opposing tip curved portions can be reduced, making it possible to accommodate narrower arrangement pitches of contact probes in the socket.

[0035] (Aspect 4) a contact probe having a pair of elastic pieces facing each other with a gap therebetween; a housing having a mounting hole into which the contact probe is inserted, The pair of elastic pieces have protrusions that protrude in a width direction thereof or in a direction perpendicular to the width direction, The convex portion abuts against the mounting hole when the contact probe is in a steady state, preventing the contact probe from coming out of the mounting hole, and allows the contact probe to be attached to and detached from the mounting hole when the gap is narrower than in the steady state.

[0036] According to the above-mentioned aspect 4, the contact probe is prevented from coming off the mounting hole in its steady state, and when the spacing between the convex portions is narrower than in the steady state, the contact probe can be attached and detached from the mounting hole, thereby improving the ease of assembling the socket and replacing the contact probe. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1.1A socket 5,5A Contact Probe 10 Conductive leaf spring 11 Elastic piece 12 Tip curved part 12a Tip edge 13 Notch 17,17A Protrusion for preventing disconnection 30,30A housing 35,45 mounting holes 40 Test board 50 Device Under Test 51 Bump

Claims

1. a contact probe having a conductive leaf spring formed with a pair of elastic pieces facing each other; a housing portion having an attachment hole into which the contact probe is inserted, The pair of elastic pieces have tip curved portions bent in a direction in which the opposing distance between them increases toward the tip, and each have a protrusion for preventing slip-out that protrudes in a width direction of the elastic piece or in a direction perpendicular to the width direction, The socket has a mounting hole through which the contact probe can be attached and detached when the gap between the pair of elastic pieces is narrowed, and in a steady state where the gap between the pair of elastic pieces is widened, the anti-slip protrusion comes into contact with the narrowed portion of the mounting hole to prevent the contact probe from falling out.

2. The pair of elastic pieces have anti-slip projections that protrude in the width direction, the mounting hole has a base-side accommodating portion located on the base side of a tip hole portion having an opening, and the base-side accommodating portion has an inner dimension that allows free movement of the retaining projections that project in the width direction of the pair of elastic pieces, a groove portion that can pass through only when the distance between the pair of elastic pieces is narrowed is formed in the tip hole portion from the opening to the base-side accommodating portion, 2. The socket according to claim 1, wherein in a steady state in which the spacing between the pair of elastic pieces is widened, the end face of the base-side accommodating portion where the groove portion opens prevents the anti-slip protrusion from moving in the removal direction.

3. 3. The socket according to claim 1, wherein the distal curved portion has a notch formed from the distal end edge toward the proximal end.

4. a contact probe having a pair of elastic pieces facing each other with a gap therebetween; a housing having a mounting hole into which the contact probe is inserted, The pair of elastic pieces have protrusions that protrude in a width direction thereof or in a direction perpendicular to the width direction, The convex portion abuts against the mounting hole when the contact probe is in a steady state, preventing the contact probe from coming out of the mounting hole, and allows the contact probe to be attached to and detached from the mounting hole when the gap is narrower than in the steady state.

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