Elastic Contact Pin Test Socket for Narrow Pitch Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional test sockets face challenges with contact pin insertion at narrow pitches, leading to interference and collision, and struggle with accurate insertion of through holes due to flatness tolerances, which affects contact reliability and efficiency in testing semiconductor devices.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a test socket with elastic contact pins that can deform longitudinally, featuring a first and second contact part with stroke holes and stoppers to prevent interference and allow for accurate alignment, along with a press-fit plate for secure assembly, enabling dense pin placement and compensation for flatness tolerances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If contact pins are automatically inserted into through holes at narrow pitches, then insertion efficiency is improved, but contact pins interfere with or collide with neighboring contact pins
Solution Approach 1:
The contact pin is divided into multiple functional segments: a head portion for insertion guidance, a shaft portion for structural support, and an elastic portion for deformation. This segmentation allows each part to perform its specific function, enabling automatic insertion while preventing collision through the guided head portion and accommodating narrow pitches through the flexible elastic portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact pin incorporates an elastic portion that can dynamically deform in the longitudinal direction. This dynamic property allows the contact pin to adapt during automatic insertion at narrow pitches, preventing collision with neighboring pins while maintaining reliable electrical contact, thus resolving the contradiction between insertion efficiency and reliability.
2Stability of the object's composition
If lower ends of contact pins are fixed to through holes in housing, then assembly stability is improved, but flatness tolerance of test device cannot be compensated
Solution Approach 1:
The contact pin design incorporates a movable lower end through the elastic portion that can deform in the longitudinal direction. This dynamic capability allows the lower end to move vertically, compensating for flatness tolerances of the test device while maintaining assembly stability through the fixed head portion in the housing.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic portion of the contact pin can change its physical state by deforming in the longitudinal direction. This parameter change allows the contact pin to adapt to variations in flatness tolerance while maintaining stable assembly, resolving the contradiction between assembly stability and adaptability.
3Quantity of substance
If pitch of semiconductor device is reduced for miniaturization, then device density is improved, but contact pins collide with neighboring contact pins during insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The contact pin is segmented into a head portion for precise positioning, a shaft portion for structural integrity, and an elastic portion for flexibility. This segmentation enables the contact pin to be inserted reliably at reduced pitches by guiding insertion through the head and accommodating close spacing through the elastic portion's deformation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic portion can change its physical parameters by deforming in the longitudinal direction, allowing the contact pin to adapt to reduced pitches. This parameter change enables reliable insertion at higher device densities where contact pins are closer together, preventing collision while maintaining insertion reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows for successful automatic insertion of contact pins at smaller pitches without interference, ensures accurate alignment of through holes, and ensures all contact tips can connect to pads even with flatness tolerances, enhancing testing reliability and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
the plurality of contact pins include an elastic part capable of elastic deformation in the longitudinal direction
Data Source
AI summary
A test socket for testing the electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device provides a test socket, including a housing in which a plurality of first through holes are formed; a cover in which a plurality of second through holes are formed; and a plurality of contact pins inserted into the plurality of first and second through holes, wherein the plurality of contact pins include an elastic part capable of elastic deformation in the longitudinal direction; a first contact part comprising: a first support part extending from one end of the elastic part, a stroke part connected to an end of the first support part and movable in the longitudinal direction, and a first contact tip connected to an end of the stroke part and exposed in the first through hole.