Self-Flattening Test Socket Housing With Elastomer Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Testing microcircuits poses challenges due to their small size and fragile nature, leading to issues with reliable contact and potential damage during testing, especially when high frequencies are involved, resulting in misalignment and inconsistent bias pressure.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a housing with a slot for the front elastomer at the top, a bridge between sidewalls at the bottom, and a pin profile with a radial upper portion and flattened lower portion, along with a vertical tail stop, to reduce bowing and maintain consistent contact pressure, and uses an arcuate recess with a projection to retain the elastomer, allowing for compressive and shear forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the housing is made thinner to accommodate shorter contacts for high-frequency operation, then contact performance is improved, but the housing becomes more fragile and flexible causing bowing and misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is segmented into multiple rigid support elements (ridges) that are distributed throughout the structure. These ridges divide the housing into smaller rigid sections, allowing the overall housing to be thinner while maintaining local rigidity where contacts are mounted, preventing bowing and misalignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing utilizes composite construction combining rigid support ridges with flexible elastomeric bias elements. The rigid ridges maintain structural integrity and prevent bowing, while the elastomeric elements provide the necessary compliance and bias force for reliable contact performance in thinner housing configurations.
2Reliability
If pre-load force is applied to contacts to ensure reliable electrical connections, then contact reliability is improved, but the housing may bend and cause dimensional problems
Solution Approach 1:
The housing features localized rigid ridges positioned specifically at contact mounting locations where pre-load force is applied. These localized rigid structures concentrate the pre-load force at specific points without distributing it throughout the entire housing, ensuring reliable electrical connections while preventing overall housing bending and dimensional changes.
Solution Approach 2:
Elastomeric bias elements serve as intermediaries between the contact and the housing structure. These elastomeric elements absorb and distribute the pre-load force, reducing the direct mechanical stress on the housing and preventing bending while still maintaining sufficient contact force for reliable electrical connections.
3Adaptability or versatility
If contacts are made shorter and thinner for high-frequency operation, then frequency performance is improved, but the housing must become thinner making it more fragile
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into multiple rigid ridges that are spaced to support individual contacts. This segmentation allows each ridge to be optimized for supporting a specific contact at high frequency while the overall housing structure remains thin and lightweight, achieving high-frequency performance without excessive fragility.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing employs a thin-walled structure with integrated rigid ridges, combining the benefits of thin housing (for high-frequency contact performance) with localized rigid support (to prevent fragility). The thin housing allows shorter contacts for high-frequency operation while the rigid ridges prevent the housing from becoming too fragile.
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 configuration minimizes housing bowing, ensures precise alignment, and maintains consistent contact pressure, enhancing the reliability and longevity of microcircuit testing by reducing friction and wear, while allowing for efficient testing of high-frequency devices.
Implementation Method 1
at least one elastomeric bias element... applying compressive forces on the elastomer
Implementation Method 2
an arcuate recess with a projection to retain the elastomer
Data Source
AI summary
A high density thin walled test device testing chips/ICs is disclosed. A housing includes a slot for a contact pin and a pair of elastomers. The pin has an arcuate recess to receive part of the elastomer. Likewise the housing includes a channel to receive part of the elastomer. The recess and channel together partially surround the elastomer but not completely to allow shear forces and expansion space for the elastomer as it is compressed by the channel and recess. In addition, a front channel extends from the top surface of the housing toward the bottom surface but leaving a floor to support the elastomer so that it does not warp the housing when compressed. Further, the channel or the recess may include retainers which prevent the elastomer from moving out of position when the pin is in an uncompressed state.