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EP0529577A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Electrical test probe having shaped contacts

Assignee: Raytheon Co
•
Filing: 1992-08-25
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2012-08-25
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Abstract

Abstract Shaped contacts (40, 42) for interconnecting circuits or for use in an integrated circuit test probe are electroplated as integral parts of circuit traces (34) upon a stainless steel mandrel (10). A shaped, hardened steel indentation tool makes indentations (24a, 24b) of predetermined shape in the surface of the mandrel (10), which is provided with a pattern of dielectric, such as Teflon (12), or photoresist. Areas of the steel mandrel, including the indentations (24a, 24b), are electroplated with a pattern of conductive material (34, 36, 38), and a dielectric substrate is laminated to the conductive material. The circuit features formed by the indentations define raised contacts of a conical or pyramidal shape, having free ends with a small area that allows higher pressures to be applied to a surface against which the contacts are pressed. This enables the contacts to penetrate foreign materials, such as oxides, that may form on the surface of the pads, to which the contacts are to be connected to ensure a good contact without any need for wiping action.

Inventors

  • 👤 Haim Feigenbaum
  • 👤 William R. Crumly
  • 👤 Christopher M. Schreiber

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-29 21:43
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01R; G01R1/00; G01R1/02; G01R1/06; G01R1/067; G01R1/073; H; H05; H05K; H05K3/00; H05K3/10; H05K3/20; H05K3/205; H05K3/40; H05K3/4007; H05K2201/00; H05K2201/03; H05K2201/0332; H05K2201/0364; H05K2201/0367; H05K2201/10; H05K2201/10613; H05K2201/10621; H05K2201/10666; H05K2203/00; H05K2203/01; H05K2203/0104; H05K2203/0113; H05K2203/0147; H05K2203/0152; H05K2203/07; H05K2203/0703; H05K2203/0726; H05K2203/16; H05K2203/167; H05K3/36; H05K3/361; H05K3/365

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim 108 words
Method of testing an integrated circuit having a pattern of contact pads (56, 58), said method comprising the steps of: providing a substrate (32), forming on said substrate (32) a circuit having a plurality of connector pads (34, 36, 38), at least a group (36, 38) of said connector pads (34, 36, 38) having a pointed contact feature (40, 42), in a pattern that matches said pattern on said integrated circuit contact pads (56, 58), wherein said pointed contact features (40, 42) have been integrally electroformed with their respective connector pads (36, 38); and pressing said pointed contact features (40, 42) against said integrated circuit pads (56, 58).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 34 words
Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the contact feature (40, 42) is electroformed as a tapered body (18, 28) having a truncated end (20) that provides a small substantially flat contact area.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 22 words
Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said contact feature (40, 42) has a conical shape (18) with a truncated tip.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 22 words
Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said contact feature (40, 42) has a pyramidal shape (28) with a truncated tip.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 80 words
Electrical test probe comprising: a dielectric substrate (32), a plurality of circuit traces (34) on the substrate (32) having contact pads (34, 36, 38), and a pointed raised contact (40, 42) on each of said contact pads (36, 38), said raised contacts (40, 42) each projecting from a circuit trace contact pad (36, 38) and terminating in a free end of reduced area, wherein each said pointed raised contact (40, 42) is integrally electroformed with its contact pad (36, 38).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 89 words
Electrical test probe according to claim 5, characterized in that each said contact (40, 42) has a free end adapted to touch a circuit element (56, 58) to be connected to said test probe, and wherein each said contact (40, 42) tapers from a relatively large area base at its contact pad (36, 38) to a relatively small area at its free end that is capable of penetrating a layer of poor conductivity on the surface of a circuit element (56, 58) to be connected to said test probe.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 41 words
Electrical test probe according to claim 5 or claim 6, characterized in that each of said contacts (40, 42) has a free end and wherein each contact (40, 42) is conical (18) and tapers to a point at its free end.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 44 words
Electrical test probe according to claim 5 or claim 6, characterized in that each of said contacts (40, 42) has a free end and wherein each contact (40, 42) is pyramidal (28) and tapers to a surface of reduced dimension at its free end.

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