This Nonprovlsional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 2007-238827 filed in Japan on Sep. 14, 2007, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a test socket including locating means for locating a solid-state image pickup device fitted therein.
The present invention relates to a socket configured to locate a solid-state image pickup device inserted therein so as to enable optical centering at all times, and hence being adaptable to solid-state image pickup devices of different sizes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the remarkable advancement in performance of image pickup instruments using solid-state image pickup devices, such as cellular phones with a camera function and digital still cameras, the solid-state image pickup devices have also become increasingly advanced in performance, e.g., having a mega number of pixels and a wide angle of view. In addition, some solid-state image pickup devices are densely packed by mounting a circuit board, such as a flexible printed board or a rigid board, implementing a camera driving circuit thereon.
In a manufacturing process of solid-state image pickup devices, various tests are conventionally performed to screen out defective products. The test of a solid-state image pickup device is usually performed with the solid-state image pickup device of the test target being fitted in a test socket provided in a tester for electrical testing, characteristic evaluation, or the like.
The structure of a test socket for a solid-state image pickup device is briefly described below with reference to
As shown in
In order to perform a test in a favorable manner for a solid-state image pickup device, especially for a high-performance solid-state image pickup device as mentioned above, the focal point and angle of view of the solid-state image pickup device should be adjusted to an optical center as accurately as possible. As described above, however, since the first recess 111 in the base 110 and the second recess 121 in the cover 120 of the test socket 100 are usually provided with some play, the solid-state image pickup device should be located as precisely as possible in order to perform the test with a satisfactory degree of accuracy.
Exemplary techniques for locating a solid-state image pickup device in a test socket include one using a test socket having, as locating means for locating and fixing the solid-state image pickup device in a direction (a first direction) parallel to the ceiling plane of the solid-state image pickup device in a housed state, movable chucks to urge toward the center each of predetermined two diagonal corners out of the corners of the solid-state image pickup device (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-109534).
In a case, however, where, e.g., a test is performed using a conventional test socket on a solid-state image pickup device mounted with a circuit board, and the circuit board is mounted at such a position that locating means of the test socket contacts the solid-state image pickup device, it is sometimes difficult to locate the solid-state image pickup device in fitting the solid-state image pickup device into the test socket, because of, e.g., the contact between the locating means and the circuit board. In such a case, there arises a need to fabricate a test socket dedicated for each of the shapes of solid-state image pickup devices so as to accommodate different shapes of the solid-state image pickup devices.
The present invention was made in view of the foregoing problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a test socket capable of being used more flexibly for solid-state image pickup devices of different shapes and of performing locating of the solid-state image pickup devices more precisely.
According to a first feature, a test socket according to the present invention for achieving the above object relates to a test socket for housing a tested device while a test is being performed, the tested device being a solid-state image pickup device, the test socket comprising: first locating means for locating the tested device in a first direction parallel to a ceiling plane of the tested device in the housed state; urging means for urging the first locating means in a second direction perpendicular to the ceiling plane of the tested device in the housed state; and position setting means for setting an upper limit of the movement in the second direction of the first locating means caused by the urging means to set a position in the second direction of the first locating means relative to the tested device.
According to a second feature, in the test socket according to the above feature of the present invention, the first locating means may comprise: a first fixing portion that is disposed on the test socket fixedly with respect to the first direction and supports a first corner which is one of corners on a diagonal of the tested device; and a second fixing portion that is provided in a slidable manner in a direction parallel to the diagonal of the tested device and urges, toward the first fixing portion, a second corner which is the other of the corners on the diagonal of the tested device.
According to a third feature, in the test socket according to any of the above features of the present invention, the urging means and a contact portion including a plurality of contact terminals to establish electrical connection with terminals of the tested device may be provided at a side opposite in direction to the second direction with respect to the first locating means, and the test socket may further comprise second locating means for urging the tested device in a direction opposite to the second direction from a side along the second direction with respect to the first locating means to fix a position of the ceiling plane of the tested device to a predetermined ceiling position.
According to a fourth feature, in the test socket according to the above feature of the present invention, the contact terminals may be arranged in a matrix in the contact portion.
Since the test socket according to the above-described features includes the urging means for urging the first locating means in the second direction and the position setting means for setting the upper limit of the movement in the second direction of the first locating means caused by the urging means, it becomes possible to control the position in the second direction of the first locating means as appropriate relative to the solid-state image pickup device in the housed state. With this structure, in the case of, e.g., performing a test on a solid-state image pickup device mounted with a circuit board, the test socket according to the above-described features can set the position where the first locating means contacts the solid-state image pickup device to a position outside the circuit board mounting portion. Accordingly, the test socket according to the above-described features can be used for solid-state image pickup devices of different shapes more flexibly, hence allowing a solid-state image pickup device to be housed and fixed therein regardless of present or absence of a built-in circuit board.
Also, since the test socket according to the above-described features includes the first locating means for locating the solid-state image pickup device in the direction (the first direction) parallel to the ceiling plane of the solid-state image pickup device in the housed state, the locating in the first direction can be performed accurately. With this structure, the focal point and angle of view of a solid-state image pickup device can be adjusted more accurately to an optical center.
In the test socket according to the second feature, the first locating means may include the first fixing portion that supports and fixes the first corner of the solid-state image pickup device and the second fixing portion that urges the second corner of the solid-state image pickup device toward the first corner, the second corner being diagonally across the first corner; therefore, the first locating means can be provided in a simple structure, and the locating in the first direction can be carried out accurately.
The test socket according to the third feature may include the second locating means for urging the tested device from the side along the second direction of the first locating means in the direction opposite to the second direction, so as to fix the position of the ceiling plane of the tested device to a predetermined ceiling position; therefore, the locating in the second direction can be performed accurately.
The test socket according to the fourth feature may include the contact portion in which the contact terminals are arranged in a matrix; therefore, the same test socket can be used for the solid-state image pickup devices that have the same side-to-terminal distance and the same terminal interval. Accordingly, it becomes possible to cut costs involved in the test and reduce the time required for developing test sockets.
Embodiments of a test socket according to the present invention are described below with reference to the drawings.
A structure of a test socket according to the present invention is described with reference to
As shown in
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More specifically, as shown in
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Further, as shown in
It should be noted that the screw 14a for setting the upper limit of the movement in the Z direction of the first fixing portion 12a and the screws 14b for setting the upper limit of the movement in the Z direction of the second fixing portion 12b are desirably fastened to the base 10 such that the plate-like member of the first fixing portion 12a and the plate-like member of the second fixing portion 12b are set at an equal level; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the setting is performed appropriately in view of the thicknesses of the plate-like members, the mounting position of the circuit board in the tested device, and the like. Accordingly, the tested device can be fixed with the first and second fixing portions 12a and 12b being kept from contacting the circuit board and the like of the tested device.
The base 10 is provided at its bottom with a contact portion 18 including a plurality of contact terminals 18a (contact pins 18a) so as to establish electrical connection with terminals of the tested device. In the present embodiment, the contact terminals 18a are arranged in a matrix in the contact portion 18.
The cover 20 to serve as the second locating means renders the test socket, with the tested device placed in the first recess 11 of the base 10, closed by interlocking with the base 10 through the latch member 19 to be described later, thereby urging the tested device in a direction opposite to the Z direction to fix the position of the ceiling plane of the tested device to a predetermined ceiling position. More specifically, in the present embodiment, the second recess 21 in the cover 20 is provided so as to contact the ceiling plane of the tested device, which allows the position in the Z direction of the image pickup portion provided on the ceiling plane of the tested device to be fixed at the same position relative to the cover 20 at all times.
Moreover, the cover 20 of the present invention includes a third recess 21a to ensure the movement of the second fixing portion 12b. The third recess 21a has a shape that conforms to the shape of the second fixing portion 12b.
As shown in
(1) The foregoing embodiment is described of a case in which the base 10 includes the first locating means 12, the urging means 13, and the position setting means 14; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the cover 20 may include all or part of these components.
(2) Although the foregoing embodiment is described on the assumption that the urging means 13 uses the springs 13 and the position setting means 14 uses the screws 14, the present invention is not limited thereto. The urging means 13 may be, e.g., an elastic member other than springs, a motor, or the like, and the position setting means 14 is constructed in accordance with the structure of the urging means 13.
(3) Although the foregoing embodiment is described based on an example where the tested device is a solid-state image pickup device mounted with a circuit board, the present invention is not limited thereto. The test socket according to the present invention is particularly useful for tested devices that are limited in area to be contacted by the first locating means 12. It should be noted that in a case of a solid-state image pickup device without a circuit board and the like, the position in the Z direction of the first locating means 12 can be selected so as to favorably fix the solid-state image pickup device in view of the structure of the device.
Although the present invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that various modifications and alternations might be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention should therefore be measured in terms of the claims which follow.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-238827 | Sep 2007 | JP | national |