A test fixture is provided for testing electrical characteristics associated with a printed circuit board (PCB). Spaced-apart solenoids each have an extendible arm aligned along an axis defined by a connector assembly on the PCB to be tested. The arms are located to have sufficient travel to engage the side of the connector assembly. A mechanism is provided which detects which of the arms engage the connector assembly. Arm engagement data is stored in memory of a PC for type of connector assembly to be tested by the apparatus. A mechanism is provided for determining if a correct test program has been selected by a user for testing a particular connector assembly based on whether the arm engagement data matches the arms that engage the connector assembly.

The invention relates to a finger tester probe including a probe element for electrically contacting a contact point of a circuit board under test, an actuator including a permanently premagnetized core and a solenoid element. The solenoid element is shiftingly arranged on the permanently premagnetized core and is mechanically connected to the probe element. Upon being energized, the solenoid element is moved together with the probe element. Since in accordance with the invention a movable part of the actuator is not mechanically connected to a fixed part of the actuator, the test probe which is attached to the movable part is able to bring the probe element into contact with a contact point of a circuit board under test at high speed.

A new structure of a test apparatus (tester) for detecting shorts and opens of a printed wiring board and an associated automatic test method. The tester has means for injecting signals into conductors of a printed wiring board under test (BUT) and a large number of integrated solenoid-actuated probes which are arranged in a two-dimensional array for sampling signals from the conductors of the BUT. The signals are sampled from the conductors by the integrated solenoid-actuated probes in a row by row scanning sequence following a grid pattern of the BUT. Each of the probes needs only to sample signals from the conductors in a small portion of the BUT.

A scan tester for printed circuit boards capable of testing densely spaced test locations on the circuit board including a desk top robot having a test head positioned over the circuit board and movable in a three-dimensional plane. The test head includes a non-contact energy source such as a source of plasma located at an end of the test head for energizing the test locations of the printed circuit board. The printed circuit board is mounted on a test fixture having a plurality of translator plates and translator pins for contacting a second surface of the printed circuit board to translate test signals to an electronic test analyzer.

A solid spring electrical connector includes an elongated metal bar of sufficient cross sectional area to carry high electrical current loads. The bar is contained in a barrel with terminals of the bar projecting from opposite ends of the barrel. The bar is an integral piece which includes a spring section extending most of the length of the bar. The spring section is formed by axially spaced-apart, parallel, linear, narrow-profile notches of generally uniform width having alternating open ends facing toward opposite sides of the bar progressively along its length. Each notch extends across a major portion of the diameter of the bar thereby forming a resilient spring section in which the metal between adjacent notches forms the equivalent of long narrow flexible beams with alternating pivot points. In an alternate embodiment, electrical connectors adapted for mounting to printed circuit boards include a plurality of spring contacts in a row along the length of the connector. Each spring contact comprises one or more thin, flat, metal pieces with a spring section extending most of the length of each metal piece. The spring contacts are spaced-apart by insulating blocks interleaved between the contacts. The spring section of each flat metal piece includes long, narrow, parallel notches that alternately open to opposite sides of the metal piece. A multi-layer form of each contact includes overlying notched metal pieces positioned face to face with openings of corresponding notches in adjacent pieces facing in alternate directions to control high frequency response.