Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-13
2001-01-16
Picard, Leo P. (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S707000, C361S719000, C361S720000, C361S721000, C361S752000, C361S756000, C165S080300, C165S263000, C165S104330, C324S765010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06175498
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rack for movably mounting a plate carrying heat sink with burn-in boards used for testing electronic circuits. The heat sinks are for dissipating heat from high power output circuits on chips being tested on the burn-in board.
Heat sinks and other temperature regulators of various types have been used for controlling the temperature of burn-in board components. U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,235 shows a type of temperature regulator where an impinging.flow of gas is utilized for cooling circuit.
Another device that is used for individually controlling a temperature or plurality of semi-conductor devices in a burn-in oven is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,370.
In the control of temperature of a semi-conductor chip using heat sinks, it is important to have good thermal contact between the heat sink, and the semi-conductor device that is mounted on a burn-in board. This becomes more and more important as higher power circuits are used on semi-conductor chips are being tested, because of the heat dissipation requirements for such circuits.
It is difficult to obtain good thermal contact between the heat sink, and a temperature sensor used for sensing a temperature of the chip being tested by merely sliding a burn-in board in the oven rack relative to a fixed heat sink, or sliding in a board of heat sinks over installed circuit chips on a burn-in board on the rack. The present invention relates to moving a board carrying heat sinks for chips perpendicular to the plane of a burn-in board carrying the circuits for making thermal contact after the boards have been slid into a rack.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rack for supporting electronic circuit burn-in boards in an oven, and which also supports a thermal board carrying a plurality of heat sinks, one for each of the chips being tested. The movement is perpendicular to the plane of the burn-in board and moves the boards together for intimate contact not only of a temperature sensor carried by the heat sinks, but of the heat sink surface and the chip surface.
The rack of the present invention has a frame to reciprocate a thermal board carrying a plurality of heat sinks and temperature sensors, one for each of the chips on a burn-in board installed in the rack on separate fixed supports. The heat sinks and the temperature sensors on the heat sinks are both spring loaded so that they can accommodate some contact with the chip before the movable frame reaches its final position, without damaging the heat sink, the chip, or the temperature sensor. A positive drive for the movable frame, which in the form of the invention carries the heat sinks and temperature sensors, can be used. The movable frame is slidable relative to fixed base supports, with one of the burn-in or thermal boards mounted on the fixed supports and the other board mounted on the movable frame. Once the boards are installed and aligned, the boards on the movable frame are moved toward the boards on the fixed supports will be guided into position with suitable guide pins and receptacles on the respective boards. The movable frame is positively driven by a cam arrangement operated through a stepper motor and gear box, so that the positioning and moving of the frame can be very precisely done by counting and controlling the steps of the stepper motor.
The boards have suitable connections for coolant, and for receiving temperature signals as well as for other controls. The burn-in boards are connected in a normal manner through control circuitry that will be used for testing the circuits on the integrated circuit chips on the burn-in board.
The specific forms of the burn-in boards and the heat sinks are shown by way of example, but the reciprocating supports for two boards that must mate can be used with a wide variety of different types of heat sinks, heat exchangers cooling devices, and temperature sensors, used in connection with burn-in boards.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4900948 (1990-02-01), Hamilton
patent: 4935864 (1990-06-01), Schmidt et al.
patent: 5164661 (1992-11-01), Jones
patent: 5247248 (1993-09-01), Fukunaga
patent: 5414370 (1995-05-01), Hashinaga et al.
patent: 5582235 (1996-12-01), Hamilton et al.
patent: 5721669 (1998-02-01), Becker et al.
patent: 5790373 (1998-08-01), Kim et al.
patent: 5911897 (1999-06-01), Hamilton
patent: 5999407 (1999-12-01), Meschter et al.
Conroy Chad M.
Greenwood Mark W.
Chervinsky Boris
Micro Control Company
Picard Leo P.
Westman Champlin & Kelly P.A.
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