DEVICE FOR TESTING THE INSERTION PERFORMANCE OF CONTACT PINS INTO HOLES OF A PCB

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DEVICE FOR TESTING THE INSERTION PERFORMANCE OF CONTACT PINS INTO HOLES OF A PCB

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1. Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a device for simulating variable holes in printed circuit boards (PCB) for testing the insertion performance of contact pins into the holes of PCBs. The present invention further relates to a system comprising such a device and a contact pin and to a method

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for simulating variable holes in PCBs.

2. Technical background

Printed circuit boards commonly comprise a number of holes for the

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insertion of electrical contact pins. The holes are connected to electrical traces of the PCB and the contact pins thus allow for example the connection of parts of the PCB with a connector. In manufacturing, the contact pins are pressed by force into the holes and held therein due to frictional forces. For a suitable electrical and mechanical connection it is

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therefore important that contact pins are manufactured such that they securely fit into the holes. This requires certain minimum insertion forces. On the other hand, the insertion forces must not exceed certain values, since otherwise the PCB could be damaged upon insertion of the contact pin into its respective hole. This is even more so the case in mass 25

production, where a large number of contact pins is pushed by the same automated tool together into a PCB. Due to the large amount of pins to be inserted at the same time, the required forces for insertion are large and if for example due to production tolerances of pins and PCBs the size of the pins is too large in relation to the respective hole, the walls of the

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hole or the pin itself might be damaged. If in contrast the size of the pins is too small in relation to the size of the holes, the retention forces of the inserted pins are too small and the pin may become loose. Although neither the contact pins nor the PCBs are expensive components, they are mass products and have therefore a considerable influence on the 35

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production quality and the production costs of a large number of products. Therefore, it is important to optimize the insertion performance of such contact pins to secure a tight and sufficient fit in a PCB without excess forces during insertion.

During insertion of a contact pin into a hole of a PCB, commonly first an increase of the press-in force up to a maximum force is present, followed, depending on the geometry of the compliant pin, by a decrease of the force. The final force corresponds essentially to the pull-out or retention force of the contact pin in the PCB hole. With many contact

PCB hole leading to an affected electrical and mechanical connection between the contact pin and the PCB, an optimization of the performance of the contact pin shall lead to a smaller maximum force and to a larger retention force of the contact pin. The performance of the contact pin is influenced by a large number of parameters as e.g. the

Concerning the optimiz...