Patent ID: 7535241
Filing Date: 2009-05-19
Classification: G01R

Abstract:
1. An electrical test probe for a connector assembly comprising: an elongated contact having an intermediate collar; an elongated helical coil spring disposed about said contact, with one end of the spring bearing against one side of said intermediate collar such that the plane of the spring is at an acute angle to said one side of the collar, and wherein the opposite end of the spring includes contiguous spring coils, the diameter of said contiguous spring coils at said opposite end of the helical coil spring being of smaller diameter than the diameter of the coils at said one end of the spring; and an elongated, electrically conductive tubular member disposed about the assembly of said elongated contact and the elongated helical coil spring, one end of said tubular member being open and crimped about the other side of the intermediate collar of the elongated contact, with the opposite end of said tubular member being closed and of bullet-nosed configuration, the bullet-nosed portion of said tubular member being of smaller diameter than the portion of said tubular member containing the elongated contact and the elongated helical coil spring whereby, in operation, when the electrical probe is compressed between a printed circuit board and an integrated circuit, the longitudinal axis of the elongated contact is skewed to establish a direct electrical path between the contact and the bullet-nosed portion of said tubular member.