Abstract:
A testing apparatus for testing a number of different characteristics of a circuit board includes at least two probes, at least one measuring meter, and a storage device. After a circuit schematic diagram of the circuit board and a circuit wiring diagram of the circuit board have been compared, the location of each electric contact is determined. The probes necessary for testing particular characteristics are connected in turn to the measuring meter. The circuit board is moved to align the electric contacts with the probes, and bring the probes into electrical contact with the electric contacts for testing.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The disclosure generally relates to testing technologies, and particularly to a testing apparatus and method. 
     DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART 
     When a circuit board is tested, testing contacts on the circuit board are found one after another and manually selected using a measuring meter according to an electric parameter. Therefore, if the circuit board is very complicated, it takes a long time to test many electric contacts and different corresponding electric parameters of the circuit board, which leads to a low testing efficiency. 
     Therefore, it is desirable to provide a means which can overcome the above-mentioned problems. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a testing apparatus. 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a testing method. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean “at least one.” 
     In general, the word “module”, as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as in an EPROM. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or other storage device. Some non-limiting examples of non-transitory computer-readable median include CDs, DVDs, BLU-RAY, flash memory, and hard disk drives. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a testing apparatus  1 . The testing apparatus  1  is configured to test a number of different characteristics of a circuit board  2 . The characteristics may be, but are not limited to, a voltage value, a current value, and a electrical resistance. The testing apparatus  1  includes an input device  12 , a testing device  13 , an upper holding board  14  for holding the testing device  13 , a lower holding board  15  for holding a circuit board  2 , a lifting device  16 , a position adjusting device  17 , a storage device  18 , and at least one processor  19 . The input device  12 , the testing device  13 , the lifting device  16 , the position adjusting device  17 , the storage device  18 , and the at least one processor  19  are directly or indirectly electronically interconnected. 
     The input device  12  is configured to input testing requirements. The content of the testing requirements may be, but are not limited to, a number of electric contacts  20  on the circuit board  2  and a number of characteristics to be tested on the electric contacts  20 . The input device  12  may be, but is not limited to, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, or a touch display. For example, the circuit board  2  can be shown on the touch display. A user clicks the electric contacts  20  of the circuit board  2  via the touch display, selects an option of the characteristics via the mouse, or types a name of the characteristic to be tested, via the keyboard. 
     The testing device  13  includes a number of probes  130 , a switching circuit  132 , a measuring meter group  134 , and a probe regulator  136 . The probes  130  are set on the upper holding board  14  and extend towards the lower holding board  15 . The measuring meter group  134  includes a number of measuring meters configured to measure different characteristics of the circuit board  2 . The measuring meters may be, but are not limited to, a digital multimeter, an oscilloscope, and a frequency counter. The probes  130  are connected to a number of input terminals of the measuring meters and transmit electrical signals of the circuit board  2  to the measuring meters. The number of probes  130  depends on the number of input terminals of the measuring meter. Because the measuring meter needs to form a test loop with an electronic element of circuit board  2 , the measuring meter includes at least two input terminals. Correspondingly, the testing device  13  includes at least two probes  130 . The switching circuit  132  connects the input terminals of the different measuring meters with the probes  130  according to the characteristics to be tested. The probe regulator  136  regulates relative positions among the different probes  130 . In this embodiment, the switching circuit  132  is a relay. The testing device  13  includes a fixed probe  130   a  and a moving probe  130   b . The probe regulator  136  drives the moving probe  130   b  to move relative to the fixed probe  130   a  on the upper holding board  14  for regulating a distance between the fixed probe  130   a  and the moving probe  130   b . The probe regulator  136  is a stepper motor. 
     The lifting device  16  adjusts a relative position between the upper holding board  14  and the lower holding board  15  to bring the probes  130  into electrical contact with the electric contacts  20  of the circuit board  2  held on the lower holding board  15 . In this embodiment, the lifting device  16  is a pneumatically-driven pressing machine. 
     The lower holding board  15  faces the upper holding board  14  and includes a testing circuit  150  to provide a number of predetermined testing conditions for the circuit board  2 , for example, a predetermined voltage or a predetermined current. 
     In this embodiment, the lower holding board  15  is fixed. The position adjusting device  17  moves the circuit board  2  on the lower holding board  15  to align the electric contacts  20  on the circuit board  2  with the probes  130 . It is understand that, in an alternative embodiment, the circuit board  2  is fixed on the lower holding board  15 , and the position adjusting device  17  moves the lower holding board  15  to align the electric contacts  20  on the circuit board  2  with the probes  130  on the upper holding board  14 . 
     The storage device  18  may be, but is not limited to, a hard disk, or a dedicated memory, such as an EPROM, HDD, or flash memory. The storage device  18  stores a circuit schematic diagram and a circuit wiring diagram of the circuit board  2 . The circuit schematic diagram of the circuit board  2  schematically shows connections among each electronic component of the circuit board  2  to illustrate a working principle of the circuit board  2 , but is not an actual wiring pattern of the circuit board  2 . The circuit wiring diagram shows the actual wiring pattern of the circuit board  2 . The storage device  18  also stores the characteristics for testing in different testing conditions to be ready for a further analysis of the circuit board  2 . 
     The testing system  10  includes a circuit analyzing module  102 , a meter choosing module  103 , a probe regulating module  104 , a position adjusting module  105 , and a test controlling module  106 . Computerized codes of the testing system  10  can be embedded into an operating system of the testing apparatus  1 , or stored in the storage device  18  and executed by the processor  19 . 
     To determine the location of the electric contacts  20  on the circuit board  2 , the circuit analyzing module  102  matches the circuit schematic diagram with the circuit wiring diagram. The locations of each of the electric contacts  20  are described in a polar coordinate system. The polar coordinate system is established with a vertical projection point of the fixed probe  130   a  on the lower holding board  15  as one pole thereof and with a direction from the pole to a vertical projection of the moving probe  130   b  as the polar axis thereof. A center of the circuit board  2  aligns with the pole. Therefore, each electric contact  20  on the circuit board  2  can be determined by a radial coordinate and an angular coordinate of the polar coordinate system. The circuit analyzing module  102  matches the electric contacts  20  selected on the circuit schematic diagram by the user with a number of actual electric contacts  20  on the circuit wiring diagram, determines the coordinates of the actual electric contacts  20  on the circuit board  2 , and sends the coordinates of the actual electric contacts  20  to the probe regulating module  104  and the position adjusting module  105 . The circuit analyzing module  102  also determines a predicted voltage of each electric contact  20  as a reference to choose the input terminals of the measuring meter. 
     The meter choosing module  103  controls the switching circuit  132  to connect the input terminals of the measuring meter corresponding to the required characteristics with the probes  130  when characteristics to be tested are input via the input device  12 . 
     The probe regulating module  104  controls the probe regulator  136  to regulate the distance between the probes  130  according to the coordinates of the actual electric contacts  20 . The distance between the probes  130  is regulated to be equal to a distance between the actual electric contacts  20 . 
     The position adjusting module  105  controls the position adjusting device  17  to move the circuit board  2  to align the electric contacts  20  to be tested on the circuit board  2  with the probes  130  according to the coordinates of the actual electric contacts  20 , the predicted voltage of the electric contacts  20 , and the connections between the probes  130  and the input terminals of the measuring meter. 
     The test controlling module  106  controls the lifting device  16  to move the upper holding board  14  towards the lower holding board  15  and bring the probes  130  into contact with the electric contacts  20  to be tested. The test controlling module  106  controls the testing circuit  150  to provide the predetermined testing conditions to the circuit board  2  when the probes  130  make contact with the electric contacts  20  to be tested and stores data as to the characteristics discovered by the measuring meters, in the storage device  18 . 
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a testing method. Depending on the embodiment, additional steps may be added, others deleted, and the ordering of the steps may be changed. 
     In step S 01 , the circuit analyzing module  102  matches the circuit schematic diagram with the circuit wiring diagram to determine the locations of each of the electric contacts  20  to be tested on the circuit board  2 . 
     In step S 02 , the meter choosing module  103  determines the measuring meter corresponding to the characteristic to be tested to be tested and controls the switching circuit  132  to connect the input terminals of the measuring meter with the probes  130 . The input terminals are connected to the probes  130  via the switching circuit  132 . 
     In step S 03 , the probe regulating module  104  controls the probe regulator  136  to regulate the distance between the probes  130  to the distance between the actual electric contacts  20  on the circuit board  2  according to the location of the electric contacts  20  on the circuit board  2 . 
     In step S 04 , the position adjusting module  105  controls the position adjusting device  17  to move the circuit board  2  to align the electric contacts  20  to be tested with the probes  130  according to the locations of the electric contacts  20  determined by the circuit analyzing module  102 . 
     In step S 05 , the test controlling module  106  controls the lifting device  16  to bring the probes  130  into contact with the electric contacts  20  to be tested. The test controlling module  106  controls the testing circuit  150  to provide the predetermined testing conditions to the circuit board  2  when the probes  130  make contact with the electric contacts  20  and stores data concerning the characteristics tested by the measuring meters in the storage device  18 . 
     It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the disclosure.