Patent Publication Number: US-6982550-B2

Title: Unbreakable micro-browser

Description:
This is a division of application Ser. No. 10/834,549, filed Apr. 28, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,949,919. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Many types of electronic test equipment (e.g., oscilloscopes) often involve the probing of a circuit of interest with a hand held probe. The probe might acquire a single-ended signal or a differential one, and there mayor may not be a ground connection using a “flying lead” (a short length of flexible insulated wire with an alligator clip or other fastener at the free end). In particular, it is often necessary to probe the signals at two places on a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) that: (1) Are some arbitrary distance apart; (2) Are traces leading to surface mounted components with no leads around which a probe tip may be hooked, requiring that sharp probe tips be pressed into those traces; and (3) Carry signal that have high frequency components (say, in the Giga Hertz region). 
   To accomplish these tasks a number of desirable properties of such a probe have been identified, and various designs have been offered. These desirable properties include adjustable spacing between a pair of small sharp probe tips with spring loading. They are small to cooperate with high frequency operation. They are sharp to allow them to penetrate any protective coatings and stay in place by slightly gouging into the trace. At least one is spring loaded to help them stay in place and not slip, even though the operator&#39;s hand may move or wiggle slightly during the measurement. 
   A prior art micro-browser meeting these requirements has pair of rods each entering a corresponding bore in a sleeve that retains them, and that may itself be carried by a grip shaped to be rotated between a thumb and a finger. The edge of a small circuit board is soldered at the distal end of the rod. One of the rods is allowed to rotate within its bore in the sleeve, while the other is held stationary by a notch in the sleeve. The rotatable rod has a captive spring that resists the force of probe contact. Each board carries a coupling network connected to a short sharp probe tip bent downward and away from the plane of its board. The probe tips are offset from the axes of the rods, allowing the distance between the probe tips to be a function of the amount of rotation. The other end of each coupling network is coupled to a short length of a respective 50Ω coaxial cable that passes through an axial slot in the grip to enter an amplifier pod that drives a main cable leading to test equipment. The rods may be held within the bores by friction created by slight bends in the rods. The circuit boards each include shields connected together at a location that is as close as possible to the probe tips by arranging that the rods touch each other near the probe tips. If the rods are parallel, then there is a slight bend in the non-rotating rod at the location where it passes the non-probe-carrying edge of the circuit board, such that its tip touches the tip of the rotatable rod. If the rods are both straight, then the axes of the rods are coplanar but convergent proximate the probe tips. 
   In operation, the spring loaded rotatable probe tip is pressed against an intended location. Once contact is made with the rotatable probe tip, further rotation of the grip also rotates the sleeve, which in turn causes an eccentric rotation of the stationary probe tip that varies the spacing between the two probe tips (the two probe tips are not along extensions of the axes of the rods). By moving the grip in a circular path (orbiting) without rotation the general orientation of the stationary probe tip relative to the other can be controlled. When both the correct spacing and the correct general orientation are achieved by a combination of orbiting and rotation, the stationary probe tip will then be positioned above the other location to be probed. A “tilting” of the entire micro-browser without further rotation or orbiting will lower the stationary probe tip onto the target location. 
   It is anticipated that the prior art micro-browser mentioned in the preceding paragraphs will be usable up to 10 or 12 GHz. Accordingly, it is small; the circuit boards are about 0.110″ wide and only 0.400″ long. The rods to which these boards are mounted are on the order of 1/32″ in diameter. Its usage model departs considerably from what many operators are used to, and while it does not take long to get used to the manner in which rotation and orbiting are used to achieve probe tip contact, it can take a while for some persons to appreciate that the micro-browser is, well, delicate. Not every user is a clumsy gorilla, but it is hard to make small things strong. In short, bad things happen when the user accidently pushes too hard on the micro-browser. 
   We have seen bent probes in similar browsers that withstand several pounds of force. Forces in the range of five to six ounces can damage the micro-browser described above. 
   Failures resulting from excessive contact force include bent rods, broken solder joints that attach the rod to the circuit board, dislodged probe tips and fractured circuit boards. Replacement and repair of micro-browsers that have been damaged through the accidental application of excessive force is a major aggravation for both the manufacturer and his customer. The customer is without the business end of his expensive active probe, while the manufacturer is hesitant to charge the actual cost of replacement (the micro-browser itself has only passive components, is not truly “precision” in the ususal sense of the term, and appears to the user to be mostly a mechanical interface). We need to “gorilla-proof” the micro-browser. What to do? 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A solution to the problem of broken micro-browser probe assemblies caused by the accidental application of excessive force is to manufacture the rods out of a material that resists the forces found in normal usage and appear to be stiff while doing so, but that will abruptly deform harmlessly under less force than that which causes permanent damage to other elements of the micro-browser. The sudden deformation serves as a signal to the operator to stop being a gorilla. That leaves the problem of re-shaping the rod. A preferred solution is to use as the rod a superelastic metal wire that automatically returns to its previous shape once the force causing deformation is removed. An alternate solution is to make the rod from a length of wire of “memory metal” that after deformation restores itself to a pre-set shape upon the application of mild heat, such as immersion in a cup of hot water from an office coffee machine. The family of alloys known as Nitinol, which have nearly equiatomic percentages of nickel and titanium, is available in wire form for each type of behavior. The small circuit board and its components are not bothered by the bath. In each case the diameter of the wire is selected to make the wire be strong enough to not deform under normal use, but to allow it to abruptly deform under less force than will damage the other elements in the micro-browser. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a prior art hand held micro-browser for use with a digital oscilloscope; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the prior art micro-browser of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the probe tip, circuit board, rod, sleeve and grip portions of the prior art micro-browser of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a more detailed perspective view of one of circuit boards and rods similar to those of  FIG. 3 , but that are constructed in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 5  is a side view of the circuit board and rod of  FIG. 4 , wherein one permanently bent rod is used to make the rods touch at their tips; and 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a pair of circuit boards and rods such as those of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , but wherein the rods are both straight, their axes are coplanar and convergent at the ends of the rods near the probe tips. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Refer now to  FIG. 1 , wherein is shown a front perspective view  1  of an electronic instrument  2 , such as a digital oscilloscope, having one or more front panel connectors  4  that receive a push-lock BNC connector  3 , say, in support of operation with active probes. In a manner known in the prior art, the push-lock BNC probe housing is installed simply by lining it up and then pushing it toward the &#39;scope. When the push-lock connector  3  is in place, not only is a BNC connection established to connector  4 , but a row of spring loaded pins  6  (not visible) on the front of the housing for the push-lock assembly engages a row  5  of contacts beneath the connector  4 . To remove the push-lock connector the operator pushes on lever or tab  7  with a thumb or a finger, while pulling the assembly away from the &#39;scope. A main cable  8  carries both power to, and signal information from, an amplifier pod  9 , which may contain high frequency amplifiers. 
   A pair of coaxial transmission lines ( 11 ,  12 ) couple a prior art micro-browser  17  to the amplifier pod  9  via a pair of coaxial connectors ( 10 ). The micro-browser includes a grip  13  intended to be held between the thumb and forefinger. A sleeve  14  is carried by the grip, and supports a pair of movable small circuit boards each having a probe tip ( 15 ,  16 ). The small circuit boards may be of glass epoxy (FR4) or of ceramic material. 
   Refer now to  FIG. 2 , wherein is shown an enlarged perspective view of the prior art micro-browser  17  of  FIG. 1 . The view shows a grip ( 13 ,  18 ) which has received a sleeve ( 26 ,  14 ). Although better shown in  FIG. 3 , the sleeve  26  has two parallel bores that carry plated brass rods  27  and  28 . The ends of the those rods are each soldered to the side of a respective small circuit board,  29  and  30 . Each small circuit board carries a coupling network whose physical appearance is better shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  6 , and which is shielded by a conductive cover (or shield) of which only one ( 33 ) thereof is visible in  FIG. 2 . Each of the small circuit boards has a small sharp probe tip ( 31 ,  32 ). The probe tips are electrically connected to an associated coupling network, which is coupled to an associated coaxial cable ( 19 ,  20 ) that may also function as a transmission line. A slot  25  in the grip carries cable  19 , while a second slot  42  (visible in  FIG. 3 ) carries the other cable  20 . 
   Rod  28  and its circuit board  30  are free to rotate at least 180° about the axis of the rod. A spring  34  fits over rod  28  and provides resilient resistance to compression between circuit board  30  and the sleeve  26  in a direction along the axis of rod  28 . Rod  27  and its circuit board  29  are prevented from rotating by a notch  35  in the end of the sleeve that engages the end of the small circuit board  29  (see  FIG. 3 ). 
   The two cables  19  and  20  have respective strain relieving boots  21  and  22  that also carry suitable coaxial connectors  23  and  24  that plug into corresponding connectors in the amplifier pod  9 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 3 , we see an exploded perspective view  41  of most of the stuff in  FIG. 2 . The parts have been rotated about 90° clockwise in  FIG. 3 , so that slot  42  for cable  20  is visible. Due to the exploded nature of the drawing, the bores  39  and  40  in the sleeve  26  are visible. Bore  39  receives rod  27  while bore  40  receives rod  28 . Note bends  43  and  44  in the rods  28  and  27 , respectively. These slight hump-shaped bends cause the friction that retains the rods in their bores. 
   Also visible in the figure is oval shaped bore  45  in the grip  18 . It receives the sleeve  26  until stop  36  limits the penetration of the sleeve  26  into the bore  45 . Bore  45  may have a slight taper to provide a minor amount of interference with sleeve  26 , and thus retain it in the bore by friction. Note that the oval shape of the bore  45  cooperates with a corresponding oval exterior of the sleeve to positively communicate any rotation of the grip to the sleeve. 
   A notch  35  is visible in  FIG. 3  adjacent the aperture of the bore  39 . What this does is engage the back side of the small circuit board  29 , and cause it to be stationary, or non-rotating about the axis of its bore within the sleeve. 
   Also visible in  FIG. 3  is that the distal ends of the two rods  27  and  28  touch at location  46 , despite the majority of the rods being parallel elsewhere along the length of their axes. This touching is also electrical contact, and may be accomplished by a slight bend in the stationary rod  27  toward the rotatable rod and at the location where the stationary rod  27  is attached to the board  29 . Thus, no matter the rotation of rotatable rod  28 , the two rods continue to touch. This is of significance to the shields  33  and  38 , each of which are soldered to a ground supplied by its associated coaxial cable ( 19  and  20 ). The idea is to get those two grounds tied together as close as possible to the probe tips. 
   In an alternate prior art embodiment both of the rods  27  and  28  are straight (save for humps  43  and  44 ), have axes that are coplanar, but convergent such that the ends of the rods near the circuit boards  29  and  30  are touching. This is condition is obtained by having the axes of the bores  39  and  40  in the sleeve  26  be coplanar, but convergent along the direction toward the probe tips. This coplanar convergent axes embodiment is our preferred starting point for the description that follows, although it will be abundantly clear that the invention may be practiced with the bent stationary rod in a parallel axes embodiment, as well. 
   In operation, the spring loaded rotatable probe tip  32  is pressed against an intended location. This is done by rotating the grip  18  (and thus the entire micro-browser  12 ) before any contact is made. Once contact is made with the rotatable probe tip  32 , (and assuming there is not yet contact by the other, stationary, probe tip  31 ) further rotation of the grip  18  also rotates the sleeve  26 , which in turn causes an eccentric rotation of the stationary probe tip that varies the spacing between the two probe tips  31  and  32 . By moving the grip  18  in a circular path (orbiting) without rotation the general orientation of the stationary probe tip  31  relative to the other ( 32 ) can be controlled—think up, down, left and right here, and not so much about distance, although distance will be affected. When both the correct spacing and the correct general orientation are achieved by a combination of orbiting and rotation, the stationary probe tip  31  will then be positioned above the other location to be probed. An angular displacement of the axis of the grip  18  within the plane containing that axis (a “tilting” of the entire micro-browser without further rotation or orbiting) will lower the stationary probe tip onto the target location. The resilience of the movable probe tip&#39;s spring  34  will enable that probe tip  32  to continue making contact as the stationary probe tip is firmly pressed into its location with sufficient force to make reliable electrical contact. Once contact is made with both probe tips a reasonable amount of tilting and “rocking” (motion in a direction orthogonal to tilting) can be tolerated without either probe tip coming off (losing contact), provided the single spring remains compressed in response to force from the operator. It is, of course, that force that is of interest to us here. If it is too large, the rods  27  and  28  may bend, the probe tips  31  or  32  break off, one of the boards  29  or  30  might fracture, or the an edge of the notch  35  might fracture. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 4 , shown therein is a perspective view  47  of a rod  48  with its small circuit board  50 . Board  50  and shield  51  are soldered to tube  49  (which might also be termed a socket) along an edge where they meet. It is clear that other socket-like mechanisms can be used besides tubes. Also shown are various of the passive components that comprise a coupling network for the micro-browser. In particular, item  53  is a damping resistor, while item  54  is an RC network that may be laser trimmed after assembly. The shield  51  does not completely cover item  54  to allow just such trimming. The circuit board is small, only about 0.110″ wide and about 0.400″ inches long, with a height of 0.077″, including the shield. 
   The view  47  in  FIG. 4  does not show whether the rod  48  is straight or bent, and for our immediate purposes it does not matter if it is bent or not. The rod  48  may be of the Nitinol material to be discussed below. At present, it is sufficient to appreciate that if it is of the superelastic variety (56% Ni, balance Ti and trace elements) it may be of about 0.015″ or 0.018″ in diameter, while if of the “memory metal” or “shape memory” variety (54.5% Ni, balance Ti and trace elements) the diameter likely would be larger, say, about 0.030″. In either case, the stuff does not plate particularly well, nor does it solder, weld or braze easily (it can be done, but is fussy, requiring non-standard techniques). To attach a rod  48  of Nitinol to the board  50  we glue it (epoxy works, as does cyanoacrilate—‘super glue’) into a suitable diameter tube  49  of stainless steel that has been gold plated and was then soldered to the board  50  and its shield  51 . The gold plating assists the soldering and also ensures good ohmic contact between the tubes ( 49  &amp;  59 —see  FIG. 6 ) where they touch ( 63  in  FIG. 6 ). 
   There is yet another reason for this arrangement using the tube  49 . The tubing is pretty strong stuff, and really resists bending. This keeps the end of the solder joint at the non-probe tip end of the board  50  from experiencing undue stress that it would see if the rod  48  were soldered directly to the board. A directly soldered rod  48  would use the board as a stiffener that locates one end of a bend induced by excessive operator force, and a propagating tear in the solder joint could result. The stainless steel tube  49  does not bend under that force, and thus acts as a load spreader over the entire solder joint. 
     FIG. 5  is a side view  56  of what is shown in  FIG. 4 , and allows a better view of the location  64  and direction of the bend in rod  48  that allows tube-to-tube contact at location  63  (see  FIG. 6 ), and of the manner in which the tip  55  is disposed at an angle to the plane of the circuit board  50 . Of course, rod  48  might not be bent at location  64 , and for a view of the straight rod embodiment we turn to  FIG. 6 . 
     FIG. 6  is a perspective view  57  of a pair of straight Nitinol rods  48  and  60  that have been glued into tubes  49  and  59 , respectively. The nature of tube  49  and how it has been attached to board  50  and its shield  51  have been described in connection with  FIG. 4 . Similar remarks apply to tube  59  and its associated board  58  and shield  61 . Once again, we point out that the reason for having the two tubes  49  and  59  in physical (and thus also electrical) contact is so that the shields  51  and  61  will be electrically common at a physical location as close as practical to the probe tips  55  and  62 . This is good RF practice for circuits that are expected to operate at very high frequencies. 
   To summarize the difference between the bent rod embodiment ( FIG. 5 ) and the straight rod embodiment ( FIG. 6 ): The bent rod embodiment uses one straight rod and one bent rod bent as shown at location  64  of  FIG. 5 , and has a sleeve  26  whose bores  39  and  40  have axes that are not only coplanar, but also parallel. The straight rod embodiment uses two straight rods, but the axes of the bores  39  and  40  are only coplanar and non-parallel; they are convergent at about location  63 . 
   In either embodiment, it may be desirable for the rods, whether straight or bent, to include the hump-shaped bends  43  and  44  that are shown in  FIG. 3 . They are just temporary departures from the axes of the rod designed to introduce friction for retention of the rods in their bores, and do not affect how the rods touch at location  46  ( FIG. 3 ) or  63  ( FIG. 6 ). 
   And now for a discussion of the rods themselves, whether straight or bent, and with or without the hump-shaped bends. It is preferred that they be of Nitinol. Nitinol is the descriptive name for a family of alloys of nearly equal atomic percentages of nickel and titanium. While earlier copper based shape memory alloys (SMAs) were known from 1932, the more commercially successful nickel-titanium family (Ni—Ti) of SMAs were discovered at the Naval Ordinance Laboratory (NOL) in the early 1960s. Hence the name “Nitinol,” which is also sometime found as NiTinol or NiTiNol. Traces of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen are present, as is sometimes a small amount of another element. One authority says that carbon and oxygen are contaminants, and should be excluded if possible. Quoting now from a data sheet:
         “Nitinol exhibits a thermoplastic martensitic transformation. This transformation is responsible for either shape memory or superelasticity being exhibited by the alloy. Following deformation below the transformation range, the ability called shape memory allows recovery of a predetermined shape upon heating above the transformation range. Superelasticity is the ability to recover a shape upon removal of an applied stress over a narrow range of deformation temperatures. The strain recovered with shape memory or superelasticity provides nearly ten times the elastic springback of other alloys such as stainless steel.”       

   So, there are two broad types of Nitinol available: superelastic stuff and shape memory stuff. In wire form the shape memory version has been called memory wire. The metallurgy literature refers to “shape memory alloys” (SMAs). In each case the Nitinol can be made to assume a set shape by holding in that shape while it is heated until it softens (at a “setting” temperature), and then allowed to cool slowly. After it has cooled it will remember that shape. The difference between the two appears to be that the superelastic version does not readily undergo deformation at room temperatures, but springs back to its set shape upon removal of the stress that causes it to bend. The memory shape version does deform, but will return to its set shape upon the application of mild heat (the “transformation” temperature) that is much less than that used to soften it to take a set. It appears that the shape memory stuff has a transformation temperature higher than room temperature (where human beings tend to use things), while the superelastic stuff has a transformation temperature lower than room temperature, and never stays deformed because it is “always” returning to its set shape. For a given set the deformations and restorations can occur many times. 
   Experiments with the superelastic version (56% Ni) in wire form, using short lengths of the wire as rods for the micro-browser, have shown that a wire diameter in the range of 0.015″ to 0.018″ is satisfactory. If shape memory is used (54.5% Ni), then 0.030″ appears to be a good diameter. It will, of course, be appreciated that different manufacturers of Nitinol may offer various recipes for the alloy, and that those may vary in more ways than just the ratio of Ni to Ti, with the attendant need to experiment slightly to see what works best for a particular situation.) The diameter determines how much force the operator can apply to the micro-browser before the rods deform (bend) as a warning to push no harder and to limit the forces applied to the other parts of the micro-browser. In one actual micro-browser the Nitinol rods limit the applied force to about three and one half ounces (the damage level is somewhere in the four to five ounce range). The location of the deformation is generally a bend just above the stainless steel tube. If the superelastic Nitinol is used, the bend/deformation will vanish in favor of the original shape as soon as the operator stops pushing. If the shape memory Nitinol is used, the affected rod/board needs to be dunked in hot (not even boiling) water, such as what is provided by office coffee machines. (Other sources of heat may be used, such as the proximity of a soldering iron, but hot water is nearly always readily available and is perhaps safer to use.) The return to the original set shape is nearly instantaneous, and regular production practices for what is on the board prevent any damage to the board&#39;s components. (It is usual for the board to get washed in hot water after production soldering, anyway, and then to receive hydrophobic coatings, etc.) 
   It will be appreciated that any permanent bends, such as the hump-shaped bends  43  and  44 , or the “make contact” bend at  64 , are put in the rod of Nitinol as part of the permanent shape of the rod. In particular, a cut length of the stuff is placed into a jig that enforces the bends while the length is heated to the temperature (approximately 500° C. . . . way hotter than coffee water!) at which it softens and then takes the set when allowed to cool slowly. Because of the wide difference in temperatures, there is no chance that a user will accidentally give a deformed rod of the shape memory Nitinol a new permanent shape different from the one given at the micro-browser factory. 
   The reader is referred to the detailed description of Nitinol handling in the literature, e.g., Binary Phase Alloy Phase Diagrams, 2nd Ed. Vol. 3, published by William W. Scott, Jr., or, the ASM Handbook, Vol. 2, 1990. A particularly good collection of informative papers is the JOHNSON MATTHEY NiTi Smart Sheets, readable at this writing (April 2004) at the following web site:
         http://www.sma-inc.com/html/nitinol — technical — information.html       

   Nitinol is available from suppliers, such as McMaster-Carr of Chicago, Ill., Small Parts in Miami Lake, Fla., or the Memry Corp. of Bethel, Conn. Here are some of the flavors in which Nitinol may be obtained:
         BINARY ALLOYS Grade Nominal Content (*) Typical Applications:   BA 56.0 wt % Ni Balance Ti//Superelastic, high loading and unloading plateau stresses at low ambient temperatures. Ex.: cell phone antennae.   BB 55.8 wt % Ni Balance Ti//Superelastic; covers vast majority of applications and ambient and body temperatures. Ex: guidewires, needles, baskets, stents, etc.   SF 55.8 wt % Ni Balance Ti//A slight alloy variant from BB designed originally to maximize the flex life of antenna wire.   BC 55.75 wt % Ni Balance Ti//Superelastic; moderate plateau stresses; tightly controlled Af temperature.   BD 55.7 wt % Ni Balance Ti//Body temperature response behavior; martensitic close to ambient temperature and superelastic at body temperature.   B 55.0 wt % Ni Balance Ti//Thermal shape memory with recovery above 45 C.   BH 54.5 wt % Ni Balance Ti//Thermal shape memory with recovery above 70 C.   (*) C content less than 500 ppm, O less than 500 ppm. Total trace elements less than 0.4 wt %       

   According to this classification scheme, we used type BA for the embodiment having superelastic Nitinol rods in the range of 0.015″–0.020″ diameter, and type BH for the embodiment having shape memory Nitinol rods in the range of 0.025″ to 0.035″ diameter. 
   There is also a family of cop per alloys that exhibit memory behavior that is similar to the that of the Nitinol alloys. The literature suggest that these copper alloys are not as desirable as Nitinol, owing to issues such as embrittlement and cracking. Their memory properties are also not as pronounced as those of Nitinol, and their main virtues seem to be lower price. It seems that the copper alloys would also be suitable, in principle, although not as desirable.