Patent ID: 7262618

Claim:
An inspection apparatus for inspecting electrical characteristics of an inspection object, comprising: a table on which an inspection object is to be mounted, the table comprising a moving mechanism to raise/lower the table; a contact holding mechanism disposed at a position opposing the table and having a plurality of contacts; a load detecting mechanism provided on the table, the load detecting mechanism detecting a contact load when the contacts make contact with the load detecting mechanism; a length measuring mechanism which measures a height of the load detecting mechanism and a height of an electrode of the inspection object; and a control unit which detects a first distance to a contact starting point between the load detecting mechanism and the contact based on a load measuring signal output from the load detecting mechanism when the load detecting mechanism comes into contact with the contact by the movement of the table, the control unit further obtaining a second distance from the electrode of the inspection object to the tip of the contact based on the height of the load detecting mechanism, the height of the electrode of the inspection object and the first distance.