Patent ID: 6949919

Claim:
A hand held probe for electronic signals, comprising: first and second pre-shaped rods of a material that resists bending until the application of an excessive force and that subsequently returns to its original shape in the absence of that excessive force; a sleeve having first and second bores each sized to receive a respective one of the first and second rods, the axes of the bores being coplanar; first and second contact assemblies each having a probe tip; first and second conductive sockets each attached to a respective one of the first and second contact assemblies, the first and second sockets sized to receive respective first distal end portions of the first and second rods; the probe tips of each of the first and second contact assemblies being displaced from the axis of the respective rod to which each contact assembly is attached; a second distal end of each of the first and second rods being carried within the respective bore in the sleeve; the first contact assembly being non-rotatable about the axis of the first rod; the second contact assembly being rotatable about the axis of the second rod; a spring coupled between the sleeve and the combination of the second rod, second socket and second contact assembly to resist force pushing the second rod into the second bore; and first and second conductors each respectively coupled at a distal end thereof to a corresponding one of the contact assemblies and coupleable at their other ends to electronic test equipment.