Patent ID: 8004300

Claim:
A circuit tester for testing circuit boards comprising: a housing having first and second parts pivotally connected at one edge to be hinged together; a first board mounting plate affixed to the first part of said housing; a probe plate attached to the second part of said housing, said plate having at least one probe, at least one of said plates being slideably attached to said housing to permit lateral shifting thereof within a predetermined range of lateral movement by a plurality of shoulder bolts received within holes in one of the plates of diameter larger than said shoulder bolts to loosely secure the plate while allowing lateral shifting thereof in an amount generally equal to a differential between a shoulder bolt diameter and a hole diameter thereby defining a predetermined range of lateral movement; at least one aligner between said board mounting plate and said probe plate having portions affixed to each plate for bringing said probe plate into desired final alignment with said board when said first and second parts are hingedly brought together; said aligner including an alignment a bolt attached to one plate and an alignment bolt receiving element attached to the other plate, and wherein said alignment bolt receiving element includes an aperture generally the same size as the alignment bolt to just receive said alignment bolt, so that the plates may move relative to each other within the predetermined range of lateral movement defined by the differential between the shoulder bolt diameter and the hole diameter and where the ultimate alignment being determined by the engagement of the alignment bolt in the alignment bolt receiving element.