CN114545286A - Automatic test device and execution method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An automatic test device and an execution method thereof, the execution method comprises: the main control element generates and outputs a switch control signal and a test signal, a switch group receives the switch control signal to conduct one of a plurality of signaling switches and a grounding switch of the switch group, the conducted signaling switch or the conducted grounding switch is used for transmitting the test signal to an object to be tested, a test circuit generates a plurality of sensing potentials according to the feedback of the object to be tested, the main control element receives the sensing potentials, and the main control element generates and outputs a test result according to the sensing potentials.

Description

Automatic test device and execution method thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a testing apparatus, and more particularly, to an automatic testing apparatus and an execution method thereof.

Background

Surface-mount technology (SMT) is a commonly used technique for soldering electronic components to the surface of a circuit board (PCB). Unlike the use of Through Hole Technology (THT), in which electronic components are mounted on one side of a circuit board and pins are soldered to the other side of the circuit board, surface mount technology can greatly reduce the volume of electronic products. However, since the pins of the USB Type-C connector are hidden under the device body, if the USB Type-C connector is soldered on a circuit board (or a motherboard) by using the surface mount technology, a factory cannot detect whether there is an open circuit or a short circuit of the USB 3.1Type-C connector of the circuit board by manual (visual inspection) or machine vision equipment, and the like, and it will cost a lot if the USB Type-C connector is detected by using X-ray.

Therefore, in consideration of the cost problem, the conventional device inspection method is to manually inspect whether the device is connected to the test piece or not to generate the bad results such as open circuit and short circuit. If a bad result is generated, the test piece can send out a warning signal through devices such as a lamp and a buzzer for a worker to identify with naked eyes or ears. However, some tests, such as the detection of a pin short, usually require a worker to perform the test on each pin of the device one by one. Thus, the inspection speed of the device is too time-consuming. The worker usually contacts the signal source for detection with the pin to be sent manually, so that the pin not to be sent is easily and carelessly contacted, and meanwhile, misjudgment can be generated under the condition that the warning signal is recognized by naked eyes or ears, so that the factory detection flow is slowed down, and the manufacturer cannot carry out more effective time management on commodity shipment in the factory process.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the present invention provides an automatic testing apparatus for meeting the above-mentioned needs, comprising: a master control element for generating and outputting a switch control signal and a test signal; a switch set electrically connected to the main control element, the switch set having a plurality of signaling switches and a grounding switch, the switch set receiving the switch control signal to conduct one of the signaling switches and the grounding switch, and the switch set receiving the test signal and transmitting the test signal to an object to be tested via the conducted signaling switch or the conducted grounding switch; and the testing circuit is electrically connected with the switch group and used for connecting the object to be tested by a plurality of testing pins and generating a plurality of sensing potentials according to the feedback of the testing pins, wherein the main control element receives the sensing potentials and generates and outputs a testing result according to the sensing potentials.

The present invention provides an execution method of an automatic test device to meet the above requirements, comprising: a main control element generates and outputs a switch control signal and a test signal; receiving the switch control signal by a switch group to conduct one of a plurality of signaling switches and a grounding switch of the switch group, wherein the conducted signaling switch or the conducted grounding switch is used for transmitting the test signal to an object to be tested; generating a plurality of sensing potentials by a test circuit according to the feedback of the object to be tested; receiving the sensing potentials by the main control element; and generating and outputting a test result by the main control element according to the sensing potentials.

The automatic test device and the execution method thereof can generate a switch control signal and a test signal by the main control element according to the detection requirement, output the test signal to the object to be tested by the switch which is conducted by receiving the switch control signal in the switch group, and output the test result by the main control element according to a plurality of received sensing potentials. By adopting the automatic testing device of the embodiment of the invention, the main control element can control the switch group and output the corresponding testing signal, thereby increasing the overall detection efficiency and greatly reducing the misjudgment condition caused by the false operation caused by manual operation in the detection process.

The invention is described in detail below with reference to the drawings and specific examples, but the invention is not limited thereto.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an automatic test apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for executing an automatic test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a detailed flowchart of an implementation method of detecting an open circuit by an automatic test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a detailed flowchart of an execution method for detecting a short circuit by an automatic test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numerals

100: automatic testing device

110: master control element

111: switch controller

120: switch group

121: signalling switch

122: grounding switch

130: test circuit

140: result presentation element

200: test object

P _ GND: power ground pin

Detailed Description

The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings, which are provided for illustration purposes and the like:

the invention provides an automatic test device and an execution method thereof. To illustrate an embodiment of an automatic test apparatus according to the present invention, please refer to fig. 1, which is a block diagram of an automatic test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The automatic test apparatus 100 of fig. 1 may include: a master device 110, a switch set 120 and a test circuit 130, wherein the switch set 120 can connect the master device 110 and the test circuit 130.

The main control unit 110 may include a Micro Controller Unit (MCU), and the main control unit 110 may generate a switch control signal and a test signal. The test signal may be a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal, and the duty ratio of the PWM signal may be 100% in order to reduce the occurrence of false determination in the detection process.

The switch set 120 may have a plurality of signaling switches 121 and a grounding switch 122, each connected to the main control element 110. The switch set 120 receives the switch control signal to turn on one of the signaling switch 121 and the grounding switch 122, and the switch set 120 also receives the test signal and transmits the test signal to the dut 200 through the turned-on signaling switch 121 or the turned-on grounding switch 122.

The test circuit 130 is configured to connect the object 200 with a plurality of test pins (not shown), and generate a plurality of sensing potentials according to the feedback of the test pins. The main control element 110 can receive the sensing potential and generate and output a test result accordingly. The test pins correspond to the signaling switches 121.

The dut 200 may be specifically a circuit board, which may have a connection port connected to the test pin of the test circuit 130, and further has a power ground pin for connecting the ground switch 122 of the switch set 120. In the case that the connection port is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) type-C, the number of the test pins may be 24, so as to respectively correspond to 24 pins to be tested of the USB type-C. Similarly, the number of the signaling switches 121 in the switch group 120 is 24 in the above case. Although fig. 1 only shows 3 signaling switches 121 as an illustration, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that the number of the signaling switches 121 can be adjusted according to the requirement and the type of the connection port. The pins to be tested refer to pins of the object 200 to be tested for transmitting electrical signals, and at least include data signal pins, power transmission pins, and common ground pins.

Please refer to fig. 2, which is a block diagram of an automatic test apparatus 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Compared to fig. 1, the automatic test apparatus 100 in fig. 2 not only shows the connection relationship among the main control device 110, the switch set 120 and the test circuit 130 in further detail, but also includes a result presenting device 140. The result presenting element 140 is electrically connected to the main control element 110 for receiving and presenting the test result, and the result presenting element 140 may be, for example, a set of lamps, a screen, a buzzer, or the like according to various requirements for how to present the test result. If the result presenting component 140 is a group of lamps, the result presenting component 140 may present the test result by turning on or off the lamps respectively corresponding to the test pins, for example, turning on the lamps to indicate that the test result is passed, and turning off the lamps to indicate that the test result is not passed. If the result presenting component 140 is a screen, the result presenting component 140 may present the test result in detail in the form of text, symbol or drawing to indicate whether the test result passes or not. If the result presentation component 140 is a buzzer, the result presentation component 140 may present the test result by whether to beep or by using a different beep. The result presenting element 140 may also be any two or more of a lamp, a screen, a buzzer, etc. at the same time, which is not limited by the invention.

In addition, as shown in fig. 2, the main control element 110 may further include a switch controller 111, and the switch controller 111 outputs a switch control signal to one of the signaling switches 121 of the switch group 120 or the ground switch 122 according to the command. In detail, the signaling switch 121 and the grounding switch 122 in the present embodiment are normally open switches (normally open switches), and are turned on when receiving the switch control signal; in particular, the switch may be implemented by an N-type transistor (e.g., an NMOS field effect transistor), and the switch control signal is a high level voltage transmitted to the gate or base of the N-type transistor. In addition, between the test circuit 130 and each signaling switch 121, the sensing voltage is transmitted back to the main control element 110 by a plurality of bypass lines bypassing the signaling switches 121, and a diode is further disposed in each bypass line to perform a preliminary filtering on the sensing voltage by a threshold voltage (threshold voltage) of the diode. The bypass circuit can be regarded as a component of the switch set 120, but can also be an additional circuit independent of the switch set 120, which is not limited by the invention.

Please refer to fig. 3, which is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of executing the automatic test apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the method includes the following steps: step S1, the main control element 110 generates and transmits a switch control signal and a test signal; step S2, the switch set 120 receives the switch control signal to turn on one of the signaling switch 121 and the grounding switch 122 of the switch set 120, and the turned-on signaling switch 121 or the turned-on grounding switch 122 is used to transmit the test signal to the object 200; step S3, generating a plurality of sensing potentials by the test circuit 130 according to the feedback of the device under test 200; step S4, receiving the sensing potentials by the main control element 110; and step S5, the main control element 110 generates and outputs a test result according to the sensing potential.

More specifically, the automatic test apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used to detect whether the circuit of the dut 200 has an open circuit or a short circuit, and the following will describe how to perform the open circuit and short circuit detection through the test flow shown in fig. 3 with reference to fig. 4 and fig. 5.

Please refer to fig. 2 to fig. 4, wherein fig. 4 is a detailed flowchart of the step S2 of the automatic testing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention when detecting an open circuit. When the automatic test apparatus 100 of the present embodiment performs the open circuit test on the object 200 to be tested, in step S1, the switch control signal generated by the main control element 110 is used to control the switch group 120, so that each signaling switch 121 is turned off and the grounding switch 122 is turned on. Taking the example of controlling the switch implemented by the NMOS field effect transistor, the switch control signal is the high level voltage sent to the ground switch 122, and particularly, a position code corresponding to the ground switch 122 may be generated inside the main control element 110 to the switch controller 111, and then the switch controller 111 outputs the high level voltage from the pin connected to the gate of the ground switch 122 according to the position code. In addition, the master device 110 further outputs the test signal to the switch group 120. In the step S1, the present invention does not limit the timing sequence of the test signal and the switch control signal outputted by the main control element 110, that is, the switch control signal may be outputted to turn on the ground switch 122 first, and then the test signal is outputted to pass through the turned-on ground switch 122, but the test signal may be outputted to raise the voltage of one end of the ground switch 122 to the high level voltage first, and then the ground switch 122 is turned on to pass through the ground switch 122.

Then, step S2A is executed, wherein step S2A is a detailed step of performing open circuit detection on the dut 200 in step S2. In the sub-step S21A of the step S2A, the switch set 120 receives the switch control signal, so as to control the ground switch 122 to be turned on according to the switch control signal, and all the signaling switches 121 are turned off at this time. In sub-step S22A of step S2A, the switch set 120 transmits the test signal via the ground switch 121 to a power ground pin (P-GND pin) of the dut 200.

In step S3, after the dut 200 receives the test signal, the dut 200 outputs a feedback related to the test signal corresponding to the pin under test of the loop under test set as the loop under test, and the feedback is received by the test pins of the test circuit 130 respectively connected to the pin under test. In detail, if the usb type-C is connected to the port of the dut 200, when the P-GND pin of the dut 200 is connected to the test signal, the test signal is transmitted to the corresponding dut pin of the usb type-C through the active loop of the dut 200 to form a feedback. At this time, the test circuit 130 of the automatic test apparatus 100 generates a plurality of sensing potentials associated with the corresponding pins of the dut 200 according to the feedback.

In step S4, the sensing potentials are transmitted back to the main control element 110 through the bypass line connected between the test circuit 130 and the signaling switches 121. In step S5, the main control element 110 generates and outputs a test result according to the captured sensing potential. When the main control element 110 determines that all the sensing potentials associated with the corresponding pins of the dut 200 are at the high level, it can be determined that no open-circuit error exists in the active loop of the dut 200, and the open-circuit detection result is "pass". On the contrary, when any one of the sensing potentials of the corresponding dut pins associated with the dut 200 is at the low level, which means that the in-use loop of the dut 200 corresponding to the low-level sensing potential has an open-circuit error, the test result of the open-circuit detection is "fail", and the main control element 110 can determine the corresponding dut pin of the in-use loop of the dut 200 having an open-circuit error according to the received low-level sensing potential, and use the number of the dut pin as a part of the test result. Finally, regardless of the test result, the main control element 110 can transmit the test result to the result presenting element 140.

Please refer to fig. 2, fig. 3 and fig. 5, wherein fig. 5 is a detailed flowchart of the step S2 of the automatic testing apparatus for detecting a short circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. In detail, in fig. 5, step S2B is a detailed step of performing short circuit detection on the dut 200 in step S2. When the automatic test apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is used to perform short-circuit detection on the dut 200, it is desired to determine whether a short-circuit error exists between two pins to be tested, which are used by the dut 200 to transmit different signals. Therefore, the short circuit detection method described later can be performed once for all the pins to be detected of the object 200 to be detected, so as to determine whether there is no short circuit error between all the pins to be detected and other pins to be detected for transmitting different signals, however, the short circuit detection can be performed only for one or more pins to be detected which are more prone to form short circuit errors in the manufacturing process, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

Specifically, when the automatic detection apparatus 100 of the present embodiment performs the short circuit detection, the main control element 110 still generates the switch control signal in step 1 to control the switch group 120, which is different from the aforementioned open circuit detection only in that: the switch control signal for performing this short circuit detection is used to turn on one of the signaling switches 121, while the remaining signaling switches 121 and the ground switch 122 are turned off. In other words, the position code generated in the main control element 110 corresponds to the signaling switch 121 to be turned on, and the switch controller 111 outputs the high level voltage as the switch control signal from the pin connected to the gate of the signaling switch 121 according to the position code. In addition, the master device 110 further outputs the test signal to the switch group 120. Similarly, the timing sequence of the test signal and the switch control signal outputted from the main control device 110 is not limited in the present invention.

When step S2B is executed, in sub-step S21B of step S2B, the switch group 120 receives the switch control signal, so as to control one of the signaling switches 121 to be turned on according to the switch control signal, and the rest of the signaling switches 121 and the ground switch 122 are turned off at this time. In sub-step S22B of step S2B, the switch group 120 transmits the test signal via the turned-on signaling switch 121, so as to transmit the test signal to a corresponding dut pin of the dut 200.

The steps S3 to S5 are similar to the content of the open circuit detection, wherein the difference is that the content of the test result generated according to the sensing potential has different meanings. For example, if the sensing potentials of the remaining pins to be tested are low levels except that the sensing potential of the corresponding pin to be tested is high level and the sensing potential of the pin to be tested for transmitting the same signal as the corresponding pin to be tested is high level among the plurality of sensing potentials received by the main control element 110, the test result is: there is no short circuit error corresponding to the pin under test of the signaling switch 121 that is turned on. If, among the sensing potentials received by the main control element 110, except that the sensing potential of the corresponding pin to be tested is at a high level and the sensing potential of the pin to be tested for transmitting the same signal as the corresponding pin to be tested is at a high level, there are other pins to be tested whose sensing potentials are also at a high level, then the test result is: there is a short circuit error between the pin under test corresponding to the turned-on signaling switch 121 and other pins under test for transmitting different signals.

In addition, as the short detection method can be performed once for all the signaling pins of the device under test 200, the short detection process can be further applied to continuously measure whether there is a short error in all the testing pins of the device under test 200. At this time, the switch control signal may be set to be turned on from the xth signaling switch to perform short circuit detection of the xth dut pin of the dut 200 (x may be 1, for example). After the short circuit detection of the xth dut is finished, the main control device 110 may transmit a new switch control signal and a new test signal to the switch group 120 according to the command "x ═ x + 1" to perform the short circuit detection of the next dut. Finally, after the short-circuit detection of all the pins of the device under test 200 is completed, the main control element 110 can generate a test result including the short-circuit condition of all the pins. Therefore, the short circuit detection method of the invention can completely detect whether the short circuit errors exist in the whole number of pins to be detected of the object to be detected 200. After reading this description, a person skilled in the relevant art of the present invention should understand the implementation method, and therefore, detailed description of the implementation method and its variations are not repeated herein.

The execution method of the automatic detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention can execute at least one of the open circuit detection shown in fig. 4 and the short circuit detection shown in fig. 5, and preferably execute both of them, so as to further ensure the condition of each pin of the dut 200. For example, if no short-circuit error exists in any pin to be tested through the short-circuit detection, but an open-circuit error exists in the first pin to be tested through the open-circuit detection, it can be known that the first pin to be tested does not have the short-circuit error and thus does not represent that the first pin to be tested is normal, but the first pin to be tested is damaged and is not connected to all other loops of the object 200 to be tested. In the case of performing both tests, the present invention does not limit the order in which the open circuit test and the short circuit test are performed.

In summary, the automatic test apparatus and the execution method thereof of the present invention can generate a switch control signal and a test signal by the main control element according to the detection requirement, output the test signal to the object to be tested by the switch in the switch group which is conducted by receiving the switch control signal, and output the test result by the main control element according to the received sensing potential. By adopting the automatic testing device, the main control element can control the switch group and output the corresponding testing signal, thereby increasing the overall testing efficiency and greatly reducing the misjudgment condition caused by the false operation caused by manual operation in the testing process.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it should be understood that various changes and modifications can be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (8)

1. An automatic test apparatus, comprising:

a master control element for generating and outputting a switch control signal and a test signal;

a switch set electrically connected to the main control element, the switch set having a plurality of signaling switches and a grounding switch, the switch set receiving the switch control signal to conduct one of the signaling switches and the grounding switch, and the switch set receiving the test signal and transmitting the test signal to an object to be tested via the conducted signaling switch or the conducted grounding switch; and

the test circuit is electrically connected with the switch group and is used for connecting the object to be tested with a plurality of test pins and generating a plurality of sensing potentials according to the feedback of the test pins;

the main control element receives the sensing potentials and generates and outputs a test result according to the sensing potentials.

2. The automatic test device of claim 1, wherein the test signal is a pulse width modulated signal.

3. The automatic test device of claim 2, wherein the duty cycle of the pulse width modulated signal is 100%.

4. The automatic test apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a result presentation component electrically connected to the main control component for receiving and presenting the test result.

5. The automatic test device of claim 4 wherein the result presentation component is a screen.

6. An execution method of an automatic test device, comprising:

generating and outputting a switch control signal and a test signal by a main control element;

receiving the switch control signal by a switch group to conduct one of a plurality of signaling switches and a grounding switch of the switch group, wherein the conducted signaling switch or the conducted grounding switch is used for transmitting the test signal to an object to be tested;

generating a plurality of sensing potentials by a test circuit according to the feedback of the object to be tested;

receiving the sensing potentials by the main control element; and

the main control element generates and outputs a test result according to the sensing potentials.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving the switch control signal with the switch set to turn on one of the signaling switches and the grounding switch of the switch set, and the turning on the signaling switch or the turning on the grounding switch for transmitting the test signal to the object to be tested comprises:

the switch group controls the grounding switch to be conducted according to the switch control signal; and

the grounding switch is used for transmitting the test signal so as to transmit the test signal to a power grounding pin of the object to be tested.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving the switch control signal with the switch set to turn on one of the signaling switches and the grounding switch of the switch set, and the turning on the signaling switch or the turning on the grounding switch for transmitting the test signal to the object to be tested comprises:

controlling one of the signaling switches to be conducted by the switch group according to the switch control signal; and

the conducted signaling switch transmits the test signal to transmit the test signal to the object to be tested.

Images