Inventors:
Robin P. Yergenson - Colorado Springs CO
Donald D. Skarke - Colorado Springs CO
Assignee:
Hewlett-Packard Company - Palo Alto CA
International Classification:
G01R 106
Abstract:
A clip-on probe for a DIP includes a probe body carrying a detachable gripping portion including an extensible claw with a plurality of fingers for interdigital positioning with pins on the DIP. The extensible claw is formed at one end of a pair of flexible struts attached at a distal end to a slidable cylindrical body. The slidable cylindrical body is slidably mounted upon the outside of a hollow core having a bore running through a longitudinal axis, and is slidable back and forth along the direction of the axis, although somewhat below it. Somewhat above the bore, across from the prongs, are a pair of curved guides, in which the flexible struts travel. A compression spring urges the slidable cylindrical body along the core in a direction that retracts the extensible claw toward the prongs. The fingers of the claw and the prongs are inclined inwards to points beneath the bottom of the DIP, and thus exert a pinching action. The pair of prongs straddle one pin of the DIP.
