Test board for testing PCBS

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a test board for testing printed circuit boards (PCBs).

2. Description of Related Art

Referring to FIG. 1 , a conventional test board for testing a PCB includes an input connector 10 , and an output module 20 . The input connector 10 is a 24-pin connector, and each pin acts as a signal input terminal. The output module 20 includes two groups of signal output terminals CN 1 and CN 2 , and each group includes 12 signal output terminals. Each signal input terminal is connected to a corresponding signal output terminal.

In testing, transmission lines of the PCB to be tested are connected to the input connector 10 , and are given an input signal, then each output of the output module 20 is checked to determine if the transmission lines are good.

If a line or a signal output terminal of the test board becomes inoperable, the whole test board should be replaced, which is costly.

What is needed, therefore, is an test board which can solve the above problem.

An exemplary test board for testing PCBs includes a plurality of signal input terminals, a plurality of signal output terminals connected to the signal input terminals respectively, a standby signal output terminal, and a plurality of switches. The standby signal output terminal is connected to the signal input terminals via the switches respectively.

Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional test board;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a test board for testing PCBs in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of an upper layer of the test board for testing PCBs of FIG. 2 ; and

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a lower layer of the test board for testing PCBs of FIG. 2 .

Referring to FIG. 2 , a test board for testing PCBs in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes an input connector 100 , an output module 200 , and 24 switches JP 1 -JP 24 . In this embodiment, the input connector 100 is a 24-pin connector which includes 24 signal input terminals IN 1 -IN 24 . The output module 200 includes two groups of signal output terminals CN 1 , CN 2 , and two groups of standby signal output terminals RCN 1 , RCN 2 . The group of signal output terminals CN 1 includes 12 signal output terminals OUT 1 -OUT 12 , and the group of signal output terminals CN 2 includes 12 signal output terminals OUT 13 -OUT 24 . The group of standby signal output terminals RCN 1 includes 3 standby signal output terminals RO 1 -RO 3 , and the group of standby signal output terminals RCN 2 includes 3 standby signal output terminals RO 4 -RO 6 .

Referring also to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , the test board for testing PCBs includes an upper layer as shown in FIG. 3 and a lower layer as shown in FIG. 4 . In the upper layer, the signal input terminals IN 1 -IN 24 are connected to the signal output terminals OUT 1 -OUT 24 respectively. In the lower layer, the standby signal output terminal RO 1 is connected to the signal input terminals IN 1 -IN 4 via the switches JP 1 -JP 4 respectively. The standby signal output terminal RO 2 is connected to the signal input terminals IN 5 -IN 8 via the switches JP 5 -JP 8 respectively, and so on, through to the standby signal output terminal RO 6 being connected to the signal input terminals IN 21 -IN 24 via the switches JP 21 -JP 24 respectively.

Therefore, the standby signal output terminal RO 1 can replace the signal input terminals IN 1 -IN 4 by operation of the switches JP 1 -JP 4 . The standby signal output terminal RO 2 can replace the signal input terminals IN 5 -IN 8 by operating the switches JP 5 -JP 8 , and so on, through to the standby signal output terminal RO 6 replacing the signal input terminals IN 21 -IN 24 by operating the switches JP 21 -JP 24 . For example, if the signal output terminal OUT 1 becomes inoperable, the standby signal output terminal RO 1 can replace the signal input terminal IN 1 by operating the switch JP 1 .

In this embodiment, the amounts of the signal input terminals, the signal output terminals, and the switches are 24 respectively. The amount of the standby signal output terminals is 6. The amount of the signal input terminals, the signal output terminals, the switches, or the standby signal output terminals is not limited to those of the embodiment.

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the invention has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and their practical application so as to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternately embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and the exemplary embodiments described therein.