Apparatus for checking patterns on printed circuit boards

Patent 4680627 Issued on July 14, 1987. Estimated Expiration Date:

March 12, 2006. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.

Abstract Claims Description Full Text

Patent References

Automated positioning
Patent #: 3988535
Issued on: 10/26/1976
Inventor: Hickman , et al.

Automatic circuit board tester
Patent #: 4240750
Issued on: 12/23/1980
Inventor: Kurtz , et al.

Method for achieving alignment between objects
Patent #: 4319845
Issued on: 03/16/1982
Inventor: Shuji

Pattern position detecting system
Patent #: 4334241
Issued on: 06/08/1982
Inventor: Kashioka , et al.

Opto-video inspection system
Patent #: 4389669
Issued on: 06/21/1983
Inventor: Epstein , et al.

Method and apparatus for successively positioning sheets of material with precision for punching aligning holes in the sheets enabling the sheets to be used in the manufacture of composite circuit boards
Patent #: 4481533
Issued on: 11/06/1984
Inventor: Alzmann , et al.

Method of detecting pattern defect and its apparatus Patent #: 4614430
Issued on: 09/30/1986
Inventor: Hara , et al.

Inventors

Assignee

Hitachi, Ltd.

Application

No. 06/838713 filed on 03/12/1986

US Classes:

382/147, Inspecting printed circuit boards348/129, By comparison with reference object356/394With comparison to master, desired shape, or reference voltage

Examiners

Primary: Britton, Howard W.

Attorney, Agent or Firm

Antonelli, Terry & Wands

International Classes

G06K 9/64 (20060101)
G06T 3/00 (20060101)
H05K 1/02 (20060101)
G01N 21/956 (20060101)
G01N 21/88 (20060101)

Foreign Application Priority Data

1985-03-19 JP

Abstract

In an apparatus for checking patterns on printed circuit boards by comparing two patterns formed on two printed circuit boards, registration patterns each including orthogonal straight line segments and respectively formed on the two printed circuit boards are imaged by two imagers, and registration images from the imagers are matched by means of a registration unit to accurately match an image of a pattern to be checked on one printed circuit board with an image of a reference pattern on the other printed circuit board.