- Compact and Low-Priced Model Capable of High-Speed Test of Fine-Pitch Circuit Boards -

Yamaha Fine Technologies Co., Ltd. will begin to take orders on July 1 for "MR252" and "MR252-M," both new members of the Micro Prober family of the company's high-speed open and short circuit testers for flexible circuit boards and thin, rigid circuit boards.

-- Pricing and date for starting order acceptance

Product                         Unit price (before tax)     Start of order receipt

Micro Prober   MR252     20 million yen                 July 1, Monday

Micro Prober  MR252-M  23 million yen                 July 1, Monday

The new product maintains the high performance proven with the current Micro Prober "MR502"/"MR612" model while reducing the test takt time, cutting the foot print by about 30% and slashing the unit price by about 20%. (Note: The performance improvement figures apply to "MR252".) The company is aiming at the sale of 50 units for the two types in the first year.

Micro Prober MR252

Main unit reference price: 20 million yen (before tax)

Micro Prober MR252-M

Main unit reference price: 23 million yen (before tax)

-- Product overview

Smartphones and tablets are typical of portable digital devices that have been fast becoming smaller, thinner and more advanced in recent years. Inside the devices, both rigid and flexible circuit boards, made of thin and soft film-type materials, are also rapidly achieving higher density, finer pitch and thinner size.

Continuity/insulation testers that electrically probe high-density and fine-pitch circuit boards are required to have a high-precision positioning mechanism and capability of high-speed testing while keeping the price at a reasonable level.

Our company has been providing a large number of users with "Micro Prober MR502/MR612," both high-speed and open & short circuit testers capable of testing fine-pitch flexible circuit boards and others with high reliability.

The newly announced "MR252"/"MR252-M" model achieved further miniaturization, high speed and cost reduction by setting the upper limit to the size of target circuit boards.

Moreover, "MR252-M" can do two processes in parallel -- continuity/insulation tests and the marking of test results on the target boards -- by putting on a separate stage a mechanism that marks test results on the circuit board. This makes it possible to further increase inspection speed.

-- Key features

1. Space saving (about 30% cut from the current model) and low price (about 20% cut from the current model)

We reviewed the hardware structure and made device components about 30% smaller to achieve an approximately 20% price reduction as compared with the current model.  (*Note: The price cut rate applies to "MR252".)

2. High-speed test capable of 500,000 to 1 million contacts per month

The new products, with their hardware structure and software improved as part of miniaturization, are capable of high-speed testing at a rate of 500,000 to 1 million contacts per month. As hourly productivity per test jig dramatically increases, test costs can be reduced. With a test jig capable of contacting multiple circuit boards at one time, the efficiency of mass production can be further improved.

3. High-precision positioning with an accuracy of 5 microns plus or minus.

The new model recognizes images captured with a CCD camera built in each testing head mounted on a moving arm and corrects the positioning of the testing jig on X, Y and theta (tilt) axes. Our unique hardware structure and algorithm make it possible to set the relative positions of substrate patterns and test jig with an accuracy of plus or minus 5 microns. Paired with a test jig mounted with a micro probe, the new model is capable of securely testing super high-density and high-precision circuits.

4. Test circuit unit capable of four-terminal sensing

The new model is capable of conducting high-precision resistance tests by a four-terminal sensing method in addition to the conventional two-terminal sensing, detecting target board deficiencies with a higher accuracy.