Circuit Check is an American company with about 225 employees and seven direct operations in six countries (the U.S., Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, China, and Malaysia). Headquartered in
Maple Grove, Minnesota
Maple Grove is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 70,253 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. making it Minnesota's 11th most populous city.
Maple Grove serves as a retail, cultural and me ...
, it is one of the largest manufacturers of electronic and mechanical
test fixture
A test fixture is a device used to consistently test some item, device, or piece of software. Test fixtures are used in the testing of electronics, software and physical devices.
Electronics
In testing electronic equipment such as circuit boa ...
s in North America,
. The company also manufactures
Automatic Test Equipment
Automatic test equipment or automated test equipment (ATE) is any apparatus that performs tests on a device, known as the device under test (DUT), equipment under test (EUT) or unit under test (UUT), using automation to quickly perform measure ...
for end-of-line manufacturing test. The company uses either a
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet editor developed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows, Windows, macOS, Android (operating system), Android, iOS and iPadOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a ...
-driven "CCITest" software platform, or the
National Instruments
The National Instruments Corporation, doing business as NI, is an America, American multinational corporation, multinational company with international operations. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Austin, Texas, it is a producer of automated tes ...
LabVIEW software platform. They have a variety of clients in different industries which include:
Automotive,
Military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
&
Aerospace
Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...
,
Medical
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
,
Industrial, and
Computer Networking
A computer network is a collection of communicating computers and other devices, such as printers and smart phones. In order to communicate, the computers and devices must be connected by wired media like copper cables, optical fibers, or b ...
.
History
Circuit Check was founded in 1978 as a spin-out of a
printed circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a Lamination, laminated sandwich structure of electrical conduction, conductive and Insulator (electricity), insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes ...
drilling service bureau, "CircuitDrill." The initial product was
test fixture
A test fixture is a device used to consistently test some item, device, or piece of software. Test fixtures are used in the testing of electronics, software and physical devices.
Electronics
In testing electronic equipment such as circuit boa ...
s for
bed of nails tester
A bed of nails tester is a traditional electronic test fixture used for in-circuit testing. It has pins inserted into holes in an epoxy phenolic glass cloth laminated sheet (G-10) which are aligned using tooling pins to make contact with test po ...
s.
Over the following years, the company developed innovations for
in-circuit test
In-circuit testing (ICT) is an example of white box testing where an electrical probe tests a populated printed circuit board (PCB), checking for shorts, opens, resistance, capacitance, and other basic quantities which will show whether the asse ...
and
functional test
In software development, functional testing is a form of software testing that verifies whether a system meets its functional requirements.ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765:2017, "Systems and software engineering — Vocabulary", International Organization fo ...
or FCT. One, the pneumatically actuated "clamshell" test fixture, electrically probes a circuit board from both sides.
The company also combined
in-circuit test
In-circuit testing (ICT) is an example of white box testing where an electrical probe tests a populated printed circuit board (PCB), checking for shorts, opens, resistance, capacitance, and other basic quantities which will show whether the asse ...
with
functional test
In software development, functional testing is a form of software testing that verifies whether a system meets its functional requirements.ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765:2017, "Systems and software engineering — Vocabulary", International Organization fo ...
in the same
test fixture
A test fixture is a device used to consistently test some item, device, or piece of software. Test fixtures are used in the testing of electronics, software and physical devices.
Electronics
In testing electronic equipment such as circuit boa ...
in 2004, by developing (and patenting) the two-stage fixture having pins of two different lengths, and compressing to two different heights.
Milestones
The company devised a method for applying
strain gage
A strain gauge (also spelled strain gage) is a device used to measure strain on an object. Invented by Edward E. Simmons and Arthur C. Ruge in 1938, the most common type of strain gauge consists of an insulating flexible backing which support ...
testing to determining the stresses placed on
circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a laminated sandwich structure of conductive and insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes and other features (similar to wires on a flat surface) ...
s by the hundreds or thousands of
test probe
A test probe is a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to a device under test (DUT). Test probes range from very simple, robust devices to complex probes that are sophisticated, expensive, and fragile. Specific types includ ...
s used to make electrical contact therewith.
Strain gage
A strain gauge (also spelled strain gage) is a device used to measure strain on an object. Invented by Edward E. Simmons and Arthur C. Ruge in 1938, the most common type of strain gauge consists of an insulating flexible backing which support ...
Testing: Standardization", SMT Magazine, July 2005, Mudasir Ahmad, Rich Duggan, Tom Hu, Brett Ong, Carter Ralph, Sundar Sethuraman, and Dongkai Shangguan This is useful because each
test probe
A test probe is a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to a device under test (DUT). Test probes range from very simple, robust devices to complex probes that are sophisticated, expensive, and fragile. Specific types includ ...
(a.k.a. "
pogo pin
A pogo pin or spring-loaded pin is a type of electrical connector mechanism with spring plungers that is used in many modern electronic applications and in the electronics testing industry. They are used for their improved durability over other ...
") exerts several ounces of force on the device under test (DUT). When the
test fixture
A test fixture is a device used to consistently test some item, device, or piece of software. Test fixtures are used in the testing of electronics, software and physical devices.
Electronics
In testing electronic equipment such as circuit boa ...
has thousands of
test probe
A test probe is a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to a device under test (DUT). Test probes range from very simple, robust devices to complex probes that are sophisticated, expensive, and fragile. Specific types includ ...
s, the sum of the individual probe forces can reach hundreds of pounds. Such force is sufficient to deform the DUT (a
printed circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a Lamination, laminated sandwich structure of electrical conduction, conductive and Insulator (electricity), insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes ...
, for example) to the point where the attached inflexible electronic component packages (such as
Ball Grid Array
A ball grid array (BGA) is a type of surface-mount packaging (a chip carrier) used for integrated circuits. BGA packages are used to permanently mount devices such as microprocessors. A BGA can provide more interconnection pins than can be pu ...
s) may fracture, or their
solder
Solder (; North American English, NA: ) is a fusible alloy, fusible metal alloy used to create a permanent bond between metal workpieces. Solder is melted in order to wet the parts of the joint, where it adheres to and connects the pieces aft ...
joints may fail.
Strain gage
A strain gauge (also spelled strain gage) is a device used to measure strain on an object. Invented by Edward E. Simmons and Arthur C. Ruge in 1938, the most common type of strain gauge consists of an insulating flexible backing which support ...
testing can reveal areas on the DUT where these net forces are excessive when the DUT is clamped into the
test fixture
A test fixture is a device used to consistently test some item, device, or piece of software. Test fixtures are used in the testing of electronics, software and physical devices.
Electronics
In testing electronic equipment such as circuit boa ...
, thus showing where supports must be added to the opposite side of the
test fixture
A test fixture is a device used to consistently test some item, device, or piece of software. Test fixtures are used in the testing of electronics, software and physical devices.
Electronics
In testing electronic equipment such as circuit boa ...
to counteract the
test probe
A test probe is a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to a device under test (DUT). Test probes range from very simple, robust devices to complex probes that are sophisticated, expensive, and fragile. Specific types includ ...
forces. Where a support counteracts the
test probe
A test probe is a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to a device under test (DUT). Test probes range from very simple, robust devices to complex probes that are sophisticated, expensive, and fragile. Specific types includ ...
forces, the
test probe
A test probe is a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to a device under test (DUT). Test probes range from very simple, robust devices to complex probes that are sophisticated, expensive, and fragile. Specific types includ ...
force is converted from a deformative force distorting the DUT to a compressive force, squeezing the DUT
circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a laminated sandwich structure of conductive and insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes and other features (similar to wires on a flat surface) ...
without deforming its generally planar shape.
Notes
References
An In-Circuit Test Channel Partner Interview SeriesThe Selection and Economics Of Wireless Test FixturesPCB007 MagazineBloomberg BusinessweekU.S. Patent Application 20100019793 for Test Fixture Alignment
American brands
Companies based in Minnesota
Electronic test equipment manufacturers