METHOD FOR DETECTING ERRORS OR MALFUNCTIONS IN ELECTRICAL OR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS OF A CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENT

Abstract

A method for detecting errors or malfunctions in electrical or electronic components of circuits, wherein each of the circuits is located on a circuit board and wherein a plurality of circuit boards border one another on a circuit board panel, includes populating each of the circuit boards of the circuit board panel with electrical or electronic components corresponding to the circuits; for each of the analog, electrical or electronic components used for the construction of the circuits, placing a corresponding test component in an edge region of the circuit board panel; providing the analog, electrical or electronic test components placed in the edge region of the circuit board panel with test points; and checking for the correct function value and/or the correct poling of the analog, electrical or electronic test components provided with test points and located in the edge region of the circuit board panel.

Claims

1-7. (canceled)

8. A method for detecting errors or malfunctions in electrical or electronic components of equally composed circuit arrangements, wherein each of the circuit arrangements is located on a circuit board and wherein a plurality of circuit boards, each with a respective equally composed circuit arrangement, are provided bordering one another on a circuit board panel, the method comprising: populating each of the circuit boards of the circuit board panel with electrical or electronic components corresponding to the circuit arrangement; for each of the analog, electrical or electronic components used for the construction of the circuit arrangements, placing a corresponding test component in an edge region of the circuit board panel; providing the analog, electrical or electronic test components placed in the edge region of the circuit board panel with test points; checking for the correct function value and/or the correct poling of the analog, electrical or electronic test components provided with test points and located in the edge region of the circuit board panel.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising: ensuring that the different electrical or electronic test components in the edge region of the circuit board panel come, in each case, from the same batch, or from the same components roll, as the corresponding electrical or electronic components used on the circuit boards for the circuit arrangements.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the electrical or electronic test components are placed in the edge region of the circuit board panel after the circuit boards have been completely populated with the electrical or electronic components of the circuit arrangement.

11. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising running a suitable test as an electrical test for checking the different test components.

12. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising: performing an optical inspection of the electrical or electronic components and the corresponding test components arranged on the circuit board panel via an Automatic Optical Inspection (AOI), and checking whether the required electrical or electronic components and the corresponding test components are present and whether their soldering has been correctly performed.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein selected as test components are electrical or electronic components designed for the explosion endangered area, and wherein the electrical test is performed on the electrical or electronic test components serving for the explosion endangered region and located in the edge region of the circuit board panel.

14. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the circuit arrangement is so embodied that it is usable as a sensor- or actuator electronics or as a transmitter electronics for an automation field device.

Description

[0024] The invention will now be explained in greater detail based on the appended drawing, the figures of which show as follows:

[0025] FIG. 1 a schematic view of a circuit board panel having a plurality of circuit boards and illustrating a solution known in the state of the art, and

[0026] FIG. 2 a schematic view of a circuit board panel having a plurality of circuit boards and illustrating the method of the invention.

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a circuit board panel 4 having a plurality of circuit boards 3 and illustrating a method known in the state of the art. The same circuit arrangement 1 is implemented on each of the circuit boards 3 of the circuit board panel 4. Each of the circuit arrangements 1 is, for example, a circuit for analog signal conditioning of an automation field device. The circuit arrangement 1 is preferably so designed that it satisfies the requirements for use in an explosion endangered area.

[0028] Shown from the circuit arrangements 1 for illustrating the difference between the state of the art and the solution of the invention are only three analog components 2. Such are usually components of any circuit arrangement 1, which is applied in an explosion endangered area: a resistor R, a capacitor C and a diode D.

[0029] In order after terminating the populating of the circuit board panel 4 to be able to guarantee that the components 2 have the correct value and the capacitor C and the diode D have the correct poling, an electrical function test is executed. This electrical function test can occur with a multimeter or with a tester specially produced for the circuit arrangement 1. In order that the test can be performed, each of the components 2 of the circuit boards 3 must have two test points 7. As already described above, the test points 7 require space on the circuit boards 3. The disadvantages were already described above.

[0030] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of the circuit board panel 4 having a plurality of circuit boards 3 as described in FIG. 1 but modified to illustrate the method of the invention. The construction of the circuit arrangements 1 arranged on the circuit boards 3 of the circuit board panel 4 corresponds to the construction shown in FIG. 1. After positioning the components 2 of the circuit arrangements 1, they are, moreover, usually soldered directly to the surface of the circuit boards 3.

[0031] The components 2 arranged on the circuit boards 3 have no test points 7 in FIG. 2. For such purpose, test components 5 are provided in one of the edge regions 6 of the circuit board panel 4. Such are preferably placed after the populating of the components 2 on the circuit boards 3 of the circuit board panel 4—thus, at the end of the populating of the circuit board panel 4. In this way, it is assured that the test components come from the same components roll as the components 2 on the corresponding circuit board panel 4. If during the populating of the circuit board panel 4 a new components roll was spliced on, then by placing the test components on the panel edge after the populating of the circuit board panel, it is assured that the spliced components roll contains the correct components. The empty material roll was already tested in the case of the preceding circuit board panel. In the case of the solution of the invention, the electrical test is performed (automatically, semiautomatically or manually) only on the test components 5. If each of the test components 5 registers the correct value and, in given cases, the correct poling, then also each of the corresponding components 2 on the circuit board panel 4 has the correct value and, in given cases, the correct poling.

[0032] According to the invention, it is, thus, possible so to perform the testing of the components 2 of a circuit board panel 4 by means of a reduced number of test components 5 that the prescribed safety requirements for use of the circuit arrangements 1 in an explosion endangered area are satisfied.

[0033] In addition to the above described testing, the circuit board panels 4 with the circuit arrangements 1 are usually additionally subjected to an optical inspection. In such case, it is checked, whether all components 2 and test components 5, which should be present, are actually present, and whether their soldering, or securement, on the circuit boards 3 is correct.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0034] 1 circuit arrangement [0035] 2 electrical/electronic component [0036] 3 circuit board [0037] 4 circuit board panel [0038] 5 test component [0039] 6 edge region [0040] 7 test point