Patent · US Expired

Electrical test system for vehicle manufacturing quality assurance

US5935180A · kind A · utility

84Cited by
21References
30Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 30, 1997
Grant dateAug 10, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 30, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01R31/007
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A system for testing the electrical components of vehicles during manufacturing includes a hand held tester to which a translator unit can be detachably engaged and with which the tester is in RF communication. The translator unit can be detached from the tester and plugged into a test receptacle under a vehicle's dashboard to communicate with the vehicle by translating computer formatted data from the tester to vehicle bus-formatted data, and vice-versa. Then, the vehicle's VIN is scanned into the tester or manually input into the tester, and the tester transmits the VIN via an RF link in the assembly plant to a computer in the plant. Based on the VIN, the computer determines the electric equipment that the vehicle has, and the computer transmits this information back to the tester. The tester then determines which tests to execute, and the tester causes the translator unit to undertake these tests. The translator transmits the test results back to the tester which in turn transmits the results to the computer. A portable current module can be provided that monitors the current drawn from the vehicle's battery during the testing and for communicating this data to the tester via RF…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.