Circuit board testing apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A testing system comprising:
- a. a testing apparatusb. a plurality of units which are to be tested by said testing apparatus,c. a plurality of keying means, each keying means being mounted to a related one of said units, with each keying means having a predetermined mating orientation unique to the unit to which that keying means is mounted,d. a unit inter-facing member adapted and arranged to be connected to said testing apparatus and selectively connected to said units, said unit inter-facing member comprising;
1. a movable mating means mounted to said unit inter-facing member in a manner to be moveable to a plurality of mating locations, each mating location corresponding to a related one of said keying means, such that at any one of said mating locations the mating means is able to be matched to the corresponding keying means to engage that keying means in mating relationship and permit the unit inter-facing member to be connected to that unit having the keying means for which the mating means is matched,2. a plurality of identifying circuit means provided by said inter-facing member, each of said circuit means corresponding to a related one of said units, and being arranged to generate an identifying signal for the unit to which that circuit means corresponds,3. switch means connected to the plurality of circuit means and said testing apparatus, in a manner that with movement of said mating means to any particular mating location, said switch means connects to the testing apparatus the circuit means which corresponds to the unit having the keying means corresponding to that particular mating location,whereby when a particular unit is connected to said inter-facing member to be tested by said testing apparatus, said mating means is necessarily moved to a mating location corresponding to the keying means of that particular unit, with the result that the circuit means corresponding to that particular unit transmits to the testing apparatus the signal identifying that particular unit, thus ensuring that the testing apparatus is able to perform a testing procedure appropriate to that particular unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system by which a plurality of different circuit boards can be reliably tested by a single testing apparatus having a plurality of test programs adapted for testing particular circuit boards. Each circuit board has a pair of non-circular keying pins, with each circuit board having its particular pair of pins arranged in a unique combination of angular positions. There is an inter-facing member connected between the circuit board to be tested and the testing apparatus. The inter-facing member has a pair of rotatably mounted indexing discs, each having a plurality of receptacles, and each receptacle having a particular angular orientation to receive a keying pin of a similar angular orientation. A particular circuit board can be mounted to the inter-facing unit by moving the two indexing discs to the appropriate location so that the appropriate receptacles of the two discs receive the two keying pins of that particular circuit board. When the indexing discs are in a position to receive a particular circuit board, this connects predetermined circuit elements to the test apparatus to provide an identifying signal to the test apparatus to indicate the particular circuit board which is connected to the inter-facing member. This signal insures that the test apparatus is arranged to utilize the proper test program for that particular circuit board.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A testing system comprising:
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a. a testing apparatus b. a plurality of units which are to be tested by said testing apparatus, c. a plurality of keying means, each keying means being mounted to a related one of said units, with each keying means having a predetermined mating orientation unique to the unit to which that keying means is mounted, d. a unit inter-facing member adapted and arranged to be connected to said testing apparatus and selectively connected to said units, said unit inter-facing member comprising; 1. a movable mating means mounted to said unit inter-facing member in a manner to be moveable to a plurality of mating locations, each mating location corresponding to a related one of said keying means, such that at any one of said mating locations the mating means is able to be matched to the corresponding keying means to engage that keying means in mating relationship and permit the unit inter-facing member to be connected to that unit having the keying means for which the mating means is matched, 2. a plurality of identifying circuit means provided by said inter-facing member, each of said circuit means corresponding to a related one of said units, and being arranged to generate an identifying signal for the unit to which that circuit means corresponds, 3. switch means connected to the plurality of circuit means and said testing apparatus, in a manner that with movement of said mating means to any particular mating location, said switch means connects to the testing apparatus the circuit means which corresponds to the unit having the keying means corresponding to that particular mating location, whereby when a particular unit is connected to said inter-facing member to be tested by said testing apparatus, said mating means is necessarily moved to a mating location corresponding to the keying means of that particular unit, with the result that the circuit means corresponding to that particular unit transmits to the testing apparatus the signal identifying that particular unit, thus ensuring that the testing apparatus is able to perform a testing procedure appropriate to that particular unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. In a computerized testing system, comprising:
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a. a plurality of units which are to be tested, b. test system hardware to provide testing inputs to a unit being tested and receive test response from the unit being tested, c. a computer having a plurality of test programs for various units to be tested with said computer being programed to selectively apply various test programs to various units being tested, an improvement to ensure that the computer is applying the proper program to the unit to be tested, said improvement comprising; a. a plurality of keying means, each keying means being mounted to a related one of said units, with each keying means having a predetermined mating orientation unique to the unit to which that keying means is mounted, b. a unit inter-facing member adapted and arranged to be connected to said test system hardware and selectively connected to said units, said unit interfacing member comprising; 1. a moveable mating means mounted to said unit inter-facing member in a manner to be moveable to a plurality of mating locations, each mating location corresponding to a related one of said keying means, such that at any one of said mating locations the mating means is able to be matched to the corresponding keying means to engage that keying means in mating relationship and permit the unit inter-facing member to be connected to that unit having the keying means for which the mating means is matched, - View Dependent Claims (10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 19)
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9. a plurality of identifying circuit means provided by said inter-facing member, each of said circuit means corresponding to a related one of said units, and being arranged to generate an identifying signal for the unit to which that circuit means corresponds,switch means connected to the plurality of circuit means and said test system hardware, in a manner that with movement of said mating means to any particular mating location, said switch means connects to the test system hardware the circuit means which corresponds to the unit having the keying means corresponding to that particular mating location,
whereby when a particular unit is connected to said interfacing member to be tested, said mating means is necessarily moved to a mating location corresponding to the keying means of that particular unit, with the result that the circuit means corresponding to that particular unit transmits to the computer the signal identifying the particular unit, thus ensuring that the test system hardware is able to perform a testing procedure appropriate to that particular unit.
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16. A method of testing a plurality of units where there is:
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a. test system hardware which is capable of providing testing inputs into a unit being tested and receiving test responses from the unit being tested, b. a computer having a plurality of test programs for various units to be tested, with said computer being programmed to selectively apply various test programs to various units being tested, c. each unit having a particular keying means, with the keying means of each unit having a predetermined mating orientation unique to the unit to which that keying means is mounted, d. a unit inter-facing member adapted and arranged to be connected to the test system hardware and selectively connected to said units, said inter-facing member comprising;
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17. a moveable mating means mounted to said inter-facing member in a manner to be moveable to a plurality of mating locations, each mating location corresponding to a related one of said keying means, such that at any one of said mating locations, the mating means is able to be matched to a corresponding keying means to engage that keying means in mating relationship and permit the unit inter-facing member to be connected to that unit having the keying means for which the mating means is matched,a plurality of circuit means, each of said circuit means corresponding to a related one of said units, and being arranged to generate an identifying signal for the unit to which the circuit means corresponds,a switch means operatively positioned between the plurality of circuit means and said testing apparatus, said switch means further being operatively connected to said mating means in a manner that with movement of said mating means to any particular mating location, said switch means connects to the testing apparatus circuit means which corresponds to the unit having keying means corresponding to that particular mating location,
said method being characterized in that it ensures that the proper test program is being applied to the particular unit being tested, said method comprising: -
a. connecting the unit which is being tested to the inter-facing member by first moving the mating means to the mating location corresponding to the unit being tested, and connecting the unit being tested to the inter-facing member with the keying means of that unit mating with the moveable mating means, b. identifying the unit which is to be tested in the computer and creating an interrogating signal to be transmitted to said inter-facing member to activate said identifying circuit means and provide an identifying signal corresponding to the unit being tested, c. comparing the identifying signal corresponding to the unit connected to the inter-facing member with a unit identification placed in the computer.
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Specification