Apparatus for processing items of electronic equipment
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus for processing items of electronic equipment, comprising:
- a rack having a plurality of locations for accommodating a respective item to be processed;
the locations having a visible indication of an instantaneous processing state of each location;
a timer to measure a period of time for which the locations have been in the states indicated by the visual indication; and
a data analyzer providing statistical data derived from the states of the locations and the times for which the locations have been in each state.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for processing items of electronic equipment, such as downloading software to and/or testing PC system units, includes a rack having a plurality of cells each for accommodating a respective unit to be processed. Each location has a visible indication, e.g. a colored light, of the instantaneous processing state of the location, such as: cell empty, processing in progress, processing successfully completed, processing failed and unable to commence processing. Each cell also includes a timer to measure the period of time for which the cell has been in the state indicated by the visible indication.
11 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus for processing items of electronic equipment, comprising:
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a rack having a plurality of locations for accommodating a respective item to be processed;
the locations having a visible indication of an instantaneous processing state of each location;
a timer to measure a period of time for which the locations have been in the states indicated by the visual indication; and
a data analyzer providing statistical data derived from the states of the locations and the times for which the locations have been in each state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
a clock displaying the period of time.
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3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the items of electronic equipment comprise personal computer system units, and wherein the processing comprises downloading software to the system units and/or testing such units.
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4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing states include at least one of:
- location empty, processing in progress, processing successfully completed, processing failed and unable to commence processing.
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5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the visible indication comprises a plurality of colored lights, each light being of a different color than each other light.
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6. An apparatus for processing computers during manufacture comprising:
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a rack having at least one location for accommodating a computer to be processed;
the at least one location having distinct visible indications of an instantaneous processing state of the location; and
the visible indications being an indicator that the location is;
free to be occupied for processing;
occupied without being connected for processing;
occupied and processing is being accomplished;
occupied and processing is completed;
oroccupied and processing has failed. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
a timer to measure a period of time for which the at least one location has been in the state indicated by the visible indication.
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8. An apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:
a clock displaying the period of time.
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9. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the rack has a plurality of the locations.
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10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processing comprises downloading software to the computers and/or testing such computers.
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11. An apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:
a data analyzer providing statistical data derived from the states of the locations and the times for which the locations have been in each state.
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12. A method for processing computers during manufacture comprising:
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providing a rack having a location for accommodating a computer to be processed;
connecting distinct visible indications of an instantaneous processing state of the location; and
varying the visible indications so as to indicate that the location is;
free to be occupied for processing;
occupied without being connected for processing;
occupied and processing is being accomplished;
occupied and processing is completed;
oroccupied and processing has failed. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
measuring a period of time for which the location has been in the state indicated by the visible indication.
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14. The method according to claim 13 further comprising:
displaying the period of time on a clock.
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15. The method according to claim 14 further comprising:
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providing a plurality of locations; and
providing a data analyzer for statistical data from the state of each location and the time for which each location has been in each state.
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16. An apparatus for processing computers during manufacture comprising:
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a rack having a location for accommodating a computer to be processed;
the location having distinct visible indications of an instantaneous processing state of the location; and
the visible indications being an indicator that the location is;
free to be occupied for processing;
oroccupied; and
if occupied, the state of the processing at the location. - View Dependent Claims (17)
a timer to measure a period of time for which the location has been in the state indicated.
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18. An apparatus for processing items of electronic equipment comprising:
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a rack having a location for accommodating a respective item to be processed;
the location having a visible indication of an instantaneous processing state of the location; and
the visible indication being an indicator that the location is;
free to be occupied for processing;
oroccupied; and
if occupied, the state of processing at the location.
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Specification