DIGITAL MULTIMETER HAVING IMPROVED RECORDING FUNCTIONALITY

• US 20090140721A1
• Filed: 08/14/2008
• Published: 06/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fluke Corporation (Fortive Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Fluke Corporation (Fortive Corp.)
• Inventors: Gilbert, John, GARLAND, Anthony
• Granted Patent: US 8,456,153 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/115
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 15/125 for digital multimeters
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/2509 Details concerning sampling, digitizing or waveform capturing

Abstract

A digital multimeter automatically records measurements of electrical or physical parameters. The multimeter may record the measurements based on events such as the passage of time, fluctuations or deviations in the measurements, or user inputs. In some examples, the digital multimeter operates at a reduced power setting during automatic recording operations.

Claims

1. A digital multimeter, comprising:

a measurement component for receiving measurement data corresponding to one or more physical or electrical parameters;

a user interface for receiving user input to place the digital multimeter in a recording mode;

a memory component for storing measurement data captured by the digital multimeter; and

a recording component for automatically and successively capturing and storing in the memory component a plurality of measurements over a period of time, wherein the recording component captures and stores each measurement upon detecting that the measurement has a value greater than an upper recording threshold or a value lesser than a lower recording threshold.

2. The digital multimeter of claim 1, wherein the lower recording threshold is a previously recorded minimum measurement value and the upper recording threshold is a previous maximum measurement value captured by the multimeter within the period of time.

3. The digital multimeter of claim 1, wherein the lower recording threshold and/or the upper recording threshold have a fixed value established prior to the period of time.

4. The digital multimeter of claim 1, wherein the lower recording threshold and/or the upper recording threshold are defined relative to a baseline measurement value.

5. The multimeter of claim 4, wherein the baseline measurement value is a previous measurement value captured by the recording component.

6. The digital multimeter of claim 1, further comprising a display component for displaying minimum and maximum values of measurements captured during the period of time.

7. The digital multimeter of claim 6, wherein the recording component captures and stores and the display component displays further displays an average value of measurements captured during the period of time.

8. The digital multimeter of claim 1, further comprising an audio output component, which audibly indicates when a new minimum measurement value or a new maximum measurement value is recorded.

9. The digital multimeter of claim 1, wherein an input component allows a user to enter the lower recording threshold or the upper recording threshold.

10. The digital multimeter of claim 1, wherein the lower recording threshold and/or the upper recording threshold vary over successive intervals within the period of time, and the recording component captures and stores at least one measurement for each interval.

11. The digital multimeter of claim 10, wherein the lower recording threshold for a particular interval is a minimum measurement value obtained during the interval and/or the upper recording threshold for a particular interval is a maximum measurement value obtained during the interval.

12. The digital multimeter of claim 10, further comprising an input component allowing a user to control duration of each interval.

13. The digital multimeter of claim 1, wherein the recording component stops automatically capturing and storing measurements after a predetermined time interval elapses.

14. The digital multimeter of claim 1, wherein the recording component down-samples measurements stored in the memory to decrease the amount of memory occupied by the measurements.

15. The digital multimeter of claim 14, wherein the recording component performs the down-sampling upon determining that a predetermined amount of memory space has been filled or upon detecting the passage of a predetermined amount of time.

16. The digital multimeter of claim 1, wherein one or more components of the multimeter operate at a reduced-power setting while the recording component performs automatic capture and storage of measurements.

17. A method of operating a digital multimeter comprising a measurement component, a user-interface component, a memory component, and a recording component, the method comprising:

receiving, via the measurement component, measurement data corresponding to one or more physical or electrical parameters;

receiving, via the user-interface component, a user-input for placing the digital multimeter in a recording mode; and

wherein, once the digital multimeter is in recording mode, the recording component automatically and successively captures and stores in the memory a plurality of measurements over a period of time upon detecting that the measurement has a value greater than an upper recording threshold or a value lesser than a lower recording threshold.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the digital multimeter further comprises a display component, and the method further comprises simultaneously presenting in the display minimum and maximum values of measurements captured during the period of time.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the digital multimeter further comprises an audio output component, and the method further comprises:

operating the audio output component to produce an audible indication when the recording component detects a measurement having a value greater than the upper recording threshold or a lesser value than the lower recording threshold.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the lower recording threshold and/or or upper recording threshold vary over successive intervals within the period of time, and the recording component captures, stores, and displays at least one measurement within each interval.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the lower recording threshold for a particular interval is a minimum measurement value obtained during the interval and the upper recording threshold lower for a particular interval is a maximum measurement value obtained during the interval.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

down-sampling measurements stored in the memory to decrease the amount of memory occupied by the measurements.

23. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

operating one or more components of the multimeter at a reduced-power setting while the recording component performs automatic capture and storage of measurements.