Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-19
2002-03-19
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
active
06358095
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to electrical adapters, connectors and interfaces, and more particularly to an adapter and interface device for interfacing a printed wiring board (PWB) from an electronic assembly or unit under test (UUT) to the General Purpose Interface (GPI) of a diagnostic test station, such as a CASS (Consolidated Automatic Support System) station.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The CASS (Consolidated Automatic Support System) diagnostic test system is a standardized suite of automatic military electronics test equipment. It is designed to perform full electronics testing, in the nature of functional tests, calibration, fault detection and isolation, on defense equipment electronic systems in aircraft, aircraft carriers, submarines and other land, air and sea military assets. The CASS system is deployed in different locations, typically military aircraft electronics development and manufacturing centers, naval air stations and aircraft carriers. It is available in various different configurations, depending on the type of electronic defense equipment being tested.
Use of the CASS system typically occurs after onboard built-in test, diagnostic equipment (“BIT”) detects or “flags” a fault in a particular aircraft electronics system. The BIT is typically able to detect faults at the module level of the electronics system, known as the “Weapons Replaceable Assembly,” or “WRA.” Failure data generated by the BIT advises service and maintenance personnel that a failure has occurred within a particular WRA and that testing and repair of that particular module is required.
The WRA modules are assemblies, typically having the external form of military-grade metallic boxes, each containing multiple removable printed circuit boards or cards, called “shop replaceable assemblies” (“SRAs”). Between 5 and 45 such SRAs are typically located within a particular WRA. The detection of a failure in a selected WRA by an onboard BIT indicates one or more failures in one or more SRAs within that WRA. Although the BIT is occasionally able to detect faults beyond the WRA level to the SRA level, typically, the BIT is strictly used for fault detection at the WRA level. More precise fault detection at the SRA level is performed by removing the WRA from service and testing the electronic systems within that particular WRA at a CASS station.
The CASS station serves dual purposes in the testing of the WRA and SRA assemblies. First, the CASS station is able to test a WRA as a single electronic system (an intermediate level, or “I-level,” test), in greater detail than the BIT test. In particular, the CASS station testing of the WRA as a single electronic system identifies individual SRAs having defective electronic components. The CASS station is then also able to test the SRAs on an individual basis, to detect faults within the actual electronic components making up a particular SRA, such as chips, integrated circuits, resistors, capacitors, etc. (commonly referred to as the “piece parts”). Typically, the CASS station testing is able to identify a small group (perhaps 5 to 7) of individual components, or “piece parts,” and sometimes a single component, within a particular SRA that is defective and therefore in need of replacement.
Thus, the overall method for repairing detected WRA failures using a CASS station involves first testing a WRA as a single system to determine defective SRAs, removing any defective SRAs from a particular WRA, testing these defective SRAs individually to detect individual defective components, replacing the defective components and reinstalling the repaired SRAs within the WRA. Since the WRA modules are typically removable by hand by disconnecting them from the wiring system of the particular military asset involved, they can be brought to a CASS station for diagnosis, repaired as needed and then reinstalled in the military asset.
Because the CASS system is intended to be a universal testing system for many different types of electronic components, it includes a universal-type electrical-mechanical interface in the nature of a main General Purpose Interface (“GPI”). The GPI is a vertical panel on the front of the CASS station containing over 1400 (typically gold-plated) connection pins of three primary types: (1) power pins, which handle high current, and are typically expensive; (2) small signal or small amperage pins, which are less expensive; and (3) coax pins, which are expensive. The CASS station GPI pins are referred to as “female” connectors in that they engage a plurality of sockets organized in the form of a connector box, or “interface device” (“ID”) that is attached as the “male” connector set onto all or part of the CASS station GPI.
The interface device, or “ID,” is the type of device currently used to provide electrical and mechanical connection between a unit under test, which can be either a WRA or an SRA, and the 1400+pins of the CASS station GPI. The individual WRAs removed from military assets for CASS station testing typically include three to five “male” socket connector assemblies usually having a total of from about 10 to about 120 sockets that must be connected to the CASS station GPI pins in a particular arrangement to accomplish the desired testing functions. The individual SRAs that are removed from WRAs for CASS station testing typically each include at least one “male” and one “female” connector assembly located directly on the SRA printed circuit board. One or more are in the form of a functional connector used to connect the SRA to the WRA on its interior. Also provided is a “female” test connector, also located directly on the SRA printed circuit board, and provided for attachment to diagnostic systems such as the CASS system. Where both kinds of connectors are provided, use of both the test and functional connectors is preferred, because this arrangement provides supplemental advantages for isolating faults. When the SRA board does not include a test connector, diagnostic testing with the CASS system is performed by connecting to the functional connector or connectors alone.
Therefore, any suitable interface devices for connecting WRAs or SRAs to a CASS station GPI for diagnostic testing purposes must interface between the various “female” pins of the CASS station GPI and either the “male” WRA socket connector assemblies or the “male” SRA test and functional socket connector assemblies. However, since the particular types, sizes and configurations of the “male” sockets located upon the numerous various types of WRAs and SRAs vary widely, many such interface devices must be prepared for interfacing from the CASS GPI to these various WRAs and SRAs. Even though a single interface device of the type currently used can sometimes be used for interfacing with several different WRAs or SRAs (typically, a single interface device can be used with between 1 and 10 separate units under test), current interface devices must still be custom-made in large numbers (by the hundreds) for interfacing between the CASS station GPI and the many WRAs and SRAs that need to be tested. Each such custom-made interface device includes a “female” connector for attachment to a unit under test (WRA or SRA), a large amount of internal wiring with discrete soldered or crimped wire connections (which is expensive, can fail during use in the field and is labor-intensive to build and check) and expensive gold-plated “male” socket connectors for attachment to the gold-plated “female” CASS GPI pin interface.
Interface devices of the type currently used for attachment to a CASS station GPI typically employ two methods for attaching wires within each particular device to the pins, sockets or other interfacing connectors used. The use of printed wiring board traces provides high reliability and performance with reduced production cost. However, printed wiring boards are not always practical during the prototype phase because modifying printed circuit board traces is difficult. Wirewrap technology, however, is another method of connecting wires within
Cook James J.
Marion Randall L.
McSparin Brett E.
Rootz William F.
Scheve Kenneth J.
Dinh Phuong K T
Harness & Dickey & Pierce P.L.C.
Sircus Brian
The Boeing Company
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