Electricity: measuring and testing – Fault detecting in electric circuits and of electric components – Of individual circuit component or element
Patent
1996-05-06
1998-09-22
Brown, Glenn W.
Electricity: measuring and testing
Fault detecting in electric circuits and of electric components
Of individual circuit component or element
324126, G01R 3104
Patent
active
058119779
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to apparatus for electrically testing an electrical connection member constituted by a main line and by n branch lines connected to the main line via couplers.
More precisely, the invention relates to apparatus enabling electrical tests to be applied to determine and verify electrical transmission properties between various electrical components connected to a main line by branch lines, themselves connected to the main line by couplers. A certain number of electrical installations are to be found having various electronic or electrical components, in particular as constituted by sensors or actuators, that interchange data via a single main line, with this type of connection usually being called a "bus" or a "harness/bus". This disposition is to be found, in particular, in electrical circuits of the kind installed, for example, in space rockets for interconnecting the various sensors or actuators of the rocket. Given the cost of such a rocket and of launching it, it is clearly of great importance for the electrical connection members between its various components to be capable of being fully tested prior to being installed in the rocket or in any similar installation in order to avoid risks of breakdown or faulty operation.
In the special case of space installations, this type of "harness/bus" interconnection must satisfy the standard: MIL-STD-1553B. However, for other types of installation, it is necessary to verify that interconnections comply with standards of the same type.
In general, the various interconnection systems must be tested in different configurations, i.e., in succession, when each of the components connected by branch lines behaves as a sender, when it behaves as a receiver, when an input load is applied thereto to simulate a card, i.e. an electronic circuit, and possibly when one of the receivers or senders referred to below as a "subscriber" is short circuit or open circuit to simulate damage to the installation as a whole in order to test its behavior in such a configuration.
It will easily be understood that when the harness/bus is used to interconnect a large number of components, e.g. about ten, the number of different configurations to be tested in order to be sure that each branch line is properly coupled to the main line is extremely high.
With the means used at present, which are means that are essentially manual and not automatic, the time that would be required for testing all configurations properly becomes prohibitive. Consequently, only a limited number of critical configurations are actually tested. It will be understood, that although such a test procedure is statistically capable of detecting breakdowns or damage of the kind that is the most frequent, it is incapable of ensuring that the interconnection installation will operate properly in all of its possible configurations.
As already briefly outlined, when this system of interconnections and the quality of its operation are critical points for the operation of a rocket or similar equipment where cost is very high, it is advantageous to ascertain in as complete a manner as possible that all of the electrical lines are operating properly before mounting the system in the rocket.
To remedy the technical drawbacks of the prior art, the invention seeks to provide a device for electrically testing an electrical connection member of the harness/bus type which enables all configurations that may be taken up by the various components that are connected by the electrical connection member to be monitored and tested automatically, and preferably with the help of computer means, with the various situations of the components or possibly damage thereto being simulated.
To achieve this object, electrical test apparatus for electrically testing an electrical connection member constituted by a main line and n branch lines connected to the main line by couplers, is characterized in that it comprises: input connected to a branch line, switch means for connecting said input to one of two pairs of outputs or
REFERENCES:
patent: 5097213 (1992-03-01), Hunting et al.
patent: 5444390 (1995-08-01), Barlett et al.
patent: 5532581 (1996-07-01), Ohkura et al.
European Search Report from European patent application PCT/FR94/01349, filed Nov. 18, 1994.
Axon'Cable S.A.
Brown Glenn W.
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