Electricity: measuring and testing – Fault detecting in electric circuits and of electric components – Of individual circuit component or element
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-31
2003-02-04
Le, N. (Department: 2858)
Electricity: measuring and testing
Fault detecting in electric circuits and of electric components
Of individual circuit component or element
C324S555000, C324S073100, C345S215000, C702S120000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06515484
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical test equipment, and in particular to an electrical safety compliance test instrument having an improved operator interface.
The electrical safety compliance test instrument of the invention includes a number of improvements designed to simplifying set-up and testing procedures, in order to reduce the risk of operator error and to ensure accurate test results. The improvements utilize a softkey controlled display screen capable of displaying a complete safety test instruction set or set of test parameters, and/or a complete set of test results, to provide the following interactive display functions or features:
a pause/prompt function that causes prompts to be displayed during a pause, in order to facilitate operator reconfiguration of the equipment during testing;
an autocalibration alert function that alerts the operator when the instrument is due for scheduled calibration; and
a security function that enables the operator to select from among a plurality of security level options
a more flexible menu structure that enables set-up of additional tests performed by plug-in test instrument modules.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical safety compliance test equipment has become increasingly sophisticated or complex, both to meet the requirements of different agencies responsible for safety compliance testing, and also because of the availability of improved microprocessor based controllers which enable a single tester to perform multiple tests based on pre-programmed instruction sets. As a result, demands on the operator of the equipment have also increased. In order to perform the multiple tests that might be required for a particular product, the operator must not only correctly program all of the numerous test parameters for each of multiple steps, but also must, during testing, correctly connect and then reconfigure the connections between the test equipment and the device undergoing the tests. Often, the same equipment is used to test different types of products, each requiring different sets of tests or testing procedures, or to test products for shipment to different countries with varying test requirements. Because many of the tests are performed at voltages in excess of 1000 volts, incorrect connections can present a serious safety hazard to the operator or bystanders, while improper test set-up or interpretation of the test results can result in the shipment of defective products and hazards to consumers.
An example of the trend toward greater test instrument sophistication is the multiple function dielectric withstand tester described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,054,865, assigned to Associated Research, Inc. of Lake Bluff, Ill., which is capable of performing at least five different types of tests. The tests, which include high voltage AC and DC dielectric withstand tests, insulation resistance tests, AC ground bond tests, and DC continuity tests, all require different connections between the tester and the device under test, and therefore a highly skilled operator. In addition, the Associated Research multiple function dielectric withstand tester has the capability of being linked to additional safety testers of different types, further complicating test set-up and interpretation.
Another example of a tester capable of performing different types of tests with multiple test configurations is the line leakage tester disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,398, also assigned to Associated Research, Inc. This tester has the capability of running multiple tests to simulate different potential hazards that might be faced by a user of the product being tested, and like the Associated Research multiple function dielectric withstand tester, also includes external link capabilities.
To simplify test set-up and minimize risk of operator error, both of the Associated Research testers provide an integrated menu-driven user interface for setting-up multiple pre-programmed test sequences. For example, the operator interface of the electrical safety compliance test instrument illustrated in
FIG. 1
, which is identical to the instrument illustrated U.S. Pat. No. 6,054,865, includes a keypad
1
made up of a plurality of pre-assigned function keys
2
and a numeric keypad
3
, various LED indicators
4
,
5
and an LCD display screen
6
capable of displaying interactive menus through which test parameters such as voltage and current levels, test duration, and ramping times, may be preprogrammed or set for each of the types of tests that the instrument is capable of carrying out, as well as an on/off switch
7
, start button
8
, reset button
9
. Also included on the front panel of the illustrated multifunction dielectric withstand test instrument are respective high voltage, current and return jacks
10
,
11
,
12
.
By providing integrated, menu driven operator interfaces, the test instruments described in the Associated Research patents, including the test instrument illustrated in
FIG. 1
, reduce the chance of operator error and thereby offer significant safety and convenience advantages over conventional non-interactive instrument displays. Nevertheless, the operator interfaces of the two testers, as well as those of other safety compliance test instruments, still place relatively high demands on the operators, with consequent hazards to both the operator and end-users of the product being tested.
In order to eliminate any possible source of operator error, it has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,882 to completely automate the process of test configuration, using software-based switches to switch between multiple test instruments and an icon based interactive test set-up and control display. While this approach has the advantage of ease-of-use, the icon based control is designed to be implemented on a central computer linked to separate test instruments and is not suitable for implementation through a display integrated into the front panel of a single instrument, the separate test instruments being connected via a common bus to the central computer and via a single pre-configured interface to the device under test. The configuration of the interface to the device under test is not specifically described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,882, but rather is presumed to be constant, with no provision for automatic switching or re-connection of test probes, or for programming of individual test instruments to cooperate with the main control program and accept the appropriate test commands. To the contrary, as explained in the abstract of U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,882, the test instrument of this patent seeks to dynamically reconfigure the test set up for different tests without hand rewiring or loading of other test programs, thereby both increasing the complexity of the system and in practice greatly limiting the number of different types of tests that can be performed with a particular instrument. This lack of provision for reconfiguration of instrument to device under test connections makes the system described in this patent impractical for many safety compliance testing applications.
Unlike the operator interface described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,882, which is designed to control separate test instruments connected by a common bus to a pre-configured connection to the device under test, the present invention concerns an operator interface integrated into a single multiple function test instrument. In the context of single instrument operator interfaces, it is of course known to provide displays that provide multiple lines of text as well as graphics, but none of these single-instrument displays address the above-described concerns related to electrical safety compliance testing.
An example of a prior text/graphic display capable of displaying large amounts of information is the medical diagnostic instrument display disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,059. While the display screen disclosed in this patent could be included in a multiple function safety compliance test instrument, however, the software that con
Bald Roger A.
Chen Pin-Yi
Associated Research, Inc.
Bacon & Thomas
Deb Anjan K.
Le N.
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