The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 27, 1985
Filed:
Jun. 13, 1983
Robert L Anderson, Saline, MI (US);
Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for diagnosing the operation of a plurality of output transistor drivers includes a plurality of detection transistors, a reference resistor and a voltage detector. Each detection resistor is coupled from a collector of one output transistor driver to a common node. The reference resistor is coupled between the common node and a ground potential. The voltage detector measures voltage across the reference resistor to determine the existence of an improperly functioning transistor. The test method includes turning off all the transistor drivers, detecting the voltage, and comparing the voltage to a reference voltage to determine if any transistors are shorted. If there are no shorts, the transistors are sequentially turned on to determine if any transistors are open.