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:
Sep. 10, 2002
Filed:
Jan. 29, 2001
Brent C. Rankin, Lima, OH (US);
Honda of America Mfg., Inc., Marysville, OH (US);
Abstract
The present invention is an assembly line testing apparatus and method for automatically verifying proper connectivity of a plurality of components to a wiring harness within an article of manufacture, such as a vehicle engine, by electrically determining whether a closed circuit loop is formed with each component through two respective nodes of the wiring harness. A micro-controller controls application of a test voltage signal at a first node of the wiring harness to be coupled to one node of a component. The micro-controller then determines whether such a test voltage signal appears on a second node of the wiring harness to be coupled to the other node of the component to determine whether the component is properly connected to the wiring harness. In addition, the micro-controller determines and outputs an identification of any of the plurality of components that is not properly connected to the wiring harness. The present invention may be used to particular advantage for verifying proper connectivity of a plurality of engine components to the wiring harness within a vehicle engine during assembly of the vehicle engine.