Patent Application
20250133684
The present invention relates generally to racks and cabinets for housing test systems, instruments, and equipment.
Various types of electronic devices may be mounted in a test system rack or cabinet in order to facilitate interfacing with the devices, containing the devices, managing the devices, or other reasons. A test system rack may be configured with a mass interconnect (MIC) configured to receive input from multiple devices and provide output to a second MIC installed on a separate rack. The lack of adjustability of traditional static test system MICs makes it burdensome for operators to interact with the system. Additionally, a static MIC makes the test system inflexible to use in multiple instances where the test system has to interface with other equipment. As such, improvements in the field of MIC repositioning in a test system rack or cabinet are desirable.
Embodiments herein describe test system racks and cabinets configured to house test instruments and/or equipment, and methods for operating said racks and cabinets.
In some embodiments, the rack has installed thereon a mass interconnect (MIC) with inputs to couple to the test instruments and/or equipment and outputs to couple to other MICs on other racks.
In some embodiments, the rack includes one or more legs positioned underneath the housing and configured to support the housing and the MIC.
In some embodiments, the rack includes one or more actuators configured to adjust the position of the MIC without adjusting the position of the one or more legs.
In some embodiments, the rack includes a sensor configured to automatically detect a position of a second MIC on a separate rack, and the rack is configured to automatically adjust the position of the MIC to facilitate connection with the second MIC.
This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above-described features are only examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, including the appended claims. Particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner consistent with this disclosure.
It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include singular and plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Furthermore, the words “can” and “may” are used throughout this application in a permissive sense (i.e., having the potential to, being able to), not in a mandatory sense (i.e., must). The term “include,” and derivations thereof, mean “including, but not limited to.” The term “coupled” means directly or indirectly connected.
Within this disclosure, different entities (which may variously be referred to as “units,” “circuits,” other components, etc.) may be described or claimed as “configured” to perform one or more tasks or operations. This formulation—[entity] configured to [perform one or more tasks]—is used herein to refer to structure (i.e., something physical, such as an electronic circuit). More specifically, this formulation is used to indicate that this structure is arranged to perform the one or more tasks during operation. A structure can be said to be “configured to” perform some task even if the structure is not currently being operated. A “mobile device configured to generate a hash value” is intended to cover, for example, a mobile device that performs this function during operation, even if the device in question is not currently being used (e.g., when its battery is not connected to it). Thus, an entity described or recited as “configured to” perform some task refers to something physical, such as a device, circuit, memory storing program instructions executable to implement the task, etc. This phrase is not used herein to refer to something intangible.
The term “configured to” is not intended to mean “configurable to.” An unprogrammed mobile computing device, for example, would not be considered to be “configured to” perform some specific function, although it may be “configurable to” perform that function. After appropriate programming, the mobile computing device may then be configured to perform that function.
Reciting in the appended claims that a structure is “configured to” perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) for that claim element. Accordingly, none of the claims in this application as filed are intended to be interpreted as having means-plus-function elements. Should Applicant wish to invoke Section 112(f) during prosecution, it will recite claim elements using the “means for” [performing a function] construct.
As used herein, the term “based on” is used to describe one or more factors that affect a determination. This term does not foreclose the possibility that additional factors may affect the determination. That is, a determination may be solely based on specified factors or based on the specified factors as well as other, unspecified factors. Consider the phrase “determine A based on B.” This phrase specifies that B is a factor is used to determine A or that affects the determination of A. This phrase does not foreclose that the determination of A may also be based on some other factor, such as C. This phrase is also intended to cover an embodiment in which A is determined based solely on B. As used herein, the phrase “based on” is synonymous with the phrase “based at least in part on.”
Instruments for collecting data or information from an environment or unit under test may be coupled to and controlled by computer systems. Data collected by these instruments may be used to control units being tested (e.g., an overheated unit may be shutdown) or an environment (e.g., ventilation systems may be activated if a certain chemical is detected in the air). Data may also be displayed to a user for control and/or experimental purposes (e.g., to improve the design of the unit being tested). Instruments and/or computer systems may also perform various data analysis and data processing on acquired data prior to control of the unit and/or display of the data to the user. Examples of various types of instruments include oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, pressure sensors, etc., and the types of information that might be collected by respective instruments include voltage, resistance, distance, velocity, pressure, oscillation frequency, humidity or temperature, among others.
Instrumentation systems such as those described above may run on a platform such as Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI). PXI may combine a high-speed PCI bus with integrated timing and triggering features designed for measurement and automation applications to deliver performance improvements over other architectures. PXI may be built on a modular and scalable CompactPCI specification and the high-speed PCI bus architecture. As a result, PXI products may maintain interoperability with CompactPCI, offering increased mechanical integrity, easier systems integration, and more expansion slots than desktop computers. However, due to the compact design of these modules, the instrumentation may be concentrated in a small region of the test system. Accordingly, a large number of connections to the input of the mass interconnect (MIC) may originate from a relatively small volume within the rack (e.g., rather than from originating from a dispersed set of positions if the instruments were placed further apart. Embodiments herein may operate effectively with this design, by moving the group of instruments together with the MIC, as described herein.
Traditional test systems (e.g., racks or cabinets) typically have critical interfaces (e.g., mass interconnects) at fixed, unmovable positions at the time of assembly. When a test system is operated by multiple different operators, this single height may not be appropriate for all of them, leaving some users susceptible to repetitive strain injury or limiting the number (and physical shape) of users who may be able to operate the device effectively or even at all. For example, if the target operators cover men and women between 5% and 95% respective height percentiles, a height optimized for woman at the bottom of the height range may be too low for a man at the top of the height range.
Test systems based on racks and cabinets often come with mass interconnects (MICs) used for attachment of fixtures used to interface DUTs (Devices Under Test) with test systems. In many cases, human operators are responsible for manually connecting DUTs to the fixtures before those DUTs are tested and disconnecting them after tests are completed. The same applies to test fixture stands/carts and similar equipment—this is applicable when test fixtures are not directly attached to test systems.
Traditionally, test systems are created with fixed interface heights. This may present a challenge to operators of certain sizes and physical abilities.
In addition to human interfaces, it may be desirable for the test system to interface with other machinery at various heights to allow for optimal automation. It is common to use the same test system for multiple different DUTs or to integrate it into different manufacturing/production lines, which may involve connections at different heights. A test system with a static interface height is a burden for flexible use of tests systems. Additionally, the static height may limit the methods for servicing the test equipment integrated into the automated production line in a short time.
Embodiments herein describe test racks and cabinets equipped with one or more actuators configured to adjust the height of the mass interconnect. While some embodiments are described in reference to test racks and cabinets, it is within the scope of the present disclosure to utilize actuators to reposition MICs in other types of devices, such as test fixture stands, carts, or similar equipment.
Embodiments herein describe a variety of racks or cabinets configured to house a mass interconnect (MIC) and one or more test instruments or equipment. The rack may include a housing configured to contain the one or more test instruments or equipment and the MIC. The MIC may have inputs to couple to the test instruments for receiving signals, data, and/or other information. The MIC may also have one or more outputs that are configured to couple to another MIC (e.g., a second MIC installed on a second rack or cabinet). The rack may have one or more legs positioned underneath the housing to support the housing and the MIC.
In some embodiments, the rack may include one or more actuators configured to reposition the MIC and/or other components of the rack. In exemplary embodiments, the actuator(s) reposition the MIC without adjusting the position of the legs of the rack, and/or without adjusting the position of the housing. The actuator may be configured to move the MIC and/or other components linearly (e.g., up or down), or along any arbitrary direction(s). In some embodiments, the actuator is configured to adjust an orientation angle of the MIC, to facilitate connection with other devices. As used herein, a “actuator” refers generally to any type of device capable of moving another device, and is not intended to specifically limit the mechanism by which this motion is achieved. For example, the actuator may be a motor-driven device attached to a rail or a hydraulic lift, among other possibilities.
In addition to moving the MIC to match the location of another MIC, a rack with an adjustable MIC may be used in an ergonomically comfortable way by people (302, 304) of different sizes and/or body shapes, as shown in
In some embodiments, the legs may be caster wheels fixed to the bottom of the housing. In some embodiments, the rack may rest directly on the floor without legs. In these embodiments, the MIC may be configured to move by the actuators independently of the housing, and either independently or concurrently with the instruments or equipment, as desired.
In some embodiments, as shown in
In some embodiments, the rack and the other equipment wirelessly coordinate where to move the MIC based on location data or based on an identification of the equipment which the MIC is configured to attach to. For example, the rack may have a camera which searches for an identifier on another piece of equipment (e.g., a MIC on another rack) and may react accordingly. In some embodiments, the sensor is a camera coupled to a processor. The processor may be configured to identify the height of the MIC on the other rack based on an image of the MIC received from the camera. Alternatively, the other MIC may have an identifier printed thereon, or printed on the other rack. The camera may obtain an image of the identifier, and the processor may use the identifier to consult a lookup table stored in memory to determine the height of the MIC. For example, different identifiers may be associated with different racks and/or MICs that are configured with standard heights, and this information may be stored in a lookup table accessible to the processor.
In some embodiments, the sensor is configured to detect an appropriate position for the first MIC based on an image of an operator interacting with the first MIC. For example, the appropriate position may be selected so that the first MIC is positioned at the height of the operator's torso or arms. In these embodiments, the actuators may be configured to automatically adjust the position to the detected appropriate position responsive to detecting the operator.
In some embodiments, the rack includes a wireless communication device coupled to a processor. The wireless communication device may be configured to determine the location of a MIC on a second rack via communication with a second device on the second rack. Responsive to determining the position of the other MIC, the rack may automatically adjust the position of the first MIC to facilitate connection between the first and second MIC.
In some embodiments, the rack includes a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium coupled to the processor. The processor may be configured to store, in the memory medium, positions to which the first MIC has been adjusted. In other words, the rack may store in memory a history of the positions into which the MIC has been moved. The stored positions may be selectable by an operator via a user interface to automatically adjust the first MIC to the selected position. The user interface may include controls outside of the rack or a remote software user interface, among other possibilities.
Further modifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of this description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the general manner of carrying out the invention. It is to be understood that the forms of the invention shown and described herein are to be taken as embodiments. Elements and materials may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein, steps in processes and procedures may admit permutation of order, and certain features of the invention may be utilized independently, all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description of the invention. Changes may be made in the elements described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
Although specific embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, even where only a single embodiment is described with respect to a particular feature. Examples of features provided in the disclosure are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive unless stated otherwise. The above description is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as would be apparent to a person skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
The scope of the present disclosure includes any feature or combination of features disclosed herein (either explicitly or implicitly), or any generalization thereof, whether or not it mitigates any or all of the problems addressed herein. Accordingly, new claims may be formulated during prosecution of this application (or an application claiming priority thereto) to any such combination of features. In particular, with reference to the appended claims, features from dependent claims may be combined with those of the independent claims and features from respective independent claims may be combined in any appropriate manner and not merely in the specific combinations enumerated in the appended claims.
