Patent ID: 9297848
Filing Date: 2016-03-29
CPC Classification: G01R

Claim Text:
1. A modular automotive wiring harness testing apparatus that is configurable to test a plurality of different types of automotive wiring harnesses to detect impedance anomalies therein, wherein each particular automotive wiring harness comprises a plurality of connectors, the modular automotive wiring harness testing apparatus comprising: an enclosure; a plurality of time-domain reflectometer (TDR) engines that are disposed in the enclosure and that are each configured to generate test pulses; a plurality of switching networks each being coupled to one of the TDR engines and each being disposed in the enclosure, wherein each of the plurality of switching networks are configured to be programmed and reconfigured into a number of different configurations, wherein each of the different configurations configures a particular switching network to allow that particular switching network to test a particular one of the plurality of different types of automotive wiring harnesses; a plurality of body holder receptacles disposed on the enclosure, wherein each of the body holder receptacles is coupled to one or more of the switching networks via a connector system, wherein each connector system is impedance-matched with the body holder receptacle and the switching network to define a delivery path having a uniform impedance to deliver the test pulses to and from one of the connectors of a particular automotive wiring harness, wherein each of the body holder receptacles has a particular configuration that allows it to receive and accommodate different types of connectors that are used with the different types of automotive wiring harnesses.