Digital multimeter having improved recording functionality

#Multimeters are used for measuring a variety of parameters associated with electrical circuitry, such as currents, voltages, resistance and capacitance. A multimeter can be a handheld device useful for basic fault finding and field service work or a sophisticated bench instrument that can measure with a very high degree of accuracy. The instrument may be implemented with an analog meter deflected by an electromagnet or with a digital display such as an LCD (liquid crystal display) screen. While older analog multimeters might have basic accuracies of 5-10%, modern portable digital multimeters, or DMMs, may have accuracies up to ±0.025%.

#Many modern digital multimeters enable a user to save a measurement for later retrieval and analysis. Typically, the instrument is configured such that a user presses a button or otherwise prompts the multimeter to save the measurement as it is taken. In some modern digital multimeters, a hold function is provided that freezes a displayed value once a stable reading is detected. Again, to prompt the hold function, the user must presses a button before taking a measurement and then presses that button once more to release the display.

#Digital multimeters incorporate various tools such as the “save” and “hold” features for performing and analyzing different types of measurements and displaying measurement values in a digital format on a screen. Further capabilities and improvements are needed, however, in both hardware and software, to enable users to organize measurement information to be obtained by the instrument so as to operate the instrument efficiently, effectively, and safely.

#FIG. 1 illustrates the front face of a digital multimeter in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

#FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the digital multimeter in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

#FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a screen in accordance with an exemplary embodiment, in which “auto save” functionality can be initiated.

#The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.

#An inventive digital multimeter instrument and inventive methods for operating a digital multimeter are disclosed below in detail. In particular, the digital multimeter as described herein incorporates a rotary switch, a series of keys and buttons, and a digital display so as to provide highly integrated, programmable and configurable features not available on conventional multimeters. Several of these features, either taken alone or in combination, provide significant improvements in ease of use, speed of user operation, and safety associated with use of the instrument. The modifications, alterations, and additions to conventional multimeters that were necessary to accomplish these features resulted in benefits that otherwise would not have been foreseen or appreciated by others skilled in the art.

#Description of Components in a Highly-Integrated Multimeter Instrument