Contactor Response Signature Identification Against Counterfeit Parts

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Solution Overview

Problem

The increasing risk of contactor devices being tampered with on the aftermarket poses significant safety hazards and performance degradation in vehicles, as counterfeit devices can lead to unsafe operating conditions and degraded electrical device performance, which existing technologies fail to effectively identify.

Innovation Solution

A computer system with processing circuitry is used to provide control signals to contactor devices, analyze their response signatures through time series data, and compare them to baseline signatures to identify the type of contactor devices, ensuring compliance with manufacturer safety and regulatory standards.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the number of contactor devices is increased to meet vehicle electrical system requirements, then the vehicle's electrical functionality is improved, but the risk of tampering and counterfeit devices increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveelectrical functionalityVSAvoidrisk of tampering
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary identification of contactor devices by analyzing their electrical characteristics and comparing them against stored reference data. This proactive approach detects counterfeit or tampered devices before they cause safety issues, rather than waiting for failures to occur.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously monitors contactor device characteristics and provides feedback about their authenticity and operational status. This feedback mechanism enables real-time detection of deviations from expected behavior, allowing the vehicle system to respond appropriately to potential safety risks.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Ease of manufacture

If contactor devices are replaced or modified by third parties, then cost savings or availability is improved, but safety and performance are degraded

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveavailabilityVSAvoidsafety hazards
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies preliminary anti-action by detecting and identifying counterfeit or non-genuine contactor devices before they can cause safety hazards. The identification system prevents unsafe operation by flagging devices that do not match the vehicle manufacturer's specifications, counteracting the potential harm from aftermarket replacements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

3Device complexity

If traditional contactor identification methods are used, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision and detection accuracy are insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveidentification systemVSAvoidtype identification accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the parameters used for identification from simple visual or manual checks to precise electrical characteristic measurements. By analyzing multiple electrical parameters such as resistance, inductance, and switching behavior, the system achieves high measurement precision in contactor type identification without requiring overly complex hardware.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP4462464B1Computer system, vehicle, computer-implemented method, computer program product and computer-readable storage medium for contactor device identification
Publication Date: 2026.05.06 VOLVO TRUCK CORP
  • EP4462464B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4462464B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP4462464B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

A computer system comprising processing circuitry configured to provide a control signal (70) to a contactor device control circuit (32) comprising a contactor (34), the contactor device control circuit (32) being configured to carry out a state switch (72) in response to receiving said control signal (70); receive a control signal response (74) from the contactor device control circuit (32) in response to said state switch (72); obtain one or more contactor device properties (76) based on the control signal response (74) to the control signal (70); compare the one or more contactor device properties (76) to baseline contactor device properties (80), the baseline contactor device properties (80) being indicative of one or more predefined contactor device types; and based on said comparison, identify whether a type of said contactor (34) corresponds to said one or more predefined contactor device types.