Methods and systems for providing a vehicle repair tip

• US 10,008,050 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2017
• Issued: 06/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snap-On Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Snap-On Incorporated
• Inventors: Merg, Patrick S., Foreman, Jacob G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tan Q
• Application Number:
  US15/499,399
• Publication Number:
  US 20170228947A1
• Time in Patent Office: 425 Days
• Field of Search: 701 296
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2205/02 using a vehicle scan tool
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/02 Registering or indicating driving, working, idle, or waiting time only apparatus forming part of taximeters G07B13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/08 Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

A method performed by a first computing system includes receiving, from a second computing system, a message identifying a symptom of a first vehicle; and sending a repair tip to the second computing system. The repair tip includes a first phrase describing a first procedure performed on a second vehicle that exhibited the symptom, wherein the first procedure performed on the second vehicle yielded a result insufficient to determine that a component of the second vehicle associated with the symptom is defective. The repair tip also includes a second phrase describing a second procedure performed on a given vehicle, wherein the given vehicle is either (i) the second vehicle or (ii) a third vehicle that also exhibited the symptom, wherein the second procedure performed on the given vehicle yielded a result sufficient to determine that a component of the given vehicle associated with the symptom is defective.

Claims

1. A method performed by a first computing system, the method comprising:

receiving, from a second computing system, a message identifying a symptom of a first vehicle;

identifying first stored data associated with the symptom and a component of a second vehicle that exhibited the symptom;

identifying second stored data associated with the symptom and a component of a given vehicle;

selecting, from a plurality of stored phrase templates, a first phrase template and a second phrase template;

generating a first phrase describing a first procedure performed on the second vehicle, wherein generating the first phrase comprises inserting the first stored data into the first phrase template, and wherein the first procedure performed on the second vehicle yielded a result insufficient to determine that the component of the second vehicle associated with the symptom is defective; and

generating a second phrase describing a second procedure performed on the given vehicle, wherein the given vehicle is either (i) the second vehicle or (ii) a third vehicle that also exhibited the symptom, wherein generating the second phrase comprises inserting the second stored data into the second phrase template, and wherein the second procedure performed on the given vehicle yielded a result sufficient to determine that a component of the given vehicle associated with the symptom is defective, and wherein the component of the given vehicle is equivalent to the component of the second vehicle;

generating a repair tip comprising the first phrase and the second phrase; and

sending, to the second computing system, the repair tip including the generated first phrase and the generated second phrase.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the second phrase template was a least recently selected phrase template of any of the plurality of stored phrase templates,

wherein selecting the second phrase template comprises selecting the second phrase template based on determining that the second phrase template was the least recently selected phrase template of any of the plurality of stored phrase templates.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the second phrase template comprises selecting the second phrase template randomly from the plurality of stored phrase templates.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein identifying the first data comprises determining that the first data corresponds to a given data field of the first phrase template, and

wherein inserting the first data into the first phrase template comprises inserting the first data into the given data field of the first phrase template.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data comprises data identifying one or more of (i) the component of the second vehicle, (ii) the first procedure, (iii) the result yielded by the first procedure performed on the second vehicle, or (iv) a tool used to perform the first procedure.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein identifying the second stored data comprises determining that the second stored data corresponds to a given data field of the second phrase template, and

wherein inserting the second stored data into the second phrase template comprises inserting the second stored data into the given data field of the second phrase template.

7. The method of claim 1,

wherein the second stored data comprises data identifying one or more of (i) the component of the given vehicle, (ii) the second procedure, (iii) the result yielded by the second procedure performed on the given vehicle, or (iv) a tool used to perform the second procedure.

8. The method of claim 1,

wherein the message identifies at least one of a make, a model, or a year of manufacture of the first vehicle,

wherein the second stored data is associated with at least one of (i) the make, the model, or the year of manufacture of the given vehicle, (ii) the symptom of the given vehicle, or (iii) the second procedure;

and

wherein the method further comprises;

determining that the second stored data corresponds to at least a predetermined quantity of repair records stored by a computer-readable medium.

9. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first phrase is listed before the second phrase in the repair tip,

wherein the repair tip further comprises one or more additional phrases that are listed before the second phrase in the repair tip,

wherein the one or more additional phrases describe respective procedures that were performed on respective vehicles, and

wherein the first phrase and the one or more additional phrases are listed in the repair tip in a sequence that is based on one or more of (i) monetary cost of performing the respective procedures, (ii) an estimated time required to perform the respective procedures, or (iii) complexity of the respective procedures.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the message identifies at least one of a make, a model, or a year of manufacture of the first vehicle, the method further comprising:

identifying a second plurality of phrases stored by the first computing system that are each associated with the at least one of the make, the model, or the year of manufacture of the first vehicle and the symptom of the first vehicle, wherein the second plurality of phrases includes the second phrase; and

determining that the second phrase corresponds to at least as many repair records stored by the first computing system as any other phrase of the second plurality of phrases,

wherein sending the repair tip to the second computing system comprises sending the second phrase based on determining that the second phrase corresponds to at least as many repair records stored by the first computing system as any other phrase of the second plurality of phrases.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second plurality of phrases describe respective procedures performed on respective vehicles that yielded a result sufficient to determine that a component of the respective vehicle is defective.

12. A computing system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing system to perform functions comprising;

receiving, from a second computing system, a message identifying a symptom of a first vehicle;

identifying first stored data associated with the symptom and a component of a second vehicle that exhibited the symptom;

identifying second stored data associated with the symptom and a component of a given vehicle;

selecting, from a plurality of stored phrase templates, a first phrase template and a second phrase template;

generating a first phrase describing a first procedure performed on the second vehicle, wherein generating the first phrase comprises inserting the first stored data into the first phrase template, and wherein the first procedure performed on the second vehicle yielded a result insufficient to determine that the component of the second vehicle associated with the symptom is defective; and

generating a second phrase describing a second procedure performed on the given vehicle, wherein the given vehicle is either (i) the second vehicle or (ii) a third vehicle that also exhibited the symptom, wherein generating the second phrase comprises inserting the second stored data into the second phrase template, and wherein the second procedure performed on the given vehicle yielded a result sufficient to determine that a component of the given vehicle associated with the symptom is defective, and wherein the component of the given vehicle is equivalent to the component of the second vehicle;

generating a repair tip comprising the first phrase and the second phrase; and

sending, to the second computing system, the repair tip including the generated first phrase and the generated second phrase.

13. The computing system of claim 12, wherein the functions further comprise:

determining that the first phrase template was a least recently selected phrase template of any of the plurality of stored phrase templates,

wherein selecting the first phrase template comprises selecting the first phrase template based on determining that the first phrase template was the least recently selected phrase template of any of the plurality of stored phrase templates.

14. The computing system of claim 12, wherein selecting the first phrase template comprises selecting the first phrase template randomly from the plurality of stored phrase templates.

15. The computing system of claim 12, the functions further comprising:

determining that the second phrase template was a least recently selected phrase template of any of the plurality of stored phrase templates,

wherein selecting the second phrase template comprises selecting the second phrase template based on determining that the second phrase template was the least recently selected phrase template of any of the plurality of stored phrase templates.

16. The computing system of claim 12, wherein selecting the second phrase template comprises selecting the second phrase template randomly from the plurality of stored phrase templates.

17. The computing system of claim 12,

wherein identifying the second stored data comprises determining that the second stored data corresponds to a given data field of the second phrase template, and

wherein inserting the second stored data into the second phrase template comprises inserting the second stored data into the given data field of the second phrase template.

18. The computing system of claim 12,

wherein the second stored data comprises data identifying one or more of (i) the component of the given vehicle, (ii) the second procedure, (iii) the result yielded by the second procedure performed on the given vehicle, or (iv) a tool used to perform the second procedure.

19. The computing system of claim 12,

wherein the message identifies at least one of a make, a model, or a year of manufacture of the first vehicle,

wherein the second stored data is associated with at least one of (i) the make, the model, or the year of manufacture of the given vehicle, (ii) the symptom of the given vehicle, or (iii) the second procedure;

and

wherein the functions further comprise;

determining that the second stored data corresponds to at least a predetermined quantity of repair records stored by the computer-readable medium.

20. The computing system of claim 19,

wherein the first phrase is listed before the second phrase in the repair tip,

wherein the repair tip further comprises one or more additional phrases that are listed before the second phrase in the repair tip,

wherein the one or more additional phrases describe respective procedures that were performed on respective vehicles, and

wherein the first phrase and the one or more additional phrases are listed in the repair tip in a sequence that is based on one or more of (i) monetary cost of performing the respective procedures, (ii) an estimated time required to perform the respective procedures, or (iii) complexity of the respective procedures.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the functions further comprise:

determining that the first phrase template was a least recently selected phrase template of any of the plurality of stored phrase templates,

wherein selecting the first phrase template comprises selecting the first phrase template based on determining that the first phrase template was the least recently selected phrase template of any of the plurality of stored phrase templates.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein selecting the first phrase template comprises selecting the first phrase template randomly from the plurality of stored phrase templates.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, the functions further comprising:

determining that the second phrase template was a least recently selected phrase template of any of the plurality of stored phrase templates,

wherein selecting the second phrase template comprises selecting the second phrase template based on determining that the second phrase template was the least recently selected phrase template of any of the plurality of stored phrase templates.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein selecting the second phrase template comprises selecting the second phrase template randomly from the plurality of stored phrase templates.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a first computing system, cause the first computing system to perform functions comprising:

receiving, from a second computing system, a message identifying a symptom of a first vehicle;

identifying first stored data associated with the symptom and a component of a second vehicle that exhibited the symptom;

identifying second stored data associated with the symptom and a component of a given vehicle;

selecting, from a plurality of stored phrase templates, a first phrase template and a second phrase template;

generating a first phrase describing a first procedure performed on the second vehicle, wherein generating the first phrase comprises inserting the first stored data into the first phrase template, and wherein the first procedure performed on the second vehicle yielded a result insufficient to determine that the component of the second vehicle associated with the symptom is defective; and

generating a second phrase describing a second procedure performed on the given vehicle, wherein the given vehicle is either (i) the second vehicle or (ii) a third vehicle that also exhibited the symptom, wherein generating the second phrase comprises inserting the second stored data into the second phrase template, and wherein the second procedure performed on the given vehicle yielded a result sufficient to determine that a component of the given vehicle associated with the symptom is defective, and wherein the component of the given vehicle is equivalent to the component of the second vehicle;

generating a repair tip comprising the first phrase and the second phrase; and

sending, to the second computing system, the repair tip including the generated first phrase and the generated second phrase.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21,

wherein identifying the second stored data comprises determining that the second stored data corresponds to a given data field of the second phrase template, and

wherein inserting the second stored data into the second phrase template comprises inserting the second stored data into the given data field of the second phrase template.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21,

wherein the second stored data comprises data identifying one or more of (i) the component of the given vehicle, (ii) the second procedure, (iii) the result yielded by the second procedure performed on the given vehicle, or (iv) a tool used to perform the second procedure.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21,

wherein the message identifies at least one of a make, a model, or a year of manufacture of the first vehicle,

wherein the second stored data is associated with at least one of (i) the make, the model, or the year of manufacture of the given vehicle, (ii) the symptom of the given vehicle, or (iii) the second procedure;

and

wherein the functions further comprise;

determining that the second stored data corresponds to at least a predetermined quantity of repair records stored by the computer-readable medium.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21,

wherein the first phrase is listed before the second phrase in the repair tip,

wherein the repair tip further comprises one or more additional phrases that are listed before the second phrase in the repair tip,

wherein the one or more additional phrases describe respective procedures that were performed on respective vehicles, and

wherein the first phrase and the one or more additional phrases are listed in the repair tip in a sequence that is based on one or more of (i) monetary cost of performing the respective procedures, (ii) an estimated time required to perform the respective procedures, or (iii) complexity of the respective procedures.