Method and system for retrieving diagnostic information from a vehicle

• US 20060149434A1
• Filed: 12/30/2004
• Published: 07/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Service Solutions US LLC
• Original Assignee: Service Solutions US LLC
• Inventors: Gessner, Michael, Namaky, Hamid, Roberts, Robert A., Bertosa, Thomas J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,412,401 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/006 Indicating maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments of off-board tools (OBTS) may be used in vehicle inspection maintenance programs are provided. The OBT may include a processor, vehicle communication circuitry for linking to a vehicle diagnostic system, host interface circuitry for communicating with a host computer, and voltage determination circuitry for measuring a voltage through the vehicle diagnostic system. The OBT may include logic for storing a communications protocol used to link with a vehicle diagnostic system that is preferably used for re-establishing dropped communications links. In addition, the OBT may contain logic for testing at least one component of a starting and/or charging system of a vehicle. Still other embodiments may include logic for sending unsolicited messages to a host computer. Additional embodiments may include logic for determining the minimum number of messages that must be received by an OBT.

Claims

1. An off-board device (OBT) comprising:

a processor in circuit communication with

a) vehicle communication circuitry for linking to a vehicle diagnostic system, issuing one or more requests to the vehicle diagnostic system, and receiving one or more responses from the vehicle diagnostic system;

b) host interface circuitry for communicating with a host computer;

c) voltage determination circuitry for measuring a voltage through the vehicle diagnostic system connector; and

d) memory.

2. The OBT of claim 1 further comprising logic for transmitting a message to the host computer indicative of a communications protocol used to link with a vehicle.

3. The OBT of claim 2 further comprising logic for receiving a message from the host computer indicative of the communications protocol used to link to the vehicle.

4. The OBT of claim 3 further comprising logic for re-establishing communications with the vehicle diagnostic system using the communications protocol that was used to link to the vehicle diagnostic system.

5. The OBT of claim 1 further comprising logic for linking to the vehicle diagnostic system using a communications protocol associated with a vehicle type, wherein the vehicle type is on a vehicle exceptions list.

6. The OBT of claim 5 wherein the vehicle exceptions list and associated communications protocol are received from the host computer.

7. The OBT of claim 5 wherein the vehicle exceptions list and associated communications protocol are stored in the OBT.

8. The OBT of claim 1 further comprising logic for diagnosing one or more components of the starting system.

9. The OBT of claim 1 further comprising logic for diagnosing one or more components of the charging system.

10. The OBT of claim 1 further comprising a display.

11. The OBT of claim 10 wherein the display comprises one or more LEDs.

12. The OBT of claim 11 wherein the one or more LEDs provides an output indicative of the status of one or more of the following:

operator problem, vehicle problem, tool problem or tool functioning properly.

13. The OBT of claim 12 wherein the LEDs receive power from the host computer.

14. The OBT of claim 12 wherein the LEDs receive power from the vehicle.

15. The OBT of claim 12 wherein the LEDs receive power from the OBT.

16. The OBT of claim 1 further comprising:

a housing;

a first connector in circuit communication the vehicle connection circuitry and the voltage determination circuitry;

a second connector in circuit communication with the host interface circuitry;

a first cable for releasably connecting to the OBT and selectively placing the OBT in circuit communication with the vehicle diagnostic system; and

a second cable for releasably connecting to the OBT and selectively placing the OBT in circuit communication with the host computer.

17. The OBT of claim 1 further comprising:

a housing;

a first connector in circuit communication the vehicle connection circuitry and the voltage determination circuitry;

a first cable for releasably connecting to the OBT and selectively placing the OBT in circuit communication with the vehicle diagnostic system; and

wireless communication circuitry for transmitting data to and receiving data from the host computer.

18. An off-board device (OBT) comprising:

a processor in circuit communication with a) vehicle communication circuitry for linking to a vehicle diagnostic system, requesting information from the vehicle diagnostic system, and receiving information from the vehicle diagnostic system;

b) host interface circuitry for communicating with a host computer; and

c) logic for transmitting one or more unsolicited messages to the host computer.

19. The OBT of claim 18 wherein the one or more unsolicited messages include a message indicative of the communications protocol used to link to the vehicle diagnostic system.

20. The OBT of claim 18 wherein the one or more unsolicited messages include a message indicative of completion of a request and whether the request was successful.

21. The OBT of claim 18 wherein the one or more unsolicited messages include a message indicative of keypad activity.

22. The OBT of claim 18 wherein the one or more unsolicited messages include a message indicative of a current link status.

23. The OBT of claim 18 wherein the one or more unsolicited messages include a message indicative of a status of currently executing a command.

24. An OBT comprising:

a processor in circuit communication with

a) vehicle communication circuitry for linking to a vehicle diagnostic system, wherein the vehicle diagnostic system comprises one or more computer modules;

b) logic for requesting information from the vehicle diagnostic system;

c) logic for receiving the information from the vehicle diagnostic sytem;

d) logic for determining the minimum number of messages to expect from each of the one or more computer modules in response to a request for data; and

e) logic for determining whether the number of minimum number of messages have been received from each module.

25. The OBT of claim 24 wherein the logic for determining the minimum number of messages to expect from each of the one or more computer modules comprises logic circuitry that creates a message count table.

26. The OBT of claim 25 wherein the message count table comprises an entry indicative of the number of expected messages for each PID request for each of the computer modules.

27. The OBT of claim 25 wherein the logic for determining the minimum number of messages to expect from each of the one or more computer modules updates the message count table if the number of messages to expect, based on a later response, exceeds the minimum number of messages to expect in the message count table.

28. The OBT of claim 24 wherein the logic for determining whether the number of minimum number of messages have been received from each module includes associating the message received with the computer module that sent the message.

29. The OBT of claim 28 further including logic for waiting for a time out period to expire if the minimum number of messages have not been received from a computer module.

30. An automobile emissions inspection system comprising:

a) a host computer; and

b) an OBT comprising;

i) logic for establishing a communications link with a vehicle diagnostic system using a selected communications protocol;

ii) logic for receiving a request for data from the host computer;

iii) logic for requesting data from the vehicle diagnostic system;

iv) logic for re-establishing communications with the vehicle diagnostic system using the selected communications protocol.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein the selected communications protocol is determined by the OBT.

32. The system of claim 30 wherein the selected communications protocol is received from the host computer.

33. The system of claim 30 wherein the selected communications protocol is determined by a user.

34. The system of claim 30 wherein the OBT further comprise voltage determination circuitry for determining a voltage through the vehicle diagnostic system.

35. The system of claim 34 further comprising logic for diagnosing one or more components of the starting system.

36. The system of claim 34 further comprising logic for diagnosing one or more components of the charging system.

37. A method of determining whether to establish circuit communications with a vehicle diagnostic system comprising:

connecting an OBT to a vehicle diagnostic system;

obtaining a measurement indicative of the voltage of the vehicle battery;

determining whether the measured voltage is above a first threshold value;

establishing a communications link with the vehicle if the measured voltage is above a first threshold value; and

providing an output if the measured voltage is below the second threshold value.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein the first threshold value is between about 8 volts and 18 volts.

39. The method of claim 37 wherein the first threshold voltage is about 8 volts.

40. The method of claim 37 wherein the second threshold voltage is below about 8 volts.

41. The method of claim 37 wherein the second threshold voltage is below about 6 volts.

42. A method of establishing a communications link between an OBT and a vehicle diagnostic system comprising:

obtaining a vehicle type;

determining whether the vehicle type is a problem vehicle type;

if the vehicle type is not a problem vehicle automatically determining a preferred communications protocol by communicating with the vehicle;

if the vehicle type is a problem vehicle type, obtaining a communications protocol associated with the vehicle type without communicating with the vehicle; and

establishing a communications link with the vehicle diagnostic system.

43. The method of claim 42 further comprising creating a vehicle exceptions list wherein problem type vehicle are identified and a communications protocol is associated with the problem vehicle type.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein determining whether the vehicle type is a problem vehicle type comprises comparing the vehicle type to the vehicle exceptions list.

45. The method of claim 42 wherein obtaining the vehicle type comprises entering the vehicle type into a host computer.

46. The method of claim 42 wherein obtaining the vehicle type comprises scanning the vehicle identification number.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein the scanning the vehicle identification number comprises using a bar code scanner that is integral with the OBT.

48. A method of re-establishing communications between an OBT and a vehicle diagnostic system comprising:

establishing a communications link with a vehicle diagnostic system;

storing a communications protocol used to link with the vehicle diagnostic system;

determining loss of communications between the OBT and the vehicle diagnostic system;

re-establishing the communications link using the stored communications protocol.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein storing a communications protocol comprises storing the protocol a host computer.

50. The method of claim 48 wherein storing a communications protocol comprises storing the protocol in the OBT.

51. The method of claim 48 wherein determining loss of communications between the OBT and the vehicle diagnostic system comprises receiving a response to a request for data and comparing the response with a previous response.

52. The method of claim 48 wherein re-establishing the communications link comprises receiving the communications protocol from a host computer and using the received communications protocol to re-establish the communications link.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein the host computer transmits the communications protocol with every data request.

54. A method of communicating unsolicited messages from an OBT to a host computer comprising:

connecting the OBT to a vehicle diagnostic system;

establishing a communications link with the vehicle diagnostic system;

receiving a request for data from the host computer;

sending an unsolicited message to the host computer;

requesting the data from the vehicle diagnostic system; and

sending the retrieved data to the host computer.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein the unsolicited message is indicative of the current communications protocol.

56. The method of claim 54 wherein the unsolicited message is indicative of keypad activity.

57. The method of claim 54 wherein the unsolicited message is indicative of a status of a currently executing command.

58. A method of decreasing the time required to perform an inspection maintenance test comprising:

determining the number of computer modules in a vehicle diagnostic system;

determining the number of messages to expect from each computer module in response to a data request;

creating a table with the number of computer modules that support a data request and the minimum number of messages to expect from each computer module;

sending a data request to the vehicle diagnostic system;

determining whether the minimum number of messages have been received for each computer module;

if the minimum number of messages have been received for each module, proceeding with test;

if the minimum number of messages have not been received for each module, waiting for a time-out period to expire.

59. The method of claim 58 further comprising updating the table if a later response from one or more computer modules indicates that more messages then initially reported should be expected.

60. An OBT comprising:

a processor in circuit communication with

a) vehicle communication circuitry configured to selectively communicate with a vehicle diagnostic system to request at least one bit of information from the vehicle diagnostic system and to receive the at least one bit of information;

b) host interface circuitry for communicating with a host computer; and

c) voltage determination circuitry configured to selectively communicate with the starter/charging system to test at least one of a starting system, a charging system and a battery via a test cable connected to the vehicle diagnostic system.

61. The OBT of claim 60 wherein the voltage communication circuitry is configured to retrieve diagnostic data related to the battery stored in the vehicle diagnostic system.

62. The OBT of claim 60 wherein the voltage determination circuitry is configured to perform a test on the battery.

63. The OBT of claim 60 wherein the voltage communication circuitry is configured to retrieve diagnostic data related to the starting system stored in the vehicle diagnostic system.

64. The OBT of claim 60 wherein the voltage determination circuitry is configured to perform a test on the starting system.

65. The OBT of claim 60 wherein the voltage communication circuitry is configured to retrieve diagnostic data related to the charging system stored in the vehicle diagnostic system.

66. The OBT of claim 60 wherein the voltage determination circuitry is configured to perform a test on the charging system.

67. The OBT of claim 60 further comprising flash memory, wherein the flash memory is updatable through the host computer.