Technical information management apparatus and method for vehicle diagnostic tools
First Claim
1. A technical information management device configured for implementation with a vehicle diagnostic tool, comprising:
- a database containing vehicle technical information;
an information manager configured to access the database and retrieve a segment of the information;
a user interface builder configured to prepare an information display including the segment of the information; and
a component selection feature configured to allow a user to select a vehicle component for which to retrieve information, wherein the component selection is stored throughout a component functional test session, during which the information manager is further configured to retrieve only information corresponding to the component selection.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A technical information management device includes an information manager, a data manager, a user interface builder, and a vehicle technical information database. The information manager accesses the database in order to provide a segment of the vehicle technical information to the user interface builder. The data manager receives conditioned input data from a vehicle diagnostic tool and sends it to the user interface builder. The user interface builder includes a graphics generator and a display screen formatter. The graphics generator converts the vehicle diagnostic data into graphical coordinate data and the display screen formatter formats the graphical coordinate data for real time display in a digital multimeter mode or in a scope mode. The user interface builder further can display a dual-display screen wherein half of the screen is a vehicle diagnostic data display and the other half of the screen displays vehicle technical information.
134 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A technical information management device configured for implementation with a vehicle diagnostic tool, comprising:
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a database containing vehicle technical information;
an information manager configured to access the database and retrieve a segment of the information;
a user interface builder configured to prepare an information display including the segment of the information; and
a component selection feature configured to allow a user to select a vehicle component for which to retrieve information, wherein the component selection is stored throughout a component functional test session, during which the information manager is further configured to retrieve only information corresponding to the component selection. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A technical information management device configured for implementation with a vehicle diagnostic tool, comprising:
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a database containing vehicle technical information;
a data manager configured to receive conditioned vehicle diagnostic data from the diagnostic tool and format the diagnostic data;
an information manager configured to access the database and retrieve a first segment of the information; and
a user interface builder configured to prepare a data display including the diagnostic data and a first logical button whereby a user can access a menu of available vehicle technical information, and to prepare an information display including the first segment of the information and a second logical button, and to replace at least a portion of the data display with the information display based on user selection of a choice from the menu, and to return directly to the data display based upon user selection of the second logical button. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of managing technical information in a vehicle diagnostic tool, comprising the steps of:
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storing a database containing vehicle technical information;
facilitating user selection of a vehicle component for which to retrieve information;
storing the component selection throughout a component functional test session;
accessing the database to retrieve a segment of the information corresponding to the component selection; and
preparing an information display including the segment of the information.
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25. A computer program product configured to manage technical information in a vehicle diagnostic tool, including a computer-readable medium encoded with instructions configured to be executed by a processor in order to perform predetermined operations comprising the steps of:
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storing a database containing vehicle technical information;
facilitating user selection of a vehicle component for which to retrieve information;
storing the component selection throughout a component functional test session;
accessing the database to retrieve a segment of the information corresponding to the component selection; and
preparing an information display including the segment of the information.
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26. A technical information management device configured for implementation with a vehicle diagnostic tool, comprising:
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means for storing a database containing vehicle technical information;
means for facilitating user selection of a vehicle component for which to retrieve information;
means for storing the component selection throughout a component functional test session;
means for accessing the database to retrieve a segment of the information corresponding to the component selection; and
means for preparing an information display including the segment of the information.
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Specification