SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VIEWING DEVICE COMPONENTS

• US 20100042952A1
• Filed: 08/17/2009
• Published: 02/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Neil Geesey
• Original Assignee: Neil Geesey
• Inventors: Geesey, Neil
• Granted Patent: US 8,386,962 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/851
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/15 Vehicle, aircraft or watercraft design
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083

Abstract

In a system for viewing the internal components of a device, a user interface is provided. Device selection criteria is received by the system from the user interface. After receiving the device selection criteria, a device model is retrieved from a database in accordance with the device selection criteria. The device model is displayed using the user interface. After displaying the device data, component or subsystem selection criteria is received from the user interface. Component or subsystem data is retrieved from the database, and the component or subsystem data is displayed using the user interface.

Claims

1. A method of displaying a visual representation of an internal component of a vehicle, comprising:

retrieving historical data for the vehicle, the historical data describing at least one of a use history and a maintenance history of the vehicle;

receiving a view request from a user interface, the view request identifying a component of the vehicle;

retrieving model data from a model database, the model data identifying a plurality of models of the component of the vehicle, each of the plurality of models having one or more model triggers and including a visual representation of the component of the vehicle, the model triggers characterizing a level of at least one of wear and damage of the component of the vehicle;

evaluating each of the model triggers using the historical data;

when the model trigger for one of the plurality of models of the component of the device is satisfied, displaying the visual representation of the component of the one of the plurality of models using the user interface; and

displaying a list of available maintenance activities for the component of the vehicle using the user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the model trigger includes a geographical location of the device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying a list of available maintenance activities includes:

retrieving candidate maintenance activities for the component of the vehicle, each candidate maintenance activity including a maintenance trigger and identifying a description of the maintenance activity;

evaluating each of the maintenance triggers using the historical data; and

for each of the maintenance triggers, when a maintenance trigger is satisfied, displaying the description of the maintenance activity associated with the satisfied maintenance trigger.

4. The method of claim 1, including:

receiving user authentication information using the user interface; and

using the user authentication information to identify the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the visual representation of the component of the vehicle includes at least one of a three-dimensional (3D) model, an animation, or an image.

6. A method of viewing a visual representation of an internal component of a device, comprising:

retrieving historical data for the device, the historical data describing at least one of a use history and a maintenance history of the device;

receiving a view request from a user interface, the view request identifying at least one of a component and a system of the device;

retrieving model data from a model database, the model data identifying a plurality of models of the at least one of a component and a system of the device, each of the plurality of models having a model trigger and including a visual representation of the at least one of a component and a system of the device;

evaluating each of the model triggers using the historical data; and

when the model trigger for one of the plurality of models of the at least one of a component and a system of the device is satisfied, displaying the visual representation of the at least one of a component and a system of the device using the user interface.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the model trigger includes a geographical location of the device.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the device is a vehicle.

9. The method of claim 6, including:

retrieving candidate maintenance activities for the at least one of a component and a system of the device, each candidate maintenance activity including a maintenance trigger and identifying a description of the maintenance activity;

evaluating each of the maintenance triggers; and

for each of the maintenance triggers, when a maintenance trigger is satisfied, displaying the description of the maintenance activity associated with the satisfied maintenance trigger.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the description of the maintenance activity associated with the satisfied maintenance trigger includes at least one of an estimated cost of the maintenance activity and an estimated number of hours for the maintenance activity.

11. The method of claim 6, including:

receiving user authentication information using the user interface; and

using the user authentication information to identify the device.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the model includes at least one of a three-dimensional (3D) model, an animation, or an image.

13. A computer-implemented method of viewing an internal component of a device, comprising:

providing a user interface;

receiving device selection criteria from the user interface;

retrieving a device model from a model database in accordance with the device selection criteria, the device model including a visual representation of the device;

displaying the visual representation of the device using the user interface;

receiving component or subsystem selection criteria from the user interface;

retrieving a component or subsystem model from a component or subsystem model database in accordance with the component or subsystem selection criteria; and

displaying the component or subsystem model using the user interface.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the device is a vehicle.

15. The method of claim 13, including:

retrieving maintenance activities for the component or subsystem, each maintenance activity identifying a description of the maintenance activity; and

displaying the descriptions of each of the maintenance activities.

16. The method of claim 15, the descriptions of each of the maintenance activities including at least one of an estimated cost of the maintenance activity and an estimated number of hours for the maintenance activity.

17. A system for displaying a visual representation of an internal component of a vehicle, comprising:

a user information database for storing historical data for the vehicle, the historical data describing at least one of a use history and a maintenance history of the vehicle;

a model database for storing model data, the model data identifying a plurality of models of components of the vehicle, each of the plurality of models having one or more model triggers and including a visual representation of the components of the vehicle, the model triggers characterizing a level of at least one of wear and damage of the component of the vehicle; and

a processor, the processor being configured to;

retrieve historical data for the vehicle from the user information database,

receive a view request from a user interface, the view request identifying a component of the vehicle,

retrieve model data from the model database for the component of the vehicle,

evaluate the model triggers of the model data using the historical data, and

when a model trigger for one of the plurality of models of the component of the device is satisfied, display the visual representation of the component of the one of the plurality of models using the user interface.

18. The system of claim 17, including:

a maintenance activities database for storing maintenance activities, each maintenance activity including a maintenance trigger and identifying a description of the maintenance activity, and wherein the processor is configured to;

retrieve candidate maintenance activities for the component of the vehicle from the maintenance activities database;

evaluate each of the maintenance triggers using the historical data; and

for each of the maintenance triggers, when a maintenance trigger is satisfied, display the description of the maintenance activity associated with the satisfied maintenance trigger.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to:

receive user authentication information using the user interface; and

use the user authentication information to identify the vehicle.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the visual representation of the component of the vehicle includes at least one of a three-dimensional (3D) model, an animation, or an image.