Failure diagnostic apparatus and method of strong of storing failure information

• US 20100292891A1
• Filed: 06/23/2010
• Published: 11/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Morozumi, Hiroki
• Granted Patent: US 8,374,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/35
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0264 Control of logging system, e.g. decision on which data to store; time-stamping measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2205/02 using a vehicle scan tool
• 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: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

A failure diagnostic apparatus determines the environment in which the condition of a vehicle is examined and selects an appropriate storage location for information regarding the condition of the vehicle. In particular, the failure diagnostic apparatus includes a vehicle-condition diagnostic portion, a plurality of failure-information storage portions, a diagnostic-environment determination portion, and a storage selection portion. When the vehicle-condition diagnostic portion determines that a failure has occurred, the diagnostic-environment determination portion determines the environment in which the condition of the vehicle is examined. Then, based on the diagnostic environment determined by the diagnostic-environment determination portion, the storage selection portion selects at least one storage portion of the plurality of failure-information storage portions to store information regarding the failure.

Claims

1. A failure diagnostic apparatus, comprising:

a vehicle-condition diagnostic portion that examines the condition of a vehicle to detect a failure;

a plurality of failure-information storage portions in which information about the failure detected by the vehicle-condition diagnostic portion is stored, the plurality of failure information storage portions including a non-volatile storage portion;

a diagnostic-environment determination portion that determines whether the condition of the vehicle is examined when the vehicle is actually in use and whether the condition of the vehicle is examined either at a test that is conducted before the vehicle is shipped or for troubleshooting after the vehicle is shipped; and

a storage selection portion that selects at least one storage portion of the plurality of failure-information storage portions to store the information about the failure, based on a result of determination performed by the diagnostic-environment determination portion, so that information about the failure generated when it is determined that the condition of the vehicle is examined when the vehicle is actually in use, is stored in the non-volatile storage portion.

2. The failure diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of failure-information storage portions further includes a volatile storage portion in which the information about the failure is temporarily stored.

3. The failure diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the storage selection portion prohibits the information about the failure from being stored in the non-volatile storage portion when the diagnostic-environment determination portion determines that the condition of the vehicle is examined at the test that is conducted before the vehicle is shipped, or the condition of the vehicle is examined for troubleshooting after the vehicle is shipped.

6. The failure diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an information determination portion that determines whether the information about the failure is first information that is temporarily needed, or second information that is permanently needed, wherein

the plurality of failure-information storage portions includes a first non-volatile storage portion and a second non-volatile storage portion;

if the information determination portion determines that the information about the failure is the first information, the storage selection portion selects the first non-volatile storage portion; and

if the information determination portion determines that the information about the failure is the second information, the storage selection portion selects the second non-volatile storage portion.

10. The failure diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a diagnostic mode storage portion that stores, in a non-volatile storage portion, information about diagnostic modes including a factory-inspected mode indicating that the condition of the vehicle is examined at a factory or a repair shop, and a monitoring mode indicating that the condition of the vehicle is examined when the vehicle is actually in use,

wherein the diagnostic-environment determination portion determines a diagnostic environment based on the information stored by the diagnostic mode storage portion.

4. (canceled)

5. (canceled)

7. A failure diagnostic apparatus, comprising:

a failure-determination portion that determines whether a failure has occurred in a vehicle;

a vehicle-environment determination portion that determines whether the condition of the vehicle is examined when the vehicle is actually in use and whether the condition of the vehicle is examined either at a test that is conducted before the vehicle is shipped or for troubleshooting after the vehicle is shipped;

an information determination portion; and

a plurality of failure-information storage portions in which information about the failure detected by the failure-determination portion is stored, the plurality of failure-information storage portions including a non-volatile storage portion,

wherein, when the failure-determination portion determines that the failure has occurred, the vehicle-environment determination portion determines an environment around the vehicle and the information determination portion determines whether information about the failure is first information that is temporarily needed, or second information that is permanently needed, based on the determined environment around the vehicle; and

the first information and the second information are stored in different portions in the plurality of failure-information storage portions, and

wherein information about the failure generated when it is determined that the condition of the vehicle is examined when the vehicle is actually in use, is stored in the non-volatile storage portion.

8. The failure diagnostic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

the plurality of failure-information storage portions further includes a volatile storage portion, the first information is stored in the volatile storage portion, and the second information is stored in the non-volatile storage portion.

9. A method of storing information about a failure that has occurred in a vehicle, comprising:

examining a condition of a vehicle to detect a failure;

determining whether the condition of the vehicle is examined when the vehicle is actually in use and whether the condition of the vehicle is examined either at a test that is conducted before the vehicle is shipped or for troubleshooting after the vehicle is shipped; and

selecting a storage portion to store information about the failure, based on a result of the determining, when the failure is detected, and

wherein a non-volatile storage portion is selected to store information about the failure generated when it is determined that the condition of the vehicle is examined when the vehicle is actually in use.