VEHICLE DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS

• US 20150228131A1
• Filed: 10/04/2013
• Published: 08/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Hayashi, Tsutomu
• Granted Patent: US 9,355,505 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/02 electric constitutive elements
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0234 related to maintenance or repairing of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/007 Wheeled or endless-tracked vehicles G01M17/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/00 Registering or indicating the working of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

A vehicle diagnosis apparatus includes an accumulation unit and a storage control unit. The accumulation unit cumulatively adds a numerical value indicating a normal operation history of each normal operation made to a vehicle to an initialized cumulative total value having a predetermined number of digits, during a time period from an assembly of a vehicle component to an actual use of the vehicle, and stores the cumulative total value in a non-volatile storage unit. The storage control unit, in response to an abnormality occurrence in the vehicle, stores a corresponding diagnosis code in the non-volatile storage unit. The accumulation unit further cumulatively adds a numerical value indicating the abnormality occurrence to the cumulative total value. The storage control unit stores, in the non-volatile storage unit, the diagnosis code indicating the abnormality occurrence in association with the cumulative total value.

Claims

1. A vehicle diagnosis apparatus, comprising:

an accumulation unit cumulatively adding a numerical value indicating a normal operation history of each normal operation made to a vehicle to a cumulative total value, which is initialized and has a predetermined number of digits, during a time period from an assembly of a vehicle component to an actual use of the vehicle, the accumulation unit further storing the cumulative total value to which the numerical value indicating the normal operation history is added in a non-volatile storage unit; and

a storage control unit, in response to an occurrence of an abnormality in the vehicle, storing a diagnosis code corresponding to the occurrence of the abnormality in the non-volatile storage unit, wherein

the accumulation unit further cumulatively adds a numerical value indicating the occurrence of the abnormality to the cumulative total value stored in the non-volatile storage unit, and

the storage control unit stores, in the non-volatile storage unit, the diagnosis code corresponding to the occurrence of the abnormality in association with the cumulative total value to which the numerical value indicating the occurrence of the abnormality is added.

2. The vehicle diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the accumulation unit cumulatively adds the numerical value indicating the normal operation history of the vehicle to a first predetermined digit of the cumulative total value and cumulatively adds the numerical value indicating the occurrence of the abnormality to a second predetermined digit of the cumulative total value, and the second predetermined digit is preliminarily set different from the first predetermined digit.

3. The vehicle diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the accumulation unit cumulatively adds, to the cumulative total value, a numerical value indicating at least one specified operation history related to at least one of the assembly of the vehicle component, an assembly of the vehicle, an inspection of the vehicle, a transportation of the vehicle, or the actual use of the vehicle, and the accumulation unit stores the cumulative total value in the non-volatile storage unit, and

the at least one specified operation history includes an operation history for receiving a command from an inspection unit that is positioned outside of the vehicle and an operation history for initiating a communication with a base station that is incommunicative with the vehicle for a specified time period.

4. The vehicle diagnosis apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the accumulation unit cumulatively adds the numerical value indicating the normal operation history corresponding to the normal operation made to the vehicle to a first predetermined digit of the cumulative total value,

the accumulation unit cumulatively adds the numerical value indicating the occurrence of the abnormality to a second predetermined digit of the cumulative total value, the second predetermined digit is preliminarily set different from the first predetermined digit, and

the accumulation unit cumulatively adds the numerical value indicating the specified operation history to a third predetermined digit of the cumulative total value which, the third predetermined digit is preliminarily set different from the first predetermined digit and the second predetermined digit.