Diagnostic vehicle alignment system
First Claim
1. A vehicle wheel alignment diagnostic system comprising:
- an electronic controller for guiding a user through a series of diagnostic steps to determine likely causes for at least one predetermined vehicle symptom;
vehicle wheel alignment measuring instruments for determining wheel alignment data for at least one wheel of said vehicle;
an input device manually operable by a user for providing input from the user to the electronic controller, said input ,device being operable by the user to identify at least one particular symptom which the user desires to diagnose;
a digital memory for storing a a plurality of likely causes for each of a predetermined number of selectable symptoms;
a display operatively connected to the electronic controller for displaying diagnostic questions to the user, said electronic controller being responsive to the selection of a particular symptom to cause the display to display at least one diagnostic question associated with that symptom to the user, said input device being operable by the user to supply an answer to the diagnostic question to the electronic controller, said electronic controller being responsive to user provided input in response to at least one diagnostic question, to the likely causes stored in the digital memory, and to data from the vehicle wheel alignment measuring instruments to eliminate at least one likely cause of a symptom from consideration and identify any remaining likely causes of the symptom.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A diagnostic vehicle alignment system includes an electronic controller for guiding a user through a series of diagnostic steps to determine probable causes for particular vehicle symptoms. Vehicle wheel alignment measuring instruments determine the alignment of at least one wheel of the vehicle. An input device is manually operable by a user for providing symptom identification and answers to diagnostic questions. A digital memory stores a set of possible causes for each selectable symptom and also stores diagnostic questions and an identification of diagnostic procedures. The stored diagnostic questions and procedures are preselected to eliminate possible causes of the selected symptom from consideration. A display is provided for displaying diagnostic questions and procedures to the user. The electronic controller is responsive to the selection of a particular symptom to cause the display to display diagnostic questions associated with that symptom to the user as well as the display of instructions to the user to perform diagnostic procedures, and the user uses the input device to interactively supply answers to the diagnostic questions and diagnostic procedure results to the electronic controller. The electronic controller is responsive to user provided input and to information from the vehicle wheel alignment measuring instruments to eliminate at least one possible cause of a symptom from consideration and identify any remaining possible causes of the symptom.
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Citations
57 Claims
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1. A vehicle wheel alignment diagnostic system comprising:
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an electronic controller for guiding a user through a series of diagnostic steps to determine likely causes for at least one predetermined vehicle symptom; vehicle wheel alignment measuring instruments for determining wheel alignment data for at least one wheel of said vehicle; an input device manually operable by a user for providing input from the user to the electronic controller, said input ,device being operable by the user to identify at least one particular symptom which the user desires to diagnose; a digital memory for storing a a plurality of likely causes for each of a predetermined number of selectable symptoms; a display operatively connected to the electronic controller for displaying diagnostic questions to the user, said electronic controller being responsive to the selection of a particular symptom to cause the display to display at least one diagnostic question associated with that symptom to the user, said input device being operable by the user to supply an answer to the diagnostic question to the electronic controller, said electronic controller being responsive to user provided input in response to at least one diagnostic question, to the likely causes stored in the digital memory, and to data from the vehicle wheel alignment measuring instruments to eliminate at least one likely cause of a symptom from consideration and identify any remaining likely causes of the symptom. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method of diagnosing predetermined vehicle symptoms, said method comprising:
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prestoring in a digital memory a knowledge base of information with respect to diagnosing vehicle symptoms, said knowledge base electronically utilizable to diagnose likely causes of vehicle symptoms; measuring alignment angles of the wheels of a vehicle using vehicle wheel alignment measuring instruments; selecting at least one of said predetermined vehicle symptoms to be diagnosed; visually displaying to a user at least one of a plurality of predetermined diagnostic questions to be answered by the user; electronically utilizing the answers supplied by the user and the wheel alignment measurements from the measuring instruments to eliminate from consideration at least one likely cause of a selected symptom to be diagnosed and identify any remaining likely causes of the symptom. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A vehicle wheel alignment diagnostic system comprising:
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an electronic controller for guiding a user through a series of diagnostic steps to determine likely causes for at least one predetermined vehicle symptom; an input device manually operable by a user for providing at least one of a plurality of predetermined inputs from the user to the electronic controller, said input device being operable by the user to identify at least one symptom which the user desires to diagnose; a digital memory for storing a set of at least one likely cause for each selectable symptom; a display operatively connected to the electronic controller for displaying diagnostic questions and instructions to perform diagnostic procedures to the user; and means for storing identification of at least one diagnostic procedure, said electronic controller including means to cause the display of an instruction to the user to perform a diagnostic procedure; said electronic controller being responsive to the selection of a predetermined symptom to cause the display to display at least one diagnostic question associated with that symptom to the user, said input device being operable by the user to supply an answer to the diagnostic question to the electronic controller; said electronic controller being responsive to user provided input in response to at least one diagnostic question and to the result of the identified diagnostic procedure to eliminate at least one likely cause of the selected symptom from consideration and identify any remaining likely causes of the symptom. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A method of diagnosing predetermined vehicle symptoms, said method comprising:
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prestoring in a digital memory a knowledge base of information with respect to diagnosing said predetermined vehicle symptoms, said knowledge base being electronically utilizable to diagnose likely causes of vehicle symptoms; selecting at least one of said predetermined vehicle symptoms to be diagnosed; visually displaying to a user a series of diagnostic questions to be answered by the user and instructions to perform at least one diagnostic procedure; electronically utilizing the answers and the result of the diagnostic procedure supplied by the user to eliminate from consideration at least one likely cause of the selected symptom to be diagnosed and identify remaining likely causes of the symptom. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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Specification