Integrated system for routine maintenance of mechanized equipment
DCFirst Claim
1. A system for managing fleet vehicle preventative maintenance requirements comprising at least one means to transmit a vehicle maintenance trigger to a remote location, said means to transmit positionable on one of said vehicles in said fleet;
- a means to determine maintenance requirements of a vehicle based upon said vehicle maintenance trigger, said means to determine located remotely from said fleet of vehicle and communicating periodically with said means to transmit; and
a means to alert maintenance personnel of vehicles requiring maintenance as identified by said means to determine, said means to alert communicating with said means to determine, said means to alert being remote from said means to determine.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for managing the preventative maintenance requirements and unscheduled repairs on a fleet of vehicles. The apparatus includes a computer system having a host processor and a database accessible by the host processor, and at least one maintenance response station communicating with the host processor. The database contains vehicle specific maintenance schedules indicating recommended maintenance intervals for scheduled maintenance, where each scheduled maintenance has associated maintenance tasks. The method involves periodically receiving signals at the host processor containing maintenance trigger data associated with a specific vehicle in the fleet of vehicles, comparing the received maintenance trigger data to maintenance schedule data contained in the database, and for each comparison, determining whether maintenance is indicated, and if so, identifying the vehicle at a vehicle response station.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for managing fleet vehicle preventative maintenance requirements comprising at least one means to transmit a vehicle maintenance trigger to a remote location, said means to transmit positionable on one of said vehicles in said fleet;
- a means to determine maintenance requirements of a vehicle based upon said vehicle maintenance trigger, said means to determine located remotely from said fleet of vehicle and communicating periodically with said means to transmit; and
a means to alert maintenance personnel of vehicles requiring maintenance as identified by said means to determine, said means to alert communicating with said means to determine, said means to alert being remote from said means to determine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- a means to determine maintenance requirements of a vehicle based upon said vehicle maintenance trigger, said means to determine located remotely from said fleet of vehicle and communicating periodically with said means to transmit; and
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9. A method of managing the preventative maintenance requirements on a fleet of vehicles comprising the steps of:
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a. periodically receiving signals at a host processor, the host processor associated with a computer system and having access to a database within the computer system, wherein the signals contain maintenance trigger data associated with a specific vehicle in said fleet of vehicles, and wherein the database has stored thereon vehicle specific maintenance schedules indicating recommended maintenance intervals for scheduled maintenance, each scheduled maintenance having associated maintenance tasks; b. comparing each of said received maintenance trigger data to maintenance schedule data; c. for each comparison in step b, determining whether maintenance is indicated on said vehicle associated with said maintenance trigger data; d. if maintenance is indicated, identifying said vehicle at said vehicle response station. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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- 17. A system for managing fleet vehicle maintenance requirements comprising a series of vehicles and a series of transponders, each said transponder positionable on one of said vehicles, whereby said transponder periodically receives vehicle performance data from said vehicle and transmits a response message to a computer system remote from said vehicles, whereby said computer system correlates said response messages to maintenance work to be performed on said vehicle and if said correlation indicates maintenance work is recommended said computer system generates a maintenance requirement alert message, and a maintenance response station communicating with said computer system, whereby said maintenance response station displays an alert to users of said system in response to said maintenance alert messages.
- 20. A system for managing fleet vehicle maintenance requirements comprising a series of vehicles and a series of field work station computers, said field work station computers accepting vehicle performance data from said vehicles and communicating periodically a response message to said vehicle performance data through a network to a host computer system remote from said vehicles, whereby said host computer system correlates said response messages to maintenance work to be performed on a vehicle and if said correlation indicates maintenance work is recommended, whereby said host computer system generates a maintenance requirement alert message, and a maintenance response station communicating with said host computer system, whereby said maintenance response station receives said maintenance requirement alert messages and displays an alert to users of said system in response to said maintenance alert messages.
Specification