Method and apparatus for testing vehicle emissions and engine controls using a self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk

• US 7,925,399 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2006
• Issued: 04/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Applus Technologies Incorporated (Opus Group AB)
• Original Assignee: Applus Technologies Incorporated (Opus Group AB)
• Inventors: McCartney, Victor E., Werner, Gregory A., Nicholson, William D., Schwantes, Timothy E., Werner, Mark J., Raml, Timothy J., Comeau, David Arthur
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): KIM, KYUNG J
• Application Number:
  US11/535,464
• Publication Number:
  US 20070083306A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,659 Days
• Field of Search: 701/29, 701/30, 701/33
• US Class Current: 701/33
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2205/02 using a vehicle scan tool
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

In a method and apparatus for testing vehicle emissions and engine control components using a self-service on-board diagnostics (OBD) kiosk, a stand-alone kiosk includes a computing device capable of gathering VIN information and OBD information from a vehicle using a VIN reader and OBD reader. The kiosk generates a readable display or printed report for the kiosk operator indicating any detected diagnostic trouble codes found during the OBD test. By networking a plurality of kiosks together in a secure network and accessible to the Internet, an OBD kiosk network maintains a centrally located vehicle interface database for storing and retrieving pertinent vehicle-related information during OBD testing.

Claims

1. A self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk for testing vehicle emissions and engine controls of a vehicle comprising:

a cabinet having at least a touch screen monitor for displaying information, a printer in operative communication with the touch screen monitor for printing documents, the cabinet including a climate control system for controlling the climate inside the cabinet and an RFID reader fro wirelessly capturing vehicle specific information from the RFID tag of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle specific information comprises vehicle information number (VIN) information and on board diagnostics (OBD) data and

a computer system included in the cabinet and being responsive to the touch screen monitor, the computer system having a processor in operative communication with a network link for providing data communication through one or more networks, the network link being in operative communication with the climate control system for providing data related to climate inside the cabinet, the RFID reader to capture the VIN information and OBD data obtained from the RFID tag of the vehicle by the RFID reader, wherein the computer system generates a test report having test data based on at least one of the vehicle information number and the OBD data, and displays the results of the test report using at least one of the touch screen monitor and the printer.

2. The self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk according to claim 1, wherein the processor communicates with the climate control system to maintain the climate inside the cabinet within a predetermined temperature under adverse environmental conditions.

3. The self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk according to claim 1, wherein the climate control system includes an internal heater and/or air condition unit.

4. The self-service OBD kiosk according to claim 3 wherein the processor controls the internal heater and/or air conditioning unit to control the humidity inside the cabinet.

5. The self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk according to claim 4, wherein the OBD reader receives and reads the fingerprint of the user.

6. The self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk according to claim 4 wherein the processor is in operative communication with a vehicle interface database that includes at least one fingerprint for comparison with the fingerprint of the user captured by the computer system.

7. The self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk according to claim 6, wherein the computer system determines whether the fingerprint of a user in the vehicle interface database is the same as the fingerprint of the user captured by the computer system.

8. The self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk according to claim 7, wherein the computer system prevents operation of the kiosk if the fingerprint of the user in the vehicle interface database is not the same as the fingerprint of the user captured by the computer system.

9. The self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk according to claim 7, wherein the computer system permits operation of the kiosk if the fingerprint of the user in the vehicle interface database is the same as the fingerprint of the user captured by the computer system.

10. The self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk according to claim 4 wherein the finger scanner is incorporated into the touch screen monitor having a screen which detects the physical contact applied to the touch screen monitor by way of a human appendage to capture the fingerprint of the user.

11. The self-service on-board diagnostics kiosk according to claim 4, wherein the fingerprint of the user is stored in relation to a vehicle inspection record associated with the vehicle.

12. A self-service OBD kiosk for testing vehicle emissions and engine controls comprising:

a cabinet having at least a touch screen monitor for displaying information and a printer in operative communication with the touch screen monitor for printing documents, the cabinet including a network link for providing communication through one or more networks, the cabinet including a climate control system for controlling the climate inside the cabinet and an RFID reader for wirelessly capturing vehicle specific information from the RFID tag of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle specific information comprises vehicle information number (VIN), the cabinet further including an OBD reader adapted for operative communication with an OBD module of the vehicle for capturing OBD data from the vehicle; and

a computer system included in the cabinet and being responsive to the touch screen monitor, the computer system having a processor in operative communication with the network link for downloading to the processor an application having testing instructions for testing a vehicle'"'"'s engine and emission components which are executed by the processor, and the RFID reader to capture the VIN information obtained by the RFID tag and the OBD reader to capture the OBD data obtained from the OBD module of the vehicle, wherein the computer system generates a test report having test data based on at least one of the vehicle information number and the OBD data, and displays the results of the test report using at least one of the touch screen monitor and the printer.

13. A method for testing vehicle emissions and engine controls of a vehicle comprising:

providing a self-service OBD kiosk for testing vehicle emissions and engine controls comprising;

a cabinet having at least a touch screen monitor for displaying information, the cabinet including a network link for communicating data through one or more networks and the cabinet including a climate control system for controlling the climate inside the cabinet and an RFID reader for wirelessly capturing vehicle specific information from the RFID tag of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle specific information comprises vehicle information number (VIN), the cabinet further including an OBD reader adapted for operative communication with an OBD module of the vehicle for capturing OBD data from the vehicle; and

a computer system included in the cabinet and being responsive to the touch screen monitor, the computer system having a processor in operative communication with a network link for providing data communication through one or more networks, the network link being in operative communication with the processor for receiving vehicle emissions test results transmitting a communication generated by the processor through the network link regarding the vehicle emissions test results, and the RFID reader to capture the VIN information obtained by the RFID tag and the OBD reader to capture the OBD data obtained from the OBD module of the vehicle, wherein the computer system generates a test report having test data based on at least one of the vehicle information number and the OBD data, and displays the results of the test report using at least one of the touch screen monitor and the printer.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the communication is a phone message regarding the vehicle emissions test results.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the communication is an email regarding the vehicle emissions test results