System for generating inspection reports for inspected items

• US 8,739,059 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2005
• Issued: 05/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xcira Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Xcira Incorporated
• Inventors: Rabenold, Nancy J., Simmons, James A., Ogden, Peter C., Jones, Howard B., Glow, Lewis A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KEATON, SHERROD L
• Application Number:
  US10/908,535
• Publication Number:
  US 20060259392A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,298 Days
• Field of Search: 715/764, 715/224, 715/780, 715/221, 705/51, 705/2, 705/11
• US Class Current: 715/780
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 Ensuring data consistency and integrity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

An electronic inspection report system includes a central report generator and a data collection device. The central report generator is adapted to produce multiple types of inspection report template. The central report generator is adapted to select a type of inspection report template to provide to a data collection device based upon various criteria. The central report generator is adapted to receive electronic information from various databases and format the information such that the information can be used in inspection reports.

While inspecting an item, an inspector uses a data collection device to access an inspection report template and fill in fields of the inspection report template. The data collection device can be configured to check the consistency of information carried in fields of the inspection report and signal the inspector when some of the information is inconsistent.

The central report generator can include a repository of completed inspection reports. The central report generator can be configured to mine the repository of completed inspection reports and determine correlations between fields of the completed inspection reports. Software in the data collection device can updated such that the data collection device can perform consistency checks between fields that the central report generator has determined have a correlation.

Claims

1. A system for facilitating the inspection of the present physical characteristics of an item by a plurality of human inspectors and the generation of an inspection report pertaining to subjective and/or objective data associated with the item, the system comprising:

a means for providing a report template to a mobile device, the report template having a plurality of fields for carrying and/or receiving information from a human inspector, wherein the report template is customized based on the type of inspection to be performed and one or more of the plurality of fields is pre-populated with data associated with a unique identifier of an item to be inspected;

at least one mobile device for receiving and rendering a report template for the benefit of a human inspector who is actively inspecting the present physical characteristics of an item, wherein the mobile device is operable to;

populate a field of a report template based on an input of inspection data from a human inspector;

generate a preliminary report from the populated report template; and

transmit the preliminary report to a central report generator;

a central report generator operable to receive a plurality of said preliminary reports and generate a master inspection report, wherein each of the plurality of preliminary reports contain inspection data associated with the same inspected item;

a consistency checker that is operable to compare (1) related inspection data comprised within the plurality of preliminary reports and (2) additional third party related data associated with the same inspected item and optionally items substantially similar to the inspected item, wherein any related inspection data and any additional third party related data that are disparate are converted into a system standard compatible format determined by the central report generator, and wherein, if the compared data are contradictory, the consistency checker is operable to flag the related inspection information; and

an analyzer configured to perform statistical analysis of the related inspection data and/or the additional third party related data such that the statistical analysis yields correlation values, the consistency checker further configured to utilize the correlation values in the comparison.

2. A program embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium of a mobile device for facilitating the physical inspection of an object by a plurality of human inspectors and the generation of reports resulting from the objective and/or subjective data collected during such inspections, the program comprising:

a report template module adapted to generate a plurality of report templates, wherein each generated report template is customized to include a format and a plurality of fields based at least on the following information;

an identifier of an object to be inspected; and

an identifier of the type of inspection to be conducted on the object;

a processor configured to render a report template to a human inspector and generate an inspection report, the generation of the inspection report comprising the steps of;

pre-populating one or more of the plurality of fields in a report template with data associated with at least one of said identifiers;

receive data entries from a human inspector that are representative of an inspected object'"'"'s condition; and

populate one or more of the plurality of fields in the report template with the received data entries;

a consistency checker module adapted to;

compare data that are carried in at least two populated fields of a given report template for consistency, wherein the populated fields are associated;

compare inspection data that are carried in at least one populated field for consistency with (1) historical inspection data associated with the identifier of an inspected object and (2) additional third party related data associated with the same inspected item and optionally items substantially similar to the inspected item; and

convert any historical inspection data and any additional third party related data that are disparate into a program standard compatible format, an inspector-query module operable to query an inspector regarding information carried in the populated fields, wherein querying the inspector is triggered by a determination of inconsistency by said consistency checker;

and an analyzer module configured to perform statistical analysis of the inspection data, the historical inspection data and/or the additional third party related data such that the statistical analysis yields correlation values, the consistency checker further configured to utilize the correlation values in the comparison.

3. The report program of claim 2, further comprising:

a voice-recognition module in communication with the processor, wherein the module is adapted to receive voice input and, based on the received voice input, cause the processor to populate at least one of the plurality of fields in a report template.

4. The report program of claim 3, wherein the voice-recognition module is adapted to select a specific field of the plurality of fields based upon the voice input.

5. The report program of claim 2, further including:

an audible-prompt module adapted to prompt the inspector to inspect a given component of the item.

6. The report program of claim 5, wherein the audible-prompt module includes a voice-synthesizer.

7. The report program of claim 2, further comprising:

a completed report repository having a plurality of completed reports stored therein, each completed report having a plurality of populated fields.

8. The report program of claim 2, wherein the consistency module is further adapted to:

impose self-consistency by retrieving data from a database, the data being carried in a first populated field of a first report and comparing the retrieved-data with data carried in a second populated field of a second report, the first and second populated fields being indirectly related to each other but not the same, is inconsistent.

9. The report program of claim 8, wherein the consistency module is further adapted to provide an alert responsive to determining that the data carried in the second populated field is inconsistent with the retrieved data.