Method and system for retrieving diagnostic information

• US 8,954,222 B2
• Filed: 10/20/2012
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC (Snap-On Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC (Snap-On Incorporated)
• Inventors: Costantino, David
• Primary Examiner(s): HAWN, PATRICK D
• Application Number:
  US13/656,699
• Publication Number:
  US 20130054082A1
• Time in Patent Office: 843 Days
• Field of Search: 701/29.1, 701/29.3, 701/29.7, 701/29.6, 701/31.8, 701/31.4, 701/31.5, 701/31.6, 701/32.1, 701/33.2, 701/34.4, 701/33.3, 701/34.2, 702/183
• US Class Current: 701/32.1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0272 Presentation of monitored results, e.g. selection of status reports to be displayed; Filtering information to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24573 using data annotations, e.g. user-defined metadata

Abstract

A system, method, and apparatus for retrieving trouble codes from a motor vehicle and retrieving only relevant diagnostic information relative to the returned codes from one or more remote diagnostic libraries. An electronic diagnostic library contains generalized diagnostic vehicle information tagged with trouble code identification ID'"'"'s at a first location, and a diagnostic tool at a second location requests only relevant diagnostic information from the electronic library that is tagged with trouble code identification ID'"'"'s corresponding to the retrieved trouble codes. The diagnostic tool receives the specific diagnostic vehicle information at the first location and may store the specific vehicle information locally prior to displaying an index to the information to a repair technician.

Claims

1. A system for retrieving specific diagnostic information comprising:

a first computing system at a first location, the first computing system including an electronic library of diagnostic information tagged with trouble code identification ID'"'"'s stored in a first electronic medium;

a second computing system at a second location, the second computing system including a first interface for retrieving one or more diagnostic trouble codes from a second electronic storage medium within a motor vehicle under diagnosis, the second computing system also having a third electronic storage medium, and having a second interface for connecting with the first computing system and having a display for displaying an index to specific diagnostic information received from the first computing system,

wherein the second computing system is configured to, after retrieval of a first diagnostic trouble code (DTC) from the motor vehicle, request, from the electronic library at the first location, specific diagnostic information tagged with a trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC, receive the specific diagnostic information requested from the first computing system, store the received specific diagnostic information in third electronic storage medium, and populate the display of the second computing system with an index to the specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC stored in the third electronic storage medium of the second computing system,

wherein the index to the specific diagnostic information populating the display includes at least a first button selectable to display first specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC, and a second button selectable to display second specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC, and

wherein the second specific diagnostic information is different than the first specific diagnostic information.

2. The system set forth in claim 1, wherein the specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC includes at least one selected from the group consisting of wiring diagrams, images of vehicle components, suggested diagnostic testing steps, vehicle component removal and installation instructions, and component specification data.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the component specification data comprises data selected from the group consisting of (i) an electrical specification, (ii) a sealant specification, (iii) a torque specification, (iv) a temperature specification, (v) a pressure specification, (vi) specification data for a component being diagnosed in regard to the first DTC, (vii) specification data for a component being repaired in regard to the first DTC, (viii) specification data for components being diagnosed in regard to the first DTC, and (ix) specification data for components being repaired in regard to the first DTC.

4. The system set forth in claim 1, wherein the electronic library and the second computing device are connected to the Internet, and the second computing system requests the specific diagnostic information from the electronic library at the first location via the Internet.

5. The system set forth in claim 4, wherein the second computing device also retrieves year, make, and model information or unique vehicle equipment identification number (VIN) information from the second electronic storage medium within the motor vehicle under diagnosis, and sends the year, make, and model information or VIN information along with the retrieved trouble codes to the electronic library at the first location.

6. A diagnostic system for retrieving and storing specific diagnostic information, the diagnostic system comprising:

a computing device at a first location having a first electronic storage medium;

a first interface, connected to the computing device, for retrieving one or more diagnostic trouble codes from a second electronic storage medium within a motor vehicle under diagnosis; and

a second interface for connecting the computing device with a remote computing system at a second location via a network connection,

wherein the computing device includes a display configured to display an index to specific diagnostic information received from the remote computing system,

wherein the computing device is configured to, after retrieval of a first diagnostic trouble code (DTC) from the motor vehicle, request, from an electronic library at the remote computing system, specific diagnostic information tagged with a trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC, receive the specific diagnostic information requested from the remote computing system, store the received specific diagnostic information in the first electronic storage medium, and populate the display of the computing device with an index to the specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC stored in the first electronic storage medium of the computing device,

wherein the index to the specific diagnostic information populating the display includes at least a first button selectable to display first specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC, and a second button selectable to display second specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC, and

wherein the second specific diagnostic information is different than the first specific diagnostic information.

7. The diagnostic system set forth in claim 6, wherein the specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first diagnostic trouble code includes at least one selected from the group consisting of wiring diagrams, images of vehicle components, suggested diagnostic testing steps, vehicle component removal and installation instructions, and component specification data.

8. The diagnostic system of claim 7, wherein the component specification data comprises data selected from the group consisting of (i) an electrical specification, (ii) a sealant specification, (iii) a torque specification, (iv) a temperature specification, (v) a pressure specification, (vi) specification data for a component being diagnosed in regard to the first DTC, (vii) specification data for a component being repaired in regard to the first DTC, (viii) specification data for components being diagnosed in regard to the first DTC, and (ix) specification data for components being repaired in regard to the first DTC.

9. The diagnostic system set forth in claim 6, wherein the computing device and the remote computing system are connected to the Internet.

10. The diagnostic system set forth in claim 9, wherein the computing device also retrieves year, make, and model information or unique vehicle identification number (VIN) information from the second electronic storage medium within the motor vehicle under diagnosis, and sends the year, make, and model information or VIN information along with the retrieved trouble codes to the electronic library at the second location.

11. The diagnostic system of claim 6, wherein the computing device and the first interface connect with each other using a wired connection or a wireless connection.

12. A computer program product, comprising a computer readable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed by a processor to implement a method for retrieving specific diagnostic information, said method comprising:

retrieving one or more diagnostic trouble codes from a motor vehicle under diagnosis;

requesting, from a remote electronic library containing a library of diagnostic information tagged with trouble code identification IDs, specific diagnostic information corresponding to a first diagnostic trouble code (DTC) retrieved from the motor vehicle;

receiving the specific diagnostic information from the remote electronic library;

storing the specific diagnostic information, received from the remote electronic library, in a data store local to the processor; and

populating a display with an index to the retrieved specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC stored in the data store local to the processor,

wherein the index to the specific diagnostic information populating the display includes at least a first button selectable to display first specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC, and a second button selectable to display second specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first DTC, and

wherein the second specific diagnostic information is different than the first specific diagnostic information.

13. The computer program product set forth in claim 12, wherein the specific diagnostic information tagged with the trouble code identification ID corresponding to the first diagnostic trouble code includes at least one selected from the group consisting of wiring diagrams, images of vehicle components, suggested diagnostic testing steps, vehicle component removal and installation instructions, and component specification data.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the component specification data comprises data selected from the group consisting of (i) an electrical specification, (ii) a sealant specification, (iii) a torque specification, (iv) a temperature specification, (v) a pressure specification, (vi) specification data for a component being diagnosed in regard to the first DTC, (vii) specification data for a component being repaired in regard to the first DTC, (viii) specification data for components being diagnosed in regard to the first DTC, and (ix) specification data for components being repaired in regard to the first DTC.

15. The computer program product set forth in claim 12, wherein the computing program product also retrieves year, make, and model information or unique vehicle identification number (VIN) information from the first electronic storage medium within the motor vehicle under diagnosis, and sends the year, make, and model information or VIN identification information along with the retrieved trouble codes to the remote electronic library.

16. A method comprising:

receiving, by a diagnostic tool, a first diagnostic trouble code (DTC) associated with a past or current error condition of a diagnosable equipment;

transmitting, by the diagnostic tool to a communication link, a request for information objects that correspond to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment, wherein the transmitted request for information objects comprises data identifying the first DTC and data identifying the diagnosable equipment;

receiving, by the diagnostic tool via the communication link in response to the request for information objects, a plurality of information objects that correspond to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment;

storing, by an electronic storage medium of the diagnostic tool, the plurality of information objects that correspond to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment;

displaying, by a display of the diagnostic tool, an index identifying the received plurality of information objects, stored by the electronic storage medium of the diagnostic tool, that correspond to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment; and

receiving, by the diagnostic tool, a selection of an information object identified in the displayed index and responsively displaying, via the display of the diagnostic tool, the information object selected from the displayed index and received in response to the request for information objects,

wherein the index identifying the received plurality of information objects includes at least a first button selectable to display a first information object that corresponds to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment, and a second button selectable to display a second information object that corresponds to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment, and

wherein the second information object is different than the first information object.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein displaying the index identifying the received plurality of information objects comprises displaying a code description button, a wiring diagram button, a connector views button, a component locator button, a testing steps button, a removal and installation button, and a specifications button.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the received plurality of information objects comprises (i) a wiring diagram related to the first DTC, (ii) a graphical connector view of a connector related to the first DTC, (iii) testing steps for diagnosing the first DTC, (iv) a graphical component locator view that illustrates where a component is located, (v) instructions for removing and installing a component in diagnosing the first DTC, and (vi) component specification data.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the component specification data comprises data selected from the group consisting of (i) an electrical specification, (ii) a sealant specification, (iii) a torque specification, (iv) a temperature specification, (v) a pressure specification, (vi) specification data for a component being diagnosed in regard to the first DTC, (vii) specification data for a component being repaired in regard to the first DTC, (viii) specification data for components being diagnosed in regard to the first DTC, and (ix) specification data for components being repaired in regard to the first DTC.

20. The method of claim 16,

wherein each of the received information objects was identified from an article tagged with an article ID associated with the diagnosable equipment and by a respective object ID that corresponds to the first DTC received from the diagnosable equipment, and

wherein each of the respective object IDs is contained within the article.

21. A diagnostic tool comprising:

a processor;

a data store storing software code executable by the processor;

a display device;

a first interface arranged for the diagnostic tool to carry out communications with a diagnosable equipment via a first wired or wireless connection; and

a second interface arranged for the diagnostic tool to carry out communications with a diagnostic portal via a second wired or wireless connection,

wherein the communications with the diagnosable equipment comprise a diagnostic trouble code (DTC) request transmitted to the first wired or wireless connection by the diagnostic tool, and data, received at the first interface, identifying a first DTC associated with a past or current error condition of the diagnosable equipment,

wherein the communications with the diagnostic portal comprise a request for information objects that correspond to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment transmitted to the second wired or wireless connection by the diagnostic tool, and a plurality of information objects that correspond to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment, wherein the plurality of information objects are received at the diagnostic tool from the diagnostic portal in response to the request for information objects,

wherein the data store stores the plurality of information objects that correspond to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment that are received at the diagnostic tool from the diagnostic portal,

wherein the request for information objects comprises data identifying the first DTC and data identifying the diagnosable equipment, and

wherein the stored software code comprises software code executed by the processor to cause the display device to display an index identifying the stored plurality of information objects that correspond to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment, and, in response to a selection of an information object identified in the displayed index, to cause the display device to display the information object selected from the displayed index and received in response to the request for information objects,

wherein the index identifying the received plurality of information objects includes at least a first button selectable to display a first information object that corresponds to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment, and a second button selectable to display a second information object that corresponds to the first DTC and the diagnosable equipment, and

wherein the second information object is different than the first information object.

22. The diagnostic tool of claim 21, wherein the received plurality of information objects comprises (i) a wiring diagram related to the first DTC, (ii) a graphical connector view of a connector related to the first DTC, (iii) testing steps for diagnosing the first DTC, (iv) a graphical component locator view that illustrates where a component is located, (v) instructions for removing and installing a component in diagnosing the first DTC, and (vi) component specification data.

23. The diagnostic tool of claim 22, wherein the specification data comprises data selected from the group consisting of (i) an electrical specification, (ii) a sealant specification, (iii) a torque specification, (iv) a temperature specification, (v) a pressure specification, (vi) specification data for a component being diagnosed in regard to the first DTC, (vii) specification data for a component being repaired in regard to the first DTC, (viii) specification data for components being diagnosed in regard to the first DTC, and (ix) specification data for components being repaired in regard to the first DTC.

24. The diagnostic tool of claim 21,

wherein the displayed index comprises a summary box configured to display a text summary regarding the first DTC, and

wherein the displayed index comprises a clear code button configured to cause a text summary being displayed in the summary box to be removed from the summary box.