System to view automobile diagnostic information

• US 9,466,155 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2013
• Issued: 10/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Automatic Labs Incorporated (Liberty Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Automatic Labs Incorporated (Liberty Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Miljkovic, Ljubinko, Jayaraman, Ramprabhu
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu, Yonel
• Assistant Examiner(s): WEEKS, MARTIN A
• Application Number:
  US14/050,701
• Publication Number:
  US 20140107886A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,097 Days
• Field of Search: 701/29.6
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0825 using optical means

Abstract

A system has a Link device coupled to an on-board diagnostics (OBD) system of a vehicle, the Link device enabled to monitor trouble codes presented by the OBD system, and having a port enabled to transmit to and receive from external devices, a mobile communication device, the device having a display screen, and an application (App) executing on the mobile communication device from a non-transitory medium. The Link device receives trouble codes from the vehicle OBD system and transmits them to either to the App or to an Internet-connected server, where the trouble codes are associated with the issues they represent, and wherein the App, having associated the trouble codes with the issues or having received the association data from the server, presents a display to the driver comprising at least the problem represented by the problem code and suggested action to correct the problem.

Claims

1. A system, comprising

a link device coupled to an on-board diagnostics (OBD) system of a vehicle, the link device enabled to directly monitor trouble codes presented by the OBD system, and having a communication port enabled to transmit to and receive from external devices;

a mobile communication device associated with, and local to a driver of the vehicle, the device having a display screen and local data storage; and

an application (App) executing on the mobile communication device from a non-transitory medium;

wherein the App monitors the vehicle OBD system via a near-field pairing mechanism directly pairing with the communication port and the mobile communication device and the App receives trouble codes from the vehicle OBD system, via the link device, where the App associates trouble codes with the issues they represent by accessing local storage, and wherein the App presents a display to the driver comprising at least the issue represented by the trouble code and suggested action to correct the problem issue and the display further comprises identity of the vehicle, the actual trouble codes detected, and a link button providing a signal to the link device to cause the OBD system to cancel the trouble code or codes.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the link device connects directly to an OBD connector of the vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the display screen is a touch screen.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the App associates the trouble codes with the issue represented by the trouble code and possible corrections by only accessing information from the local data storage.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein trouble codes received and displays presented are archived by the mobile communication device for future reference, in a manner that the archived material may be downloaded and printed.

6. A method, comprising steps:

receiving trouble codes from a vehicle on-board diagnostics (OBD) system, as they occur, by a link device coupled to the OBD system;

transmitting the trouble codes directly to a mobile communication device associated with and local to a driver of the vehicle via a near-field pairing mechanism directly pairing with a communication port of the Link device and the mobile communication device;

associating the trouble codes with the issues they represent by an application (App) executing on the mobile communications device by accessing only local storage;

presenting a display on a display screen of the mobile communications device, the display comprising at least the trouble codes, the issues represented by the trouble codes and suggested action to correct the issues; and

cancelling the trouble codes by the App via a link button providing a signal to the link device to directly cause the OBD system to cancel the trouble codes,

wherein the display further comprises identity of the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the link device connects directly to an OBD connector of the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the display screen is a touch screen.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein trouble codes received and displays presented are archived by the mobile communication device for future reference, in a manner that the archived material may be downloaded and printed.