Methods and systems for displaying vehicle data parameters with drag-and-drop inputs

• US 9,684,447 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2014
• Issued: 06/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snap-On Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Snap-On Incorporated
• Inventors: Covington, Joshua, Reynald, April
• Primary Examiner(s): Xiao, Ke
• Assistant Examiner(s): LIU, GORDON G
• Application Number:
  US14/531,607
• Publication Number:
  US 20160124635A1
• Time in Patent Office: 960 Days
• Field of Search: 345440
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 15/02 Details or accessories of testing apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/00 Testing of vehicles testing fluid tightness G01M3/00; testing elastic properties of bodies or chassis, e.g. torsion-testing, G01M5/00; testing alignment of vehicle headlight devices G01M11/06; testing of engines G01M15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/006 on road vehicles, e.g. automobiles or trucks testing of ignition installations peculiar to internal combustion engines F02P17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/007 using microprocessors or computers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• 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

Methods and system pertaining to displaying vehicle data parameters (VDP) are described. A vehicle service tool (VST) with a display can receive vehicle data messages or signals from a vehicle to receive the VDP. Some of the VDP can be associated with a PID. The VST can display VDP thresholds and indicators when a received VDP has breached a VDP threshold. The VST can determine being changed from a landscape orientation to a portrait orientation or vice versa and responsively change the presentation of VDP graphs displayed by the display. The display can receive various inputs such as a drag-and-drop or pinch-and-expand input to alternatively change the presentation of the VDP graphs being displayed. Changing a VDP presentation of graphs can include resizing or repositioning one or more VDP graph windows including a VDP graph.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by at least one processor, multiple vehicle data parameters associated with a first vehicle data parameter (VDP) identifier and multiple vehicle data parameters associated with a second VDP identifier;

displaying, at a first display position of a display communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, a first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier, wherein the first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier includes a first portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier;

displaying, at a second display position of the display, a first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier, wherein the first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier includes a first portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the second VDP identifier, and wherein the first display position is different than the second display position; and

receiving, by the at least one processor, a drag-and-drop input of the first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier displayed at the first display position onto at least a portion of the second display position displaying the first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier and responsively changing the graphical representations displayed at the first display position and the second display position,

wherein changing the graphical representations displayed at the first display position and the second display position includes switching the second display position to display, instead of the first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier, a second graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier, wherein the second graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier includes a second portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier, and wherein the second portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier is different than the first portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein changing the graphical representations displayed at the first display position and the second display position includes switching the first display position to display, instead of the first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier, the first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier or a second graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier.

3. The method of claim 2,

wherein an area of the first display position is greater than an area of the second display position.

4. The method of claim 2,

wherein an area of the second display position is greater than an area of the first display position.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one processor, multiple vehicle data parameters associated with a third VDP identifier,

wherein changing the graphical representations displayed at the first display position and the second display position includes switching the first display position to display, instead of the first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier, a graphical representation associated with the third VDP identifier, wherein the graphical representation associated with the third VDP identifier includes at least a portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the third VDP identifier.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the vehicle data parameters associated with the third VDP identifier are not displayed while the at least one processor is receiving the drag-and-drop input.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein an area of the first display position equals an area of the second display position.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing, by a computer-readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, multiple VDP display groups, wherein each VDP display group indicates a VDP identifier associated with vehicle data parameters to be displayed at a corresponding display position of the display when vehicle data parameters including another VDP identifier are displayed at a particular display position of the display.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, by the processor referring to one of the VDP display groups, a VDP identifier associated with vehicle data parameters to be displayed at the first display position when vehicle data parameters including the first VDP identifier are displayed at the second display position,

wherein the VDP identifier associated with vehicle data parameters to be displayed at the first display position when vehicle data parameters including the first VDP identifier are displayed at the second display position includes the second VDP identifier or a third VDP identifier.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of one of the first display position and the second display position overlaps a portion of the other.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein no portions of the first display position and the second display position overlap the other.

12. The method of claim 1,

wherein the drag-and-drop input further includes the first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier being dragged onto multiple VDP graph windows at multiple different display positions of the display, and

wherein the multiple different display positions includes the second display position,

the method further comprising:

determining, by the at least one processor, a portion of the first graphical representation associated with the first identifier dragged onto the second display position is larger than any other portion of the first graphical representation associated with the first identifier dragged onto another portion of any one of the multiple display positions of the display.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, by the display, a first set of VDP graph windows on a first side of the display, a second set of VDP graph windows on a second side of the display, a first scroll bar corresponding to the first set of VDP graph windows, and a second scroll bar corresponding to the second set of VDP graph windows; and

receiving, by the processor, a scroll input of the first scroll bar and responsively scrolling through the set of VDP graph windows on the first side of the display, or receiving, by the processor, a scroll input of the second scroll bar and responsively scrolling through the second set of VDP graph windows.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the VDP graph windows of the first set are larger than the VDP graph windows of the second set.

15. The method of claim 14,

wherein a first VDP graph window of the first set of VDP graph windows or a first VDP graph window of the second set of VDP graph windows is at the first display position, and

wherein a second VDP graph window of the first set of VDP graph windows or a second VDP graph window of the second set of VDP graph windows is at the second display position.

16. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier represents a first amount of time,

wherein the second graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier represents a second amount of time, and

wherein the first amount of time is greater than the second amount of time or the second amount of time is greater than the first amount of time.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the processor receives the first VDP identifier with each of the multiple vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier and the processor receives the second VDP identifier with each of the multiple vehicle data parameters associated with the second VDP identifier.

18. A system comprising:

a processor;

a display; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the processor to;

receive multiple vehicle data parameters associated with a first vehicle data parameter (VDP) identifier and multiple vehicle data parameters associated with a second VDP identifier;

display, at a first display position of the display, a first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier, wherein the first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier includes a first portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier;

display, at a second display position of the display, a first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier, wherein the first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier includes a first portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the second VDP identifier, and wherein the first display position is different than the second display position; and

receive a drag-and-drop input of the first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier displayed at the first display position onto at least a portion of the second display position displaying the first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier and responsively change the graphical representations displayed at the first display position and the second display position,

wherein changing the graphical representations displayed at the first display position and the second display position includes switching the second display position to display, instead of the first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier, a second graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier, wherein the second graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier includes a second portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier, and wherein the second portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier is different than the first portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

a data link connector (DLC) connector communicatively connectable to a DLC in a vehicle to receive the multiple vehicle data parameters and to provide the received multiple vehicle data parameters to the processor.

20. The system of claim 18 further comprising:

a user interface input element having an input signal processing element that converts input signals obtained by input leads connected to the input signal processing element into the received vehicle data parameters.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions comprising:

receiving, by the at least one processor, multiple vehicle data parameters associated with a first vehicle data parameter (VDP) identifier and multiple vehicle data parameters associated with a second VDP identifier;

displaying, at a first display position of a display communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, a first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier, wherein the first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier includes a first portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier;

displaying, at a second display position of the display, a first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier, wherein the first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier includes a first portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the second VDP identifier, and wherein the first display position is different than the second display position;

receiving, by the at least one processor, a drag-and-drop input of the first graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier displayed at the first display position onto at least a portion of the second display position displaying the first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier and responsively changing the graphical representations displayed at the first display position and the second display position,

wherein changing the graphical representations displayed at the first display position and the second display position includes switching the second display position to display, instead of the first graphical representation associated with the second VDP identifier, a second graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier, wherein the second graphical representation associated with the first VDP identifier includes a second portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier, and wherein the second portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier is different than the first portion of the vehicle data parameters associated with the first VDP identifier.