Computer-assisted and/or enabled systems, methods, techniques, services and user interfaces for conducting motor vehicle and other inspections

• US 8,230,362 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2006
• Issued: 07/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Manheim Investments Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Manheim Investments Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Inventors: Couch, William Henry
• Primary Examiner(s): Sax, Steven
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pham, Linh K
• Application Number:
  US11/421,320
• Publication Number:
  US 20070293997A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,246 Days
• Field of Search: 715744-748, 701 29- 34, 701/43, 701/49, 701/76, 701/80, 701/92, 702/122, 702/123, 702/184
• US Class Current: 715/852
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 15/00 Testing of engines
• 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: G01M 17/007 Wheeled or endless-tracked vehicles G01M17/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance

Abstract

A computer-assisted inspection system provides customized workflow based on different types of inspections and other factors. The system can provide different rules that can be activated in response to valuation/pricing, rule-based validation and automatic grading. Features include flat car part picking, easy to use, inspectors can be geographically separated, and system is installable over the internet to provide efficient installation to far-flung install sites.

Claims

1. An automated process for grading the condition of a motor vehicle under inspection using having an arrangement providing a display, a processor, at least one storage device storing executable code and predetermined inspection criteria, and an input device, said processor executing said executable code to provide a visually-perceptible display on the device and accepting input from the input device to aid in inspecting the motor vehicle, the process comprising:

taking photographs of the vehicle being inspected and storing said photographs in said device;

wherein the image corresponding to the motor vehicle being inspected includes an image of the interior and the exterior of the motor vehicle being inspected;

presenting, on the display, area picker image corresponding to the make and model of motor vehicle being inspected, said picker image being subdivided into individually-selectable parts;

enabling a user to point at individually-selectable parts of the presented picker image to indicate parts that are damaged;

in response to said pointing, at least in some cases automatically displaying subsidiary parts relevant to the particular make and model of motor vehicle being inspected and enabling the user to select displayed subsidiary parts which are damaged;

presenting a damage severity query for at least some selected parts and subsidiary parts, the damage severity query being configured to query the user to select between re-stored quantitative size of damaged areas of selected parts and subsidiary parts;

accepting user response to the damage severity query, recording damage severity of selected parts and subsidiary parts based on user response to the damage severity query, and automatically calculating a grade based at least in part on the user-indicated damage and selected quantitative damaged area size;

automatically additionally querying the user concerning information relevant to the reliability, safety and/or legality of the vehicle being inspected;

accepting user input responsive to the additional querying; and

in response to the calculated grade and the user input responsive to the additional querying, automatically assigning said motor vehicle being inspected an auto grade reflecting overall condition of the vehicle that takes into account quantitative damaged area size and conditions affecting the reliability, safety and/or legality of the vehicle being inspected.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising performing a damage calculation based at least in part on the location and severity of the damage and stored damage totaling rules.

3. The process of claim 2, wherein the assigned auto grade is based at least in part on the damage calculation and specific questions concerning the motor vehicle being inspected.

4. The process of claim 1 further comprising inputting a vehicle identifier into the display device which identifies the motor vehicle to be inspected, wherein the schematic image is selected based on the input vehicle identifier.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein plural sets of predetermined inspection criteria can stored in the device.

6. The process of claim 1, further including determining and recommending a repair action including presenting a selectable list of repair actions on the display and accepting a user input to determine the repair action.

7. The process of claim 1, wherein accepting user response to the severity query further includes presenting a list of selectable options which correspond to the identified damaged part based on stored inspection criteria.

8. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting, on the display, an options query to the user regarding including a list motor vehicle options; and

accepting user response to the options query and recording the motor vehicle options for the motor vehicle being inspected.

9. The process of claim 8, wherein the assigned auto grade is at least partially based on the motor vehicle options selected by the user.

10. The process of claim 1 further including applying inspection rules that are customized according to vehicle.

11. The process of claim 1 further including applying inspection rules that are customized according to the owner of the vehicle.

12. The process of claim 1 further including applying inspection rules that are customized according to the client on whose behalf the inspection is being performed.