Method and apparatus for update and acquisition of automotive vehicle specifications in automotive diagnostic equipment
AssigneeHunter Engineering Company
InventorsTimothy A. Larson, James M. Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for providing automotive vehicle information from a remote system to an automotive service device through a communications link wherein a first processor associated with the automotive service device is configured to obtain automotive vehicle information from a remote system over said communications link, the remote system configured to provide to the first processor an index identifying at least one set of automotive vehicle data available from said remote system such that the first processor can select and access at least one set of automotive vehicle data from the index for display at said automotive service device and for use in the service of an automotive vehicle.
Claims44
In an automotive service system linked to the Internet, a host computer configured to transfer data over the Internet and for storing a first plurality of vehicle data sets, and a remote computer configured to transfer data over the Internet and for storing a second plurality of vehicle data sets, an improvement comprising:
- said host computer configured to respond to input vehicle identifying information to identify a need to obtain at least one specific vehicle data set from said remote computer;
- said host computer further configured to utilize said input vehicle identifying information to generate a request for at least one specific vehicle data set from said remote computer;
- said remote computer configured as an Internet web server to respond to said request from said host computer to dynamically generate at least one customized web page containing said at least one specific vehicle data set from said second plurality of vehicle data sets for transfer to said host computer over the Internet;
- and
- wherein said host computer is further configured to incorporate said transferred data set into said first plurality of vehicle data sets for use with current and subsequent vehicle wheel service procedures.
A method for supplementing vehicle information stored in a vehicle wheel alignment system having a local database of vehicle information, the method comprising the steps of:
- identifying a vehicle;
- searching the local database for vehicle data associated with said identified vehicle;
- responsive to said search of the local database, establishing a communications link between the vehicle wheel alignment system and at least one remote computer system;
- retrieving via said communications link, a dynamically generated data packet containing vehicle data associated with the identified vehicle;
- extracting said vehicle data from said data packet;
- and
- utilizing said extracted vehicle data in the service of said identified vehicle.
In an automotive service system having a communications link, a host computer configured to transfer data over said communications link and for storing a first plurality of vehicle data sets, and a remote computer configured to transfer data over said communications link and for storing a second plurality of vehicle data sets, an improvement comprising:
- said host computer configured to request at least one specific vehicle data set from said remote computer;
- said remote computer configured to respond to a request from said host computer to generate a custom data packet containing a copy of said at least one specific vehicle data set from said second plurality of vehicle data sets, said remote computer further configured to transfer said custom data packet to said host computer over said communications link;
- and
- said host computer further configured to extract said copy of said at least one specific vehicle data set from said transferred custom data packet and to incorporate said transferred vehicle data set into said first plurality of vehicle data sets.
A method for providing automotive vehicle information from a remote system configured as an Internet web server, to a vehicle service device having a host computer, through the Internet, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing vehicle identifying information;
- communicating a request for said at least one vehicle data set from said remote system over the Internet;
- generating, at said remote system at least one customized data packet containing said at least one vehicle data set;
- transferring said at least one dynamically generated custom data packet containing said at least one set of vehicle data associated with said vehicle identifying information from said remote system to said host computer over the Internet;
- extracting said at least one set of vehicle data from said at least one transferred custom data packet;
- and
- utilizing said acquired set of vehicle data in the service of an automotive vehicle.
A method for providing automotive vehicle information from a remote system to a vehicle wheel alignment device through a communications link, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing said vehicle wheel alignment device with vehicle identifying information;
- directing said vehicle wheel alignment device to utilize said vehicle identifying information to obtain automotive vehicle data from said remote system over said communications link;
- providing from said remote system to said vehicle wheel alignment device over said communications link, an index identifying at least one set of automotive vehicle data available from said remote system;
- selecting, through said vehicle wheel alignment device at least one set of automotive vehicle data available from said remote system;
- transferring from said vehicle wheel alignment device to said remote system at least one packet of statistical information related to said vehicle wheel alignment device following said selecting of at least one set of automotive vehicle data available from said remote system;
- analyzing, at said remote computer, said transferred at least one packet of statistical information;
- providing from said remote system, access to said selected set of automotive vehicle data over said communications link,
- acquiring at least one set of automotive vehicle data associated with said vehicle identifying information from said remote system over said communications link;
- storing said acquired set of vehicle data for subsequent access;
- utilizing said acquired set of automotive vehicle data in the service of an automotive vehicle;
- wherein the step of analyzing said transferred at least one packet of statistical information includes identifying the configuration of said vehicle wheel alignment device;
- and
- wherein identifying the configuration of said vehicle wheel alignment device identifies a accessory configuration of said vehicle wheel alignment device, including at least one of the set of
- identification of installed electronic security keys,
- identification of an installed automotive diagnostic software revision.
A method for providing automotive vehicle information from a remote system to a vehicle wheel alignment device through a communications link, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing said vehicle wheel alignment device with vehicle identifying information;
- directing said vehicle wheel alignment device to utilize said vehicle identifying information to obtain automotive vehicle data from said remote system over said communications link;
- acquiring at least one set of automotive vehicle data associated with said vehicle identifying information from said remote system over said communications link;
- compiling tracking data at said remote computer, associated with said access to selected sets of automotive vehicle data;
- storing said acquired set of vehicle data for subsequent access;
- utilizing said acquired set of automotive vehicle data in the service of an automotive vehicle;
- and
- utilizing said compiled tracking data at said remote computer to identify statistical information including at least one of set of
- frequency of access to individual vehicle specification sets,
- vehicle wheel alignment repair trends,
- frequency of access by individual host computers.
A vehicle wheel alignment system having at least one sensing device for acquiring wheel alignment data, interface circuitry in communication with said at least one sensing device for generating data representative of said acquired wheel alignment data, and a general purpose computer configured to utilize the generated data and input vehicle identification data to provide a representation of vehicle wheel alignment to an operator, an improvement comprising:
- said general purpose computer programmed to:
- communicate over the Internet to at least one remote information database a request for remote vehicle data associated with the input vehicle identification data,
- receive a dynamically generated custom data packet containing said remote vehicle data associated with the input vehicle identification data from said at least one remote information database, and
- extract said remote vehicle data from said custom data packet;
- utilize at least one of the set of said local vehicle data and said extracted remote vehicle data to provide the representation of vehicle alignment to the operator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.