US20060184295A1 — On-board datalogger apparatus and service methods…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 99 words

1 . A method of servicing a vehicle, comprising: receiving a non-volatile storage device containing vehicle data, wherein the non-volatile storage device does not require an internal power source to perform storage operations; coupling the non-volatile storage device to a shared vehicle service system associated with a service facility; conveying at least some of the vehicle data from the non-volatile storage device to the shared vehicle service system; processing the at least some of the vehicle data to generate corrective information configured to affect a repair of the vehicle; and storing the corrective information in the non-volatile storage device.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 99 words

1 . A method of servicing a vehicle, comprising: receiving a non-volatile storage device containing vehicle data, wherein the non-volatile storage device does not require an internal power source to perform storage operations; coupling the non-volatile storage device to a shared vehicle service system associated with a service facility; conveying at least some of the vehicle data from the non-volatile storage device to the shared vehicle service system; processing the at least some of the vehicle data to generate corrective information configured to affect a repair of the vehicle; and storing the corrective information in the non-volatile storage device.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 43 words

2 . A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: coupling the non-volatile storage device to a data port on the vehicle; and conveying the corrective information to a processing system on the vehicle to affect the repair of the vehicle.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 36 words

3 . A method as defined in claim 2 , wherein conveying the corrective information to the processing system on the vehicle comprises receiving an input from a user via a user interface on the vehicle.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 29 words

4 . A method as defined in claim 2 , wherein the data port is configured to receive a universal serial data bus connector on the non-volatile storage device.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 47 words

5 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein conveying the at least some of the vehicle data from the non-volatile storage device to the shared vehicle service system comprises coupling the non-volatile storage device to a data port of the shared vehicle service system.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 23 words

6 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is a marine vessel, heavy equipment, or a recreational vehicle.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 19 words

7 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the non-volatile storage device is a memory stick.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 54 words

8 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein processing the at least some of the vehicle data to generate the corrective information comprises comparing the at least some of the vehicle data to vehicle data stored in a central processing system coupled to the shared vehicle service system via a network.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 43 words

9 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the vehicle data comprises a least one service ticket associated with the vehicle, fault information associated with the vehicle, or parameter value information associated with at least one sub-system of the vehicle.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 63 words

10 . A method of servicing a vehicle, comprising: conveying vehicle data associated with the vehicle to a service facility remote from the vehicle; processing at least some of the vehicle data at the service facility to generate corrective information configured to affect a repair of the vehicle; and conveying the corrective information to the vehicle to affect the repair of the vehicle.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 63 words

10 . A method of servicing a vehicle, comprising: conveying vehicle data associated with the vehicle to a service facility remote from the vehicle; processing at least some of the vehicle data at the service facility to generate corrective information configured to affect a repair of the vehicle; and conveying the corrective information to the vehicle to affect the repair of the vehicle.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 55 words

11 . A method as defined in claim 10 , wherein conveying the vehicle data associated with the vehicle to the service facility comprises storing the vehicle data on a non-volatile memory device at the vehicle and coupling the non-volatile memory device to a data port remote from the vehicle to convey the vehicle data.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 59 words

12 . A method as defined in claim 11 , wherein coupling the non-volatile memory device to the data port remote from the vehicle comprises coupling the non-volatile memory device to a computer system remote from the vehicle and the service facility and conveying the vehicle data from the computer system to the service facility via a network connection.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 38 words

13 . A method as defined in claim 11 , wherein coupling the non-volatile memory device to the data port remote from the vehicle comprises coupling the non-volatile memory device to a data port at the service facility.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 45 words

14 . A method as defined in claim 10 , wherein processing the at least some of the vehicle data at the service facility to generate the corrective information comprises obtaining information from a central processing system via a network connection to the service facility.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 29 words

15 . A method as defined in claim 10 , wherein the corrective information comprises at least one of service ticket information, updated firmware, or parameter value change information.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 59 words

16 . A method as defined in claim 10 , wherein conveying the corrective information to the vehicle to affect the repair of the vehicle comprises storing the corrective information in a non-volatile memory device, transporting the non-volatile memory device to a location of the vehicle, and coupling the non-volatile memory device to a data port on the vehicle.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 47 words

17 . A method as defined in claim 16 , further comprising receiving an input from a user via a user interface to cause the non-volatile memory device to transfer the corrective information to at least one of a datalogger or a control sub-system on the vehicle.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 74 words

18 . An apparatus for servicing a vehicle, comprising: a data port configured to be fixed to the vehicle and to receive a non-volatile data storage device; and a datalogger configured to be communicatively coupled to the data port and to a plurality of sub-systems on the vehicle, wherein the datalogger is further configured to receive corrective information via the data port and to affect a repair of the vehicle using the corrective information.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 74 words

18 . An apparatus for servicing a vehicle, comprising: a data port configured to be fixed to the vehicle and to receive a non-volatile data storage device; and a datalogger configured to be communicatively coupled to the data port and to a plurality of sub-systems on the vehicle, wherein the datalogger is further configured to receive corrective information via the data port and to affect a repair of the vehicle using the corrective information.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 41 words

19 . An apparatus as defined in claim 18 , further comprising a user interface configured to communicate with the datalogger to enable a user to cause the datalogger to communicate with the non-volatile data storage device via the data port.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 44 words

20 . An apparatus as defined in claim 19 , wherein the user interface comprises at least one of a light emissive device to provide a visual display for the user or an input device to configured to receive an input from the user.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 51 words

21 . An apparatus as defined in claim 19 , wherein the user interface is configured to provide information associated with at least one of a maintenance notification, a fault condition, a request to communicate with the non-volatile data storage device via the data port, or a plurality of service tickets.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 30 words

22 . An apparatus as defined in claim 18 , wherein the data port comprises a removable cover configured to substantially prevent the ingress of contaminants to the data port.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 26 words

23 . An apparatus as defined in claim 22 , wherein the removable cover is configured to be screwed onto or snapped onto the data port.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 23 words

24 . An apparatus as defined in claim 18 , wherein the data port is configured to receive a universal serial bus connector.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 68 words

25 . A datalogger, comprising: a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is programmed to: receive corrective vehicle information from a non-volatile data storage device, wherein the non-volatile data storage device does not require an internal power source to perform storage operations; and convey the corrective vehicle information to at least one sub-system of a vehicle to affect a repair of the vehicle.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 68 words

25 . A datalogger, comprising: a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is programmed to: receive corrective vehicle information from a non-volatile data storage device, wherein the non-volatile data storage device does not require an internal power source to perform storage operations; and convey the corrective vehicle information to at least one sub-system of a vehicle to affect a repair of the vehicle.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 49 words

26 . A datalogger as defined in claim 25 , wherein, in response to detection of a fault condition associated with the vehicle, the processor is programmed to generate a prompt signal associated with requesting the coupling of the non-volatile storage device to a data port on the vehicle.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 44 words

27 . A datalogger as defined in claim 25 , wherein, in response to a user-initiated event, the processor is programmed to generate a prompt signal associated with requesting the coupling of the non-volatile data storage device to a data port on the vehicle.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 26 words

28 . A datalogger as defined in claim 25 , wherein the processor is programmed to receive the corrective vehicle information via a universal serial bus.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 36 words

29 . A datalogger as defined in claim 25 , wherein the processor is programmed to convey at least some of the corrective vehicle information to the at least one sub-system via a controller area network.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 41 words

30 . A datalogger as defined in claim 25 , wherein the non-volatile data storage device is a memory stick and the processor is programmed to receive the corrective vehicle information via a data port configured to receive the memory stick.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 117 words

31 . A datalogger, comprising: a data collector configured to collect information conveyed via a data bus associated with a plurality of sub-systems of a vehicle; a time stamper configured to time stamp data collected by the data collector; an event detector configured to identify events associated with the data bus and to identify at least a portion of the collected data associated with the events; a memory configured to receive the collected data and event information; a data input/output interface configured to receive corrective vehicle information; and a sub-system interface configured to use at least a portion of the corrective vehicle information to convey information via the data bus to affect a repair of the vehicle.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 117 words

31 . A datalogger, comprising: a data collector configured to collect information conveyed via a data bus associated with a plurality of sub-systems of a vehicle; a time stamper configured to time stamp data collected by the data collector; an event detector configured to identify events associated with the data bus and to identify at least a portion of the collected data associated with the events; a memory configured to receive the collected data and event information; a data input/output interface configured to receive corrective vehicle information; and a sub-system interface configured to use at least a portion of the corrective vehicle information to convey information via the data bus to affect a repair of the vehicle.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 24 words

32 . A datalogger as defined in claim 31 , wherein the memory is configured to store service ticket information associated with the vehicle.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 23 words

33 . A datalogger as defined in claim 31 , further comprising a real-time clock to provide time information to the time stamper.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 30 words

34 . A datalogger as defined in claim 31 , further comprising a notifier configured to convey at least one of maintenance messages or fault messages to a user interface.

On-board datalogger apparatus and service methods for use with vehicles

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