Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Vehicle diagnosis or maintenance indication
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-22
2001-10-09
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Vehicle diagnosis or maintenance indication
C701S201000, C701S207000, C701S214000, C340S438000, C342S357490, C342S357490, C342S357490
Reexamination Certificate
active
06301533
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to methods for monitoring mobile vehicles and more particularly to methods for collecting data on the use of a mobile vehicle in an accurate and reliable manner.
2. Discussion
The need for systems which collect and record information on the use of mobile vehicles is well known. Such systems are frequently employed to catalog the operation of a vehicle as being either business related or personal in nature. One drawback of the known systems concerns their inflexibility with which data may be input, retrieved and manipulated. For example, several known systems require the vehicle operator to identify an upcoming vehicle use as being either related to a specific business or personal account prior to the use of the vehicle. Failure to identify a particular vehicle use may cause the system to default to a mode wherein the use is permanently classified in a predetermined manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one object of the present invention to provide a tracking system for monitoring the use of a vehicle which automatically collects data pertaining to a trip.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tracking system for monitoring the use of a vehicle which assigns a business or personal account to a trip based on either a driver input or in the absence or a driver input, the location of the trip end point.
A tracking system for monitoring the use of a vehicle is provided. The tracking system includes a plurality of operational sensors, a location sensor and a data processing and recording device. The operational sensors are located within a vehicle for sensing a plurality of vehicle operating parameters and generating data signals indicative of values of the operating parameters. The vehicle location sensor determines the current location of the vehicle and generates a location signal in response thereto. During a trip, the data processing and recording device periodically samples the location signal and each of the data signals and produces data samples representative of the location signal from the location sensor and the magnitudes of the data signals from each of the operational sensors. Data may be recorded automatically, based on the input signals from the sensors, or may be manually input by the vehicle operator. At the conclusion of the trip, if the vehicle operator has not classified the trip to a specific business or personal account, the tracking system assigns a business or personal account to the trip based on the data stored in the data processing and recording device and the trip end location. A method for recording mileage traveled by a motor vehicle and attributing the mileage to a business or personal account is also provided.
Additional advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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Arthur Gertrude
Calcaterra Mark P.
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
DaimlerChrysler Corporation
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