Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Vehicle diagnosis or maintenance indication
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-19
2002-09-10
Arthur, Gertrude (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Vehicle diagnosis or maintenance indication
C701S029000, C701S032000, C340S439000, C340S459000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06449539
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a self-diagnosis system for diagnosing failures of devices mounted in a vehicle, and to a diagnosis method using this self-diagnosis system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Recently, restrictions on automotive vehicles relating to emissions have been becoming more and more strict. For example, in vehicle certification regimes being implemented in North America and elsewhere, tests of devices provided in vehicles for preventing emissions, such as leak tests on evaporative emission purging devices and cleaning performance tests on catalysts, are being made obligatory. Because these tests must be carried out with the vehicle in an operating state such that the devices constituting the objects of the tests can function normally, in the case of North America, self-diagnosis programs are being provided in vehicle ECU (Electronic Control Unit); diagnosis is then carried out automatically when the vehicle is running in any of a number of running patterns set in correspondence with different test objects, and the results of the diagnoses are stored.
These running patterns are sometimes followed by coincidence during the ordinary travel of the vehicle by a user. In this case the ECU executes diagnoses and stores diagnosis results one by one. Then, at the time of a vehicle certification check, a service engineer at a dealer or the like reads out the diagnosis results from the ECU, and for any device for which a ‘normal’ determination has not been obtained, runs the vehicle in accordance with the corresponding running pattern deliberately and thereby causes the ECU to perform a diagnosis. When the diagnosis result is ‘fail’, the service engineer deals with the problem by performing a repair. Tests on repaired devices are also carried out in the same way; that is, the ECU is caused to execute each test by the vehicle being run in accordance with a respective running pattern.
However, in a self-diagnosis system of the related art, the service engineer had no way whatsoever of knowing, during the execution of a running pattern, whether or not the self-diagnosis by the ECU has started, or whether or not self-diagnosis has finished, there has been no alternative, but to judge the timing of starting and finishing of running for the self-diagnosis by conjecture. To execute a running pattern, it is necessary for the vehicle speed and throttle aperture and so on to be controlled exactly in relation to elapsed time. Therefore, the service engineer had to control the operation of the vehicle while simultaneously looking at a running pattern set out for example in a service manual and at a stopwatch, and consequently has needed skill and practice. For these reasons, it has often happened that actual running of the vehicle deviates from the running pattern, and the self-diagnosis fails and has to be repeated, and thus the process has not been efficient.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a self-diagnosis system for a vehicle with which it is possible, without needing skill and practice, to realize running according to a running pattern, and thereby easily and certainly cause an ECU to perform a self-diagnosis.
To achieve this object and other objects, a self-diagnosis system for a vehicle provided by the invention includes vehicle state detecting means for detecting a vehicle state; data processing means for executing a diagnosis of a diagnosis object device on the basis of a predetermined running pattern preset in correspondence with the diagnosis object device and a vehicle state detected by the vehicle state detecting means when running according to the running pattern is carried out; and diagnosis data processing means, data-transferably connected to the data processing means, for obtaining and displaying data from the data processing means. On a condition that the diagnosis data processing means is data-transferably connected to the data processing means and the vehicle is run in a predetermined running pattern corresponding to a diagnosis object device in order to execute a diagnosis to the diagnosis object device, the diagnosis data processing means displays that an execution condition is established when the execution condition of the diagnosis corresponding to the running pattern is established.
Another self-diagnosis system provided by the invention includes vehicle state detecting means for detecting a vehicle state; data processing means for executing a diagnosis of a diagnosis object device on the basis of a predetermined running pattern preset in correspondence with the diagnosis object device and a vehicle state detected by the vehicle state detecting means when running according to the running pattern is carried out; and diagnosis data processing means, data-transferably connected to the data processing means, for obtaining and displaying data from the data processing means. When the diagnosis data processing means is data-transferably connected to the data processing means and the vehicle is run in a predetermined running pattern corresponding to a diagnosis object device in order to execute a diagnosis of the diagnosis object device, the diagnosis data processing means displays an operating sequence necessary for realizing the running pattern. At this time, the diagnosis data processing means preferably displays that an execution condition is established when the running pattern is realized and the execution condition is established.
A self-diagnosis method for a vehicle provided by the invention using this self-diagnosis system includes a vehicle state detecting process of detecting a vehicle state; a data processing process of, when running according to a predetermined running pattern preset in correspondence with a diagnosis object device has been carried out, executing a diagnosis of the diagnosis object device on the basis of a vehicle state detected by the vehicle state detecting process; and a diagnosis data processing process of, being data-transferably in cooperation with the data processing process, obtaining and displaying data used in the data processing process, and the diagnosis data processing process has a step of, on a condition that the diagnosis data processing process is data-transferably in cooperation with the data processing process and the vehicle is run in a predetermined running pattern corresponding to a diagnosis object device in order to execute a diagnosis of the diagnosis object device, displaying that an execution condition is established when the execution condition of the diagnosis corresponding to the running pattern is established.
Also, another self-diagnosis method for a vehicle provided by the invention includes a vehicle state detecting process of detecting a vehicle state; a data processing process of, when running according to a predetermined running pattern preset in correspondence with a diagnosis object device has been carried out, executing a diagnosis of the diagnosis object device on the basis of a vehicle state detected by the vehicle state detecting process; and a diagnosis data processing process of, data-transferably in cooperation with the data processing process, obtaining and displaying data used in the data processing process, and the diagnosis data processing process has a step of, when the diagnosis data processing process is data-transferably in cooperation with the data processing process and the vehicle is run in a predetermined running pattern corresponding to a diagnosis object device in order to a diagnosis of the diagnosis object device, displaying an operating sequence necessary for realizing the running pattern. At this time, the diagnosis data processing process preferably further comprises a step of displaying that an execute condition is established when the running pattern is realized and the execution condition of the diagnosis is established.
According to the invention, because the establishment of execution condition when the self-diagnosis is carried out by the data processing means is displayed by the diagnosis
Kume Tateo
Ohno Yoshinori
Arthur Gertrude
Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
LandOfFree
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