JP2003114943A - Automobile failure diagnosing device, automobile data center and automobile failure diagnosing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for providing accurate and efficient maintenance data and a technology capable of diagnosing the failure of an automobile by using the provided data. SOLUTION: This data center executes the accumulation and statistical processing of repaired check items and diagnostic test data (diagnostic data) from each maintenance shop, and integrates proper diagnostic reference values and the check items listed up in the order of the failure frequency into a data base as a table. Each maintenance shop diagnoses and repairs the failure by using the table of the diagnostic reference range and the check items transmitted from the data center at the time of checking or repairing an automobile.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle failure diagnosis device supported by a data center, and more particularly to a vehicle failure diagnosis device having a learning function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, repairing an automobile has been done by many years of experience as a repairman. In the age when most cars could be repaired in the same way, repairs could be done by referring to the results of the repairs performed by the maintenance shop. Recently, electronic systems have begun to be introduced to control automobiles, and even if the state of automobile malfunctions (hereinafter referred to as a failure mode) such as poor engine starting, lack of power, unstable idling, etc. is identified, a failure will occur. The factors that make up the factor are complex and diverse, and it has become difficult to carry out efficient repairs using information unique to the maintenance shop. On the other hand, along with the computerization of automobiles, electronic fault display devices have been commercialized and are now meters. Failure display devices have come to be used when signals from various sensors used for engine control are not input to the engine control computer.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the failure display device used in an automobile. As shown in FIG. 1, it is common to connect the failure display device 1 and the failed vehicle to a dedicated connector 2 provided on the vehicle with a dedicated cable 3 to specifically display the details of the failure. When the display is performed using this device, when a warning such as a failure code is displayed on the meter panel of the automobile, the failure can be identified. Therefore, by using this failure display device, the data of the defective portion can be read from the broken vehicle, so that the defective portion can be accurately known, but there is no instruction such as a repair procedure for repairing this failure, and the mechanic does not We were unable to respond to unfamiliar malfunctions.

Recently, a personal computer system has been developed for inspecting an automobile mainly for data collection and recording in a test operation such as regular or irregular inspection. Even in this case, the personal computer is operated to collect data, and the repairer (hereinafter, mechanic) judges the presence or absence of a failure from the data and repairs it. Furthermore, in the case of only the failure mode (automobile malfunction reported by the user), no specific failure point is indicated, so check the list of measured values measured by the failure display device,
There is no choice but to estimate the failure point with experience and know-how and deal with it.
This requires enormous amounts of time and examples to understand, experience, and accumulate know-how in a complicated automobile system, making efficient and reliable automobile maintenance difficult.

[0005]

For the above reasons, it is important to maintain a database regarding failures.
However, each repair shop is proceeding with repairs by its own method (know-how of individual skilled workers = database), and information sharing is not progressing. Even if 10 cars a day are serviced at one shop, the number of cars of the same type will be only 2-3 cars / month. The number of new cars will decrease. Furthermore, if the same kind of failure occurs, the number of cases will be very small. When making repairs from test results such as routine and irregular inspections, it is clear that there are too few samples to analyze them with conventional experience and cans alone.
Further, electronic diagnosis is indispensable for a car having a black box system, which is integrated into IC unlike control by mechanical structure, which is frequently improved with computerization of the car. On the other hand, a car repairer is commonly called a mechanic, and is not necessarily familiar with electronics, and it is hard to say that he or she has used effective devices sufficiently.

An object of the present invention is to provide a system that solves the above technical and technical problems and provides accurate and efficient maintenance data. Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of diagnosing an automobile failure using the provided data.

[0007]

In order to achieve the object of the present invention, a data center is provided in the present invention. The repaired inspection items and diagnostic test data (hereinafter referred to as diagnostic data) are accumulated from each garage and statistically processed to obtain appropriate diagnostic reference values (reference value range indicated from the data center: hereinafter referred to as DS reference range) and failures. The inspection items listed in order of frequency are made into a database as a table. When each maintenance shop inspects or repairs an automobile, the data center feeds back the DS standard range and a table of inspection items to the maintenance shop via the relay station 6. That is, in the conventional repair mode, the data of only 2 to 3 units / month for the same type of vehicle becomes 2,000 to 3,000 units / month of data by sharing the network with 1000 stores, for example. Tens of thousands of data are collected annually. It goes without saying that there are many identical failures in this. It is possible to provide a completely new and effective maintenance system by constructing highly reliable failure diagnosis data by statistically processing these data in a data center and providing the data to each maintenance factory.

In order to smoothly process a huge amount of data and create a database, it is necessary to collect data in a simplified form. Therefore, in the present invention, the vehicle failure diagnosis device having a learning function accesses the data sensor before the repair vehicle starts to receive the inspection item and the procedure thereof. An inspection method will be constructed based on these inspection items and procedures, and measurement data (measurement values collected during inspection) measured at that time and inspection items for which failures have been resolved will be transmitted at the completion of repair. The information received by the center is processed by the computer. The measurement data measured at the time of inspection and determined to be “normal” by the automobile failure diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention is initially subjected to the characteristic data of each component, which was an initial characteristic, and statistically processed at the center as a dynamic characteristic including meter change over time. Then, it becomes a database and becomes indispensable for the judgment of failure.

Even if the measurement data determined to be "abnormal" by the automobile failure diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention at the time of inspection does not show any abnormality by the mechanic's determination in the actual vehicle situation determination, a statistical processing is performed in the data center as a quasi-normal value. And create a database. Also, the mechanic sends the inspection points where the failure can be resolved by the information from the vehicle failure diagnosis device and the data center of the present invention to the center and counts them in the frequency of the inspection items. The inspection items arranged based on the general estimated failure rate are statistically processed based on daily information, and are sorted in descending order of failure probability. The accuracy improves with the passage of time for one month, two months, and half a year.

FIG. 3 shows an example of changes in the order of inspection items.
As will be described later with reference to Fig. 4, in Fig. 3, the first inspection items are ranked by general judgment based on the design, and Fig. 4 is based on the result of accumulating 10,000 data one year later. It is an example of ranking. This is an objective statistical data that exceeds the know-how of a trained mechanic because it has a failure frequency peculiar to a specific vehicle type. It goes without saying that the younger the case number, the higher the failure frequency, and the cause of the failure can be reached in a short time if the procedure is followed.

As described above, the statistically processed data for one year is a collection of know-how that a mechanic cannot acquire even if it takes a lifetime. During maintenance, you can quickly and accurately perform maintenance by checking along this guide. By displaying the inspection procedure as information from the center, there is no need to see the manual, and the mechanic also provides a system that allows maintenance without being aware of communication with the center. By incorporating the send / receive operation in the procedure, the worker can work without any trouble. Further, since the center can obtain the data according to a certain procedure, the data processing can be automated. Furthermore, even if the measured data value is out of the design standard range, there is no practical inconvenience in the actual vehicle, and defective parts included in the range of quasi-normal values do not need to be repaired, and waste of resources due to excessive maintenance can be avoided, which is an important issue. It is also effective for environmental protection.

In order to achieve the above object, in the first invention, the automobile data center statistically processes the failure modes, inspection points, inspection items and measurement data for each vehicle type transmitted from each repair shop, It has a table in which the inspection items are arranged in descending order of frequency of failure for each failure mode, and has a communication function with each repair shop.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automobile failure diagnosis device,
Corresponding to the failure mode, inspection items for failure repair, which are prioritized based on the repair data accumulated in the data center, are downloaded from the data center.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automobile failure diagnosis device,
Inspection items and inspection procedures for failure repair corresponding to the failure mode are downloaded from the data center, and inspections are performed using the inspection procedures displayed for each inspection item.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automobile failure diagnosis device,
Information written on a vehicle-type card inserted in advance when connected to a vehicle requiring failure diagnosis and the mileage of the vehicle are automatically transmitted to the data center, and the information is transmitted from the data center based on this information. Download and utilize the latest information.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, an automobile failure diagnosis system includes a first data center and an automobile failure diagnosis device for transmitting data measured at the time of repair and repair items to the data center. The statistical processing is automatically performed on the data accumulated by being transmitted from the diagnostic device.

In a sixth aspect of the present invention, an automobile failure diagnosis system includes a data center and an automobile failure diagnosis device having a communication function with the data center, and the automobile failure diagnosis device corresponds to a failure mode. The inspection items and inspection procedures for trouble repair are downloaded from the data center, and inspections are performed using the inspection procedures displayed for each inspection item.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, an automobile failure diagnosis system includes an automobile failure diagnosis device having a communication function and a data center communicating with the automobile failure diagnosis device, and the automobile failure diagnosis device is required to perform a failure diagnosis. When connected to a vehicle, the vehicle failure diagnosis device automatically transmits information described in a vehicle type card inserted in advance to the vehicle failure diagnosis device and the mileage of the vehicle to the data center, Download and utilize the latest information obtained based on this information.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings using some examples. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automobile failure diagnosis system according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 4 denotes an automobile failure diagnosis device according to the present invention, which includes a failure diagnosis device portion 17 and a communication function portion 18. The communication function part 18 uses a mobile phone, a PHS (personal handy phone), or the like.
Reference numeral 5 is a dedicated connection terminal. A wireless relay station 6 relays communication between the failure diagnosis device 4 and the center 7. The data center 7 includes a data transmission / reception control unit 8, a data processing unit 9, and a recording device 10 for accumulating data. The data center 7 is connected to a failure diagnosis device 4 via a mobile phone or a personal handyphone station and a general telephone line or a dedicated line. Connected. Reference numeral 15 is a data card in which design standard data for each maker and vehicle is input. Reference numeral 16 is a vehicle history card in which test (inspection) and repair data are input.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the vehicle failure diagnosis system according to the present invention. In FIG. 5, 4
Is a vehicle failure diagnosis device according to the present invention, and is composed of a failure diagnosis device portion 17 and a communication function portion 18. 1
1 is a personal computer located in an office of a maintenance factory or the like, and is connected to an Internet service provider (hereinafter referred to as ISP) 13 at all times or by dialing up to the Internet. Dedicated line 14 for ISP 13 and data center 7
Often connected by. The data center 7 comprises a data transmission / reception control part 8, a data processing part 9 and a recording device 10 for storing data. In the above explanation,
Although an example in which the constituent elements are configured by wireless communication has been described, the other priority connection can be similarly implemented.

The fault diagnosis and repair according to the present invention includes pre-diagnosis preparation,
It consists of the steps of diagnosis, repair, data transmission to the data center, and writing of vehicle history data. This will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the preparatory process before the failure diagnosis. First, in step 601, when the vehicle is stored, the data card 15 in which the design standard data corresponding to the vehicle type is stored is selected, and the vehicle history card 16 in which the test repair data according to the present invention is stored. And prepare for diagnosis. In step 602, the engine of the automobile is stopped, and it is confirmed that the power of the failure diagnosis device 4 is turned off.
03, the failure diagnosis device 4 with the car dedicated cable 3
And the dedicated connector 5 of the car. Step 6
04, the vehicle failure diagnosis device 4 to the vehicle-specific data card 1
Insert 5. Next, in step 605, the vehicle history card 16 of the automobile is inserted into the failure diagnosis device 4. As will be described later, the maintenance history of the vehicle is recorded on the card 16. When the connection is completed, the power of the failure diagnosis device 4 is turned on in step 606. When the power is turned on, a screen for selecting the vehicle type name, engine type, year model, transmission type, etc. appears in the failure diagnosis device 4 of the present invention. In step 607, the selection is input accordingly. Finally, in step 608, when the mileage of the vehicle is input, the failure diagnosis device 4 automatically dials up and is connected to the data center 7 of the present invention. Step 6
In step 610, the target vehicle-specific data is requested to the data center 7, and in step 610, the vehicle-specific diagnosis data is requested to the data center 7. The vehicle type diagnosis data is data created by stacking repair data based on design standard values. In response to this request, the data control system of the data center 7 transmits the data of the automobile to the failure diagnosis device 4 of the present invention.
The pre-diagnosis preparation is completed by receiving and saving the history data indicating the vehicle inspection and repair history of the vehicle and the diagnostic data of the vehicle. When the preparation for diagnosis is completed, for example, a message "Please start measurement" is displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device 4.

On the other hand, on the side of the data center 7 which has received a data request from the failure diagnosis device 4, the processing shown in FIG. 7 is performed. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the data center. In step 701, when the vehicle type of the vehicle is accepted, the diagnostic data of the vehicle up to now is read from the data center database in step 702, the history data is read from the database in step 703, and the vehicle type is read in step 704. The diagnostic data and the historical data are sent to the failure diagnosis device 4.

In this embodiment, the vehicle and the failure diagnosis device 4 are connected by a dedicated cable, but the vehicle and the failure diagnosis device 4 may be connected by wireless transmission such as a low power system. In this case, the failure diagnosis device 4 does not have to run around the cable when carrying it into the vehicle for a running test or when maintaining the engine by opening the hood of the engine room, so the work of the present invention is greatly improved. Needless to say.

Next, the diagnosis and defect determination process is started. This process has the following cases. The first case is regular inspection and maintenance such as vehicle inspection. At this time, there are many cases where the user does not report anything particularly bad. The second case is when the user offers a car malfunction. The third case is when a warning is displayed on the meter panel.

The case of maintenance such as regular inspection, which is the first case, will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of a diagnosis and defect determination process using the failure diagnosis device according to the present invention. In the figure, step 801
Then, when the engine is started, the failure diagnosis device 4 screen will instruct you to put the engine in the idling state.
At step 802, the engine is placed in the idling state. In the idling state, in step 803, the diagnostic data from the data center 7 and the measurement data measured by the failure diagnostic device 4 in the idling state are collated to determine a data mismatch. When this process is completed, an instruction is issued in step 804 to set the engine speed to 3000 rpm. The mechanic operates the accelerator of the car and maintains 3000 rpm. Step 8
At 05, the diagnostic data from the data center at 3000 revolutions and the measurement data at 3000 revolutions are collated to determine whether the data do not match. These diagnosis (measurement, collation, judgment)
When is completed, the no-load diagnosis ends. Here, when the engine speed of the vehicle can be controlled from the failure diagnosis device 4 via the dedicated connection end, the failure diagnosis device 4 automatically controls the engine speed to 3000 revolutions, so the mechanic performs the accelerator operation. No need.

Next, in step 806, an actual running test is started. In step 807, the failure diagnosis device 4 collects data necessary for diagnosis by performing a normal city driving,
The diagnostic data from the data center and the measured data obtained in the actual running state are collated to determine the discrepancy of the data. It goes without saying that high-speed driving is also carried out if necessary. If no data discrepancy is found here, the measured data is transmitted to the data center as normal data. The car is normal and needs no repair.

In step 808, it is determined whether or not there is a mismatch between the DS reference value range of the reference data received from the center and the measurement data for a certain inspection item, and if a mismatch is found (in the case of Y), a failure diagnosis is performed. The device 4 displays this inconsistency information, and in step 809, transmits the failure location and the inconsistency item to the data center 7. The data center 7 sends the inconsistency-related repair data to the failure diagnosis device 4. Step 810
Then, the failure diagnosis device 4 downloads the repair data such as the inspection location, item data, and inspection procedure sent from the data center 7. In step 811, the mechanic checks the condition of the vehicle and the condition of the vehicle. In particular, the mechanic judges the result of the actual vehicle test, and if there is no practical problem or malfunction, the item “no abnormality” is selected and input to the failure diagnosis device 4. In step 812,
By inputting no abnormality, the measurement data of this inspection item is recorded in the storage device 10 of the failure diagnosis device 4 as a quasi-normal value. On the other hand, if the mechanic judges that there is a defect or malfunction at this time, the item “repair required” is selected and input, and the process proceeds to the repair process of step 813. In this case, the user's consent must be obtained before repairing. At this time, the measurement data of this inspection item is recorded in the storage device of the failure diagnosis device 4 as an abnormal value.

If there is no discrepancy between the measured data and the diagnostic data in step 808 and no abnormal data is found, or if quasi-normal data is registered in step 812, step 814 is executed. Enter the diagnostic data and quasi-normal data on the target vehicle history data card,
In step 815, this diagnostic data is transmitted to the data center 7.

The second case will be described with reference to FIG. 9 for the processing operation when a defect of the vehicle is reported by the user. FIG. 9 shows the use of the failure diagnosis device according to the present invention.
It is a flow chart which shows one example of a diagnosis and a malfunction judging process based on a report from a customer, and performs a failure mode judging process based on information heard from a user in advance. In step 901, diagnosis corresponding to the diagnosis process of FIG. 8 is performed. next,
In step 902, the user hears the defect. Figure 1
0 and FIG. 11 are plan views showing an example of a selection screen displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis apparatus. Using this screen, the failure mode of the trouble heard from the user is determined. There was a report that the user breathes during acceleration. Step 9
In the failure mode determination process of 03, when "1. engine system" is selected from the failure mode determination screen shown in FIG. 10, the screen of FIG. 11 is displayed. Select "1.3 Breath when accelerating" from this screen. This is the failure mode. Here, the failure mode refers to the failure reported by the user of the vehicle corresponding to the failure classification of the database of the present invention. Next, in step 904, this failure mode is transmitted to the data center 7. In step 905, the repair data transmitted from the data center 7, such as inspection points,
Item data and inspection procedure are downloaded to the failure diagnosis device 4.

Next, the inspection will be described. In this case as well, the diagnosis is started as in the first example. As shown in FIG. 8, when the pre-diagnosis preparation and the diagnosis process are performed, a mismatch is found between the DS reference value range and the measurement data. Information is immediately transmitted to the data center, and data requiring repair (inspection points, items, and inspection procedure chart) is transmitted from the data center. This is step 9
At 05, it is downloaded to the failure diagnosis device 4 and collated. In the verification results, a discrepancy was found in the air-flow sensor data. Therefore, the air-flow sensor circuit is diagnosed as abnormal here. This flow sensor circuit abnormality is in good agreement with the customer's declaration. Of course, the diagnosis can discover potential defects that the customer does not notice, and there are many inspection items. In this case, the inspection points and inspection items corresponding to the customer's declaration are listed at the top of each list, so repair is given priority. The order of inspection points and inspection items is analyzed and statistically processed by the data center, which is a feature of the present invention, and is displayed in descending order of failure frequency based on the failure frequency of the vehicle type. When the repair corresponding to this failure mode is completed, inspection and repair may be performed in the same manner as in the first case. In this way, when the measured data and the DS standard range data can be collated due to an electrical failure and a discrepancy can be confirmed, diagnosis and determination are performed in the above steps.
The mechanic can find the faulty part in a short time by performing inspection work in the order of this list. The inspection procedure is the failure diagnosis device 4
Since it is displayed on the screen, it is possible to work smoothly without having to open a cumbersome work manual during work. Further, by performing the work according to the procedure, the failure diagnosis device 4 changes the measurement terminal input mode according to the measurement item. As a result, it becomes possible to easily handle the multi-function and complicated operation diagnostic device 4. Conventionally, for example, the voltage is measured in a state in which the measuring device is set in a mode for measuring the resistance value, and the measuring device 4 is destroyed, and what kind of setting the desired measurement can be performed. In the end, it is possible to prevent not being able to use convenient electronic devices without knowing.

Next, the third case will be described. FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the diagnosis and defect determination process when a defect is displayed on the meter panel using the failure diagnosis device according to the present invention. Step 1201
Then, the diagnostic process of FIG. 8 is performed. Next, the failure mode corresponding to the warning issued to the meter panel or the like is selected. In step 1202, the failure mode data is immediately sent to the data center 7, and in step 1203, the inspection location, inspection item, and inspection procedure corresponding to the abnormality in the diagnostic data are downloaded.

Next, the repair process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of a repair process using the failure diagnosis device according to the present invention. In most cases, there are multiple inspection points and multiple inspection items, but here is an example. In the description of the repair process, a case of a defect due to a report from the second user will be described as an example. That is, this is the case where the diagnosis result and the contents declared by the user match and there is a defect in the air-flow sensor circuit. In this case, from the data center 7 already shown in FIG.
The inspection points, inspection items, and procedures are sent to Nos. 4 and 15.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of inspection points and inspection items displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device. FIG. 14A shows the inspection points and FIG. 14B shows the inspection items. Further, FIG. 15 is a plan view of the inspection procedure displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device.

If there is an uninspected place in step 1301, the inspection place shown in FIG. 14A is displayed on the screen. For example, click “1. Air flow sensor circuit”. In this case, there are unchecked items, so step 1
Since 302 is present (Y), inspection items are displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. Step 1303
For this check item, see “2. Air flow sensor G
When "Terminal inspection" is clicked, in step 1304, the inspection procedure is displayed as shown in FIG. Therefore, inspection is performed in step 1305 according to this procedure.

As a result of the inspection, in step 1306, if there is no abnormality (in the case of N), the process returns to step 1302,
Check other inspection items. If no abnormality is found even after inspecting all other inspection items, the process returns to step 1301, and if there is another inspection point, step 1303.
Check the check items corresponding to the check points.

In the inspection item of step 1303, click the air flow sensor G terminal inspection and click step 130.
4, when the measurement of the terminal resistance of the air-flow meter is instructed, the measurement terminals of the failure diagnostic device 4 of the present invention are set to the mode for automatically measuring the resistance value, and both ends as shown in the figure. When the measurement terminal is applied to the child, the resistance value is displayed. The resistance value is judged by comparing with the DS reference range sent from the center in advance. In the case of this embodiment, the value is 0.5 ohms, and this value is displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device 4. This value was immediately checked against the DS reference range and entered the DS reference range of 0.4 to 0.6 ohms. Therefore, in step 1306, it is determined to be normal, and "normal" is displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device 4. The next item to check is resistance to earth. Measure the resistance between terminal G and the negative pole of the battery. The measurement result shows that the resistance is infinite and it is judged that the wiring is broken. Therefore, step 1306
Is judged to be abnormal (Y). Therefore, the wiring is examined in detail there and the disconnection point is examined. In this embodiment, the G terminal and the wire have a poor contact, and in step 1307, the G terminal was replaced and the repair was completed. In step 1308, for inspection again, the resistance between the G terminal and the battery ground was measured, and the resistance value was zero, and it was determined to be normal. Since the maintenance is completed, the diagnosis is performed again, and step 13
The presence or absence of abnormality is determined in 09. When there is an abnormality (in the case of N), steps 1307 and 1308 are repeated again. If it is determined in step 1306 that there is no abnormality (Y), "all normal" is displayed on the screen, and the diagnosis,
Repair is completed.

In this embodiment, before the completion of diagnosis or repair is displayed on the failure diagnosis device 4, the failure diagnosis device 4 sends diagnostic information such as inspection points, inspection items, and defective points to the data center 7 in step 1310. Send. In the case of the present embodiment, the resistance value of the air-flow meter is 0.5 ohm, and the connection point between the terminal G and the battery and the measured value at the time of diagnosis are reported as the failure point. In addition, this vehicle's history card will be overwritten with the diagnostic data of this time, the location of the failure, and the repair item over the previous data. The repair of the defective vehicle is now completed, and the user of the vehicle, together with the completed vehicle, writes the diagnostic data in the vehicle history card in step 1311, and passes it to the user.

This vehicle history card is brought to the completely first maintenance shop, not the one that the vehicle is always using due to a sudden failure such as a travel destination, and the maintenance shop has a communication function with the data center of the present invention. Even if you do not have it, you can perform reliable maintenance by calling the maintenance data from the vehicle history card 16 for the maintenance history.

On the data center 7 side, the automatically transmitted resistance value of the air-flow meter is 0.5 ohms, and the connection failure between the terminal G and the battery is treated as data as a failure point. The resistance value is used as a resistance distribution to make future determination more accurate, and a connection failure between the terminal G and the battery is counted as a failure time example. The count data is used as frequency data of inspection points, and the display order of inspection items is changed. This procedure is automatically performed by the computer, and is completed without any mechanic or administrator of the data service center 7 performing data input, transmission, reception, data reading, sorting, or the like.

If all the inspection points are inspected in step 1301 and no defect is found and the repair is not completed in step 1312, the process proceeds to step 1313 to perform the conventional inspection, and in step 1314, it is performed by a skilled worker. inspection,
Make repairs. In step 1315, the failure mode, inspection location, inspection item, etc. are input from the menu screen, and in step 1316, the input data is transmitted to the data center 7.

Next, a case will be described in which there is no warning display and the user reports that the vehicle is in a bad condition, and no abnormal measurement value can be found as a result of diagnosis. Such a situation often occurs for the following reasons. Even in the latest automobiles, there are many places where mechanical control is performed.
There is a case that the collation cannot be performed in the diagnosis of and the failure cannot be found. Specifically, the failure mode determination process is performed based on the information previously heard from the user. The failure mode is determined by the selection screen displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device 4 shown in FIGS. There was a report that the user breathes during acceleration. When "1. engine system" is selected from the failure mode determination screen shown in FIG. 10, the screen of FIG. 11 is displayed.
Select "1.3 Breath when accelerating" from this screen. This is the failure mode. At this time, only the inspection location, inspection item, and inspection procedure corresponding to the failure mode are transmitted from the data center. The order of inspection points and inspection items is analyzed and statistically processed by the data center, which is a feature of the present invention, and is displayed in descending order of failure frequency based on the failure frequency of the vehicle type.

The inspection items corresponding to this failure mode are shown in FIG.
As shown in 6. FIG. 16 is a plan view showing an embodiment of inspection items corresponding to the failure mode displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device. FIG. 17 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the inspection procedure corresponding to the inspection items displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device. The inspection items from the data center 7 are displayed in descending order of frequency of failure based on the failure record of the vehicle. A specific data processing method will be described later. When the operator first selects "1. Measurement of ignition timing" among the inspection items in FIG. 16, the inspection procedure is displayed as shown in FIG. Check based on this instruction. In this embodiment, the failure diagnosis device 4 is used as a synchro-type oscilloscope to measure the ignition timing, so that the oscilloscope mode is automatically changed. When the probe is connected by the procedure method, a waveform is displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device 4. The waveform changes smoothly when the engine speed is raised or lowered. The failure diagnosis device 4 automatically measures the engine speed and the amount of advance angle, and automatically compares them with the data transmitted from the center. In the present embodiment, since the change is within the DS standard range, the failure diagnosis device 4 is judged to be "normal". Next, in order to confirm “2.
Measure the control signal of the advance device. In this case, since the voltage of the pressure sensor is measured, the measuring terminal of the failure diagnosis device 4 of the present invention is set to the mode for automatically measuring the voltage. Figure 1
When the terminals are applied to both terminals as shown in 7, the voltage is displayed. When the engine speed is gradually increased, the speed and voltage are automatically measured and displayed on the screen. The failure diagnosis device 4 automatically measures the engine speed and the voltage, and automatically compares them with the data transmitted from the center 7. The characteristic curve of the DS reference range is also displayed on the screen, and the mechanic can also confirm that it is within the DS reference range.

Next, the resistance value of the accelerator opening sensor of No. 3 is measured. The measurement terminals of the failure diagnosis device 4 are connected to both ends of the accelerator opening sensor according to the procedure. When the mechanic measured the resistance value while depressing the accelerator pedal, the resistance value did not change smoothly, and the resistance value changed stepwise from a certain point. The accelerator opening is the above-mentioned mechanical amount and is not computerized. Therefore, this determination is made visually by the mechanic. Although the resistance value at the time of accelerator off and the resistance value at the time of full accelerator were within the DS reference range, but the measured value did not change smoothly, so the mechanic determines that the accelerator opening sensor is defective. When the accelerator opening sensor was replaced and the resistance value was measured, it was confirmed that it changed smoothly and was operating normally. In this case, check item 3. Becomes abnormal. Since the repair was completed, when the diagnosis was performed again, the display of "all normal" appeared and it was confirmed that there was no problem at all in the actual driving. Also in this case, in the present embodiment, the failure diagnosis device 4 transmits the diagnosis data, the failure location, and the failure item to the data center 7 before the completion of repair is displayed. Although the repair of the broken car is completed by this, the data center 7 adds the automatically transmitted data to the accumulated data and processes it. In this case, a defective accelerator opening sensor is counted as a failure case. The count data is used as frequency data of inspection points, and the display order of inspection items is changed.

Examples of changes in the inspection item rank are shown in FIGS. FIG. 3 is a table of inspection items created first, and the inspection items are ranked by general judgment. FIG. 4 is a table showing the order of inspection items as a result of accumulating 10,000 data after one year. Since the process with the highest frequency is performed, the failure frequency is peculiar to the specific vehicle type. This is objective statistical data that exceeds the know-how of skilled mechanics. Needless to say, the younger the case number, the higher the failure frequency, and the failure cause can be reached in a short time if the procedure is followed. Of course, items that have never occurred in 10,000 data are listed at the bottom. These processes are automatically performed by the computer, and neither the mechanic nor the data service center side administrator completes any special work for data processing (data input, transmission, reception, data reading, sorting, etc.). Most of the work is completed in this way, but it is possible that some items do not fall under any of the items and other items occur. This is the case where repair is not completed in step 1312 of FIG. At this time, the inspection is the conventional type shown in FIG. 13, but unfortunately, it depends on the skill and know-how of the expert.

As another case of this embodiment, the procedure in the case where the conventional inspection is performed because the failure point cannot be found will be described. The user's declaration was to take a breath when accelerating. A young mechanic inspected all the inspection items but could not find any abnormalities. An inspection by the mechanic using other procedures revealed that the shaft of the turbocharger was seized. Therefore, a skilled mechanic carried out an inspection. When I brought out a stethoscope and hit the body of the charger to hear the sound, I heard the sound hitting the body. I can't hear the sound of rotation and the turbocharger seems to be defective. When the accelerator was turned off and the number of revolutions of the engine was increased, there was a time delay and the sound of rotation was heard. This timing is also unstable and it is estimated that the turbocharger is out of order. Since there is no other cause, I replaced the turbocharger and did a running test, and the abnormality disappeared and the repair was completed.
Therefore, the veteran mechanic inputs this maintenance content using the failure diagnosis device 4. From the menu screen of the failure diagnosis device 4, select "Veteran wisdom bag" (not shown), select the failure mode item, and select the breath at acceleration as the failure mode. Enter the turbocharger item as the inspection point. Enter the inspection item and confirmation of abnormal rotation sound. A dialog for data transmission appears. Select "Yes" to send to the data center. The person in charge of the "experienced wisdom bag" of the data center adds the failure mode, failure location, and inspection item to the model, year, and model of the vehicle. As a result, this item will be displayed as having a low inspection order for future maintenance. If similar failures occur frequently in vehicles of the same type as this vehicle, the frequency of this turbocharger failure will automatically increase, and the order of inspection will be higher. As a result, it becomes possible to utilize the know-how of skilled workers, which cannot be utilized by the conventional type, and the maintenance efficiency is significantly improved. Of course, it is conceivable to pay an appropriate price to the reported maintenance shop.

In the cases so far, the failure diagnosis device 4 directly accesses the data center for diagnosis, but for example, the personal computer in the office of the maintenance factory and the failure diagnosis device 4 are connected by wireless communication means such as Bluetooth. You may connect to the data center from the personal computer via the Internet.

The diagnostic procedure is exactly the same as the embodiment already described. The failure diagnosis device 4 can be miniaturized by using a personal computer, and the usability is improved. Also, since the general line is used, the maintenance cost is more advantageous than the wireless line.
Also, once the procedure manual is downloaded from the center to the personal computer, it can be sent from the personal computer to the failure diagnosis device 4 when necessary, so that the communication cost can be saved.

Next, the data processing in the data center 7 will be described. FIG. 18 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the data processing operation in the data center. In step 1801, the diagnostic data classification process is started. In step 1802, the diagnostic data stored and transmitted from each failure diagnosis device 4 is analyzed. The measurement data transmitted from the failure diagnosis device 4 has a normal value, a quasi-normal value and an abnormal value. The reference value dynamically changes according to the latest information from the failure diagnosis device 4. When the amount of data is small, the diagnosis is performed within the design standard range at the time of design, but when the amount of data is increased, the diagnosis is performed within the DS reference value range based on the actual field data. In step 1802, it is determined whether the diagnostic data is within the reference range, and the data within the reference range is registered in the normal data table 1804. For data outside the reference range,
In step 1805, it is determined whether the repair has been performed. When repaired, the data value indicates a defect, so the abnormal value data table 1806 is registered, and step 180 is performed.
If it is determined in 5 that the repair is not required, it is registered in the quasi-normal value data table 1807.

FIG. 19 is a characteristic diagram showing an embodiment of data of the air-flow meter resistance value of the vehicle type to be diagnosed. At the start of data collection, the design standard range is judged to be normal. The results of the operation of the system of the present invention for one year are shown below. ○
Indicates the number of vehicles with normal values and resistance values within this range.
○ One represents 50 cars. Δ is the number of vehicles that are out of the design standard value range but have no abnormality in the actual vehicle defect determination. In this case as well, one represents 50 units. × indicates the resistance value of the vehicle and the number of vehicles in which the defect was recognized. Again, one represents 50 cars. The standard value range has expanded after one year. Here, the data center 7 receives the information of the automobile whose measured data has the resistance value shown by the line 17 in FIG. At this time, the judgment at the data center 7 deviates from the reference value, but it is judged that there is no inconvenience in use, and the judgment of the quasi-normal value is transmitted to the failure diagnosis device 4. Based on this information, the failure diagnosis device 4 makes a normal determination at this point.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the data center reference value range determination processing in the data center. The fault diagnostic device 4 transmits measured values of normal, quasi-normal and abnormal and inspection points where there is a problem, and stores them in the storage device 10. When the data statistical process is started in step 2001, the storage device 1 is started in step 2002.
0 The stored normal value, abnormal value, and quasi-normal value are read. In step 2003, it is determined whether the number of samples is 50 or more. For example, an air-flow meter resistance of 0.65 ohm has been transmitted as a quasi-normal value. The flow of FIG. 20 checks how many 0.65 ohms have been accumulated in the past. If there are 30 in the past, the design standard range will not be changed. If there are 49 in the past, the number of data in this time will be 50, so if the abnormal value is not this value in the past, it is adopted as the DS reference value range of the data center. As a result, a design standard value of 0.4 to 0.6 ohms was used as a DS standard value range of 0.4 to 0.65.
Will be expanded to ohms. If this 0.65 ohm is registered as an abnormal value, there is no change in the reference range.

Therefore, when the number of samples is less than 50 in step 2003, the process proceeds to step 2004 and the design reference value is used as diagnostic data. If the number of samples is 50 or more in step 2003, step 200
Then, the process proceeds to step 5 to determine whether or not there is an abnormal value outside the design standard value range. If there is no abnormal value (in the case of Y), in step 2006, the data center reference range is expanded to this data value. When there is an abnormal value in step 2005 (in the case of N), it is determined in step 2007 whether this abnormal value is outside the current reference value. If it is out of the reference value, the process proceeds to step 2008 and the reference value range is not changed. When it is determined in step 2007 that there is an abnormal value within the reference value, the process proceeds to step 2009, and it is determined whether the number of samples is 5 or less. Step two
When the number of samples is more than 5 (N) in 009, in step 2010, the reference value range is narrowed so that the range not including the abnormal value data becomes the reference range. If the number of samples is 5 or less in step 2009 (Y), the process proceeds to step 2008 and the reference value range is not changed.

By the way, after the DS reference value range has been applied in this way, the failure diagnostic device 4 has also sent measurement data with an air-flow meter resistance value of 0.65 ohms. In the data center, this value is outside the design standard range but within the DS standard value range, so it is determined to be a quasi-normal value, and the failure diagnosis device 4 determines that the air-flow meter resistance value is normal. However, the quasi-normal value is transmitted to the failure diagnosis device 4, and the inspection item air-flow sensor inspection is displayed in a different color from the inconsistent inspection item by comparison, and the mechanic confirms it. It is also possible to do so. Should an abnormality not be found in the inspection items instructed by the data center, additional inspection can be performed based on this information.

Next, the prioritization of inspection items will be described. 21 is a table showing the frequency of each inspection item by failure mode, FIG. 21 (a) is a table of inspection items of failure mode 1, and FIG. 21 (b) is a table of inspection items of failure mode 2. 21 (c) shows failure mode 3
It is a table of the inspection items of. In FIG. 21, the frequency is counted and arranged in descending order of frequency for each inspection item for each vehicle type and failure mode to which the inspection item for which the malfunction has been resolved is transmitted from the failure diagnosis device 4. At the start of data, as shown in FIG. 3, inspection items are listed based on the design standard value. For example, one month later
The list shown in 1 is obtained, and the items are rearranged in the order in which the problem is resolved.

The inspection items and reference data requested from the failure diagnosis device 4 as maintenance information are collected in this manner in orderly manner without burdening the operator with a huge amount of information.

As described above, according to the present invention, by analyzing and utilizing a huge amount of maintenance data, it is possible to obtain the effect of enabling quick and accurate maintenance. For example, it is assumed that one maintenance vehicle of a certain model, year 2000 type, and certain engine type has been put into maintenance for 100 vehicles per year at one maintenance factory. With this number of units, there are a wide variety of failure points and it cannot be processed as statistical data. Therefore, skilled know-how was important. However, according to the method of the present invention, the situation is completely changed by collecting and analyzing the data in the data center. For example, if the vehicle failure diagnosis device 4 of the present invention is deployed in 1000 garages and data is accumulated, 100,000 failure data can be used and inspection items specific to the vehicle can be displayed. As a result, even if a skilled worker takes 10 years,
You can share the know-how that can be obtained only about 100 cases. Moreover, the weakness peculiar to the vehicle can be grasped, and the possibility of judgment of the complaint can be estimated. This will greatly contribute to ensuring the safety of the vehicle.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform quick and accurate maintenance by analyzing and utilizing a huge amount of maintenance data. Further, according to the present invention, the inspection items specific to the vehicle can be displayed by collecting and analyzing the data in the data center. In addition, the weakness peculiar to the vehicle can be grasped, which can greatly contribute to ensuring the safety of the vehicle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view when a failure display device is used in an automobile.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an automobile failure diagnosis system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a table of inspection items created first.

FIG. 4 is a table showing the order of inspection items as a result of accumulating 10,000 data after one year.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the vehicle failure diagnosis system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of a preparatory process before failure diagnosis.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the data center.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of a diagnosis and defect determination process using the failure diagnosis device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of a diagnosis / defective determination process based on a report from a customer using the failure diagnosis device according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an example of a selection screen displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing an example of a selection screen displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of a diagnosis / fault determination process when a fault is displayed on the meter panel using the fault diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a repair process using the failure diagnosis device according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of inspection points and inspection items displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of an inspection procedure displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device.

FIG. 16 is a plan view showing an example of inspection items corresponding to failure modes displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device.

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing an example of an inspection procedure corresponding to the inspection items displayed on the screen of the failure diagnosis device.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an example of a data processing operation in a data center.

FIG. 19 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of data of air-flow meter resistance values of a vehicle model to be diagnosed.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a data center reference value range determination process in the data center.

FIG. 21 is a table showing the frequency of each inspection item for each failure mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Failure diagnosis device, 2 ... Exclusive connector, 3 ... Exclusive cable, 4 ... Failure diagnosis device, 5 ... Exclusive connection terminal, 6 ... Relay station, 7 ... Data center of the present invention, 8 ... Data transmission / reception control part, 9 ... Data processing part, 10 ... Recording device, 11 ... Personal computer, 12 ... General line, 13 ... ISP, 14 ... Dedicated line, 15 ... Data card, 16 ... Vehicle history card, 17
... failure diagnostic device part, 18 ... communication function part.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Tatsuya Watanabe             2-5-8 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Hitachi Mobile (72) Inventor Hideo Kawasaki             2-5-8 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Hitachi Mobile F-term (reference) 3D026 BA02 BA22 BA27

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. Statistical processing of vehicle-specific failure modes, inspection points, inspection items, and measurement data transmitted from each repair shop, and the inspection items are arranged in descending order of failure frequency for each failure mode. Car data center, which has a communication table with each of the repair shops. 2. The automobile data center according to claim 1, wherein the diagnostic data sent from each of the repair factories is normal value data within the design standard range, or quasi-normal value data outside the design standard range but unnecessary for repair. An automobile data center characterized by processing abnormal value data requiring repair and creating a data center reference value range. 3. The automobile data center according to claim 1, comprising an inspection procedure and a measurement procedure corresponding to inspection items. 4. An automobile failure diagnosis device characterized in that inspection items for failure repair, which are prioritized based on repair data accumulated in the data center, are downloaded from the data center in accordance with the failure mode. 5. An automobile failure characterized by downloading inspection items and inspection procedures for failure repair corresponding to a failure mode from a data center and inspecting using the inspection procedures displayed for each inspection item. Diagnostic device. 6. The information described in a vehicle type card inserted in advance when connected to a vehicle requiring a failure diagnosis and the mileage of the vehicle are automatically transmitted to a data center, and based on this information, An automobile failure diagnosis device characterized by downloading and utilizing the latest information transmitted from a data center. 7. The vehicle failure diagnosis device according to claim 6, wherein a wireless telephone is used for the communication function with the vehicle. 8. A data center, and an automobile failure diagnosis device for transmitting data measured at the time of repair and repair items to the data center, the data center being accumulated by being transmitted from the automobile failure diagnosis device. An automobile failure diagnosis system characterized by automatically performing statistical processing on data. 9. A data center and a vehicle failure diagnosis device having a communication function with the data center, wherein the vehicle failure diagnosis device stores data of inspection items and inspection procedures for failure repair corresponding to the failure mode. Download from the center,
A vehicle failure diagnosis system characterized by inspecting using the inspection procedure displayed for each inspection item. 10. A vehicle failure diagnosis device having a communication function, and a data center communicating with the vehicle failure diagnosis device, wherein the vehicle failure diagnosis device is connected to a vehicle requiring failure diagnosis. The failure diagnosing device automatically transmits the information written in the vehicle type card inserted in advance to the vehicle failure diagnosing device and the mileage of the vehicle to the data center, and obtains the latest information obtained based on this information. A vehicle failure diagnosis system characterized by downloading and utilizing. 11. The vehicle failure diagnosis system according to claim 8, wherein a communication function between the data center and the vehicle failure diagnosis device is a wireless telephone. Fault diagnosis system. 12. The vehicle failure diagnosis system according to claim 8, further comprising a computer that communicates with the vehicle failure diagnosis device having a communication function, the computer using a wireless LAN, and the data. The center communicates with the vehicle failure diagnosis device via the Internet, wherein the center has a vehicle failure diagnosis system.