JP2002236690A - Retrieval program for automobile maintenance - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for integrating dispersed diagnosis and maintenance information and managing the same, and quickly retrieving for the integrated information at need. SOLUTION: In this retrieval program, components of an automobile are classified into large groups, medium groups and small groups to construct a hierarchical retrieval structure. The respective items contained in a service manual database, a trouble shooting database and a parts database, the items related to the large groups, medium groups and small groups, and further the items of low order are linked with each other. A user selects one of at least condition of the automobile and a menu containing a system component to thereby refer to the item related to maintenance to be executed contained in the service manual database, the trouble shooting database, and the parts database hierarchically and crossingly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer program for searching a database, and more specifically, to a diagnostic program capable of integrally managing and providing information on diagnosis and maintenance of automobiles and the like. It relates to a computer program for searching for maintenance information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, information for diagnosis and maintenance of a vehicle has been provided from a vehicle manufacturer to a user such as a maintenance company, a dealer or an individual for each vehicle type. Such diagnosis / maintenance information is generally provided through various documents such as maintenance manuals, wiring diagrams, parts catalogs, and change news, and each user manages the various documents by himself / herself. Needed. Further, in addition to these documents, information such as a procedure for responding to the market occurrence problem reporting the experience of responding from the market, and suggestions from the site for responding to the market occurrence problem, etc. is provided from each automobile manufacturer. For this reason, the amount of information related to vehicle diagnosis and maintenance has become enormous, and organizing or managing these documents has increased the burden on the user.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
When performing maintenance, it is desirable that the operator is familiar with the diagnosis and maintenance information as described above. However, since it is actually difficult for an operator to grasp all the information, it is common to search and use only information necessary for diagnosis and maintenance from individual documents. As described above, the search for the diagnosis / maintenance information is provided in the form of individual documents in which the diagnosis / maintenance information is dispersed, so that it is a very time-consuming and time-consuming operation.

[0004] In recent automobiles, electronic control-related technology has been greatly adopted, and the components of the automobile have become more complicated. As a result, information on each component has been increasing. Therefore, the amount of information that must be managed by the user is increasing, and searching for diagnosis / maintenance information performed by an operator is becoming more difficult.

[0005] On the other hand, the work of diagnosing and maintaining an automobile sometimes requires the experience of a skilled worker. The experience of the worker is a diagnosis or maintenance technique or procedure acquired by the worker in performing the diagnosis or maintenance work, and is maintained as information unique to the worker. Traditionally, such experience information has not been widely provided to other people and has not been a type of information shared with other people. For this reason, it has been desired that the experience information of these workers be shared with other people as well as the information provided by documents.

Accordingly, there is a need for a system that can integrate and manage such scattered diagnosis and maintenance information, and can quickly search and provide the integrated information as needed.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a search program according to the present invention provides a large classification for classifying components of an automobile into large components such as an engine and a transmission, and classifies the large classification into the next level. The sub-category classified into components, and each of the components of the sub-class is further classified into sub-classes, which are items related to vehicle maintenance such as components at lower levels, inspection, adjustment, disassembly, etc., and a hierarchical search structure is formed. Build and service manual database,
Link between the respective items included in the troubleshooting database and the parts database and the related items of the above-mentioned large, medium and small categories, or further lower items, and at least the symptom and system of the vehicle; Select any of the components from the menu and browse through the service manual database, troubleshooting database, and parts database related to the maintenance to be performed in a hierarchical and cross-sectional manner. It is configured to be able to.

[0008] According to the present invention, data scattered in a plurality of databases can be referenced hierarchically and transversely using a search structure that is hierarchically shared. As a result, the user can quickly obtain only necessary information from a vast amount of information.

One embodiment of the present invention provides the service
Manual database, troubleshooting
It is configured as a database, a parts database, and a computer-readable storage medium for storing the search program.

According to this aspect, the search program is stored in a computer-readable storage medium,
Performed by any computer.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the service manual database, the troubleshooting database, the parts database, and the search program are stored in a server, and are transmitted from a remote terminal device via a network. The server is accessed to perform a search.

According to this embodiment, the user can access the server from an arbitrary place via the network and run the search program.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention configured using a network. Although this specification describes embodiments that operate over a network, alternative embodiments may be implemented using any storage medium, such as, for example, a CD-ROM, floppy disk, memory, storage device, and the like. It is also possible.

The system of FIG. 1 includes a server 11 connected to a plurality of databases, the server 11 connecting to user computers such as a dealer 13, a maintenance company 15, and an individual 17 via any communication means 19. Is done.
These computers (13, 15, 17) and server 1
As the communication means 19 for connecting to the communication device 1, for example, a conventional computer network means such as the Internet, an intranet, a LAN, or a wireless LAN can be used.

The server 11 can communicate with other computers (13, 15, 17) via the communication means 19. The program of the present invention
Operating on the server, integratedly manages data stored in a plurality of databases, and manages users (dealers 13, maintenance companies 1).
5 and individual 17) can provide appropriate data.

The server 11 includes a database A21, a database B23, a database C25, and a database D
27, and these databases can be integratedly managed. The user can access the server 11 via the communication unit 19 and transmit a search command. The server 11 analyzes the search command transmitted from the user, searches the information requested by the user from each database, and transmits the searched information to the computer on the user side.

A computer on the user side generally includes a display device (display, printer, etc.), a storage device (hard disk, memory, etc.), an input device (mouse, keyboard, etc.), and a communication device (LAN card, modem, etc.). A good computer. Software that communicates with the server 11 is installed on the user's computer. This software accesses the server 11 and generates a search command for searching for information in response to a user request.
Send to Further, it has a function of converting the information retrieved by the server 11 into an appropriate format and displaying it to the user.

Each database stores information on diagnosis and maintenance classified for each item. Hereinafter, each database in the present embodiment will be described.

The database A21 is a database for service bulletin, and stores information on occurrence of failures and correspondence from dealers and the like. These pieces of information are of the type that new information from the dealer is added over time. Therefore, this database is regularly added / updated and maintained so as to always keep the latest information.

The database B23 is a troubleshooting database.
Service manual, troubleshooting methods,
Information such as a parts list is stored. Therefore, information such as work procedures when the worker performs maintenance is stored here.

The database C25 is a database for experience sharing information, in which maintenance information by engineers such as general maintenance shops is stored. By storing information from general maintenance shops as a database,
Conventionally, experience information that has not been shared can be shared with other people. The worker can perform the work efficiently with reference to the information.

The database D27 is a database for special tools, and stores information on special tools or diagnostic devices for vehicle maintenance. In a general automobile, a dedicated diagnostic device or a special tool for testing the function of the ECU may be required for maintenance and diagnosis. Therefore, this database stores information such as manuals and handling methods for special diagnostic devices and special tools required for vehicle maintenance and diagnosis.

As described above, according to the present invention, maintenance necessary for each database is facilitated by constructing information necessary for vehicle maintenance and diagnosis as a database divided into items. For example, the service bulletin database and the experience sharing information database are types of databases in which new information is added over time, and these information are not essential information for maintenance and diagnosis work. Rather, it is used by workers as reference information. On the other hand, the database for troubleshooting and the database for special tools only rarely need to be updated, and store important information for maintenance and diagnosis work. Therefore, by preliminarily classifying data having different properties and constructing a database, maintenance of the database can be facilitated. Further, according to the present invention, since information stored in these different types of databases is stored in a hierarchically related manner with a common database key, the user can efficiently convert necessary data from these multiple databases. Can be searched well.

The classification of these databases is not necessarily limited to the above classification. Therefore, it is possible to change the classification of these databases and add databases as needed. According to the present invention, since the data in each database is related and hierarchized based on a common system, the search program of the present invention can search for information using the shared database key. It is.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a hierarchical four-wheel model data structure. Individual data stored in each database is assigned a database key based on this data structure. For example, the highest class in the hierarchy shown in FIG. 2 is “four wheels”. The classes of the individual components such as “engine” and “transmission” are associated with the lower classes, and the classes of the components constituting the components are associated with the classes of the components. In addition, the component classes are "Explanation", "Operation", "Inspection"
Associated with a subdivided lowest class such as 4
The data structure of the wheel model is formed. Therefore, individual data in each database is assigned and stored with attributes corresponding to these hierarchized classes as database keys.

Since the data stored in each database is assigned a database key based on the common data structure shown in FIG. 2 in any item database, the user can select the same database from a plurality of databases having different items. Data can be searched across the way.

[0027] The search program of the present invention executes a database search by a selection operation based on a click operation of an operator. The click operation itself is the same as that of a conventional input means using a position input device such as a mouse or a trackball, and either a single click or a double click can be used.

In the search program of the present invention, basically,
The operator can reach the target information simply by clicking on the item displayed on the screen. This is achieved by text displayed on the screen or a link shown in the figure.

For example, when a plurality of texts or figures are displayed on the screen, and the operator wants to obtain detailed information from among them, the operator displays a text or figure corresponding to the information to be obtained on the screen. Click with. In response to the click, the search program retrieves the file corresponding to the clicked text or figure link from the appropriate database. The file retrieved from the relevant database is converted into an appropriate format for the user to view and displayed on the screen. On the converted screen, detailed information related to the text or the figure clicked by the operator is displayed as the text or the figure. The text or figure of these detailed information is also linked as necessary, as in the screen before the click.
Therefore, when an operator wants to obtain more detailed information, he can click on the corresponding text or figure to obtain more detailed information.

Hereinafter, in order to specifically describe an embodiment of the program of the present invention, an example of use of the search program of the present invention will be described.

Vehicle maintenance screen When the vehicle is maintained, the operator starts the search program and accesses the server 11 from his / her own computer. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a vehicle identification screen after access. The components used in the vehicle vary depending on the type of vehicle. Therefore, when the operator specifies the vehicle to be maintained, the components used in the vehicle are specified.

There are two types of input methods on the vehicle identification screen. One input method is a method of sequentially specifying a vehicle type, a model, a structure, and a serial number by a click operation of an operator. For example, the operator clicks the same vehicle type name as the vehicle to be maintained from the model dialog 33 shown in FIG. When the model name is clicked, a year dialog 35 is displayed.
Click the year corresponding to the vehicle to be maintained from. Next, a structure dialog 37 is displayed to specify the model of the engine of the target vehicle, the model of the mission, and the like. When the operator clicks the corresponding vehicle structure in the structure dialog 37, a serial number dialog 39 is displayed. The operator selects the serial number of the target vehicle from the items of the serial number dialog 39 and clicks the serial number. By clicking the serial number, the vehicle to be serviced is uniquely specified, and the server 11 can determine from what kind of component parts the vehicle is manufactured.

Another method of specifying the vehicle to be maintained is to enter the vehicle number of the vehicle to be
This is a method of directly inputting the data into 1. In this method, the vehicle number to be input is given in advance as a unique number to each vehicle, so that the vehicle can be specified by a single number input.

Whichever method is used, the vehicle to be maintained is uniquely specified from the input result of the vehicle specifying screen. The program of the present invention refers to information related to the vehicle (for example, components, a manual, a special tool, failure occurrence information, etc.) based on the specified vehicle information. Therefore, information irrelevant to the vehicle to be maintained can be excluded by the specified vehicle information. For example, if the vehicle to be serviced is a vehicle with a manual transmission,
Transmission information is not required for diagnosis and maintenance. Therefore, information on the automatic transmission is excluded from the search target when the vehicle to be maintained is specified.

Menu Dialog When a vehicle to be maintained is specified from the input result on the vehicle specifying screen, a menu dialog indicated by reference numeral 41 in FIG. 4 is displayed. The menu dialog contains “System /
Component, Symptom, Diagnosis, Maintenance,
Each menu of "publication" is displayed, and the search method options are provided to the operator. The operator clicks on these items as desired and searches for necessary information. Hereinafter, each item of the menu dialog will be described in detail.

The "system component" in the menu dialog is used when it is desired to execute a search using a component of the vehicle. For example, when a fault location of a vehicle is specified in advance and it is desired to immediately search for information on a component corresponding to the fault location, “system component” in the menu dialog is clicked.

The "symptom" in the menu dialog is used when it is desired to execute a search based on the symptom of a vehicle failure. For example, when a plurality of causes are considered for the failure, it is difficult to specify the failure location as one. In such a case, it is difficult to execute a search using “system components”, so “symptom” in the menu dialog is clicked, and a search based on the symptom of the failure is executed.

"Diagnosis" in the menu dialog is used when an operator wants to execute a vehicle diagnosis. For example,
When the user wants to refer to the information on the diagnostic device for the vehicle for diagnosis of the ECU or the like, "diagnosis" in this menu dialog is clicked.

"Maintenance" in the menu dialog is used when an operator wants to execute maintenance of a vehicle. For example,
To refer to the work procedure such as periodic inspection, "Maintenance" in this menu dialog is clicked.

"Publication" in the menu dialog is used to search for document information related to the vehicle type corresponding to the vehicle. For example, when the user wants to refer to a user manual specific to the vehicle type, "publishing" in the menu dialog is clicked.

The operator can obtain necessary information by searching for vehicle information to be maintained based on these items shown in the menu dialog.

Troubleshooting of charging system
Examples here, there is a failure in the charging system of the engine system, with reference to an example in which the operator searches for information in the routing for the failure of the search program, describing the narrowing of the target information. In this case, "symptom" is clicked in the menu dialog 41 of FIG. 4, and a dialog 43 is displayed on the screen. On the screen of this dialog 43, each item roughly classifying the fault location of the vehicle is displayed. If you want to search for information about the engine charging system, click on the "Engine" item here.

When the "engine" item is clicked in the dialog 43, a detailed dialog 45 relating to the symptoms of the engine is displayed. In this dialog box 45, subdivided items of engine-related symptoms are displayed. The operator clicks the item closest to the symptom of the failure of the target vehicle from the items displayed in the dialog 45. In this embodiment, the user wants to search for information on the engine-based charging system.

When "engine electricity" is clicked,
A dialog 47 in which the item of “engine electricity” is further subdivided is displayed. When the operator clicks the item corresponding to the vehicle to be maintained from the items in the dialog 47 ("Charge" is clicked in this embodiment), a symptom explanation dialog 49 related to the clicked item is displayed. Is displayed.

For example, when the item of “charging” is clicked, the explanation dialog 49 displays explanations of “the charging system light remains ON” and “the charging system light does not turn ON”. If any of these descriptions correspond to the symptom of the failure of the vehicle to be serviced, the operator clicks on the description of the symptom. When the operator clicks on the symptom, an information source dialog 51 is displayed on the screen.

Each item of the information source dialog 51 indicates an information source of the data, and includes “service bulletin”,
"General diagnosis procedure", "Special tool", "Troubleshooting index", "Service news", "All information"
Items are included. The operator can obtain desired information on the charging system from a plurality of databases by clicking each of these items.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the operator clicks on the "troubleshooting index" in the information source dialog 51 and data is retrieved from the troubleshooting database. FIG. 5 shows a screen displayed after clicking on “Troubleshooting Index”.

On this screen, an overview of test items in troubleshooting of the charging system is displayed in a list. Usually, a worker at a high technical level does not need elementary work information, so that the test items displayed here are displayed in a concise list without elementary work information. Therefore, when the worker needs detailed information including rudimentary work information, the worker clicks a test item displayed on the screen of FIG. 5 to thereby obtain detailed information on the test item. Is displayed on the screen.

For example, when the test item of “Test charging system” is clicked on the screen of FIG. 5, a detailed explanation screen related to the test item is displayed as shown in FIG. In the screen of FIG. 6, information of the work unit regarding the test item is provided in text and image. In this embodiment, a text is displayed on the right screen 53, and an image is displayed on the left screen 55. A scroll part 57 is provided in the text part, and the text can be scrolled as needed by the operator. The image is associated with the text content so that it is displayed corresponding to the text content. By this association, when the text is scrolled, an optimal image corresponding to the content of the text is automatically displayed on the left screen 55 in accordance with the content of the text displayed on the right screen 53.

In the case of the screen of FIG. 6, the text of the work procedure for checking the fuse of the generator is displayed on the right screen 53,
A drawing of the connector related to the generator is displayed on the left screen 55. The work procedure text is in the form of a question so that the next work step can be confirmed with a simple YES / NO response. Thus, the worker can execute the work in a correct procedure without depending on the skill level of the worker.

Each of these YES / NO answers has a link to the corresponding next work step. Therefore, the operator has to answer YES / NO to the question.
Is selected according to the work result, and by clicking on the answer, the user can jump to the next work step. This makes it easier for the operator to refer to the next work step.

For example, the answer to the question "Is the light of the charging system turned on?" For the test item "Turn on the ignition switch" shown in FIG. 6 is "YES".
, The next operation is operation step 29. In this case, the operator clicks “Go to Step 29” on the screen to display the screen shown in FIG.

In the case of this embodiment, work step 29 is
This is the work to check the output of the generator. Therefore, on the screen of FIG. 7, the detailed text of the generator output check operation is displayed on the right screen 59, and the corresponding drawing is displayed on the left screen 6
1 is displayed. For example, the text of the work step 29 is "to make the generator a full feed at an engine speed of 2000 rpm". Further, in addition to this text, the text of "Caution" 63 related to this work step 29 is displayed at the same time, and these text and drawing 61
At the same time, the operator can easily grasp the contents of the work step 29. Further, a question text "Is the output of the generator 75A or more?" For judging the work result of these work steps 29 is also displayed.
The next operation can be reached simply by answering "O".

For example, the question text “Generator output is 75
A or more? Is the next work step, the answer is YE
In the case of S, it is "to step 30", and when the answer is NO, it is "to test and repair the components of the generator (to the generator overhaul)". Therefore, if the output of the generator is 75 A or more from the operation result of operation step 29, click YES, and if it is 75 A or less, click NO. As mentioned earlier, these answers include:
Since each link is provided, the operator can display the next work step on the screen by clicking each answer.

Here, the description will be continued on the assumption that the output of the generator is 75 A or less as a result of the work step 29, and NO has been clicked. In this case, by clicking "NO" in FIG. 7, the screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed.

On the screen shown in FIG. 8, an explanatory text of the generator overhaul is displayed on the right screen 65, and an exploded view of the corresponding generator is displayed on the left screen 67. In this case, the text displayed on the right screen 65 is displayed as a simple list as in the case of FIG. Therefore,
If the worker needs a detailed description of the listed work items, the worker can click on the required item to display a more detailed description on the screen.

In the case of FIG. 8, the image itself is further linked. For example, in the exploded view, since all parts constituting the generator are displayed on one screen, it is difficult to confirm details of each part on the screen. For this reason, individual parts are associated with their enlarged view and text in block units, and when the worker clicks on a block in the image, the associated enlarged view and text can be displayed on the screen. it can.

In this embodiment, the linked enlarged view and the text can be displayed by clicking the image portion of the rotor block 69 in the exploded view.

FIG. 9 shows a screen displayed when the rotor block 69 in FIG. 8 is clicked. On this screen, an enlarged view of the rotor block is displayed on the left screen 73, and the text associated therewith is simultaneously displayed on the right screen 71. The operator can easily perform inspection of the rotor block 69 with reference to the text and the enlarged view.

As described above, the program according to the present embodiment displays the work procedures to be performed by the worker on the screen in the actual work order, so that the worker can correctly identify the worker regardless of the technical level of the worker. Can lead to work procedures. These work procedures are displayed from a summary of the work procedures that are listed in a concise manner, and detailed descriptions can be displayed according to the worker's needs. it can. Since the determination of the work result in each work step is asked in the form of a simple question and answer, even a worker who does not have advanced technology can perform a correct work. Further, since the link to the next task is included in the answer to the question and answer, the operator can easily display the next task on the screen. In the case of images with complex shapes, the images are displayed in blocks, and links are provided for each of these blocks. The drawn drawings and texts can be displayed quickly.

Retrieve component function test procedure
An embodiment will be described below in which the program is used to search for information on a component function test procedure. In this case, "system component" is clicked from the menu dialog 41 of the screen shown in FIG. Here, when "system component" is clicked, a screen shown in FIG. 10 is displayed, and information of a component desired by the operator can be searched from the list.

On the screen shown in FIG. 10, a rough list of components constituting the vehicle is shown on the left side, and a system associated with those components is shown on the right side. For example, the components “generator / voltage regulator” and “generator belt” are displayed in association with the charging system. The operator clicks a component corresponding to necessary information from the components.

In this example, the description is continued assuming that the "cruise indicator light" component is clicked. In this case, since the component "Cruise Indicator Light" is associated with the system "Cruise Control", information on the cruise control unit is displayed on the screen (FIG. 11).

An image 75 in FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a panel in front of the room of the target vehicle. In this image, the positions of the “main switch”, “indicator light”, “set / resume switch”, “brake switch”, and “cruise control unit” on the panel are respectively indicated by arrows. By this image display, the operator can confirm the position of the target component without hesitation.

If the worker needs more detailed information about the component, he or she can click on the text on the image corresponding to the part on which the user wants to work, and display the detailed information about those parts on the screen. Can be displayed.

In the example of FIG. 11, the text “Cruise control unit” is clicked on the image 75 and the image 77 is clicked.
Is displayed on the screen. In the image 77, a text explaining the test item is displayed at the same time as the enlarged view of the installation portion of the “cruise control unit”, and by referring to this, the operator can execute the component function test of the cruise control unit. Can be.

As described above, the search for the work item is executed in a visual interactive manner, so that the worker can search for necessary information at a necessary level.

Although the specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments.

[0069]

According to the present invention, scattered diagnosis / maintenance information can be integrated and managed, and the integrated information can be quickly searched as needed and provided to the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the present invention configured using a network.

FIG. 2 is an embodiment of a hierarchical four-wheel model data structure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a vehicle identification screen.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a menu dialog and narrowing down of target information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a screen corresponding to a “troubleshooting index”.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a screen corresponding to a test item of “test charging system”.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a screen of a work step 29.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a generator overhaul screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a screen corresponding to a rotor block 69.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a screen corresponding to “system components”.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a screen corresponding to a cruise control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 server 13 dealer 15 maintenance company 17 individual 19 communication means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 17/60 502 G06F 17/60 502

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A major category for classifying components of an automobile into large components such as an engine and a transmission, a middle category for classifying the major category into components of the next level, and further below each of the components of the middle category. Build a hierarchical search structure by subdividing the level of components, inspection, adjustment, disassembly and other items related to car maintenance into a service search database, troubleshooting database, and parts database. A search program linking between each of the included items and the relevant items of the above-mentioned large, medium and small categories or further lower items, wherein the menu includes at least vehicle symptoms and system components From one of them A search program selected and configured to allow hierarchical and cross-sectional reference to items related to maintenance to be performed, which are included in the service manual database, the troubleshooting database, and the parts database. 2. A computer-readable storage medium for storing the service manual database, the troubleshooting database, the parts database, and the search program. 3. The service manual database, the troubleshooting database, the parts database, and the search program according to claim 1 are stored in a server, and are stored in a remote terminal device via a network. A search system that accesses a server and performs a search.