JP2008275545A - Failure diagnostic device and method for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a failure diagnostic device for a vehicle for easily making a failure diagnosis without requiring a special communication means or a dedicated unit allowing access only between preregistered vehicles. <P>SOLUTION: Detection output by the failure diagnostic device 22 provided in the vehicle is supplied to an on-vehicle terminal 14, and a display device 15 of the on-vehicle terminal 14 makes a bar code display corresponding to a fault or failure of the vehicle. An image of a bar code displayed by the display device 15 is taken in by a camera 20 of a cellphone 19, and bar code information is transmitted to a server 39 through a sensor network 36, an access network 37 and an Internet communication network 38. Information on action to cope with the fault or failure is received from the server 39. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle failure diagnosis device and a vehicle failure diagnosis method, and more particularly to a vehicle failure diagnosis device and a vehicle failure diagnosis that provide corresponding information according to a failure or failure of each part of the vehicle. Regarding the method.

  In general, an automobile is a complicated device assembled using a large number of parts. Such a device may cause various problems and failures as its structure becomes complicated. In view of this, a sensor is provided in each part of a vehicle that is prone to failure, and such a sensor detects a failure or failure, and stores the detection result in a ROM (Read Only Memory) or the like. Therefore, when a service is performed, it is possible to know the history of vehicle malfunctions and failures by reading the contents written in the ROM. Further, in conjunction with the detection of the above-described malfunction or failure, an alarm lamp provided on the instrument panel is turned on, thereby making it possible to notify the user of the failure.

  Such information on malfunctions and breakdowns of automobiles will call attention to the user, but the user cannot respond appropriately using such information. In other words, full-fledged measures are taken by supplying the error history recorded in the ROM as described above and information on the phenomenon to a dedicated analyzer in the service factory, and using this analyzer's fault diagnosis system to grasp the exact phenomenon. Can be dealt with. Therefore, in order to detect an accurate failure as described above and take an appropriate response to it, go to an appropriate place such as a service factory, connect a dedicated analyzer to the in-vehicle computer, and receive information from this computer. The reading and analyzer performed predetermined information processing, and the determination result had to be displayed by the display means.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-228552 discloses a vehicle failure diagnosis system in which a server stores a first database that stores user information including personal data of each user and vehicle data owned by each user, and a vehicle type. A second database that stores vehicle type information including dissatisfaction and defects from users of the vehicle type, a third database that stores a diagnostic program for diagnosing a vehicle failure, and a user whose user information is stored in the first database A diagnostic program transmitting means for transmitting a failure diagnostic program to the vehicle via the network, the vehicle requesting means for requesting the diagnostic program from the server, a diagnostic program receiving means for receiving the diagnostic program, It has inspection means to inspect the vehicle by the received diagnostic program and obtain the inspection result It discloses a vehicle remote diagnosis system to.

Such a remote failure diagnosis system for a vehicle can deal with a failure only for a vehicle having personal data registered in advance in the database of a service factory or manufacturer, and has a drawback that it lacks versatility. . In addition, a vehicle-mounted computer must have a dedicated communication function for accessing the Internet and exchanging information with the server, and a vehicle-mounted terminal having a special configuration must be used. There are drawbacks.
JP 2002-228552 A JP 2002-228553 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle failure diagnosis apparatus and a vehicle failure diagnosis method that can easily receive information for dealing with defects and failures.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle failure diagnosis apparatus and a vehicle failure diagnosis method in which an in-vehicle terminal does not need to include a special communication means for accessing an external server. .

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle failure diagnosis apparatus and a vehicle failure diagnosis method in which an operation of inputting information relating to defects or failures is automatically performed.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle fault diagnosis device and a vehicle fault diagnosis that can receive information on correspondence without failing to go to an appropriate place in the event of a fault. Is to provide a method.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle fault diagnosis apparatus and a vehicle fault diagnosis method capable of receiving corresponding information without requiring a user to register in advance with a server. .

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle fault diagnosis that can receive information that should correspond to a vehicle malfunction or failure accurately and at any location using the communication function of an existing portable information terminal. An apparatus and a vehicle fault diagnosis method are provided.

  The above-described problems and other problems of the present invention will be clarified by the technical idea of the present invention and the embodiments thereof described below.

The main invention of the present application is provided in a vehicle, and detecting means for detecting a malfunction or failure of each part of the vehicle;
Display means provided in the vehicle for performing display corresponding to the malfunction or failure detected by the detection means;
A portable information terminal that reads the display by the display means and receives information about the malfunction or failure from an external server via the communication means;
The present invention relates to a vehicle fault diagnosis apparatus having

  Here, the detection means may include a sensor provided in each part of the vehicle and a failure detection microcomputer that detects a failure or a failure based on information from the sensor. The display means is a terminal mounted on the vehicle, and includes a display panel incorporated in an instrument panel or a console panel, and the display panel performs display corresponding to the malfunction or failure. May be configured. Further, the display means may perform a display corresponding to the malfunction or failure by a barcode. The barcode may be a two-dimensional barcode. The portable information terminal may be a mobile phone. The portable information terminal may include a camera, and the camera may read a display corresponding to a malfunction or failure performed by the display means. The portable information terminal may have a function of accessing the Internet.

The main invention related to the diagnostic method is to detect a malfunction or failure of each part of the vehicle by the detection means provided in the vehicle,
The display means performs display corresponding to the detection by the detection means,
A vehicle failure characterized in that an image pickup unit of a portable information terminal reads a display by the display unit, transmits the read information through a communication unit, and receives information on the malfunction or failure from an external server. It relates to a diagnostic method.

  Here, the portable information terminal may exchange information by wireless communication means. Further, the wireless communication means may be a wireless communication device constituting a sensor network. The portable information terminal may access the Internet communication network via a sensor network and receive information on the malfunction or failure from the external server.

  A preferred aspect of the present invention includes a vehicle terminal capable of detecting and displaying an error relating to a malfunction or failure of each part of the vehicle and a portable terminal having a barcode reading function, and carrying error information from the vehicle terminal. The system is configured such that the server reads it, connects to the appropriate server from the portable terminal, and receives the contents of the barcode, transmits the cause, the countermeasure, and the like to the portable terminal side and displays them. According to such a system, a user can easily and quickly cope with a malfunction or failure.

  The main invention of the present application is provided in a vehicle, detecting means for detecting a failure or failure of each part of the vehicle, and display means provided in the vehicle for performing display corresponding to the failure or failure detected by the detection means. And a portable information terminal for reading the display by the display means and receiving information about the malfunction or failure from an external server via the communication means.

  Therefore, according to such a vehicle failure diagnosis apparatus, the display displayed by the display means is read by the portable information terminal with respect to the malfunction or failure of a predetermined part of the vehicle, and the content is transmitted to the external It becomes possible to receive information about the above-mentioned malfunction or failure from the server, and it is possible to easily deal with the malfunction or malfunction of the vehicle.

  The main invention relating to the diagnostic method is that the detection means provided in the vehicle detects a malfunction or failure of each part of the vehicle, and the display means displays corresponding to the detection by the detection means, and the mobile information terminal is imaged. The means reads the display by the display means, transmits the read information via the communication means, and receives information on the correspondence about the malfunction or failure from the external server.

  According to such a vehicle fault diagnosis method, the in-vehicle terminal does not need a special transmission means, and only a display relating to the malfunction or failure may be displayed by the display means. It is possible to receive information on countermeasures for malfunctions or malfunctions from an external server simply by reading the image data of the mobile information terminal and transmitting the read information, thereby appropriately dealing with the malfunctions or malfunctions described above. This makes it possible to easily and quickly respond to a malfunction or failure.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an outline of the entire vehicle failure diagnosis apparatus according to the present embodiment, and an instrument panel 13 is arranged in front of a driver's seat 11 and a passenger seat 12 of an automobile. Various instruments such as a tachometer that displays the engine speed and a speed meter that displays the vehicle speed are arranged on the instrument panel 13. An in-vehicle terminal 14 is disposed in the instrument panel 13. The display panel 15 of the in-vehicle terminal 14 is disposed on the instrument panel 13 and in front of an intermediate position between the driver seat and the passenger seat. The display panel 15 may be attached to the console panel instead of the instrument panel 13.

  Here, the display panel 15 provided on the instrument panel 13 displays a two-dimensional bar code display 18 corresponding to a malfunction or failure of each part of the vehicle. Such a two-dimensional bar code display 18 is read by the camera 20 (see FIG. 2) of the mobile phone 19.

  FIG. 2 shows the system configuration of such a fault diagnosis apparatus. The fault detection apparatus 22 provided in the vehicle includes a fault detection sensor 23 provided in each part of the vehicle. Such a failure detection sensor 23 is a sensor that detects a malfunction or failure of each part of the vehicle, and is a sensor that measures temperature, acceleration, strain, weight, and other various physical or chemical quantities. . A plurality of such failure detection sensors 23 are connected to the failure detection microcomputer 25 via the interface 24. Therefore, the failure detection microcomputer 25 detects a failure or failure of each part of the vehicle in accordance with the detection of each failure detection sensor 23.

  Next, the in-vehicle terminal 14 will be described. The in-vehicle terminal 14 is connected to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 28, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 29, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 30. Further, the CPU 28 is connected to a map data storage unit 31 in which map information is recorded and a GPS position detection circuit 32, so that the in-vehicle terminal 14 functions as a car navigation device. The CPU 28 is connected to the failure detection microcomputer 25 of the failure detection device 22 via the interface 33.

  The mobile phone 19 reads the barcode display of the display device 15 of the in-vehicle terminal 14, and the mobile phone 19 can access the sensor network 36. Here, the sensor network 36 is a short-range wireless communication unit in the 2.4 GHz band, and is a communication unit such as Bluetooth, Zig Bee, or UWB (Ultra Wide Band). Such a sensor network 36 is connected to the Internet communication network 38 via the access network 37. The Internet communication network 38 is connected to a server 39, which is a database of information on failure diagnosis devices. The sensor network 36 may be omitted, and the mobile phone 19 may communicate with the Internet communication network 38 via the access network 37.

  Next, the configuration of the mobile phone 19 will be described with reference to FIG. The radio unit of this cellular phone is used for frequency conversion of signals, removal of unnecessary waves, etc., and includes a radio unit 41 consisting of a transmission circuit, a radio unit 42 consisting of a reception circuit, a frequency synthesizer circuit 43, and a transmission / reception unit. A waver 44, a transmitting / receiving antenna 45, a receiving antenna 46, a GPS antenna 47, and the like are provided. Note that this can be omitted for the receiving antenna 46.

  The baseband signal processing unit performs modulation and demodulation, audio and image signal processing, or position information processing by GPS, and includes a communication control unit 48, a modulator 49, a demodulator 50, and an audio image processing unit 51. The signal interface unit 52 is provided.

  The control unit is for performing communication control of the entire circuit shown in FIG. 3 and includes a communication protocol processing unit 55, an application processing unit 56, a GPS module 57, and an image processing unit 58.

  The user interface unit includes a telephone unit 60 including a speaker and a microphone, a display unit 63 including a liquid crystal display device, a key input unit 62, and the CCD camera 20 described above. In addition, this telephone is provided with a power supply unit 64 made of a secondary battery, and supplies power to the circuits in each part.

  Next, the operation of performing failure diagnosis by the vehicle failure diagnosis apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. The CPU 28 of the in-vehicle terminal 14 incorporated in the vehicle instrument panel 13 accesses the failure detection microcomputer 25 of the vehicle failure detection device 22 to determine whether or not an error signal related to a malfunction or failure has occurred. To do. If an error signal is generated, it is determined whether the error signal is a serious error signal.

  Here, when the error signal relates to a minor problem, the normal operation is restored. On the other hand, when it is determined that the malfunction or failure is serious, information on the type of accident is received from the failure detection microcomputer 25. Then, the CPU 28 displays an error code corresponding to the type of the accident on the display device 15 by a two-dimensional bar code. The ROM 30 connected to the CPU 28 stores error codes corresponding to various malfunctions or failures, and the CPU 28 selects such error codes according to the type of accident and displays them on the display device 15. It will be.

  The cellular phone 19 reads the barcode display of the error code by the display device 15 with the camera 20. Then, after reading the error code, communication means is established for the access network 37. Then, an error code obtained by the above bar code is transmitted by established communication means. Such an error code is transmitted to the server 39 via the access network 37 and the Internet communication network 38 shown in FIG. The server 39 stores in advance as a database information on causes and countermeasures corresponding to the above error codes. Therefore, when an error code is received, the causes and countermeasures corresponding to the error code are carried in the reverse order, via the Internet communication network 38, the access network 37, and if necessary, the sensor network 36. Transmit to the telephone 19. Therefore, the mobile phone 19 displays the cause and countermeasures by the display unit 63. Therefore, in accordance with such a display, the user can know the trouble or failure of the vehicle and can take an appropriate action according to the trouble or the failure, thereby preventing a fatal failure or accident of the vehicle. It can be avoided.

  When the mobile phone 19 transmits information to the server 39, the camera 20 reads an error code with a bar code on the display device 15 of the in-vehicle terminal 14. At this time, the bar code further includes the Internet code. Information on URL (Uniform Resource Locator) which is an address may be received, and the received URL may be accessed. Or you may make it connect to URL of the vehicle service registered previously. In addition to Bluetooth, the short-distance wireless communication means accessed by the mobile phone 19 can be performed by local wireless communication means such as Wi-Fi. Alternatively, communication may be performed using a communication function of the cellular phone 19 or an e-mail function. It is also possible to provide a GPS module in the cellular phone 19 and exchange position information using such a GPS module.

  According to such a vehicle failure diagnosis apparatus and vehicle failure diagnosis method, the vehicle-mounted terminal 14 does not have a dedicated communication means for accessing the failure diagnosis server, and simply handles the problem or failure by the display device 15. It is possible to receive information corresponding to the malfunction or failure from the server 39 by using the communication function of the mobile phone 19 simply by displaying the barcode to be performed. Can be dealt with quickly and quickly. Therefore, simple countermeasures against defects and failures can be easily performed.

  Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the illustrated embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, information related to vehicle malfunctions or failures is displayed using a two-dimensional bar code. However, instead of such a configuration, display using other codes is also possible. It is. Further, the communication means between the mobile phone 19 and the server may be communicated through another mobile phone network or a PHS communication network without using the communication network as shown in FIG.

  The present invention can be used for a failure diagnosis device mounted on a vehicle.

1 is a plan view of a vehicle showing an overall configuration of a vehicle fault diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the failure diagnosis apparatus for vehicles. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the mobile telephone used for a failure diagnosis apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a failure diagnosis.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Driver's seat, 12 ... Passenger seat, 13 ... Instrument panel, 14 ... In-vehicle terminal, 15 ... Display panel, 18 ... Two-dimensional barcode display, 19 ... Mobile phone, 20 ... Camera, 22 ... Failure detection device, 23 ... failure detection sensor, 24 ... interface, 25 ... failure detection microcomputer, 28 ... CPU, 29 ... RAM, 30 ... ROM, 31 ... map data storage unit, 32 ... GPS position detection circuit, 33 ... interface, 36 ... sensor Network 37 ... Access network 38 ... Internet communication network 39 ... Server 41 ... Wireless unit (transmitting circuit) 42 ... Wireless unit (receiving circuit) 43 ... Frequency synthesizer circuit 44 ... Transmission / reception duplexer 45 ... Transmission / reception antenna, 46 ... Reception antenna, 47 ... GPS antenna, 48 ... Communication control unit, 49 ... Modulator, 50 ... Synthesizer, 51 ... Audio, image processing unit, 52 ... Signal interface unit, 55 ... Communication protocol processing unit, 56 ... Application processing unit, 57 ... GPS module, 58 ... Image processing unit, 60 ... Telephone unit, 61 ... Display unit 62 ... Key input unit, 63 ... Display unit, 64 ... Power supply unit

Claims (12)

A detecting means provided on the vehicle for detecting a malfunction or failure of each part of the vehicle;
Display means provided in the vehicle for performing display corresponding to the malfunction or failure detected by the detection means;
A portable information terminal that reads the display by the display means and receives information about the malfunction or failure from an external server via the communication means;
A fault diagnosis apparatus for a vehicle having   2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a sensor provided in each part of the vehicle and a failure detection microcomputer that detects a failure or a failure based on information from the sensor. Fault diagnosis device.   The display means is a terminal mounted on the vehicle, and includes a display panel incorporated in an instrument panel or a console panel, and the display panel constitutes display means for performing display corresponding to the malfunction or failure The vehicle fault diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   The vehicle fault diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a corresponding display in accordance with the malfunction or failure using a barcode.   The vehicle fault diagnosis apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the bar code is a two-dimensional bar code.   The vehicle fault diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mobile information terminal is a mobile phone.   The vehicle fault diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the portable information terminal includes a camera, and the camera reads a display corresponding to a malfunction or failure performed by the display unit.   The vehicle fault diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the portable information terminal has a function of accessing the Internet. While detecting the malfunction or failure of each part of the vehicle by the detection means provided in the vehicle,
The display means performs display corresponding to the detection by the detection means,
A vehicle failure characterized in that an image pickup unit of a portable information terminal reads a display by the display unit, transmits the read information through a communication unit, and receives information on the malfunction or failure from an external server. Diagnosis method.   The vehicle fault diagnosis method according to claim 9, wherein the portable information terminal transmits and receives information by wireless communication means.   The vehicle fault diagnosis method according to claim 9, wherein the wireless communication unit is a wireless communication device constituting a sensor network.   12. The vehicle fault diagnosis method according to claim 11, wherein the portable information terminal accesses an Internet communication network via a sensor network and receives information on the malfunction or failure from the external server.

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