Patent ID: 9299109
Filing Date: 2016-03-29
CPC Classification: B60Q,B60W,G01C,G06M,G06Q,G07C,G16Z

Claim Text:
1. A method of monitoring a vehicle for determining driver negligence, comprising: (A) providing an odometer in a vehicle, the odometer generating representing a total distance traveled by a vehicle (B) providing an engine control unit (ECU) and optionally a device connected to the ECU in the vehicle, the engine control unit generating an average revolutions per initial odometer value by repeatedly dividing a plurality of initial engine revolutions occurring a given time period by the initial odometer value; (C) recording the initial odometer value and the average revolutions per initial odometer value for determining a designated time period; (D) pressing a reset button linked to the odometer and the a total engine revolution counter, when the reset button is pressed, an average revolutions per secondary odometer value is generated by dividing a secondary odometer value by a secondary total engine revolution count value; (E) releasing the vehicle to an end user for a length of time equal to the designated time period upon completion of a contract agreement; (F) recording the secondary odometer value and the average revolutions per secondary odometer value for the designated time period; (G) validating the secondary odometer value and the average revolutions per secondary odometer value of the vehicle for the designated time period, the validating comprising: checking a control panel for a warning notification for odometer tampering, the warning notification indicating potential odometer irregularities; storing an outlier value for the average revolutions per secondary odometer value within the ECU of the vehicle, the ECU detecting abnormal behavior of the average revolutions per secondary odometer value with respect to the secondary odometer value; the outlier value being slightly higher than the maximum allowable average revolution per distance unit ARDU valve of the engine, where the outlier value is a threshold value to detect any odometer tampering of the vehicle; if the average revolutions per secondary odometer value of the vehicle is greater than or equal to the outlier value within the designated time period, the ECU sends a warning signal to the control panel, causing the control panel to display a warning notification for odometer tampering, wherein the warning notification is only a visual notification; the ECU sending the plurality of initial engine revolutions and the plurality of secondary engine revolutions into an external computing device with a communication mean comprising an on-board diagnostic (OBD) connector, a universal serial bus (USB), a local area wireless technology, cellular network, or another wireless technology; the communication means exporting the plurality of initial engine revolutions and the plurality of secondary engine revolutions into the external computing device at regular intervals, the external communication means graphically displaying the plurality of secondary engine revolutions in a timeline graph, the timeline graph displaying a total number of warning notification and a total number of activation for the reset button for identifying unnecessary activities that may have been conducted during the designated time period; and (H) determining a final assessment with a standard engine revolutions per distance unit upon the validation of the secondary odometer value and the average revolutions per secondary odometer value.