Patent Publication Number: US-9430884-B2

Title: Vehicle communication and cable tester system

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/738,552, filed on Dec. 18, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention generally relates vehicle emissions interfaces. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     From 1996-present, vehicles have onboard diagnostics which allow technicians and emissions test stations to evaluate the vehicle&#39;s condition. The vehicle&#39;s ECU was designed from the factory to continuously test its own emissions and only set the emissions monitors to “ready” once those tests have successfully completed. If the tests are not completed, or if they have failed, the monitor status is reported as “not ready”. 
     When vehicles are brought in for state emissions, they are tested by a state-authorized facility that plugs a scantool into the car&#39;s OBD-II port. The scantool checks the ECU to see if any trouble codes are present, and if all of the vehicle&#39;s emission monitors have passed. If all of the monitors have passed and no trouble codes are present, the vehicle passes the states emissions test. If any trouble codes are present or if any of the monitors have not completed their tests, the vehicle fails the state emissions test. In many states, this emissions test is required for annual or bi-annual registration. 
     However, emissions testing places the testing equipment used to determine if the vehicle has passed emissions under great stress. For example, the diagnostic cable that connects the vehicle to the emissions testing device must be plugged and unplugged into the vehicle&#39;s OBD-II port every time an emissions test occurs. Due to the volume of the number of vehicles subject to these emissions testing procedures, the diagnostic cable can quickly reach the end of its useful life. More problematic is the fact that testing the diagnostic cable to make sure that the diagnostic cable is functioning properly can be difficult, as most facilities where emissions testing occur do not usually have the appropriate equipment to test the diagnostic cable. 
     SUMMARY 
     A device includes a processor in communication with a first port, a second port and a third port. The first port is configured to communicate via a diagnostic cable with an electronic control unit (ECU) of a vehicle. The diagnostic able cable has a first end configured to connect to a vehicle port and a second end configured to connect to the first port. The processor is configured to selectively test the communication capability of the diagnostic cable when the first end of the diagnostic cable is connected to the third port and the second end of the diagnostic cable is connected to the first port. 
     Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent to persons skilled in the art after a review of the following description, with reference to the drawings and claims that are appended to and form a part of this specification. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a vehicle communication and cable tester device connected to an automobile and an emissions testing device; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates the vehicle communications and cable tester device of  FIG. 1  in greater detail; and 
         FIG. 3  illustrates the vehicle communication and cable tester device connected to an automobile and a general purpose computer. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a system includes a vehicle  12 , a vehicle communication device  14 , and an emissions testing device  16 . The vehicle  12  includes an electronic control unit (ECU)  18 . It should be understood that the vehicle  12  may be any one of a number of different vehicles. For example, the vehicle  12  may be a common passenger car or a light truck, but may also be other wheeled vehicles such as heavy duty commercial trucks, recreational vehicles, farm equipment, or the like. Additionally, the vehicle  12  may also be a non-wheeled vehicle, such as military equipment, airplane, or boat. 
     The ECU  18  of the vehicle  12  may be one or more processors located within the vehicle  12 . The ECU  18  may be responsible for a number of different functions for the vehicle  12 . For example, the ECU  18  may be related to emissions of a vehicle  12  but also may be related to other areas such as engine control, power train, safety systems, body control modules, or any other system requiring an ECU located within the vehicle  12 . 
     The device  14 , which will be explained in much greater detail in  FIG. 2 , includes a first port  20 , a second port  22 , and a third port  24 . A diagnostic cable  26  has a first end  28  and a second end  30 . The first end  28  of the diagnostic cable  26  is connected to a port  32  which is in communication with the ECU  18  of the vehicle  12 . The port  32  may be any one of a number of different ports, but may be an OBD-II port commonly found on automobiles sold in North America. The second end  30  of the diagnostic cable  26  is connected to the first port  20 . 
     A cable  34  is connected between the second port  22  and the emissions testing device  16 . The second cable  34  may be any one of a number of different cables, such as USB or any other suitable parallel or serial communication cable. When connected as described above, the device  14  acts as a conduit between the ECU  18  of the vehicle  12  and the emissions testing device  16 . Essentially, the device  14  acts as a translator between the ECU  18  and the emissions testing device  16 . Examples of such devices can include Society of Automotive Engineer (“SAE”) J2534 devices which essentially act as a pass through devices translating information between the ECU  18  of the vehicle  12  and a secondary device, such as the emission testing device  16 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a more detailed illustration of the device  14  is shown. As stated previously, the device  14  includes a first port  20 , a second port  22  and a third port  24 . The device  14  also includes a processor  36  in communication with the first port  20 , the second port  22 , and the third port  24 . The device  14  may also include a memory storage unit  38 . 
     The memory storage unit  38  may be any one of a number of different memory storage units and should not be limited to simply solid state memory, magnetic memory, or optical memories. The memory storage device  38  is in communication with the processor  36  and may store data generated or received by the processor  36  and may also include instructions for configuring the processor  36  to perform any one of a number of different tasks. Of course, the memory  38  may also be incorporated within the processor  36 . 
     Also shown in  FIG. 2  is the diagnostic cable  26 . Here, the diagnostic cable  26  has its first end  28  connected to the third port  24  and its second end  30  connected to the first port  20 . Essentially, the diagnostic cable is connected to the device  14  at two locations—the first port  20  and the third port  24 . 
     When the diagnostic cable  26  is connected as shown in  FIG. 2 , the processor  36  can be instructed to perform testing of the cable  26 . For example, the processor  36  can send a known signal from the first port  20  to the third port  24  via the diagnostic cable  26 . If the signal received by the third port  24  is not the same or similar as the signal sent from the first port  20 , the processor  36  can determine that the cable  26  is not operating properly. Additionally, the processor  26  may be configured to perform continuity testing of the cable  26  as well. 
     Essentially, the device  14  allows the rapid testing of the cable  26  in situations where the cable  26  may not be operating properly. By so doing, this has a significant advantage of allowing the cable  26  to be quickly tested on the spot without having to use complicated signal testing equipment or utilize to determine if the first cable is operating properly. 
     As stated previously in  FIG. 1 , the emissions testing device  16  may be a single purpose emissions testing device commonly found at state testing facilities in states where emission testing is required. However, the emissions testing device  16  may take a variety of different forms. For example, in  FIG. 3 , the system  110  is shown. In  FIG. 3  like numerals will be utilized to describe like elements of those of  FIG. 1 . A description of these elements will not be given again. 
     In this embodiment, the second port  22  of the device  14  is connected to a general purpose computer  40 . The general purpose computer  40  may include an output device  42 , such as a monitor and an input device  44 , such as a keyboard and/or mouse. Of course, any one of a number of different input devices or output devices may be connected to the general purpose computer  40 . 
     In this embodiment, the general purpose computer  40  would be provided with emissions testing software to test the emissions of the vehicle  12  by communicating with the ECU  18  of the vehicle  12  via the device  14 . As described before, the device  14  essentially acts as the translator for allowing communication between the ECU  18  and the computer  40 , while also having the additional benefit of being able to test the cable  26  by simply connecting a first end  28  of the cable  26  to the third port  24  and a second and  30  of the cable  26  to the first port  20 . 
     As a person skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the above description is meant as an illustration of implementation of the principles this invention. This description is not intended to limit the scope or application of this invention in that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change, without departing from the spirit of this invention, as defined in the following claims.