Patent Publication Number: US-2009222161-A1

Title: System and method for arranging vehicle repair service

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to vehicle management systems and methods, and more particularly to a vehicle management system and method for arranging vehicle repair service. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Generally, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver is capable of receiving satellite signals from a plurality of GPS satellites, and triangulating the received satellite signals to obtain a calculated position of the GPS receiver. 
     One application of the GPS is cargo monitoring. GPS receivers are installed in cargo vehicles for providing real-time position information of the vehicles to a management center. Then, the management center can estimate the times that the cargos will be delivered to their respective destinations. In some situations, a vehicle may have an accident or break down on the road. When this happens, the vehicle may not be able to deliver the cargo before the vehicle is repaired. 
     Therefore, it is desired to provide a vehicle management system and method for overcoming the above-described shortcomings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a vehicle management system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a detailed block diagram of the vehicle management system of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a flow chart illustrating a method for arranging vehicle repair service in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a vehicle management system  10  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment is illustrated. The vehicle management system  10  includes a plurality of vehicles  12 , a management center  14 , and a plurality of repair stations  16 . The plurality of vehicles  12 , the management center  14 , and the plurality of repair stations  16  are capable of communicating with each other via a communication network  130 , for example, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network. The management center  14  may select a vehicle  12  to deliver cargo to a destination, and monitor a real-time status of the vehicle  12 . The management center  14  may also store updatable service data available from the plurality of repair stations  16  via the communication network  130 . The service data includes, but is not limited to, types of services available (scope of service), service charge, etc. As used in the description of embodiments herein, “repair” is not restricted to the meaning of fixing a broken element so that it works again. “Repair” can be interpreted to further comprise other meanings, such as “replace,” “substitute,” etc. For example, “repair” can include taking a malfunctioning, worn out, or inoperative part out from the vehicle  12 , and replacing such part with a new part. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a detailed block diagram of the vehicle management system  10  is illustrated. To conveniently describe the exemplary embodiment, one vehicle  12  and one repair station  16  associated with the management center  14  will be detailed hereinafter. 
     The vehicle  12  includes a GPS receiver  122 , a vehicle processor  124 , and a vehicle transceiver  126 . The GPS receiver  122  receives satellite signals, and calculates a physical position of the vehicle  12  based on the satellite signals to generate corresponding position signals. The physical position includes a latitude coordinate and a longitude coordinate. The GPS receiver  122  transmits the position signals to the vehicle processor  124 . The vehicle processor  124  processes the position signals to thereby generate corresponding position data, and signals the vehicle transceiver  126  to transmit the position data to the management center  14 . 
     In some situations, the vehicle  12  may have crashed or broken down in the middle of the road. One or several parts, such as the brake or the engine of the vehicle  12 , may no longer be functioning. In this situation, the malfunctioning vehicle  12  needs repair service arranged by the management center  14 . The vehicle  12  having the problem can be hereinafter referred to as a “malfunctioning vehicle  12 .” 
     The particular problems of the malfunctioning vehicle  12  can be determined by a self-checking process or by a manually aided process. The self-checking process can be implemented by periodically collecting or gathering diagnostic data transmitted from internal sensors (not shown) of the vehicle  12 . The internal sensors are attached to various parts of the vehicle  12 . 
     The manually aided process typically involves the driver of the malfunctioning vehicle  12  examining the malfunctioning vehicle  12  for defects. The driver can thus collect or gather diagnostic data, and manually input the diagnostic data to the vehicle processor  124 . In other embodiments, the vehicle processor  124  collects or gathers diagnostic data of the malfunctioning vehicle  12  via both internal sensors and manual input. In the exemplary situation described herein, the “diagnostic data” includes information that one or several parts, such as the brake or the engine, of the malfunctioning vehicle  12  are in need of repair or replacement. 
     When the diagnostic data is gathered or collected, the vehicle processor  124  may combine the diagnostic data and the position data together to generate a data package, and signal the vehicle transceiver  126  to transmit the data package to the management center  14  via the communication network  130 . 
     The management center  14  includes a center transceiver  142 , a center processor  144 , and a center database  146 . The center transceiver  142  receives the data package transmitted from the vehicle transceiver  126 , and transmits the data package to the center processor  144 . The center processor  144  extracts the position data from the received data package to determine the exact location of the malfunctioning vehicle  12 , and extracts the diagnostic data to determine the part(s) of the malfunctioning vehicle  12  which needs to be repaired or replaced. The center processor  144  selects a repair station  16  which can provide the necessary services to the malfunctioning vehicle  12 , according to the position data and the service data stored in the center database  146 . When the center processor  144  selects a repair station  16  which can provide the necessary services, the selection is based on at least two criteria detailed below. 
     The first criterion, which may be assigned with a higher priority, is whether the repair station  16  is the one located nearest to the malfunctioning vehicle  12 . The first criterion involves comparing the position data of the malfunctioning vehicle  12  with the position data of the repair stations  16 . The position data of the repair stations  16  are stored in the center database  146  of the management center  14 . It should be noted that when the position of the repair stations  16  has been changed, the position data stored in the center database  146  can be updated to reflect this change. 
     When there are two or more repair stations  16  located nearest to the malfunctioning vehicle  12  by performing the first criterion, a second criterion can be further performed to select the appropriate repair station  16  which can provide the necessary service. The second criterion may be assigned with a lower priority than the first criterion. The second criterion involves comparing the diagnostic data of the malfunctioning vehicle  12  with the service data available of the repair stations  16 . The service data may include service charge data which can be used to select the repair station  16 . For example, there may be three repair stations  16  located nearest to the malfunctioning vehicle  12  and capable of providing required service. The center processor  144  can further compare the service charge of the three repair stations to select one of them with a lowest service charge. 
     The repair station  16  satisfying the first condition or both of the first and second conditions described above, as the case may be, is hereinafter referred to as a “selected station  16 .” Once the selected station  16  is determined, the center processor  144  signals the center transceiver  142  to transmit a request message to the selected station  16  via the communication network  130 . 
     The selected station  16  includes a station transceiver  162  and a station processor  164 . The station transceiver  162  receives the request message transmitted from the center transceiver  142 , and transmits the request message to the station processor  164 . If the selected station  16  is available to provide the repair service, the station processor  164  signals the station transceiver  162  to transmit a confirmation response message to the management center  14 . If the selected station  16  cannot provide the repair service, the station processor  164  signals the station transceiver  162  to transmit a rejection response message to the management center  14 . In this latter case, the management center  14  selects another repair station  16  that is available to provide the repair service, based on the two conditions described above. This process is repeated as many times as is necessary until a repair station  16  that is available to provide the repair service is found. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a flow chart illustrating a method  400  for arranging vehicle repair service is shown. The method  400  includes the following blocks. 
     At block S 402 , the center transceiver  122  of the management center  12  receives position data and diagnostic data transmitted from the vehicle transceiver  126  of the malfunctioning vehicle  12 . 
     At block S 404 , the center processor  144  of the management center  14  selects a repair station  16  by comparing the received position data and the diagnostic data of the malfunctioning vehicle  12  with the position data and the service data of the repair stations  16  stored in the center database  142  of the management center  12 . The repair station  16  selected can of course provide the needed repair service. Furthermore, the repair station  16  selected can be the one which is located nearest to the malfunctioning vehicle  14 , and which can provide a lowest service charge. 
     At block S 406 , the center transceiver  142  of the management center  14  transmits a request message to the station transceiver  162  of the selected station  16 . The request message includes position information and diagnostic information of the malfunctioning vehicle  14 . 
     At block S 408 , the station processor  164  determines if repair service can be provided based on the received request message. If the selected station  16  cannot provide the repair service, the procedure returns to block S 404 . If the selected station  16  can provide the repair service, the procedure goes to block S 410 . 
     At block S 410 , the selected station  16  transmits a confirmation response message to the management center  14 . In particular, the station processor  163  signals the station transceiver  162  to transmit the confirmation response message to the center transceiver  142  via the communication network  130 . 
     At block S 412 , the selected station  16  communicates with the malfunctioning vehicle  14  via the communication network  130  in order to provide the repair service. 
     As described above, the vehicle management system  10  can receive position information and diagnostic information of the malfunctioning vehicle  12  via the communication network  130 . The vehicle management system  10  also can select the nearest repair station  16 , and request the nearest repair station  16  to provide the repair service via the communication network  130 . Thus the malfunctioning vehicle  14  can be promptly repaired. This service provided to the malfunctioning vehicle  14  can be particularly helpful when the malfunctioning vehicle  14  is in unfamiliar territory. 
     It should be noted that the various blocks in the method  400  illustrated in  FIG. 3  may be performed in the order presented, or may be performed in a different order. 
     It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention.