Method for guiding repair or replacement of parts for generally complex equipment

Abstract

Computerized method and system computerized method for guiding equipment service personnel while at an equipment work site through a plurality of tasks for troubleshooting the health of a selected system of a selected equipment to determine the nature and extent of service needed for such system. The method allows to provide a database comprising detailed data for health assessment and servicing of a selected equipment and system thereof, and an expert rule-based troubleshooting wizard for eliciting information regarding the selected equipment and system and for providing troubleshooting instructions to determine the nature of the equipment fault and the servicing required for the selected equipment and system. An input / output device at the work site for communicating with the database is provided. The method allows to select the equipment and the system thereof to be serviced and to access the database to interface with the troubleshooting wizard for the selected equipment and system. The method allows to provide in response to a set of prompts to the personnel from the troubleshooting wizard at least one set of observations selected from the group comprising operational performance of the selected equipment, operational performance of the selected system, and fault indications detected in the equipment and system. The method processes the observation information relative to the troubleshooting wizard to determine whether or not said selected equipment and system needs to be serviced, and if so the nature and extent of that service.

Description

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 644,421 and further claims the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 60 / 258, 747.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to method and system for servicing generally complex equipment, and, more particularly, to computer-based method and system for guiding servicing or replacing of parts of any selected equipment. [0003] The diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of generally complex equipment, such as mobile assets including on-road or off-road vehicles, ships, airplanes, railroad locomotives, trucks, and other forms of complex equipment including industrial equipment, consumer appliance equipment, medical imaging equipment, equipment used in industrial processes, telecommunications, aerospace applications, power generation, etc., involves extremely complex and time consuming processes. In the case of transportation equipment, efficient and cost-effective operation of a fleet of ve...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a computerized method and system for guiding equipment service personnel through a process of troubleshooting the health of a selected system of a selected equipment to determine the nature and extent of service needed. The system includes a database with detailed data for health assessment and servicing of the equipment and system, and an expert troubleshooting wizard for eliciting information and providing instructions to determine the nature of the equipment fault and the required servicing. The system also includes an input / output device for communication with the database and a data management module to access the troubleshooting wizard and supply observation information to the processor for determining whether the equipment needs to be serviced and the nature and extent of the service required. The technical effect of the invention is to provide a more efficient and effective means for identifying and addressing equipment health issues, reducing downtime and improving overall service performance."

Problems solved by technology

The diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of generally complex equipment, such as mobile assets including on-road or off-road vehicles, ships, airplanes, railroad locomotives, trucks, and other forms of complex equipment including industrial equipment, consumer appliance equipment, medical imaging equipment, equipment used in industrial processes, telecommunications, aerospace applications, power generation, etc., involves extremely complex and time consuming processes.

However, if the problem is complex and the root cause difficult to discern, the experienced technician may be unable to identify the problem and certainly much less likely to prognosticate problems before they occur.

Various equipment often incorporates diagnostic controls and sensors that report faults when anomalous operating conditions of the equipment arise.

It will be apparent that as the complexity of the equipment increases, the amount of paper needed to describe the equipment to assist with the repair process likewise increases.

Yet another problem with a paper-based system is the variety of field-deployed equipment configurations, each having its own unique technical support documentation.

Adding this configuration complexity to a paper-based system presents an inordinately complex and unmanageable problem of locating the correct technical repair documentation for a specific locomotive.

Another repair issue involving complex equipment, such as railroad locomotives or other mobile or stationary assets, is the unavailability of a repair history from which one could predict component failures and undertake preventative maintenance beforehand.

Although such a device represents an improvement over a paper-based system, it falls short of the informational needs for a complex equipment, such as a locomotive, and fails to advantageously utilize the various technologies available for more efficiently predicting and performing the repair.

Consequently, when a user needs to identify replacement or repair parts or check on upgrades for a particular locomotive, it is often difficult for that user to particularly identify the needed part or upgrade without knowing more about the particular locomotive.

In many instances, the user may not know the particular parts or level of upgrade of a locomotive that is in use.

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