| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080316007 | SYSTEM AND PROCESS TO ENSURE PERFORMANCE OF MANDATED INSPECTIONS - A method and apparatus to provide evidence that a person who is intended to make a required inspection was actually physically present at a predefined location associated with the inspection, so that the inspection could have been done, and if not, to provide an indication of the failure to perform the inspection. This invention is particularly well suited to determine if required pre/post-trip inspections of vehicles have been performed. Detecting a triggering condition, such as powering on (or off) equipment, indicates the beginning of a period of time during which the inspection is to be performed. The monitoring system waits for a predetermined event to occur, which indicates the period of time has expired and determines if data corresponding to the inspection have been received. If not, it is concluded that the inspection has not been performed. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20090237245 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO AUTOMATE DATA COLLECTION DURING A MANDATORY INPSECTION - A system and method for verifying that an operator was sufficiently close to one or more items to be inspected during an inspection to actually inspect the components, and storing an indication to that effect in a memory accessible via a computer network. In addition to the indication, the memory can store other inspection related data, such as a starting time or ending time of the inspection, or maintenance information about the item that was input during the inspection. The system and method enable a third party application, such as an accounting program or a maintenance program, to access any of the inspection related data. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090248362 | SYSTEM AND PROCESS TO ENSURE PERFORMANCE OF MANDATED SAFETY AND MAINTENANCE INSPECTIONS - A handheld, portable device is used to store data that indicates an operator was sufficiently close to each of a plurality of components during a safety inspection to actually inspect the components. The portable device includes a sensor that detects tokens, such as radio frequency identification tags, which are affixed adjacent to the components. Messages appearing on a display of the portable device prompt the operator to proceed to each checkpoint, determine a state of the component disposed there, and if the component is not operating properly, indicate a plurality of predefined conditions from which the operator can choose to identify the observed condition of the component. The state and condition of each component entered during the safety inspection are stored as data that are subsequently transferred to a remote data storage site over a wire or wireless link. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090256693 | SYSTEM AND PROCESS TO VALIDATE INSPECTION DATA - Techniques are disclosed for validating that an operator has moved a portable device sufficiently close to an inspection point to enable the operator to perform an inspection. A first exemplary technique employs a first portable device that includes a sensor for detecting the inspection point, a speaker, and stored audible prompts to facilitate the inspection, but no display on which visual prompts for facilitating the inspection can be provided. An alternative second exemplary technique employs a second portable device having a sensor for detecting the inspection point, and a wireless transmitter. This second portable device generates and immediately transmits a signal to a remote receiver indicating that the operator has moved the portable device sufficiently close to the inspection point to enable the operator to perform the inspection. Accordingly, the second portable device need not include a memory for storing the signal. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20100185479 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO ANALYZE GPS DATA TO DETERMINE IF A VEHICLE HAS ADHERED TO A PREDETERMINED ROUTE - System and method for analyzing position data from a vehicle equipped with a geographical position system to determine if the vehicle has adhered to a predetermined schedule, where the vehicle is scheduled to arrive at each one of a plurality of predetermined locations during a corresponding predetermined time window, the position data identifying a specific geographical location of the vehicle at a specific point in time. Position data from the vehicle is collected as the vehicle travels to the plurality of different locations, the position data identifying a specific geographical location of the vehicle at a specific point in time. Then the position data is analyzed to determine whether the vehicle was at each predetermined location during the corresponding predetermined time window. An exception report is automatically generated for each instance that the vehicle was not at one of the plurality of predetermined locations during the corresponding time window. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100280734 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO ENCODE FUEL USE DATA WITH GPS DATA AND TO ANALYZE SUCH DATA - System and method for analyzing position data and fuel injector data from a vehicle equipped with a geographical position system (GPS) and fuel injector sensors to enable fuel use patterns of the vehicle to be analyzed. Data defining a flow of fuel through the vehicle's fuel injectors is combined with temporal data and GPS data to produce fuel use encoded GPS data that is transmitted to a remote computer. The fuel use encoded GPS data can be analyzed to determine how much fuel was used by the vehicle during off road use to enable proper fuel tax computations to be performed. The data can also be used to evaluate the mechanical condition of a vehicle. By monitoring fuel use for a trip repeated numerous times, a decrease in fuel efficiency may indicate a mechanical problem (dirty injectors, fouled spark plugs, etc). | 11-04-2010 |
| 20110022248 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF VEHICLE INSPECTIONS BY ENABLING REMOTE ACTUATION OF VEHICLE COMPONENTS - A handheld, portable device is used to facilitate inspection of vehicles, by wirelessly conveying an activation command to the vehicle to actuate a vehicle component, to facilitate inspection of the actuated component. The activation command is received by a wireless data link in the vehicle, which is electrically/logically coupled to either a switch that controls actuation of the component, an actuator configured to manipulate the component, and/or a vehicle processor configured to selectively convey an actuation command to the component. In some embodiments, in response to conveying the activation command, the handheld device enables the user to input a condition of the actuated component, which is added to an inspection record. In some embodiments, the handheld device sends a query to the vehicle, which results in the handheld device providing an indication to a user of each component in the vehicle that is capable of remote actuation. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110068954 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO COLLECT OBJECT IDENTIFICATION DATA DURING OPERATION OF A VEHICLE AND ANALYSIS OF SUCH DATA - System and method for collecting object identification data from a plurality of objects that interact with a vehicle during operation of the vehicle, where the vehicle interacts with specific objects at specific geographical positions. An identification sensor is coupled to a geographical position sensor, and whenever an object is identified a record is generated, the record including the identification of the object, the position of the vehicle when the interaction between the object and the vehicle occurs, and the time of the interaction. Exemplary objects include passengers, containers, and documents. Exemplary interactions include loading/unloading an object from the vehicle, boarding a passenger, unloading a passenger, transferring a bulk material from the vehicle into a specific container, and/or transferring a bulk material from a specific container to the vehicle. The record may also include additional data about a parameter of the object (such as the object's weight, volume, or temperature). | 03-24-2011 |
