Patent Issued for System and Method for Facilitating Transportation of a Vehicle Involved in a Crash
By a
The assignee for this patent, patent number 8938329, is
Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: "Every year, vehicles are involved in collisions that result in varying amounts of damage to the vehicle. If the damaged vehicle is insured, an insurance claim is usually filed shortly after the collision. The damaged vehicle is typically brought to a location where an appraisal or assessment of the damage is made. Depending on the extent of the damage and the treatment facility where the damaged vehicle was brought, the damaged vehicle may then need to be further transported to a different treatment facility that is capable of performing the necessary repairs, or in the case where the damage is too costly to repair, to a salvage or a scrap facility. Additional costs are incurred when the damaged vehicle is brought to a first location for the initial appraisal and then to a subsequent location for the repair or salvage. By determining the extent of damage to the vehicle and the corresponding treatment shortly after a collision, the time and costs involved to currently process an insurance claim may be reduced."
In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, VerticalNews editors also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent: "Example systems and methods for treating and/or routing a damaged vehicle after a crash are herein described. In accordance with a first example aspect of the invention, a method implemented on a computer system for treating a vehicle damaged in a crash includes receiving crash information about the damaged vehicle, determining a crash velocity of the damaged vehicle based on the received crash information, determining a crash direction of the damaged vehicle based on the received crash information, determining a treatment complexity level based on the crash information, and automatically transmitting information associated with the treatment complexity level.
"In accordance with a second example aspect of the invention, a computer system for facilitating transportation of a vehicle damaged in a crash includes a first computing device including one or more processors and one or more sensors are coupled to the one or more processors. The one or more sensors monitor operating information of the vehicle and facilitate providing crash information of the damaged vehicle to the first computing device. The computer system includes a first communication module coupled to the one or more processors of the first computing device and wirelessly transmitting the crash information to a second computing device. The second computing device includes one or more processors and one or more memory devices for storing executable instruction that when executed on the one or more processors of the second computing device cause the computer system to evaluate the crash information and determine a treatment complexity level associated with the damaged vehicle. The computer system includes a second communication module coupled to the second computing device, wherein the second communication module transmits information associated with the treatment complexity level.
"In accordance with a third example aspect of the invention directed to a computer system for treating a vehicle damaged in a crash, the computer system includes a computing device includes one or more processors coupled to one or more devices, wherein the one or more memory devices store executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the computer system to determine a treatment complexity level. The computer system includes one or more sensors coupled to the one or more processors for monitoring operating information of the vehicle, wherein the one or more sensors are capable of gathering crash information of the vehicle. The computer system includes a comparator or analyzer operatively coupled to the processor for evaluating the crash information of the vehicle with a compilation of collision data of a vehicle type that includes the damaged vehicle, and a wireless communication module coupled to the processor for transmitting information associated with the treatment complexity level.
"In accordance with a fourth example aspect of the invention, a tangible, computer-readable medium stores instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer system cause the computer system to gather crash information about the vehicle, determine a crash velocity of the vehicle based on the crash information, determine a crash direction of the vehicle based on the crash information, determine a treatment complexity level based on an analysis of the crash information with a compilation of collision data of a vehicle type that includes the vehicle, and transmit information associated with the treatment complexity level.
"In further accordance with any one or more of the foregoing first, second, third, and fourth example aspects, a method, system, and computer-readable medium may further include any one or more of the following preferred forms.
"In one form, determining a treatment complexity level includes comparing the crash velocity of the damaged vehicle to collision data of a vehicle type that includes the damaged vehicle.
"In another form, determining a treatment complexity level includes comparing the crash direction of the damaged vehicle to collision data of a vehicle type that includes the damaged vehicle.
"In another form, determining a crash velocity of the damaged vehicle includes measuring an acceleration associated with the damaged vehicle and determining the crash velocity from the measured acceleration.
"In another form, determining a crash direction of the damaged vehicle includes measuring an acceleration associated with the damaged vehicle and determining the crash direction from the measured acceleration.
"In another form, determining a treatment complexity level includes performing a mathematical operation on the crash velocity.
"In another form, determining a treatment complexity level includes performing a mathematical operation on the crash direction.
"In another form, the method includes monitoring operating information about the damaged vehicle.
"In another form, monitoring operating information of a damaged vehicle includes monitoring an operating velocity of the damaged vehicle, and monitoring an operating direction of the damaged vehicle.
"In another form, monitoring an operating velocity of the vehicle includes measuring an acceleration associated with the damaged vehicle and determining the velocity of the damaged vehicle from the measured acceleration.
"In another form, gathering crash information includes measuring acceleration associated with the damaged vehicle in one or more directions with an accelerometer; and wherein determining a treatment complexity level includes utilizing the measured acceleration to assess acceleration segments including one or more of a fore-aft acceleration and a lateral acceleration.
"In another form, the crash information includes a crash velocity of the damaged vehicle and a crash direction of the damaged vehicle.
"In another form, the one or more sensors include an accelerometer monitoring acceleration associated with the damaged vehicle in one or more directions.
"In another form, the crash information includes a crash velocity of the damaged vehicle determined from the acceleration measured by the accelerometer, and a crash direction of the damaged vehicle determined from the acceleration measured by the accelerometer.
"In another form, a comparator operatively coupled to the second computing device compares the crash information of the damaged vehicle to a compilation of collision data of a vehicle type that includes the damaged vehicle.
"In another form, the vehicle type includes one or more of a vehicle make, a vehicle model, and a vehicle year.
"In another form, the compilation of collision data is stored on the memory.
"In another form, the compilation of collision data includes a particular treatment complexity level equated to a particular collision information."
For more information, see this patent: Mullen, Christina P.; Leise, William J.;
Keywords for this news article include: Transportation,
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