Electronic product/service manual
Contents
1. ping data repair data operation data troubleshooting data and the like in a single data structure In a preferred implementation the unit data model is implemented as a data structure without any associated behavior or program elements In a less preferred alternative implementation the unit data model is embodied in an object oriented structure called a unit data object that includes not only the unit data model itself but generic methods that expose the unit data model data for access by external applications The present invention also involves a graphical user interface GUI application configured to access the unit object The GUI application is preferably configured for a particular context related to the role of the user operating the GUI application This configuration may be static or dynamic e g the application implemented on a loading dock can be statically defined to that role whereas a browser application may be dynamically configured for various roles depending on the user identification Because the GUI application can access any of the various types of data from the unit data structure the unit data structure is readily shared across the various GUI application instances and is accessible by the various methods of displaying data that are implemented within any GUI application The rich and varied nature of the data contained in the unit data structure allows the combination of interactive two dimensional and three dim2. 12 United States Patent Kluge et al US006975909B2 US 6 975 909 B2 Dec 13 2005 10 Patent No 45 Date of Patent 54 75 73 21 22 65 G1 32 G8 56 ELECTRONIC PRODUCT SERVICE MANUAL Inventors Eva Kluge Munich DE Marc Hoffman Neubiberg DE Werner Posch Oberhaching DE Assignee Critical Reach AG DE Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U S C 154 b by 662 days Appl No 10 002 614 Filed Nov 29 2001 Prior Publication Data US 2003 0100964 A1 May 29 2003 Int CL Scheel G05B 15 00 US Ch ii 700 83 707 100 707 101 707 102 707 103 R 707 103 Y 707 103 707 103 Z 707 104 1 700 88 Field of Search 7700 83 701 3 345 184 707 2 101 102 103 R 103 Y 707 103 104 1 100 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 5 504 674 A 4 1996 Chenetal 705 4 108 5 794257 A 8 1998 Liu et al 715 501 1 5 864 480 A 1 1999 Ladd 700 83 6 438 535 B1 8 2002 Benjamin et al 707 2 6 453 687 B2 9 2002 Sharood et al 62 127 6 559 882 B1 5 2003 Kerchner lt 348 61 6 567 079 B1 5 2003 Smailagic et al 345 184 6 606 544 B2 8 2003 Glenn et al 701 3 cited by examiner Primary Examiner Anthony Knight Assistant Examiner Thomas Pha
3. a user of the manual and provided on demand 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 so that a part being viewed can be animated to show normal and or malfunctioning operation Other features of the present invention involve the defi nition of default perspectives with the unit data structures It has been found that one limitation of truly interactive three dimensional graphical user interfaces is that a user may become disoriented or lost This has not been a problem in prior systems that have static data presentation because the user could not manipulate the perspective and content presented in a view In accordance with the present inven tion upon initial selection of an object a default perspective or starting point is presented in one or all views of the graphical user interface A user can then manipulate the object from the defined starting point and may preferably return to the default perspective as desired FIG 1 shows an exemplary networked computer envi ronment in which the present invention is implemented including various computing devices such as personal com puter 102 wireless hand held device 103 and laptop 104 interconnected by a network 101 In one embodiment an appliance such as washing machine 107 includes a network connection and or a connection to another computing device such as device 104 Appliance 107 could be any type of appliance machine or system which is the subject o
4. service manuals As products become more complex it is useful for consumers to have ready access to information about the products to aide in installation setup configuration troubleshooting and repair In an industrial setting machines are often specifically designed for special purpose and involve complex components and subsystems that must be continually maintained and repaired by machine operators Operators however are often not trained specifically for machine maintenance tasks and must refer to product documentation Moreover consumer products such as appliances automobiles and household machinery are increasingly complex thereby making reference to docu mentation more frequent and important to the consumer Service professionals that offer setup and repair services for both industrial and consumer products depend on the availability of effective up to date documentation To be effective the documentation must be easy to use and avail able as well as aid the service professional s ability to perceive diagnose and correct problems Up to date docu mentation means that the documentation must cover not only the current version of a product but also non current versions that may require service for decades The art and science of documentation involves commu nicating information often very specific and focused infor mation about complex products and systems Complex products and machines are typically made from arrange men
5. the database is closely coupled to the presentation logic e g a web server of the manual rather than being coupled to the business processes that produce the product provide the service or generate the documen tation As a result the database copies tend to become out of date with respect to the most current product information A need exists for systems and methods for integrating existing databases with a product manual user interface so that the product manual presents the most relevant information to a user Three dimensional rendering and imaging is an effective technique for conveying information for many products and services Three dimensional images assist users and service technicians in identifying components and manipulating operating machinery and tools in a way that plane views do not Accordingly many product and service manuals include three dimensional illustrations However existing three di mensional illustrations fail to allow user interaction by selection and manipulation of three dimensional objects Essentially the images provide a fixed vantage point fixed function informational display that does not enable user to interface with the manual through the three dimensional image Hence a need exists for a product and service manual having a three dimensional graphical user interface One of the reasons three dimensional user interfaces have not be widely deployed is that users can actually become disoriented whe
6. to provide several views to the same underlying data This feature enables role based data access By role based data access it is meant that the manner in which data is displayed can be varied based on the role of the user without changing the underlying data model For example the service technician has access to maintenance and diag nosis views whereas terminals offer only logistic data like availability and storage location of spare parts In this manner a single comprehensive data structure the unit data structure can be shared and leveraged across multiple roles Each unit data structure includes a quantity of object specific data such as a definition of the default perspective of that particular unit object as well as data indicating the hierarchical relationship of the specific unit data structure to other data structures e g external databases sub unit data structures and the like The hierarchical information can be used to identify the contained sub unit data structures for use in GUI application processes that access external databases and or access sub unit data structures Some of the interfaces shown in FIG 5 may be null for a particular unit data structure For example there may be no user initiated actions that can be taken on a particular product component and so the particular unit data structure representing that product or component will not have data related to Actions As illustrated in FIG 5 animation
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9. 9 ages disorientation but allows the user to continue to tunnel down into an data structure from the default content This feature also promotes better cognition of a problem condi tion by a user by ensuring that the user is aware of inter acting components and sub components during an investi gation FIG 5 illustrates an exemplary unit data structure used in the present invention The unit data structure acts to aggre gate or contain data of disparate types and make available the disparate data to a user via a graphical user interface application The data structure definition defines a variety of information types including CAD design files 3D graphics files marketing materials product descriptions etc Each unit data structure also has a predefined default presentation information in one or more of the views described above In operation when a unit data structure is first selected the predefined default presentation informa tion are displayed This is most apparent in the graphical view in which the dfault presentation information includes a default perspective in which viewpoint magnification rota tion and the like may be predefined by default presentation information to guide the user to a selected part Additionally highlighting to indicate the selected part with any kind of pointers colors different shading positioning hiding non selected surrounding parts transparency text sound and the like may be incl
10. Conventional static manuals vary significantly in the amount of information that is contained therein trying to balance the need for comprehensive information against the need to make the manual compact and easy to use This balance is required because in any given situation a manual provides much more information that is needed to solve a problem at hand A need exists for methods and systems for delivering product manual information as needed and requested by a user SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly stated the present invention involves an electronic product manual including a plurality of elements having a hierarchical relationship as components and sub compo nents with each other A data structure stores data of various types representing the components and sub components A graphical user interface GUI is configured to present selected portions of the data structure to a user receive input from the user and enable a user to select an object from the display A first view of the data structure displayed in the GUI upon selection of the object the first view comprising an image of the object A second view of the data structure is displayed in the GUI upon selection of the object the second view including information indicating the hierarchi cal relationship of the selected object with respect to other objects A third view of the data structure displayed in the GUI upon selection of the object the third view including object speci
11. MENSIONAL GRAPHIC USER INTERFACE and incor porated herein by reference As noted above a key limitation of online manuals is their failure to show information that is relevant to a user at runtime By the terms user relevant information and user centric information it is meant that the perspective and content of three dimensional data matches the perspec tive and content desired by a user This may also be referred to as context sensitive display as the content that is displayed and the manner in which the content is displayed may vary depending on the user s current context While US 6 975 909 B2 5 various techniques have been used to display these different types of data in the past these prior approaches involved multiple separate and independent data structures such that each data structure held data that was relevant to a particular user role or context In contrast the present invention enables a single data structure the unit data structure or unit object that can be shared across these disparate users roles and contexts In the case of non graphical data user relevant data means that the data is current and applicable to the real world system corresponding to the manual The vast quan tity of potential information forces conventional systems to truncate the available information both in content and in the presentation logic used to present the data This in turn limits the ability of the manual to present
12. bject matter of the product service manual in accordance with the present invention An object is indicated by for example floating the cursor over a particular location In a particular embodiment the object identification information is obtained from the frame buffer and a tool tip 206 is displayed as shown in FIG 2 In many cases the tool tip information may simply comprise a name for the component under the cursor however any amount of information may be included in the tool tip As the cursor is moved from one location to another as suggested by the dashed line arrow in FIG 1 the displayed tool tip changes to indicate the object identification of the object currently under the cursor In addition to the three dimensional image view the present invention preferably includes a hierarchical view 202 and an information view 203 Hierarchical view 202 communicates the hierarchical relationship of a currently selected object with respect to parent and child components For example the control panel is a component or child of the entire washing machine The control knob is a child of the control panel Preferably this hierarchical relationship is conveyed using positioning colors or other visual cues that suggest a hierarchical relationship The hierarchical view 202 presents one or more branches of the component and sub component relationships that exist in the real world system or device The hierarchical view 202 aids the user in unders
13. d by the following claims We claim 1 An electronic product manual stored in a computer readable medium comprising a plurality of data structures each data structure holding data representing a product and having a hierarchical relationship as components and sub components with each other a graphical user interface GUI configured to present data selected from the plurality of data structures to a user in the form of displayed objects receive input from the user and enable a user to select data from the plurality of data structures by selecting a displayed object a first view of the selected data structure displayed in the GUI upon selection the first view comprising an image of the selected object a second view of the selected data structure displayed in the GUI upon selection the second view including information indicating a hierarchical relationship of the selected data structure with respect to other data struc tures and a third view of the selected data structure displayed in the GUI upon selection the third view including compo nent specific information 2 The product manual of claim 1 wherein the first second and third views of the selected data structure are displayed simultaneously 3 The product manual of claim 1 wherein the graphical user interface is configured to enable selection of any displayed object from any of the first second and third views 4 The product manual of claim 1 wherein the first
14. ensional graphics with interactive text describing the graphics and interactive product structure information such as hierarchical views Preferably a GUI application displays disparate views of the relevant unit data model simultaneously such that for example a graphical view is displayed along side a text description and or hierarchical display of the product represented by the unit data model Preferably each of the displayed views is interactive such that a user may selected a particular portion or element that is displayed and cause the GUI application to implement a programmed behavior The programmed behavior may in many instances update one or more of the displayed views to show more or less detail or a new perspective of the product associated with or represented by the unit data structure A particular implementation of the present invention involves use of three dimensional graphics to display por tions of the unit data model One aspect of the present invention uses an efficient and expedient method for embed ding component identification information into the frame buffer of the display device itself so that it is readily manipulated using operating system methods that are already available in most commercial operating system software This method is described in co pending U S patent application Ser No 10 001 940 assigned to the assignee of the present invention and entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPLEMENTING A THREE DI
15. f a product service manual in accordance with the present invention In the particular example of FIG 1 appliance 107 includes an integrated display device for use with a graphi cal user interface however this capability is optional It should be understood that the present invention does not require a network environment nor network connectivity to appliances such as appliance 107 In fact because the present invention can greatly ease the hardware require ments needed to provide a three dimensional product manual it enables stand alone operation of devices such as hand held device 103 and or appliance 107 with relatively little computing power However for this same reason the present invention enables client server computing systems in which computationally intensive graphical processes and or database operations are conducted on a server 105 In such systems end user devices 101 104 and 107 may implement only a graphical user interface or may imple ment any desired subset of the graphical processes used to render and manipulate graphical user interface objects Each of the devices shown in FIG 1 may include memory mass storage and a degree of data processing capability sufficient to manage the display of information using a display device and manage a network connection where one is implemented The computer program devices in accor dance with the present invention are implemented in the memory of the various devices shown i
16. fic information BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 shows an computer environment in which the present invention is implemented FIG 2 illustrates a first representation of a user interface of an electronic manual in accordance with the present invention FIG 3 illustrates a second representation of a user inter face of an electronic manual in accordance with the present invention FIG 4 illustrates a third representation of a user interface of an electronic manual in accordance with the present invention FIG 5 shows components of a unit data structure used to implement the electronic manual in accordance with the present invention and FIG 6 is an exemplary markup language document used to implement a particular instance of a unit data structure in accordance with the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An important feature of the present invention is the incorporation of a truly interactive graphical user interface GUI The present invention involves creating a single comprehensive representation of a product or service called a unit data model The unit data model includes various 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 types of data about the product or service where each type of data included may only be relevant in limited set of contexts For example the unit data model may include graphical representations of a product ordering and ship
17. fines a default perspective and the act of updating the first second and third views com prises presenting the default perspectives 12 A display object for product manual having a graphi cal user interface the display object corresponding to a real world component of a system the display object com prising a link to a unit data structure first presentation means initiated in response to selection of the displayed object and operable to retrieve an image of the display object from the unit data structure and display the image using the graphical user inter face second presentation means initiated in response to selec tion of the displayed object and operable to retrieve a hierarchical view from the unit data structure and display the hierarchical view using the graphical user interface and third presentation means initiated in response to selection of the displayed object and operable to retrieve a information about the real world component from the unit data structure and display the information using the graphical user interface 13 The display object of claim 12 further comprising selection means operable to retrieve selected data from the unit data structure in response to user input indi cated selection of the displayed object 14 The display object of claim 12 further comprising ordering means implementing a product ordering interface for ordering the real world component 15 The display object of claim 12 fur
18. g the first instance to instantiate subsequent instances of the unit object class for selected sub components
19. ing irrespective of whether the winding is selected via the graphical display text display or hierarchical display the same portion of the unit data model is referenced to provide data to the GUI application for implementing behavior in response to the selection event In this manner the electronic manual in accordance with the present invention is readily linked to external databases to provide current user centric information to a user without the large overhead normally associated with having that extent of information present on the user s machine In the particular example a unit data structure shown in greater detail in FIG 5 is defined that can be used both to contain other data structures and to include object specific information The unit data structure implements a data model used to store all information provided by a manual application The application provides a graphical user inter 10 15 20 25 30 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 face GUI for displaying one or more views of the unit data structure and so provides differing perspectives of the underlying data model The GUI application is preferably implemented indepen dently of the data model implemented by the unit data structure In other words methods for creating displays are not within the unit data structure itself but instead are implemented in the GUI application Keeping the GUI behavior out of the data model enables the application
20. m 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Baker amp Hostetler LLP Burman Y Mathis 57 ABSTRACT An electronic product manual including a plurality of data structures having a hierarchical relationship as components and sub components with each other A graphical user interface GUI is configured to present the plurality of data structures to a user as displayed objects receive input from the user and enable a user to select a displayed object A first view of the data structure is displayed in the GUI upon selection of the object the first view comprising an image A second view of the data structure displayed in the GUI upon selection of the object the second view including information indicating the hierarchical relationship of the selected object with respect to other objects A third view of the data structure displayed in the GUI upon selection of the object the third view including object specific information 24 Claims 6 Drawing Sheets ATA 105 SERVER WL 106 U S Patent Dec 13 2005 Sheet 1 of 6 US 6 975 909 B2 FIG 1 US 6 975 909 B2 Sheet 2 of 6 Dec 13 2005 Joyy WOU sseoov jeu ed ssoooe do eaowey sonsouBerp yos 19ud1oju SJojeoipulr 3jne 4 1e4d4o1u uonduinsuoo Jo EM 19S Wdy 0071 Jo peeds ulds jog uoneJedo qouy efBurs 100p ejounod od Suonov sonsoufieip Jos SJ0 E2Ipul DE Ita asury ulds uondo ysemade uondo usBAA anueg sibi eoue nbes wei6olq wepo d ysem yous uleJ6oJd 4
21. n keyboard button or similar indicating device Selection of an data structure results in updating of all the frames as shown in FIG 3 to present information corre sponding to the selected data structure For example the three dimensional image portion may zoom or reorient to a default perspective for the selected data structure while the hierarchical frame will focus on a branch corresponding to the selected data structure and the information frame will display documentation functionality actions error condi tions and or order information specific to the selected com ponent As shown in FIG 3 another useful display in the information portion is product order information that is tailored to the specific component corresponding to the particular data structure Other information such as error conditions functionality and actions specific to the selected component can be displayed Any number of hierarchical levels can be incorporated in this manner However this level of flexibility sometimes results in a user becoming disoriented or lost in a particular spatial view or branch One feature of the present invention is that each of the data structures includes default presen tation information that includes default content including default spatial perspective as well as default content in any other views when the object is initially selected The default view constrains the user interface in a manner that discour US 6 975 909 B2
22. n FIG 1 and enabled by the data processing capability of the devices shown in FIG 1 In addition to local memory and storage associated with each device it is often desirable to provide one or more locations of shared storage such as data store 106 that provides mass storage capacity beyond what an individual device can efficiently use and manage Selected components of the present invention may be stored in or implemented in data store 106 FIG 2 illustrates an exemplary user interface presented in a windowed environment such as is familiar to many per sonal computer users Non windowed graphical user inter face environments can readily be adapted to the present invention as well The particular examples herein use a web browser as a graphical user interface to leverage software that is common across many computing platforms however any type of graphical user interface is readily substituted A user is enabled to interact with the graphical user interface US 6 975 909 B2 7 using a pointing device such as a mouse pen stylus touch screen monitor or tablet that enables a user to position a cursor 204 over a desired location anywhere in the graphical user interface and select an object at that location As shown in FIG 2 the graphical user interface 200 preferably includes at least one window pane frame or portion 201 allocated to displaying a graphical i e two or three dimensional representation of a product that is the su
23. n viewing and navigating about complex systems viewed in three dimensions Changing zoom and perspective can readily disorient the user forcing them to back out to a familiar perspective and restart their navigation process Accordingly there is a need for a three dimensional product and service manual that enables easier intuitive navigation of complex systems One important type of interaction that is needed in con junction with service and product manuals relates to inter active messaging and parts ordering Whether being used by an end user or service technician once a particular compo nent of a system is identified more information about that component may be desired For example local sources for a part and or inventories of a part may be desired In some cases a part may need to be ordered and or delivered to replace a worn or defective part In other instances the manual user simply needs more information such as material US 6 975 909 B2 3 composition specifications or up to date troubleshooting information Conventional non interactive manuals in either paper or electronic form may provide customer service telephone numbers or web site addresses and even links to web sites that provide further information but lack sophis ticated inventory ordering and messaging interfaces that enable interaction between a user and an external support service such as a parts supplier or manufacturing customer service representative
24. relevant views relevant perspectives in those views relevant animation relevant troubleshooting information As a result product and service manuals are generally if not exclusively machine centric or product centric in that they provide information having content and perspective selected by the system not the user The unit data structure in accordance with the present invention enables incorporation of data from exter nal databases and so can access and present data at runtime allowing a virtually unlimited amount of data that can be formatted and presented to satisfy the current demands of a user By way of a particular example the external interfaces may include a link to dynamic external sources such as interfaces for ordering components and parts The most advance systems available to date may include a phone number or online order tool for an entire system For example an appliance manufacturer may include a web link that would allow a user to order a new timing belt or bolt from the appliance manufacturer In contrast some embodi ments of the present invention enables an application to implement an order interface on an object by object basis Hence an entry in the data structure representing a drive belt for a washing machine include information providing a link to the washing machine manufacturer or a link to a local appliance dealer hardware store or belt manufacturer In this manner the order interface can be relevant to
25. ructure that contains any number of sub unit data structures corresponding to particular sub components of the real world system The unit data structure corresponding to the entire washing machine is the highest level data structure in the particular example The highest level unit data structure includes links or interfaces to a control panel unit data structure a control knob data structure a digital display data structure a porthole data structure and the like These sub components are contained in the high level data 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 structure in the sense that the high level data structure includes references to the lower level object For example the sub unit data structure corresponding to the control panel is presented in the three dimensional image portion 201 the hierarchical portion 202 and the informa tion portion 203 A user can select any of the presentation information corresponding to the control panel data structure with a similar result on the entire display A user can also manipulate the perspective and zoom level on the image portion 201 without changing the selected data structure A user can select a sub unit data structure by positioning the cursor over one of the representations of the sub unit data structure in any of portions 201 202 or 203 Some sub unit data structures may be presented in only one of the portions 201 203 whereas other sub unit data s
26. sequence s data may be included in the unit data structure and linked to particular functionality or actions that can be performed with or on the component corresponding to the unit data structure A user may select a particular machine function and the GUI application will obtain the animation data an play an ani mation intended to illustrate proper and or malfunctioning behavior for the component Similarly an animation may illustrate an action to be performed such as tightening a screw or replacing a belt The animation sequences can be used interactively with the error state data such that for a particular error state specific actions are prescribed and animations presented as implemented by the GUI applica tion Once the prescribed actions are performed by the user the error state can once again be reviewed to determine if an error condition has been resolved In this manner the present invention enables interactive situation specific trouble shooting FIG 6 illustrates a highly simplified unit data structure implementation in accordance with the present invention including image rendering information ordering informa tion and documentation information As shown in FIG 6 the unit data structure in accordance with the present inven tion is readily implemented in a markup language document such as an XML document or the like It is contemplated that almost any data structure including one or more tables in a flat or relational da
27. ser to select objects on one page and automatically jump 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 to another page Hyperlinked interfaces enable a user to interact with a document and more readily reach information that is of immediate interest rather than following an pre scribed order through a document However these prior systems persist in presenting information in a flat or linear manner that mimics paper based media While hyperlinked documents allow a user to pursue a non linear flow there has not been to date an effective equivalent with graphical information Importantly these systems require the manual to be specifically compiled in the new media format and do not easily leverage existing material from marketing materials CAD files product literature or other sources that have been previously compiled For example a manual can be pro vided in electronic form using most word processing pre sentation spreadsheet and similar application software that enables images and or media files to be embedded in a document In the case of hyperlinked documents the docu ment may comprise a plurality of links to other documents or pages of information stored in a database associated with the presentation logic In either case the embedded files or database either contain information specially created for the manual or copies of pre existing files that have been reformatted or re purposed Hence
28. suddsdI ou yng Sum qoux Bulss ttu Si qoux Um jou T gous suonpuoo 40113 sule qoud Oy j03juoo 31oousaiqnoi L MOU OOUN OJjuoo eJeds Jop SIOHEOHDUI peau o seo pue ejpueu dup Asea p pjow pue usiuy juBuq Uim jeugew onsejd ejqganp v uone1edo qouy ejBuis S O1 U02 2IUOJJOAON PSOUBAPY E qouy 1043002 pued oo euyoew BuluseM GON 1OH INOO US 6 975 909 B2 Sheet 4 of 6 Dec 13 2005 U S Patent sue qoJd Jet jui jooussjgnou MOU Jet JUL e3eds 19p10 UlUPp O IPAOUUS1 ejetuluy yooney e Jopun see peues o aq 0 Ssmajosun Jo SIU L JOJEM USeM y WO Sjoe qo Jeujo pue SISQ BSOO seAouJ8J Jeu ueop o seo ou uiejs gs 13311 061 M SILONOAON aal p OU 48314 3ur1 joued sseooy 19311 U17 Apoq Buisnor Sheet 5 of 6 US 6 975 909 B2 Dec 13 2005 U S Patent S123443 31V1S 40333 NOLL MOT NOUL NOLLVIAINV ALITIVNOILONNA LINZ CO 430340 ONIH3QON33 S 9H LINA BLINA ans US 6 975 909 B2 Sheet 6 of 6 Dec 13 2005 U S Patent 3run arun dde 3euef op lt sqtunqns gt iu3 xoqzeeb xoqzieoeb AANIONT i gt u3 ugoanio uoanio AaNIONI i gt u3 3xo3ezeueb5 410o3e4deusb FANIONI i gt lt TW Z9ATTFTSO A94TTFITSO AGNIONI i gt qpu3 xoqouranqriaxasTp
29. tabase or other available data structure could implement a unit data structure This allows the unit data structure to be highly portable in that it can be displayed on a wide variety of devices and graphical user interface programs Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certain degree of particularity it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example US 6 975 909 B2 11 and that numerous changes in the combination and arrange ment of parts can be resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed For example the present invention may enable an interactive product service manual to be embedded into a system or appliance Embedded systems are necessarily very simple and constrained in the type and quantity of information that can be presented to a user A manual that requires significant computational resources to run would increase the cost and complexity of the appliance Because the present invention can be provided in a relatively compact form all or part of the present invention may be embedded in an appliance itself Because data and program code needed at runtime can be dynamically accessed the system in accordance with the present invention can be effectively run on a moderately complex microprocessor These and other extensions equivalents and applications of the present invention are encompasse
30. tanding a particular system being examined and is a navigational expedient as components are explored Information view 203 includes a number of variable components that provide information relevant to a selected object In the representation of FIG 2 the entire washing machine is selected at a gross perspective and the informa tion view presents data or links to data about available documentation features and the like Functionality available at the gross level is also presented as are actions that a user can perform on the selected object Functionality refers to normal and or abnormal functions that the machine or system will perform Actions refer to things the user can do to manipulate or operate the selected object As described more fully below as sub components of the system are selected the set of available functions actions and docu mentation changes to be relevant to the user indicated need In some applications error conditions associated with a particular selected object are also displayed as shown in FIG 1 Error conditions are conditions that are known to occur with respect to a selected object and are again specific to the particular object selected At the gross level shown in FIG 2 some very high level error conditions may be presented such as lack of power to the machine and the like Preferably all of the information presented in a particular view such as shown in FIG 2 is associated with a single unit data st
31. the user s immediate needs A preferred implementation enables a user to submit the order directly in the manual and transfer the order using server side processes directly in the vendors backend system e g SAP R 3 to process the order Some advantages of this implementation include unambiguous spare part identification and ordering Alternatively the order can added to a shopping cart that is maintained in a e commerce system Some systems e g Commerce One Websphere Commerce Suite have standard interfaces roundtrip punch out that can be accessed by a external applications such as the present invention to identify spare parts In this manner the preferred implementations enable efficient and accurate parts ordering directly from the manual application in accordance with the present invention Another example of the presentation of user relevant information involves the use of animation in the graphical user interface Automobiles appliances and other devices that use microcontrollers often include failure lights that blink in a particular pattern to indicate particular types of trouble Including animation sequences for each of the potential failure modes would require a significant amount of data and programming much of which will never be used assuming that in general the appliance systems do not fail In accordance with the present invention complex presentation methods such as animation sequences can be requested by
32. ther comprising documentation means for obtaining a pointer to a documen tation database from the unit data structure and accessing the documentation database containing documentation associ ated with the real world component 16 The display object of claim 12 further comprising functionality means for accessing a description of function ality of the real world component from the unit data struc ture 17 The display object of claim 12 further comprising actions means for accessing a description of actions that are possible to perform on the real world component from the unit data structure 18 The display object of claim 12 further comprising error state means for accessing a description of potential error states for the real world object from the unit data structure 19 The display object of claim 12 further comprising animation methods coupled to communicate with the actions means for retrieving animation sequence data from the unit data structure and generating an anima tion depicting the actions on the graphical user inter face 20 The display object of claim 12 further comprising animation means coupled to communicate with the func tionality methods for retrieving functionality data from US 6 975 909 B2 13 the unit data structure and generating an animation depicting the functionality on the graphical user inter face 21 The display object of claim 12 further comprising data structures within the unit data s
33. tructure for indicating rela tionships between the display object and other external display objects wherein the relationships mirror relation ships between real world components 22 The display object of claim 12 wherein the unit data structure includes a definition of a default perspective for the display object in each of the first second and third presen tation methods 23 A method for displaying a product manual for a particular product the product comprising a plurality of components and sub components in an interactive graphical user interface the method comprising the acts of gathering resources related to the product and its compo nents and sub components the information including information of types selected from the group consisting 10 15 14 essentially of documentation ordering information graphical display information functionality actions error states and animation organizing the information into sets of information related to particular components and sub components within the particular product defining a unit object data structure to hold data related to a particular component irrespective of the data type and using data from the unit data structure of an initial component to generate a graphical user interface cor responding to the unit data structure and presenting user selectable links to sub component unit data struc tures 24 The method of claim 23 further comprising the act of usin
34. tructures may be presented in a plurality of or all of the portions 201 203 Because all of the information presented in the various views shown in FIG 2 are inherently related because they are aggregated into a single unit data structure they are highly coordinated and easy to program maintain and use A design change to a new lint filter for example need only affect a lint filter data structure and the upper level data structures will automatically incorporate the changes More over a user will only be presented with the detailed infor mation about a sub component if and when that sub com ponent is selected Hence only information relevant to a particular user in a particular instance need be communi cated to the user Although not capable of illustration the present invention also contemplates that at least some unit data structures will include animation sequences that will illustrate certain actions and functionality For example selection of the access lint filter entry in the information window may launch an animation sequence describing how the porthole door is operated as shown in FIG 4 Conveniently the animation selects the lint filter data structure displays the animation in image portion 201 and displays useful infor mation such as filter ordering information and lint filter specific troubleshooting information in the information win dow A user can select a particular data structure by pressing a mouse butto
35. ts of simpler piece parts components and systems The components themselves may comprise sub components and subsystems In the final product these assembled sub components define spatial relationship to each other that dictate how the product looks as well as a functional relationship with each other Each component has a set of information associated only with that component e g repair instructions ordering information and the like as well as information about its relationship with other com ponents e g part A is engaged to part B using a 46 bolt and locknut Existing documentation systems are inadequate to allow a user to efficiently interact with visual information and rela tionship information to isolate the specific and focused information needed at a particular instant from the mass of documentation provided for an entire product Traditionally product information has been distributed in paper form by way of brochures manuals instruction booklets and the like Paper is a limited media in which to present information relating to products and systems because it only presents two dimensions and is only presented linearly This forces a user to become very familiar with the paper product to be able to index through it quickly or to frequently reference an index or table of contents to find desired information More recently this type of information is provided in electronic form including hyperlinked documents that allow a u
36. uded in the default presentation information to determine other features of the graphical information display that may be useful to a user s ready understanding of the information being presented Any default presentation information may be used that aid a user in understanding what is being viewed in relation to other system components including text graphics sound or other information that aides the user in this goal This aids significantly in navigation as the user does not get lost in the graphical view s when selecting parts of a complex system This also ensures that the user has a known perspective from which to begin understanding information in the other view frames In total this has an effect of making it much easier for the user to reach a cognitive understanding of what is being displayed a great advantage for user manuals Unit data structure 500 provides linking between the various disparate data types so that when an object is selected via one of the data types the presentation of the other data types can be updated automatically to continue the integrated presentation This linking is often implicit as the different displayed views of the data structure are all referencing the same data model Hence a starter motor can be displayed graphically textually and as a part of a hierarchical listing of components but each displayed view is referencing the same data model Accordingly when a user selects an armature wind
37. view comprises a three dimensional image of the selected object having user selectable sub components 5 The product manual of claim 1 wherein the first view further comprises help information obtained from the selected data structure associated with a particular displayed object and made visible in the first view when user input indicates a focus on the particular displayed object 6 The product manual of claim 1 wherein the second view comprises a tree structure depicting the hierarchical rela tionship 7 The product manual of claim 1 wherein the third view presents ordering information relevant to the selected object 8 The product manual of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of data structures includes data types relevant to the first second and third views 5 10 15 25 30 35 40 50 55 60 65 12 9 The product manual of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of data structures includes a pointer to an external data store having current information 10 The product manual of claim 1 further comprising a selection tool operable to receive user input and indicate a user selected object from the plurality of displayed objects in one of the first second and third views wherein the GUI is configured to allow updating of the first second and third views in response to the user s selection of an object 11 The product manual of claim 10 wherein each of the plurality of data structures de
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