Patent ID: 7206708
Filing Date: 2007-04-17
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method of determining when a product should have a component of interest inspected, the method comprising: (e) determining a distribution of mean times between failures for each component of interest of the product; (f) using statistical techniques to select a fail point for each component of interest from the distribution of mean times for the respective component; (g) determining an aging factor for each component of interest for conditions to which the product is subjected; (h) determining a product of: time period for which a component of interest was subjected to a condition, and an aging factor associated with the condition; (i) summing, for the component of interest, products of aging factor and time under aging factor conditions, at predetermined intervals or continuously, to produce a total from the summing; (j) calculating an estimated time for failure for a component of interest using information comprising the total from the summing; (k) periodically or continuously, comparing the total from the summing for a component of interest with a fail point for that respective component; and (l) generating an alert when the total from summing for a component of interest equals or exceeds the randomly generated fail point for the respective component.