The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 21, 2003
Filed:
Apr. 07, 2000
Dave Needle, Alameda, CA (US);
Stan F. Shepard, Oakland, CA (US);
Jovial Test Equipment, Inc., Oakland, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for determining the location of a fault or another region of interest in an electrical conductor such as an electrical cable. A preselected electrical signal is applied to the electrical conductor and a reflected signal produced thereby is generated. The reflected signal is compared to a plurality of preselected voltage values and time values are recorded representing times at which the voltage of the reflected signal crosses the preselected voltage values. Mathematical algorithms are applied using the recorded time and voltage values first to locate a suspected knee region in the reflected signal, then to confirm the presence of the knee within the suspected knee region. The location of the knee in the reflected signal is then used to calculate the distance to the fault or other region of interest. A further series of time values is recorded within the suspected knee region and used to more precisely determine the true location of the knee in the reflected signal.