Method of evaluating and classifying living structures for estimating potential damage thereto from physical disturbances
First Claim
1. A method for estimating risk of damage likely to be sustained by a structure located at a particular site from a physical disturbance, said method including the steps of:
- inspecting said structure at said site to determine its structural characteristics; and
collecting structure data pertaining to the structural characteristics of said structure; and
inputting the structure data in a format usable by a computer; and
generating an estimate of risk of damage to said structure, wherein the estimate is generated by a computer program based on a combination of the structure data and physical disturbance related information for said site;
wherein the computer program includes a probabilistic software engine, and said probabilistic software engine analyzes and combines the structural characteristics data with seismic related databases to generate a rating for said structure.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Residential wood home structures are evaluated and classified according to a defined risk level relative to damage likely to be caused by earthquake shaking or wind forces. Susceptibility to damage is evaluated and predicted by a probabilistic software engine based on existing databases of geologic and/or wind data coupled with specific structural characteristics information obtained by an onsite inspection of the structure. The software engine combines these data sets, and produces a report with a reliable, quantified risk rating that can be used by insurance companies to make decisions regarding offering of insurance and rates of insurance. The report is also used by homeowners as an evaluation factor in deciding to strengthen the structure against earthquake and/or wind storm damage. Because of its high volume capability and affordability, this inventive process makes assessment of a home'"'"'s risk relative to damage induced by earthquake shaking and/or wind forces available to a larger segment of the general market, including home owning and home buying persons.
116 Citations
54 Claims
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1. A method for estimating risk of damage likely to be sustained by a structure located at a particular site from a physical disturbance, said method including the steps of:
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inspecting said structure at said site to determine its structural characteristics; and collecting structure data pertaining to the structural characteristics of said structure; and inputting the structure data in a format usable by a computer; and generating an estimate of risk of damage to said structure, wherein the estimate is generated by a computer program based on a combination of the structure data and physical disturbance related information for said site; wherein the computer program includes a probabilistic software engine, and said probabilistic software engine analyzes and combines the structural characteristics data with seismic related databases to generate a rating for said structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for estimating risk of damage likely to be sustained by a structure located at a particular site from a physical disturbance, said method including the steps of:
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inspecting said structure at said site to determine its structural characteristics; and collecting structure data pertaining to the structural characteristics of said structure; and inputting the structure data in a format usable by a computer; and generating an estimate of risk of damage to said structure, wherein the estimate is generated by a computer program based on a combination of the structure data and physical disturbance related information for said site; wherein the computer program includes a probabilistic software engine, and said probabilistic software engine analyzes and combines the structural characteristics data with wind force related databases to generate a rating for said structure. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for estimating risk of damage likely to be sustained by a structure located at a particular site from a physical disturbance, said method including the steps of:
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inspecting said structure at said site to determine its structural characteristics; and collecting structure data pertaining to the structural characteristics of said structure; and inputting the structure data in a format usable by a computer; and generating an estimate of risk of damage to said structure, wherein the estimate is generated by a computer program based on a combination of the structure data and physical disturbance related information for said site; wherein the risk estimate includes information pertaining to the likelihood of said physical disturbance occurring, potential damage likely to be caused by said disturbance, and probable financial harm resulting from such damage; wherein the risk estimate further includes an acceptable or unacceptable rating for such structure, and such rating can be used for actuarial purposes for such structure. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for estimating risk of damage likely to be sustained by a structure located at a particular site from a physical disturbance, said method including the steps of:
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inspecting said structure at said site to determine its structural characteristics; and collecting structure data pertaining to the structural characteristics of said structure; and inputting the structure data in a format usable by a computer; and generating an estimate of risk of damage to said structure, wherein the estimate is generated by a computer program based on a combination of the structure data and physical disturbance related information for said site; wherein said structure is a residential wood frame structure inspected onsite by a visual examination. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method for estimating risk of damage to a wood frame structure at a particular site from potential earthquake forces, said method including the steps of:
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inspecting said wood frame structure at said site to determine its structural characteristics; and collecting data related to the structural characteristics of said structure, including frame, supporting wall, foundation, cripple wall and roof characteristics; generating a structural characteristics database from the structural characteristics data; and generating an estimate of likely damage to said structure, wherein the estimate is calculated by a computer program based on a combination of the structural characteristics database for said structure and seismic database information for said site; wherein the computer program includes a probabilistic software engine, and said probabilistic software engine analyzes and combines the structural characteristics database with seismic related databases to generate a rating for said structure. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method for estimating risk of damage to a wood frame structure at a particular site from potential wind forces, said method including the steps of:
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inspecting said wood frame structure at said site to determine its structural characteristics; and collecting data related to the structural characteristics of said structure, including window, frame, supporting wall, foundation, cripple wall and roof characteristics; generating a structural characteristics database from the structural characteristics data; and generating an estimate of likely damage to said structure, wherein the estimate is calculated by a computer program based on a combination of the structural characteristics database for said structure and wind force database information for said site; wherein the computer program includes a probabilistic engine, and said probabilistic engine analyzes and combines the structural characteristics data with wind force related databases to generate a rating for said structure. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification