Data processing: measuring – calibrating – or testing – Measurement system – Statistical measurement
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-23
2002-11-12
Hilten, John S. (Department: 2863)
Data processing: measuring, calibrating, or testing
Measurement system
Statistical measurement
C702S181000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06480808
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile production by any one of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrights rights whatsoever.
This invention relates to a prediction interval calculator and, more particularly, to a calculator that performs a complete statistical analysis of output data according to Six Sigma.
With the advent of the worldwide marketplace and the corresponding consumer demand for highly reliable products, quality has become an increasingly important issue. The quality of a company's product line can therefore play a decisive role in determining the company's reputation and profitability. As a result of this pressure for defect-free products, increased emphasis is being placed on quality control at all levels; it is no longer just an issue with which quality control managers are concerned. This has led to various initiatives designed to improve quality, such as the Total Quality Management (TQM) and the Six Sigma quality improvement programs. An overview of the Six Sigma program is presented by Mikel J. Harry and J. Ronald Lawson in “Six Sigma Producibility Analysis and Process Characterization,” Addison Wesley Publishing Co., pp. 1-1 through 1-5, 1992. The Six Sigma program is also thoroughly discussed by G. J. Hahn, W. J. Hill, R. W. Hoerl, and S. A. Zinkgraf in “The Impact of Six Sigma Improvement - A Glimpse into the Future of Statistics”, The American Statistician, 53, 3, August, pages 208-215; and by G. J. Hahn, N. Doganaksoy, and R. Hoerl in “The Evolution of Six Sigma”, to appear in Quality Engineering, March 2000 issue.
Six Sigma analysis is a data driven methodology to improve the quality of products and services delivered to customers. Decisions made regarding direction, interpretation, scope, depth or any other aspect of quality effort should be based on actual data gathered, and not based on opinion, authority or guesswork. Key critical-to-quality (CTQ) characteristics are set by customers. Based on those CTQs, internal measurements and specifications are developed in order to quantify quality performance. Quality improvement programs are developed whenever there is a gap between the customer CTQ expectations and the current performance level.
The basic steps in a quality improvement project are first to define the real problem by identifying the CTQs and related measurable performance that is not meeting customer expectations. This real problem is then translated into a statistical problem through the collection of data related to the real problem. By the application of the scientific method (observation, hypothesis and experimentation), a statistical solution to this statistical problem is arrived at. This solution is deduced from the data through the testing of various hypotheses regarding a specific interpretation of the data. Confidence (prediction) intervals provide a key statistical tool used to accept or reject hypotheses that are to be tested. The arrived at statistical solution is then translated back to the customer in the form of a real solution.
In common use, data is interpreted on its face value. However, from a statistical point of view, the results of a measurement cannot be interpreted or compared without a consideration of the confidence that measurement accurately represents the underlying characteristic that is being measured. Uncertainties in measurements will arise from variability in sampling, the measurement method, operators and so forth. The statistical tool for expressing this uncertainty is called a confidence interval depending upon the exact situation in which the data is being generated.
Confidence interval refers to the region containing the limits or band of a parameter with an associated confidence level that the bounds are large enough to contain the true parameter value. The bands can be single-sided to describe an upper or lower limit or double sided to describe both upper and lower limits. The region gives a range of values, bounded below by a lower confidence limit and from above by an upper confidence limit, such that one can be confident (at a pre-specified level such as 95% or 99%) that the true population parameter value is included within the confidence interval. Confidence intervals can be formed for any of the parameters used to describe the characteristic of interest. In the end, confidence intervals are used to estimate the population parameters from the sample statistics and allow a probabilistic quantification of the strength of the best estimate.
In the case of the invention described herein, the calculated prediction intervals describe a range of values which contain the actual value of the sample at some given double-sided confidence level. For example, the present invention allows the user to change a statistically undependable statement, “There is 5.65 milligrams of Element Y in sample X”, to, “There is 95% confidence that there is 5.65+/−0.63 milligrams of Element Y in sample X”. A prediction interval for an individual observation is an interval that will, with a specified degree of confidence, contain a randomly selected observation from a population. The inclusion of the confidence interval at a given probability allows the data to be interpreted in light of the situation. The interpreter has a range of values bounded by an upper and lower limit that is formed for any of the parameters used to describe the characteristic of interest. Meanwhile and at the same time, the risk associated with and reliability of the data is fully exposed allowing the interpreter access to all the information in the original measurement. This full disclosure of the data can then be used in subsequent decisions and interpretations of which the measurement data has bearing.
Current devices for performing statistical linear analysis do not generate enough parameters to calculate confidence intervals for the measured values. To calculate these parameters can be cumbersome, even if a hand-held calculator is used. To avoid the inconvenience of using calculators, look-up tables are often used instead, in which the various parameters of interest are listed in columns and correlated with each other. Nevertheless, these tables do not provide the user with enough flexibility, e.g., it is generally necessary to interpolate between the listed values. Furthermore, the user is not presented information in a way that is interactive, so that a “feel” for the numbers and the relationship of the various quantities to each other is lost.
Thus, there is a particular need for an apparatus and method for calculating confidence intervals for Six Sigma analysis.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a method for calculating confidence intervals comprises activating a calculator. The user then enters at least three pairs of calibration data. The user specifies at least one reference for the at least three pairs of calibration data. The calculator generates a list of the at least three pairs of calibration data. The calculator also calculates at least one linear calibration curve derived from the at least three pairs of calibration data. The calculator calculating at least one residual calibration value plot derived from the at least three pairs of calibration data. The user next enters at least one unknown sample output measurement. The calculator calculates at least one back-calculated unknown sample input measurement. The calculator then calculates at least one confidence interval for the at least one back-calculated unknown sample input measurement.
In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, an apparatus comprises a set of instructions for calculating at least one confidence interval value.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following brief description of the drawings, detailed desc
DeLuca John Anthony
Doganaksoy Necip
Early Thomas Alan
Cabou Christian G.
General Electric Company
Hilten John S.
Johnson Noreen C.
Washburn Douglas N
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