1. An essential oil vaporizer, comprising:
(a) a container adapted to contain said essential oil;
(b) a conduit having a first end and an opposite second end, said first end exposed to an ambient air source external with respect to said container and said second end extending into said container a predetermined distance;
(c) an inhalation path that includes a first inhalation path end beginning at said first end of said conduit, and wherein said inhalation path is adapted to draw said ambient air in from said first end of said conduit and to exit from said second end of said conduit where said ambient air is adapted to mix with at least some of said essential oil that has been vaporized to produce a mixture and wherein said mixture is adapted to exit from a second inhalation path end that is disposed away from said first inhalation path end and including a base block, said base block adapted to receive said container; and
(d) wherein said container includes a canister, and wherein said canister includes means for detachably-attaching said canister with respect to said base block, and wherein said means for detachably-attaching includes thread means attached to said canister and a corresponding means of engaging said thread means, said corresponding means attached to said base block, and wherein said corresponding means includes providing a cylindrical recess in a bottom of said base block and of providing a pin disposed along a wall of said cylindrical recess and wherein said pin is adapted to engage with said thread means.
2. The essential oil vaporizer of claim 1 wherein said second end of said conduit is disposed in said canister when said canister is attached to said base block.
3. The essential oil vaporizer of claim 2 wherein said inhalation path includes a channel in said base block, said channel including an upper end and a lower end, said lower end open to said canister when said canister is attached to said base block.
4. The essential oil vaporizer of claim 3 wherein said lower end of said channel includes an extension tube, said extension tube extending from said lower end into said canister a predetermined distance away from said base block that is less than an amount said conduit extends into said canister when said canister is attached to said base block.
5. The essential oil vaporizer of claim 3 wherein said upper end of said channel is adapted to receive a hollow inhalation tube that extends away from said base block a predetermined distance.
6. The essential oil vaporizer of claim 2 wherein said base block includes a modified channel and wherein said modified channel includes a modified upper end and wherein said modified upper end includes means for adapting said base block for use with an existing pipe.
7. The essential oil vaporizer of claim 6 wherein said means for adapting said base block includes an adapter tube that is disposed at said modified upper end.
8. The essential oil vaporizer of claim 7 wherein said adapter tube is adapted to receive an adapter extension tube and wherein said adapter extension tube is adapted for insertion into said existing pipe.
9. An essential oil vaporizer, comprising:
(a) a container adapted to contain said essential oil;
(b) a conduit having a first end and an opposite second end, said first end exposed to an ambient air source external with respect to said container and said second end extending into said container a predetermined distance;
(c) an inhalation path that includes a first inhalation path end beginning at said first end of said conduit, and wherein said inhalation path is adapted to draw said ambient air in form said first end of said conduit and to exit from said second end of said conduit where said ambient air is adapted to mix with at least some of said essential oil that has been vaporized to produce a mixture and wherein said mixture is adapted to exit from a second inhalation path end that is disposed away from said first inhalation path end and including a base block, said base block adapted to receive said container; and
including a stopper and wherein said conduit is disposed in said stopper and wherein said stopper is adapted to be inserted into an opening provided in a top of said container.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. Apparatus for detecting an incipient ground fault that may occur in an electrical propulsion system of a traction vehicle, said electrical propulsion system comprising a plurality of electrical devices and a direct current (dc) bus, each individual electrical device being potentially subject to an incipient ground fault in at least one electrical phase thereof, said apparatus comprising:
a first sensor configured to sense a ground leakage signal associated with a ground of the propulsion system;
a second sensor configured to sense a voltage difference across a positive rail and a negative rail of the direct current bus;
a correlator coupled to the first sensor to receive the ground leakage signal, and further coupled to receive at least one signal indicative of a respective energization state of a respective electrical phase for each respective one of the plurality of electrical devices, said correlator configured to individually correlate the ground leakage signal with each received phase energization state signal, and supply an individual correlation signal between the ground leakage signal and each received phase energization state signal;
a processor coupled to the correlator for processing each of the individual correlation signals supplied by the correlator and extract a correlation value from the supplied correlation signals, said correlation value, when outside a threshold range, being indicative of an incipient ground fault in a respective phase of one of the plurality of electrical devices; and
a module for dynamically adjusting the threshold range for detecting an incipient ground fault, the adjusting based on a magnitude andor a rate of change of the magnitude of the sensed voltage difference across the positive and negative rails of the direct current bus.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the signal indicative of the respective energization state of the electrical phase of a respective electrical device is selected from the group consisting of a phase firing signal, a voltage signal with respect to a direct current (dc) bus, a phase current signal, a current that flows through a power switching device connected to the dc bus, and a combination of the foregoing signals.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a low pass filter connected to the correlator and configured to provide a predefined filtering to the supplied correlation signals.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the sensor configured to sense the respective ground leakage signal is selected from the group consisting of a current sensor, and at least one or more voltage sensors.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the traction vehicle is selected from the group consisting of a locomotive, a transit vehicle, and an off-highway vehicle.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the correlator comprises a multiplier.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said correlator comprises a plurality of m correlators, each of said m correlators being individually connected to receive one signal indicative of a respective energization state of a respective electrical phase of one of the plurality of electrical devices, wherein m is a positive integer corresponding to the number of electrical devices times the number of electrical phases per device.
8. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said correlator comprises a plurality of m correlators, each of said m correlators being individually connected to receive one signal indicative of a respective energization state of a respective electrical phase of one of the plurality of electrical devices, wherein m is a positive integer corresponding to the number of electrical devices times the number of electrical phases per device, and further wherein said low pass filter comprises a plurality of m low pass filters, each one of said m filters being individually connected to one of said m correlators to provide a predefined filtering to one supplied correlation signal.
9. A method for detecting an incipient ground fault that may occur in an electrical propulsion system of a traction vehicle, said electrical propulsion system comprising a plurality of electrical devices and a direct current (dc) bus, each individual electrical device being potentially subject to an incipient ground fault in at least one electrical phase thereof, said method comprising:
sensing a ground leakage signal associated with a ground of the propulsion system;
sensing a voltage difference across a positive rail and a negative rail of the direct current bus;
monitoring at least one signal indicative of a respective energization state of a respective electrical phase for each respective one of the electrical devices;
individually correlating the ground leakage signal with each phase energization state signal;
generating an individual correlation signal between the ground leakage signal and each phase energization state signal;
determining a correlation value from the generated correlation signals, said correlation value, when outside a threshold range, being indicative of an incipient ground fault in a respective phase of one of the plurality of electrical devices; and
dynamically adjusting the threshold range for detecting an incipient ground fault, the adjusting based on a magnitude andor a rate of change of the magnitude of the sensed voltage difference across the positive and negative rails of the direct current bus.
10. An article of manufacture comprising a computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having a computer-readable code therein for detecting an incipient ground fault that may occur in an electrical propulsion system of a traction vehicle, said electrical propulsion system comprising a plurality of electrical devices and a direct current (dc) bus, each individual electrical device being potentially subject to an incipient ground fault in at least one electrical phase thereof, said computer-readable code comprising:
computer-readable code responsive to a sensed ground leakage signal associated with a ground of the propulsion system;
computer-readable code responsive to a sensed voltage difference across a positive rail and a negative rail of the direct current bus;
computer-readable code for monitoring at least one signal indicative of a respective energization state of a respective electrical phase for each respective one of the electrical devices;
computer-readable code for individually correlating the ground leakage signal with each phase energization state signal;
computer-readable code for generating an individual correlation signal between the ground leakage signal and each phase energization state signal;
computer-readable code for determining a correlation value from the generated correlation signals, said correlation value, when outside a threshold range, being indicative of an incipient ground fault in a respective phase of one of the plurality of electrical devices; and
computer-readable code for dynamically adjusting the threshold range for detecting an incipient ground fault, the adjusting based on a magnitude andor a rate of change of the magnitude of the sensed voltage difference across the positive and negative rails of the direct current bus.