Abstract: An interactive system and method of selling reinsurance involves preliminary steps of enrolling a plurality of primary insurers or cedents to use the system, formulating reinsurance proposals to make available to the cedents through the interactive system, posting the proposals on a secure server in the system and calculating and allocating risk capacity to the proposals and cedents. Each cedent is provided secure access to a list of proposals being made available to it. Upon selection and submission of a proposal by a cedent, the system server generates an acceptance notice, transfers the information on the proposal to a listing of agreements entered into by that cedent, recalculates the available allocated capacity and withdraws from availability any proposals whose acceptance would reduce the available allocated capacity below a selected amount.

Abstract: A hand-held diagnostic tool designed to operate and easily upgrade software applications developed for automotive diagnostics, is disclosed. The diagnostic tool, which communicates with a plurality of motor vehicle control units, provides application upgrades and/or modifications and/or new algorithms that are developed/adapted via remote updating. Remote updating is accomplished through a number of external ports on the tool that facilitate modem, Ethernet and wireless communications, including point-to-point protocol connection to the Internet.

Abstract: Dryer equipment for an automatic car wash includes at least one proximity sensing system for maintaining a forced-air stripping nozzle within a predetermined range of the surface of the vehicle. Each sensing system includes a pair of associated triple-beam photoelectric switches, each of said triple beams being adjusted to focus at a different focal point at a different distance from the nozzle. Electronic circuitry responds to signals developed by the sensing system to control an air/oil power system which operates hydraulic cylinders to maintain the nozzle within a relatively narrow range from the vehicle surface. The range is determined by the difference between the focal points of the triple beams of the two associated photoelectric switches. Preferably, .at least two proximity sensing systems are provided--one for the top of the vehicle and the other for the passenger side of the vehicle.