Automatically switching valve with remote signaling
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- at least two inlet lines for receiving a pressurized gas;
an outlet line;
a switching mechanism which is operatively coupled between the inlet lines and the outlet line and which can couple a selected one of the inlet lines to the outlet line such that pressurized gas passes through the selected inlet line to the outlet line;
a pressure sensing mechanism which senses pressure of gas supplied to the outlet line; and
a processing circuit which is operatively coupled to the switching mechanism and to the pressure sensing mechanism and which is configured to receive pressure data representing a measured pressure of gas of the outlet line;
to determine whether the measured pressure is at most a predetermined threshold pressure;
to cause the switching mechanism to couple an alternate one of the inlet lines to the outlet line and to send a remote signal upon a determination that the measured pressure is at most the predetermined threshold pressure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A programmable circuit detects drop in pressure of a supplied pressurized gas below a predetermined threshold pressure and automatically switches to a different supply of pressurized gas and automatically contacts a remotely located host computer. The circuit sends status data to the host computer and enters a server mode in which the circuit performs commands issued by the host computer. The commands include commands to change data of the programmable circuit and to download new programming. The predetermined threshold pressure is established by manually setting the supplied pressurized gas to a desired pressure and causing the programmable circuit to measure the pressure of supplied gas and to store the measured pressure as the threshold pressure.
38 Citations
35 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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at least two inlet lines for receiving a pressurized gas;
an outlet line;
a switching mechanism which is operatively coupled between the inlet lines and the outlet line and which can couple a selected one of the inlet lines to the outlet line such that pressurized gas passes through the selected inlet line to the outlet line;
a pressure sensing mechanism which senses pressure of gas supplied to the outlet line; and
a processing circuit which is operatively coupled to the switching mechanism and to the pressure sensing mechanism and which is configured to receive pressure data representing a measured pressure of gas of the outlet line;
to determine whether the measured pressure is at most a predetermined threshold pressure;
to cause the switching mechanism to couple an alternate one of the inlet lines to the outlet line and to send a remote signal upon a determination that the measured pressure is at most the predetermined threshold pressure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for automatically decoupling a first of two or more pressurized gas supplies from an outlet line and coupling a second of the pressurized gas supplies to the outlet line, the method comprising:
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detecting a drop in pressure of gas supplied by the first pressurized gas supplied by the first pressurized gas supply to no more than a predetermined threshold pressure;
in response to the detecting, decoupling the first pressurized gas supply from the outlet line;
further in response to the detecting, coupling the second pressurized gas supply to the outlet line; and
sending data to a remotely located device wherein the data identifies a location of the first pressurized gas supply. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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23. A method for administrating a remote installation of pressurized gas, the method comprising:
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receiving data indicating that at least one pressurized gas supply at the remote installation has a gas pressure below a predetermined threshold pressure;
dispatching a replacement gas supply in response; and
sending one or more commands for execution by the remote installation.
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Specification