Object-oriented operating system for a spray controller

• US 20060253835A1
• Filed: 04/03/2006
• Published: 11/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Spraying Systems Company
• Original Assignee: Spraying Systems Company
• Inventors: Saelens, Hans
• Application Number:
  US11/396,864
• Publication Number:
  US 20060253835A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/108
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 12/085 responsive to flow or pressure of liquid or other fluent material to be discharged B05B1/3006, B05B1/323, B05B7/1254 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23255 Object oriented programming, OOP

Abstract

A method and system for implementing a spray controller uses object-oriented software code and an interrupt-driven operating system for processing and interpreting the code.

Claims

1-17. -17. (canceled)

18. A method for implementing the logical and physical properties of a spray system using an object-oriented configuration program having a graphical user interface, the spray system including a plurality of spray nozzles, a fluid supply, and a spray controller having a processing unit and memory, the memory having stored therein a set of function block code corresponding to each of a plurality of software objects provided by the configuration program, the method comprising the steps of:

placing one or more of the plurality of software objects onto a drawing area provided by the graphical user interface, each object being implemented as a data structure for storing data that characterizes the physical and logical properties of the spraying system;

interconnecting the one or more software objects to create a functional block representation of the spray system; and

generating an application file specifying the one or more data structures, the application file being a binary representation of the functional block representation.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of placing includes retrieving the one or more software objects from a function block library that resides within a memory storage medium.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the memory storage medium is accessible by a computer upon which the configuration program is executed.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of placing further includes storing characteristic data into the one or more software objects by a user of the configuration program.

22. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of creating a functional block representation using a configuration wizard, the configuration wizard prompting the user of the configuration program for information descriptive of the physical and logical properties of the spray system, the information being extrapolated and interpreted by the wizard to generate a functional block representation of the spray system corresponding to the information provided by the user.

23. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable components comprising:

an object-oriented configuration program having a graphical user interface for developing a functional block representation of a spray system including a plurality of spray nozzles, a fluid supply, and a spray controller having a processing unit and memory, the block representation comprising a plurality of software objects that are interconnected to represent the physical and logical properties of the spray system, each object being implemented as a data structure for storing data that characterizes the physical and logical properties of the spray system; and

a function block library for storing the plurality of software objects, each object being accessible from the library by a user of the configuration program.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 further comprising a set of default characteristic data, the characteristic data being supplied to the plurality of software objects by the configuration program for enhancing the ability of the user to create the functional block representation.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the configuration program converts the block representation into a binary application file for being interpreted and executed by a runtime engine residing on the spray system, the application file comprising one or more data structures and associated parameters that are representative of the physical and logical properties of the spray controller.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein at least certain of the plurality of software objects stored within the function block library are capable of generating output data in response to a data input, the data being generated during execution of the runtime engine.

27. The computer-readable of claim 23 wherein at least certain of the plurality of software objects stored within the function block library are capable of invoking an action to be carried out by the spray controller in response to data representing a command input.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 further comprising a runtime engine for execution upon the spray system, the runtime engine having instructions for interpreting and executing the application file generated by the configuration program.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the runtime engine executes a set of function block code corresponding to the one or more data structures and associated parameters that are representative of the physical and logical properties of the spray controller as specified in the application file.

30. The system of claim 28 wherein the runtime engine facilitates the exchange of data between one or more of the plurality of software objects according to a unique reference value assigned to the data, the data and corresponding reference value being specified in the application file.

31. The system of claim 28 wherein the runtime engine facilitates the exchange of commands between one or more of the plurality of software objects according to a unique reference value assigned to the command, the command and corresponding reference value being specified in the application file.

38. A method for implementing a spray system using a graphical user interface with a plurality of appearance objects, the spray system including a plurality of spray nozzles, a fluid supply, and a spray controller having a processing unit and memory, the memory having stored therein a set of instructions corresponding to each of the plurality of appearance objects, the method comprising the steps of:

placing one or more of the plurality of appearance objects onto an area provided by the graphical user interface, wherein at least one of the appearance objects contains data that characterizes the physical and logical properties of a piping and instrumentation control mechanism;

manipulating the one or more appearance objects to create a functional representation of the spray system;

generating a control program from the functional representation of the spray system; and

executing the control program by the spray controller to operate the spray system.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein the step of placing includes retrieving the one or more appearance objects from a function block library that resides within a memory storage medium.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the function block library comprises a plurality software objects, one or more of the software objects representing composite function objects.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein the composite function object is comprised of a group of interconnected function objects for representing a specific physical or logical property of the spray controller.

42. The method of claim 38 wherein the memory storage medium is accessible by a computer, separate from the spray controller, upon which a configuration program is executed.

43. The method of claim 42 further comprising the step of creating a functional block representation using a configuration wizard, the configuration wizard prompting the user of the configuration program for information descriptive of the physical and logical properties of the spray system, the information being extrapolated and interpreted by the wizard to generate a functional block representation of the spray system corresponding to the information provided by the user.