Automatically configurable chemical dispensing system for cleaning equipment
First Claim
1. An apparatus for dispensing a plurality of chemicals into a cleaning machine, wherein the chemicals are held in a plurality of containers each having data recorded thereon, said apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of dispenser ports for receiving the chemicals from the containers;
a plurality of flow control devices each associated with a different one of the plurality of dispenser ports to control flow of a chemical therefrom to the cleaning machine;
a data reader arrangement that reads the data on the containers from which chemicals are received at each of the plurality of dispenser ports; and
a controller connected to the plurality of flow control devices and the data reader arrangement, wherein the controller responds to a command to dispense a given type of chemical by determining in response to the data reader arrangement a given one of the plurality of dispenser ports that has received that type of chemical, and then by activating one of the plurality of flow control devices associated with that given one of the plurality of dispenser ports.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system controls dispensing different chemicals received from containers at a plurality of ports. Each container has data thereon that identifies the chemical within the container. The system reads the data from each container to determine which port is associated with each chemical. When a given chemical is required, the system activates a flow control device coupled to the port associated with that given chemical, thereby supplying the given chemical to a consuming device. Therefore regardless of into which port an operator places a particular chemical, the system automatically knows which port has which chemical and the dispensing is configured accordingly. Various mechanisms for storing the data on and reading the data from the container are described.
78 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An apparatus for dispensing a plurality of chemicals into a cleaning machine, wherein the chemicals are held in a plurality of containers each having data recorded thereon, said apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of dispenser ports for receiving the chemicals from the containers;
a plurality of flow control devices each associated with a different one of the plurality of dispenser ports to control flow of a chemical therefrom to the cleaning machine;
a data reader arrangement that reads the data on the containers from which chemicals are received at each of the plurality of dispenser ports; and
a controller connected to the plurality of flow control devices and the data reader arrangement, wherein the controller responds to a command to dispense a given type of chemical by determining in response to the data reader arrangement a given one of the plurality of dispenser ports that has received that type of chemical, and then by activating one of the plurality of flow control devices associated with that given one of the plurality of dispenser ports. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for dispensing a plurality of types of chemicals into a cleaning machine, wherein each chemical is held in a container that has data recorded thereon, said apparatus comprising:
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receiving each of the plurality of types of chemicals at a separate one of a plurality of dispenser ports;
reading the data from a container for each of the plurality of types of chemicals;
receiving a command to dispense a given type of chemical;
in response to reading the data from a container, determining a given one of the plurality of dispenser ports that has received the given type of chemical; and
in response to receiving the command, activating a flow control device associated with that given one of the plurality of dispenser ports. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for dispensing a plurality of types of chemicals into a cleaning machine, wherein the chemicals are held in a plurality of containers each having data recorded thereon, said apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of dispenser ports for receiving chemicals from the containers;
a data reader arrangement that reads data on the containers from which chemicals are received at each of the plurality of dispenser ports; and
a controller connected to the data reader arrangement, and responding to a command to dispense a given type of chemical by selecting one of the plurality of dispenser ports based on data read by the data reader arrangement. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification