REDUNDANT POWER CONTROL FOR RESPIRATORY SYSTEM HEATERS
First Claim
1. A humidifier system comprising:
- at least one heating element;
at least two processors connected to, and configured to disable, the at least one heating element upon the failure of any one of the processors;
at least two control paths from the at least two processors to the at least one heating element, both of the control paths being necessary for activating the respective heating element; and
a watchdog configured to monitor at least one of the processors and to disable the at least one heating element in response to the monitoring of the at least one processor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A humidification system is provided for a respiratory system is provided with a controller having two processors that monitor the operation of each other and of heating elements in the respiratory system to provide CPU redundancy and heating element control. Each heating element is provided with two control paths, for example a relay and a triac connected in series with the heating element and a power supply. Each heater has one control path connected to a first one of the processors and at least one heating element has at least one control path connected to a second one of the controllers. A hardware watchdog monitors the operation of the first processor, and can be triggered by a signal from the second processor, in response to which it can disable all heating elements.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A humidifier system comprising:
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at least one heating element; at least two processors connected to, and configured to disable, the at least one heating element upon the failure of any one of the processors; at least two control paths from the at least two processors to the at least one heating element, both of the control paths being necessary for activating the respective heating element; and a watchdog configured to monitor at least one of the processors and to disable the at least one heating element in response to the monitoring of the at least one processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A humidifier system controller for use in a respiratory system having one or more heating elements, the controller comprising:
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at least two CPUs, including a first CPU and a second CPU that are interdependent on the operation of the other; a first set of at least two switching devices; conductors for connecting the at least one heating element to a power supply through the at least two switching devices so as to energize the at least one heating element in response to a plurality of the at least two switching devices being in a conductive state; and a hardware monitoring override; and at least two control signals, one to each switching device from a CPU, to control the states of the at least two switching devices, the control signals being responsive to the hardware monitoring override. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A humidifier system comprising:
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a power supply; at least one processor; at least one heating element, each heating element having a triac connecting it to the power supply to provide independent control of the power to the heating element; at least one relay connected between the power supply and at least one of the triacs; at least two control paths from the at least one processor, one control path connecting to each of the triacs to control power from the power supply to the respective heating element, and another control path connecting to the at least one relay to control power to the triacs. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A method of controlling a humidifier system having at least one heating element and at least two processors connected to, and configured to disable, the at least one heating element upon the failure of any one of the processors, the method comprising:
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providing at least two control paths from the at least two processors to the at least one heating element, both of the control paths being necessary for activating the respective heating element; and monitoring at least one processor and to disable the at least one heating element in response to the monitoring of the at least one processor. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification