Control Apparatus for a Liquid Dispense System

• US 20090134075A1
• Filed: 07/03/2006
• Published: 05/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vws UK Limited (Veolia Environnement SA)
• Original Assignee: OTV SA SA
• Inventors: Underwood, Lee
• Granted Patent: US 8,257,595 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 210/87
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 1/008 Control or steering systems not provided for elsewhere in subclass C02F
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 1/20 by degassing, i.e. liberation of dissolved gases degasification of liquids in general B01D19/00; arrangement of degassing apparatus in boiler feed supply F22D
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 1/42 by ion-exchange ion-exchange in general B01J
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2209/006 comprising a software program or a logic diagram
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2209/40 Liquid flow rate
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 9/20 Portable or detachable small-scale multistage treatment devices, e.g. point of use or laboratory water purification systems

Abstract

A control apparatus for a liquid dispense system having at least one liquid outlet and at least one flow control device for controlling the dispense of liquid from said outlet(s) during a dispense operation, said control apparatus including an operating device for controlling the operation of at least one flow control device to permit dispense of a desired volume of liquid from the outlet(s) during a dispense operation; a recording device for recording one or more parameters of the liquid dispense system and/or the operating device during the dispense operation to create a dispense profile for the dispense operation, at least one of the recorded parameters being indicative of the flow rate of liquid at the outlet(s); and a control device for controlling the operation of the operating device during a subsequent dispense operation based upon the recorded dispense profile.

Claims

1. A water purification and dispensing system comprising at least one water outlet, at least one flow control device for controlling the flow rate of water from said at least one water outlet, one or more water purification means and a control apparatus, said control apparatus comprising:

operating means for controlling the operation of the at least one flow control device to permit dispense of a desired volume of water from said outlet(s) during a dispense operation;

recording means for recording one or more parameters of the water purification and dispensing system and/or the operating means during said dispense operation to create a dispense profile for said dispense operation; and

control means for controlling the operation of the operating means during a subsequent dispense operation based upon the recorded dispense profile.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of said recorded parameters is indicative of the flow rate of water at the outlet.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the recording means includes a memory device whereby, once a dispense operation has been completed, the dispense profile can be stored in the memory device.

4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the stored dispense profile is labelled or tagged to permit selection by a subsequent user desiring the same profile.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control means and the recording means comprise a microprocessor having an associated memory device.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one flow control device comprises a variable output pump and/or a flow control valve.

7. A system as claimed in claim 1, including a flow meter, data from said flow meter being recorded by the recording means during a dispense operation.

8. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the recording means records the direct inputs of the user to the operating means and/or the parameters of the operating means to affect the user input.

9. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the operating means comprises an element or combination of elements adapted to provide control, of the water purification and dispensing system.

10. A system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the operating means includes one or more controllers, one or more sensing devices, and one or more input devices, including one or more user interfaces.

11. A system as claimed in claim 10, wherein such input devices comprise at least one of an angle encoder, a potentiometer, and a key pad.

12. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flow rate is varied during said dispense operation.

18. A system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising water processing means selectively operable during the dispense operation.

19. A system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the operation and/or status of the water processing means is recorded during the dispense operation as part of the dispense profile.

20. A system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising measuring devices, for determining if flow rate and/or volume of dispense of a dispense operation matches that in a stored dispense profile.

21. A system as claimed in claim 20, wherein an algorithm in the control means causes the liquid dispense flow rate to increase or decrease, by increasing or decreasing the output from a pump, and/or to adjust the time over which dispense takes place.

29. A system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the operating means comprises an element or combination of elements adapted to provide control of the water purification and dispensing system at the water outlet(s).

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22. A method of controlling a water purification and dispensing system comprising at least one water outlet, at least one flow control device for controlling the flow rate of water from said at least one water outlet, one or more water purification means and a control apparatus, the control apparatus comprising operating means for controlling the operation of the at least one flow control device to permit dispense of a desired volume of water from said outlet(s) during a dispense operation;

recording means for recording one or more parameters of the water purification and dispensing system and/or the operating means during said dispense operation to create a dispense profile for said dispense operation; and

control means for controlling the operation of the operating means during a subsequent dispense operation based upon the recorded dispense profile, the method comprising the steps of;

recording one or more parameters of the water purification and dispensing system and/or an operating means of the water purification and dispensing system during a dispense operation to create a dispense profile for said dispense operation; and

controlling the operation of the operating means during a subsequent dispense operation based upon the recorded dispense.

23. A method of dispensing water from a water purification and dispensing system comprising at least one water outlet, at least one flow control device for controlling the flow rate of water from said at least one water outlet, one or more water purification means and a control apparatus, the control apparatus comprising operating means for controlling the operation of the at least one flow control device to permit dispense of a desired volume of water from said outlet(s) during a dispense operation;

recording means for recording one or more parameters of the water purification and dispensing system and/or the operating means during said dispense operation to create a dispense profile for said dispense operation; and

control means for controlling the operation of the operating means during a subsequent dispense operation based upon the recorded dispense profile, the method comprising the steps of using a recorded dispense profile from the recording means.

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