Variable blending dispenser
First Claim
1. A dispenser for blending component fluids according to a desired cumulative blend ratio, said dispenser comprising:
- a plurality of fluid conduits, each said fluid conduit coupled to one of at least two supplies of component fluid to be dispensed therefor;
a variable valve means coupled to each said fluid conduit for independently controlling the flow rate at which each said component fluid flows through said respective fluid conduits;
a flow meter means operatively associated with said fluid conduits for measuring the volume of said component fluid flowing through each said fluid conduit and for providing volume signals representative of said volumes;
an output means coupled to each said fluid conduit for mixing and dispensing said component fluids; and
control means for controlling the blending and dispensing of said component fluids, said control means coupled to said flow meter means and said valve means, said control means including selecting means for selection of said desired cumulative blend ratio and comparison means for comparing a calculated ratio of said volume signals with said desired cumulative blend ratio and for determining a corrected blend ratio, said control means further including adjustment means for adjusting said variable valve means in accordance with said corrected blend ratio such that the actual cumulative blend ratio of dispensed component fluids is substantially equal to said desired cumulative blend ratio.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a variable blending dispenser for fluids, particularly for fuel dispensers. The dispenser controls variable valves according to volumetric data observed by flow meters on input lines to the dispenser, by calculating measuring error as the difference between desired blend ratio and the observed blend ratio calculated from volumes of blend components dispensed. The dispenser successively corrects the settings of the valves after dispensing predetermined volumes, the corrections determined by a volume based PID error function so that the total amount of each blend component is separately and accurately measured while providing the desired blend ratio.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A dispenser for blending component fluids according to a desired cumulative blend ratio, said dispenser comprising:
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a plurality of fluid conduits, each said fluid conduit coupled to one of at least two supplies of component fluid to be dispensed therefor; a variable valve means coupled to each said fluid conduit for independently controlling the flow rate at which each said component fluid flows through said respective fluid conduits; a flow meter means operatively associated with said fluid conduits for measuring the volume of said component fluid flowing through each said fluid conduit and for providing volume signals representative of said volumes; an output means coupled to each said fluid conduit for mixing and dispensing said component fluids; and control means for controlling the blending and dispensing of said component fluids, said control means coupled to said flow meter means and said valve means, said control means including selecting means for selection of said desired cumulative blend ratio and comparison means for comparing a calculated ratio of said volume signals with said desired cumulative blend ratio and for determining a corrected blend ratio, said control means further including adjustment means for adjusting said variable valve means in accordance with said corrected blend ratio such that the actual cumulative blend ratio of dispensed component fluids is substantially equal to said desired cumulative blend ratio. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of blending a plurality of component fluids to provide a desired cumulative blend having a predetermined blend ratio of component fluids, said method comprising:
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providing a blending dispenser including at least two conduits for supplying at least two component fluids to said dispenser, at least two flow meters connected to said conduits for measuring the volume of each said respective supplied component fluid, and valve means for controlling the respective supply flow rate of each said component fluid; opening said valve means to initiate a flow of said component fluids in said predetermined ratio to initiate a dispensing operation; measuring the total volume of each said component fluid dispensed by said dispenser to provide volume measurements; calculating a calculated blend ratio of said dispensed component fluids from said volume measurements; comparing said calculated blend ratio with said predetermined blend ratio to determine dispensing error; and adjusting said valve means if said dispensing error is outside a predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. In a fuel dispensing installation, a system for mixing and blending component fuels to provide a desired cumulative blend ratio, said system comprising:
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a nozzle means for mixing and dispensing said component fuels; a plurality of variable supply means for providing one of said component fuels to said nozzle means, at least one said variable supply means for each said component fuel, said variable supply means for controlling component fuel flow; a flow meter means operatively associated with each said variable supply means for measuring the volume of said component fuel flow through said variable supply means and for producing volume signals representative of the volume of said component fuel flow; and a control means for controlling the blending and dispensing of said component fuels, said control means coupled to each said flow meter means and each said variable supply means, said control means including comparison means for comparing a calculated ratio of said volume signals with said desired cumulative blend ratio and for determining a corrected blend ratio, said control means including a selection means for selection of said desired cumulative blend ratio, said control means further including adjustment means for adjusting said variable supply means in accordance with said corrected blend ratio such that the actual cumulative blend ratio of such dispensed component fuels is substantially equal to said desired cumulative blend ratio. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A dispenser for blending a lower and higher octane fuel according to a desired cumulative blend ratio, said dispenser comprising:
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a lower octane fuel conduit coupled to a supply of lower octane fuel; a higher octane fuel conduit coupled to a supply of higher octane fuel; two variable valve means, a first variable valve means coupled to said lower octane fuel conduit and a second variable valve means coupled to said higher octane fuel conduit, said variable valve means for controlling the flow rate at which each fuel flows through said conduits according to variable length pulses received; two flow meters, a first flow meter operably associated with said first variable valve means and a second flow meter operably associated with said second variable valve means, said first and second flow meters adapted to measure the respective volumes of fuel flowing through said lower and higher octane fuel conduits and for providing volume signals, said volume signals comprising a plurality of pulses; an output means having a nozzle and a Y connection, said output means for mixing and blending said fuels and for starting and stopping said dispenser; and electronic circuitry including a microprocessor and associated circuitry for controlling the blending and dispensing of said fuels, said electronic circuitry coupled to said first and second variable valve means and coupled to said first and second flow meters, said electronic circuitry including circuitry for comparing a calculated ratio of said volume signals with said desired cumulative blend ratio and for determining a correction function, said electronic circuitry including circuitry for selecting said desired cumulative blend ratio, said electronic circuitry further including circuitry for adjusting said variable valve means in accordance with said correction function by sending variable length pulses to said first and second variable valve means such that the actual cumulative blend ratio of such dispensed fuel is substantially equal to said desired cumulative blend ratio. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification