Programmable decoder for irrigation plant, programming procedure for said decoder and centralized irrigation plant comprising a plurality of said decoders

• US 6,763,287 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2002
• Issued: 07/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Claber SpA
• Original Assignee: Claber SpA
• Inventors: Brundisini, Andrea
• Primary Examiner(s): Gandhi, Jayprakash N.
• Application Number:
  US10/316,186
• Publication Number:
  US 20030135286A1
• Time in Patent Office: 580 Days
• Field of Search: 700/90, 700/275, 700/282, 700/283, 700/284, 239/63-70, 137/78.3, 340/310.01
• US Class Current: 700/284
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0423 Input/output

Abstract

The present invention refers a decoder that can be programmed for an irrigation plant, a programming procedure for said decoder and a centralized irrigation plant comprising a plurality of said decoders. The decoder has the characteristic of comprising memorizing means and processing means, said memorizing means and processing means being directly connected to each other, in which said memorizing means can store an identity number and the operating parameters of the decoder itself.

Claims

1. A decoder comprising first terminals suitable for receiving a first electric signal from a control unit, second terminals suitable for exchanging electric signals with detecting means and third terminals suitable for commanding solenoids for activating solenoid valves, said first electric signal being filtered by filtering means and successively rectified by rectifying means and in conclusion decoded by decoding means suitable for generating a second electric signal, characterized in that said decoder comprises in addition processing means and memorizing means, said processing means being directly connected to said memorizing means, said processing means being suitable for processing said second electric signal so as to exchange electric signals with said second terminals and command said third terminals, and said memorizing means being suitable for memorizing permanently the data present in said first electric signal.

2. The decoder in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said processing means and said memorizing means are inside a microcontroller.

3. The decoder in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that said microcontroller has an operating frequency set by an oscillator circuit.

4. The decoder in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said data memorized in said memorizing means are the identification number and the operating parameters of the decoder itself.

5. The decoder in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said memorizing means are made up of a non-volatile memory of the EEPROM type.

6. The decoder in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said non-volatile memory of the EEPROM type is updated in case said first electric signal has an operating frequency equal to or less than a preset time value.

7. The decoder in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said detecting means consists of an ON/OFF or an impulse type sensor.

8. The decoder in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said filtering means consists of the series of first, second and third circuits of protection from overvoltage and of a filtering circuit of said first electric signal.

9. The decoder in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said rectifying means consist of a diode bridge-execution rectifier circuit.

10. The decoder in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said opening/closing means consist of a respective opening circuit and by a closing circuit of said solenoid means.

11. A centralized irrigation plant characterized in that it comprises a control unit commanded by a user interface, said control unit being connected by means of a supply cable to a plurality of decoders, each of said decoders comprising first terminals suitable for receiving a first electric signal from a control unit, second terminals suitable for exchanging electric signals with detecting means and third terminals suitable for commanding solenoids for activating solenoid valves, said first electric signal being filtered by filtering means and successively rectified by rectifying means and in conclusion decoded by decoding means suitable for generating a second electric signal, wherein said decoder comprises in addition processing means and memorizing means, said processing means being directly connected to said memorizing means, said processing means being suitable for processing said second electric signal so as to exchange electric signals with said second terminals and command said third terminals, and said memorizing means being suitable for memorizing permanently the data present in said first electric signal.

12. The centralized irrigation plant in accordance with claim 11, characterized in that each of said plurality of decoders is associated to detection means and to solenoid means for activating solenoid valves.

13. The centralized irrigation plant in accordance with claim 12, characterized in that said user interface enables the configuration of said control unit and the collection of information on the state of each of said decoders by means of suitable connection means.

14. The centralized irrigation plant in accordance with claim 13, characterized in that said user interface provides for autonomous management of said control unit.

15. The centralized irrigation plant in accordance with claim 14, characterized in that said autonomous management comes about by means of said connection means of the serial cable RS-232 type, or by means of connection by short-range radio frequency.

16. The centralized irrigation plant in accordance with claim 13, characterized in that said user interface provides for centralized management of said control unit.

17. The centralized irrigation plant in accordance with claim 16, characterized in that said remote control comes about by means of said connection means of the serial cable RS-232 type, or by means of radio frequency connection, or by means of the telephone network or by means of the mobile telephone line (of the GSM type).

18. The centralized irrigation plant in accordance with claim 12, characterized in that said detection means are an ON/OFF type sensor or an impulse sensor.

19. A procedure for programming a decoder, said decoder comprising first terminals suitable for receiving a first electric signal from a control unit, second terminals suitable for exchanging electric signals with detecting means and third terminals suitable for commanding solenoids for activating solenoid valves, said first electric signal being filtered by filtering means and successively rectified by rectifying means and in conclusion decoded by decoding means suitable for generating a second electric signal, wherein said decoder comprises in addition processing means and memorizing means, said processing means being directly connected to said memorizing means, said processing means being suitable for processing said second electric signal so as to exchange electric signals with said second terminals and command said third terminals, and said memorizing means being suitable for memorizing permanently the data present in said first electric signal, characterized in that said procedure makes provision for a programming step composed of a step of transmission an electric signal by a user interface by means of suitable connection means, said connection means being fitted with a communication protocol, said communication protocol being composed of a plurality of fields:

a) a first field defined by a plurality of characters to supply and synchronize a specific decoder;

b) a second field defined by a first preset number of bytes, said bytes being subdivided into a second number of nibbles, where each nibble is represented by an ASCII character; and

c) a third field defined by a number representing the hierarchical order of transmission of said byte.

20. The procedure in accordance with claim 19, characterized in that said ASCII character suitable for representing the nibble of said second field is transmitted twice consecutively.

21. The procedure in accordance with claim 19, characterized in that each of said bytes identifies a specific parameter of programming, such as:

a) identity number of a specific decoder;

b) operating configuration of a specific decoder;

c) activation delay for an ON/OFF type sensor;

d) deactivation delay for an ON/OFF type sensor;

e) threshold value for overflow of an impulsive type sensor.

22. The procedure in accordance with claim 21, characterized in that the byte of the step (b) consists of eight bits, each of which identifies a configuration of a specific decoder, such as:

a) bit in position zero identifies the typology of the sensor associated to said decoder;

b) bit in position one identifies the operating mode of the ON/OFF type sensor associated to said decoder;

c) bit in position two identifies if the solenoid valve associated to said decoder has to be commanded continually or only on the change of the state of the solenoid valve itself;

d) bit in position three identifies the type of forcing of said solenoid valve because of the sensor associated to it;

e) bit in position four identifies if the forcing is managed by the decoder or by the control unit;

f) bit in position six identifies the possibility to act on a past condition of the ON/OFF type sensor.