Chemical concentration controller and recorder
First Claim
1. A control system for a cleaning system including a pump for supplying a cleaning chemical to a tank for holding a cleaning mixture of the cleaning chemical and a diluting fluid, the cleaning system further including a fluid supply conduit in fluid communication with a cleaning location and the tank, the cleaning system further including a fluid return conduit in fluid communication with the cleaning location and the tank, the cleaning system further including a source of rinsing fluid in fluid communication with the cleaning location, the cleaning system further including a drain in fluid communication with the cleaning location, the control system comprising:
- a sensor located in the fluid supply conduit, the sensor outputting concentration signals indicative of a concentration of a component of fluid passing the sensor; and
a controller having a processor and a data storage means, the processor being in communication with the sensor and the data storage means,wherein the controller is configured to executed a program stored in the controller to;
record in the data storage means a data table including(i) time intervals during a period of operation of the cleaning system, and(ii) concentration values associated with each of the time intervals, the concentration values being derived by the processor from concentration signals received from the sensor.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A chemical concentration controller and recorder is disclosed for controlling and recording chemical concentrations in a cleaning system. The invention allows a user to control the concentration of two or more chemicals in the cleaning system simultaneously using either concentration-based feed or timed feed. The invention records and archives chemical concentration data from sensors in the cleaning system tanks or the cleaning system fluid conduits during operation of the cleaning system. The data may then be downloaded by a user and analyzed for efficiency and cost control purposes. For example, the data may indicate the overfeeding of chemicals to the cleaning system or leaking valves in the cleaning system.
67 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A control system for a cleaning system including a pump for supplying a cleaning chemical to a tank for holding a cleaning mixture of the cleaning chemical and a diluting fluid, the cleaning system further including a fluid supply conduit in fluid communication with a cleaning location and the tank, the cleaning system further including a fluid return conduit in fluid communication with the cleaning location and the tank, the cleaning system further including a source of rinsing fluid in fluid communication with the cleaning location, the cleaning system further including a drain in fluid communication with the cleaning location, the control system comprising:
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a sensor located in the fluid supply conduit, the sensor outputting concentration signals indicative of a concentration of a component of fluid passing the sensor; and a controller having a processor and a data storage means, the processor being in communication with the sensor and the data storage means, wherein the controller is configured to executed a program stored in the controller to; record in the data storage means a data table including (i) time intervals during a period of operation of the cleaning system, and (ii) concentration values associated with each of the time intervals, the concentration values being derived by the processor from concentration signals received from the sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A control system for a cleaning system including a pump for supplying a cleaning chemical to a tank for holding a cleaning mixture of the cleaning chemical and a diluting fluid, the cleaning system further including a fluid supply conduit in fluid communication with a cleaning location and the tank, the cleaning system further including a fluid return conduit in fluid communication with the cleaning location and the tank, the cleaning system further including a source of rinsing fluid in fluid communication with the cleaning location, the cleaning system further including a drain in fluid communication with the cleaning location, the control system comprising:
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a sensor located in the tank, the sensor outputting concentration signals indicative of a concentration of a component of the cleaning mixture in the tank; and a controller having a processor and a data storage means, the processor being in communication with the sensor and the data storage means, wherein the controller is configured to executed a program stored in the controller to; record in the data storage means a data table including (i) time intervals during a period of operation of the cleaning system, and (ii) concentration values associated with each of the time intervals, the concentration values being derived by the processor from concentration signals received from the sensor. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A control system for a cleaning system including a pump for supplying a cleaning chemical to a tank for holding a cleaning mixture of the cleaning chemical and a diluting fluid, the cleaning system further including a fluid supply conduit in fluid communication with a cleaning location and the tank, the cleaning system further including a fluid return conduit in fluid communication with the cleaning location and the tank, the cleaning system further including a source of rinsing fluid in fluid communication with the cleaning location, the cleaning system further including a drain in fluid communication with the cleaning location, the control system comprising:
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a sensor located in the fluid supply conduit, the sensor outputting concentration signals indicative of a concentration of a component of fluid passing the sensor; and a controller having a processor in communication with a data storage means and the sensor, the processor also being in communication with the pump for providing on signals and off signals to the pump for turning on and turning off the pump, wherein the controller is configured to executed a program stored in the controller to; record in the data storage means a data table including (i) time intervals during a period of operation of the cleaning system, (ii) pump operating status values associated with each of the time intervals, the pump operating status values being indicative of the on signals and the off signals provided by the processor to the pump, and (iii) concentration values associated with each of the time intervals, the concentration values being derived by the processor from concentration signals received from the sensor. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A control system for a cleaning system including a pump for supplying a cleaning chemical to a tank for holding a cleaning mixture of the cleaning chemical and a diluting fluid, the cleaning system further including a fluid supply conduit in fluid communication with a cleaning location and the tank, the cleaning system further including a fluid return conduit in fluid communication with the cleaning location and the tank, the cleaning system further including a source of rinsing fluid in fluid communication with the cleaning location, the cleaning system further including a drain in fluid communication with the cleaning location, the control system comprising:
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a sensor located in the tank, the sensor outputting concentration signals indicative of a concentration of a component of the cleaning mixture in the tank; and a controller having a processor in communication with a data storage means and the sensor, the processor also being in communication with the pump for providing on signals and off signals to the pump for turning on and turning off the pump, wherein the controller is configured to execute a program stored in the controller to; record in the data storage means a data table including (i) time intervals during a period of operation of the cleaning system, (ii) pump operating status values associated with each of the time intervals, the pump operating status values being indicative of the on signals and the off signals provided by the processor to the pump, (iii) concentration values associated with each of the time intervals, the concentration values being derived by the processor from concentration signals received from the sensor. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
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Specification