Fluid control system

• US 9,618,943 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2013
• Issued: 04/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Horiba STEC, Co., Ltd. (Horiba Limited)
• Original Assignee: Horiba STEC, Co., Ltd. (Horiba Limited)
• Inventors: Tanaka, Yuki, Takahashi, Akito
• Primary Examiner(s): Schneider, Craig
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le, Minh
• Application Number:
  US14/065,042
• Publication Number:
  US 20140116538A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,261 Days
• Field of Search: 137486, 1374875, 706903, 700282
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 7/0635 by action on throttling means G05D7/0688, G05D7/0694 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/7759 Responsive to change in rate of fluid flow

Abstract

At a time when control of a flow rate adjusting valve is initiated from a fully closed state in order to make a measured flow rate equal to a target flow rate, an initial value of a driving signal is set as a parameter by making use of at least one of the type, pressure, and temperature of a fluid.

Claims

1. A fluid control system comprising a flow rate adjusting valve that adjusts a flow rate of a fluid flowing in a flow channel by changing an open degree of the flow rate adjusting valve in accordance with a value of a driving signal, a flow rate measuring device for measuring the flow rate of the fluid that flows in the flow channel, and a control circuit that conducts feedback control on the flow rate adjusting valve by outputting the driving signal so as to make a measured flow rate obtained by the flow rate measuring device equal to a given target flow rate, wherein

the control circuit comprises an initial value generation part which outputs an initial value of the driving signal applied to the flow rate adjusting valve at a time when the control circuit initiates control of the flow rate adjusting valve from a fully closed state;

and

the initial value generation part does not conduct the feedback control, but sets an initial value of the driving signal by the use of at least a type of the fluid or a temperature of the fluid at a time, as a parameter, wherein

the initial value of the driving signal is set based on the type of the fluid or the temperature of the fluid that is detected at a time when the feedback control is not being conducted.

2. The fluid control system described in claim 1, wherein

the control circuit stores in a memory part, in pairs, a starting up driving signal value, being the value of the driving signal at a time when the flow rate adjusting valve begins moving from the fully closed state, and at least the type of the fluid or temperature of the fluid at the time, and

at a time when the control circuit initiates control of the flow rate adjusting valve from the fully closed state in order to make the measured flow rate equal to the target flow rate, the control circuit sets the initial value of the driving signal by referring to the starting up driving signal value stored in the memory part by the use of at least the type of the fluid or the temperature of the fluid at the time, as a parameter.

3. The fluid control system described in claim 1, wherein

the control circuit calculates the initial value of the driving signal based on a function or a table where at least the type of the fluid or the temperature of the fluid is a parameter.

4. The fluid control system described in claim 3, wherein

the control circuit obtains a starting up driving signal value, being the value of the driving signal at a time when the flow rate adjusting valve begins moving from the fully closed state, from at least the type of the fluid or the temperature of the fluid at the time, and rewrites the function or the table based on these relationships.

5. A fluid control system comprising a flow rate adjusting valve that adjusts a flow rate of a fluid flowing in a flow channel by changing an open degree of the flow rate adjusting valve in accordance with a value of a driving signal, a flow rate measuring device for measuring the flow rate of the fluid that flows in the flow channel, and a control circuit that controls the flow rate adjusting valve by outputting the driving signal so as to make a measured flow rate obtained by the flow rate measuring device equal to a given target flow rate, wherein

at a time when the control circuit initiates control of the flow rate adjusting valve from a fully closed state in order to make the measured flow rate equal to the target flow rate, an initial value of the driving signal is set by the use of at least one of a type, a pressure, and a temperature of the fluid at the time as a parameter, wherein

the control circuit stores in pairs a starting up driving signal value, being the value of the driving signal at a time when the flow rate adjusting valve begins moving from the fully closed state, and at least one of the type, pressure, and temperature of the fluid at the time in a memory part, and

at a time when the control circuit initiates control of the flow rate adjusting valve from the fully closed state in order to make the measured flow rate equal to the target flow rate, the control circuit sets the initial value of the driving signal by referring to the starting up driving signal value stored in the memory part by the use of at least one of the type, pressure, and temperature of the fluid at the time as the parameter, and wherein

the driving signal value at a time when the flow rate first exceeds zero from the fully closed state as measured by the flow rate measurement device is set as the starting up driving signal value.