Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110054711 | DAMPER CONTROL SYSTEM - A damper control system having energy efficient mechanisms. The system may use a heat-to-electric power converter such as a thermopile. Heat may come from a pilot light used for igniting a flame for an appliance. The system may store electric energy in a storage module which could be a sufficiently large capacitor. The system may monitor the position of a damper in a vent or the like and provide start and stop movements of the damper using minimal energy. One way that the system may control electrical energy to a damper motor or another electrical mover of the damper is to use pulse width modulated signals. | 03-03-2011 |
20110270544 | STORAGE DEVICE ENERGIZED ACTUATOR HAVING DIAGNOSTICS - A system having unified diagnostics where an electrical energy storage device may supply an actuator. Various techniques may be used to determine energy storage capacity and actuator current usage. Measured storage capacity and actuator current may indicate the health of the energy storage device and the actuator, respectively. Also, operation of a service switch for the actuator may be checked relative to its state. | 11-03-2011 |
20130152673 | GAS VALVE WITH ELECTRONIC VALVE PROVING SYSTEM - This disclosure relates generally to valves, and more particularly, to gas valve assemblies. In one example, a valve assembly may be configured to perform a valve proving test as part of an operational cycle of a combustion appliance coupled to the valve assembly. The valve assembly may include a valve body having a fluid path, first and second valve sealing members translatable between an opened position and a closed position, and one or more pressure sensors in fluid communication with an intermediate volume of the fluid path between the first and second valve sealing members. A valve controller may be in communication with the pressure sensor and may monitor a measure related to a pressure change rate in the intermediate volume. The valve controller may then output a signal if the measure related to a pressure change rate in the intermediate volume meets and/or exceeds a threshold value. | 06-20-2013 |
20130153035 | GAS VALVE WITH ELECTRONIC CYCLE COUNTER - A gas valve assembly may include an electronic valve controller secured relative to a valve body. The electronic controller may be configured to count each operational cycle of the gas valve and maintain a cumulative count of the number of operational cycles experienced by the gas valve in a memory, such as a non-volatile memory. In some cases, the non-volatile memory may also store one or more operational cycle threshold values that may be retrieved and compared to the cumulative count of the number of operational cycles experienced by the gas valve. In some instances, where the cumulative count of the number of operational cycles experienced by the gas valve meets and/or exceeds the threshold number of operational cycles, the gas valve may be prevented from opening. | 06-20-2013 |
20130153041 | GAS VALVE WITH OVERPRESSURE DIAGNOSTICS - This disclosure relates generally to valves, and more particularly, to gas valve assemblies. In one example, a gas valve assembly may include a valve body with one or more valves movable between an opened position and a closed position, one or more valve actuators configured to operate the valves, and one or more pressure sensors to sense a pressure within a fluid path of the valve assembly. A valve controller may receive a measure related to a sensed pressure from the one or more pressure sensor(s). The valve controller may compare the received measure related to the sensed pressure to an overpressure threshold. In the event the measure related to the sensed pressure surpasses the overpressure threshold value, the valve controller may be configured to provide a signal that indicates an overpressure event has occurred. | 06-20-2013 |
20130153042 | GAS VALVE WITH HIGH/LOW GAS PRESSURE DETECTION - This disclosure relates generally to valves, and more particularly, to gas valve assemblies. In one example, the valve assembly may include a valve body with a fluid path, one or more valves or valve sealing members positioned across the fluid path, and one or more pressure sensors in fluid communication with a fluid path of the valve assembly. The valve assembly may include a valve controller in communication with the pressure sensors, where the valve controller may be configured to compare a measure related to a pressure sensed by the one or more pressure sensors to a pressure threshold value (e.g., a high pressure threshold value, a low pressure threshold value, or other pressure threshold value). If the measure surpasses the threshold value, the valve controller may provide a predetermined output signal indicating a pressure event has occurred, such as a high or low gas pressure event. | 06-20-2013 |
20130153062 | GAS VALVE WITH FUEL RATE MONITOR - This disclosure relates generally to valves, and more particularly, to gas valve assemblies. In one illustrative but non-limiting example, a valve assembly may include a flow module for sensing one or more parameters of a gas flowing through the fluid path of the gas valve, and may determine a measure that is related to a gas flow through the fluid path. A measure related to a gas flow may include, but is not limited to, a measure of fuel consumption by a device or appliance attached to an output port of the valve assembly. Illustratively, the flow module may include one or more valve controllers in communication with one or more pressure sensors, one or more flow sensors, one or more temperature sensors, one or more valve position sensors, and/or any other suitable sensors as desired. | 06-20-2013 |
20130153798 | GAS VALVE WITH COMMUNICATION LINK - This disclosure relates generally to valves, and more particularly, to gas valve assemblies. In one example, the valve assembly may include a valve body with an inlet port, an outlet port, and a fluid path extending between the inlet and outlet ports, one or more valves situated about the fluid path, one or more valve actuators for selectively moving respective valves, one or more sensors for sensing one or more parameters within the fluid path, and a controller secured relative to the valve body and in communication with the one or more sensors for determining one or more valve assembly conditions based on the one or more sensed parameters. Illustratively, the controller may be configured to communicate information from the valve assembly to a combustion appliance controller that is located remotely from the valve assembly through a communications interface of the controller and across a communications bus. | 06-20-2013 |
20130154841 | GAS VALVE WITH VALVE LEAKAGE TEST - This disclosure relates generally to valves, and more particularly, to gas valve assemblies. In one example, a valve leakage test may be performed on a valve assembly including a valve body with a first valve and a second valve, where the valves may be positioned across a fluid path in the valve body with an intermediate volume between the valves. A pressure sensor may be in fluid communication with the intermediate volume and may sense a measure that is related to the pressure in the intermediate volume. The pressure sensor may communicate with a controller to determine a measure that is related to a pressure change in the intermediate volume and compare the measure that is related to a pressure change to a first and/or second threshold value. The controller may output a signal if the measure meets and/or exceeds the first and/or second threshold value. | 06-20-2013 |
20140080075 | BURNER CONTROL SYSTEM - A burner control system for improving burner performance and efficiency. The system may determine fuel and air channel or manifold parameters. Determination of parameters may be performed with a sensor connected across the air and fuel channels. A signal from the sensor may control the parameters which in turn affect the amounts of fuel and air to the burner via a controller. Parameter control of the fuel and air in their respective channels may result in more accurate fuel and air ratio control. One or more flow restrictors in fuel and/or air bypass channels may further improve accuracy of the fuel and air ratio. The channels may be interconnected with a pressure or flow divider. Byproducts of combustion in the exhaust, temperatures of gas and air, flame quality and/or other items may be monitored and adjusted with control of the fuel and air ratio for optimum combustion in the burner. | 03-20-2014 |
20140096850 | VISUAL INDICATOR FOR A SAFETY SHUT OFF VALVE - A valve assembly may have a visual valve position indication mechanism that is non-invasive relative to the body of the valve containing the fluid whose flow is controlled by the valve assembly. Valve position indication may be displayed with a lighted arrangement. The proof of closure sensor may provide position information to the indication mechanism to display it. | 04-10-2014 |
20150045971 | VALVE CONTROLLER CONFIGURED TO ESTIMATE FUEL COMSUMPTION - A fuel valve for regulating a flow of fuel to a combustion appliance includes a control module configured to determine fuel consumption based on a measure related to fuel flow through the fuel valve. The measure related to fuel flow through the valve may be determined using a known relationship between firing rate and the flow rate of fuel through the valve. Measurement accuracy may be enhanced by correcting for the excess air ration (also referred to as lambda). | 02-12-2015 |
20150090310 | LOW-POWERED SYSTEM FOR DRIVING A FUEL CONTROL MECHANISM - A low powered system for providing sufficient current to a fuel control mechanism drive. The system may have a fuel control mechanism pick circuit that has an energy storage mechanism for providing a large amount of current for a short time to the fuel control mechanism drive. A safety switch may be enabled with a special signal to let current flow to the fuel control mechanism drive to operate a corresponding fuel control mechanism for controlling fuel to a pilot light or heating element. The pilot light or heating element may provide heat to a thermoelectric source that generates electrical power from the heat. The electrical power may go to a single DC-to-DC converter and voltage clamp for providing a voltage source to a microcontroller and other circuits of the system. The pick circuit may prevent a harmful reverse flow of current from the storage mechanism to the thermoelectric source. | 04-02-2015 |
20150107675 | VALVE WITH ACTUATOR DIAGNOSTICS - A system for detection of degradation of a valve mechanism by measuring, for example, the time between powering an actuator and opening of the valve or the time between un-powering the actuator and closing of the valve. Time measurements may be compared with a predetermined threshold or previous measurements. An indication of a gradual degradation of the valve may be detected by an evaluation of a trend of measurements. Thus, a user may be notified of an impending failure before an actual failure of the valve. Diagnostic analysis may be of one or more items selected from a group consisting of combinations of time delays and distances of valve movement upon application and removal of power to the actuator, and one or more performance issues may be correlated for each of many combinations. | 04-23-2015 |