Portable generator including carbon monoxide detector
AssigneeBriggs & Stratton Corporation
InventorsRyan D. Janscha, David W. Procknow, Brandon Nigh, Mark David Willer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A generator includes an engine, an air-fuel mixing device coupled to the engine, where the air-fuel mixing device is structured to receive air from an air intake and combine the air with fuel to create an air/fuel mixture, an exhaust outlet positioned on a first side of the generator and coupled to the engine, wherein the exhaust outlet is structured to emit exhaust gases from the engine, and a carbon monoxide (CO) sensor positioned on a second side of the generator opposite the exhaust outlet, where the CO sensor is structured to detect CO concentration near the generator.
Claims13
A generator comprising:
- an engine;
- an air-fuel mixing device coupled to the engine, wherein the air-fuel mixing device is structured to receive air from an air intake and combine the air with fuel to create an air/fuel mixture;
- an exhaust outlet structured to emit exhaust gases from the engine;
- and
- a CO sensor structured to detect CO concentration;
- a CO sensor controller coupled to the CO sensor and structured to control operation of the CO sensor, wherein the CO sensor controller comprises:
- a shutdown circuit structured to:
- determine an environment of the generator, the environment including at least an enclosed environment and an open environment;
- determine a first predetermined threshold for the enclosed environment;
- and
- determine a second predetermined threshold for the open environment;
- and
- an alert circuit structured to receive an alert indication from the shutdown circuit and alert a user of the generator to the detected CO concentration.
A method of shutting down a generator including an internal combustion engine, the method comprising:
- determining, by a CO sensor controller, an environment of the generator, the environment comprising at least one of an enclosed environment and an open environment;
- determining, by the CO sensor controller, a first predetermined threshold for the enclosed environment and a second predetermined threshold for the open environment;
- and
- completing, by the CO sensor controller, a shutdown procedure upon determining the generator is in the enclosed environment and the first predetermined threshold is exceeded.
A generator comprising:
- an engine;
- an air-fuel mixing device coupled to the engine, wherein the air-fuel mixing device is structured to receive air from an air intake and combine the air with fuel to create an air/fuel mixture;
- an exhaust outlet structured to emit exhaust gases from the engine;
- and
- a CO sensor structured to detect CO concentration;
- a CO sensor controller coupled to the CO sensor and structured to control operation of the CO sensor, wherein the CO sensor controller comprises:
- a shutdown circuit structured to determine an environment of the generator and complete a shutdown procedure upon determining that a maximum CO concentration threshold is exceeded, the maximum CO concentration threshold unrelated to the environment;
- and
- an alert circuit structured to receive an alert indication from the shutdown circuit and alert a user of the generator to the detected CO concentration.
A generator comprising:
- an engine;
- an air-fuel mixing device coupled to the engine, wherein the air-fuel mixing device is structured to receive air from an air intake and combine the air with fuel to create an air/fuel mixture;
- an exhaust outlet structured to emit exhaust gases from the engine;
- and
- a CO sensor structured to detect CO concentration;
- a CO sensor controller coupled to the CO sensor and structured to control operation of the CO sensor, wherein the CO sensor controller comprises:
- a shutdown circuit structured to determine an environment of the generator by calculating a slope of a variance of output values from the CO sensor;
- and
- an alert circuit structured to receive an alert indication from the shutdown circuit and alert a user of the generator to the detected CO concentration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.