Chemical controller system and method
AssigneePentair Water Pool and Spa, Inc.
InventorsKeith Lewis, Greg Lyons
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of controlling an output relay of a chemical controller is disclosed. The output relay is coupled to a pump configured to introduce at least one chemical into the aquatic application. The chemical controller controls the operation of the pump using the output relay. The method includes the step of utilizing a watchdog timer circuit to determine that a processor has failed to send a reset signal to the watchdog timer circuit before a timer of the watchdog timer circuit reaches zero. The method further includes the step of outputting a processor fault signal from the watchdog timer circuit.
Claims20
A method of controlling an output relay of a chemical controller, the output relay being coupled to a pump, and the pump configured to introduce at least one chemical into an aquatic application, the chemical controller controlling an operation of the pump using the output relay, the method comprising:
- utilizing a watchdog timer circuit to determine that a processor has failed to send a reset signal to the watchdog timer circuit before a timer of the watchdog timer circuit reaches zero;
- outputting a processor fault signal from the watchdog timer circuit upon determining that the processor has failed to send the reset signal;
- decoupling a relay enable signal from a corresponding relay latch output based on the processor fault signal;
- and
- transmitting a signal to a relay drive circuit from the corresponding relay latch output, the relay drive circuit configured to activate and deactivate the output relay based on the received signal.
A method of controlling an output relay of a chemical controller, the output relay being coupled to a pump, and the pump configured to introduce at least one chemical into an aquatic application, the chemical controller controlling an operation of the pump using the output relay, the method comprising:
- utilizing a watchdog timer circuit to determine that a processor has failed to send a reset signal to the watchdog timer circuit before a timer of the watchdog timer circuit reaches zero;
- outputting a processor fault signal from the watchdog timer circuit upon determining that the processor has failed to send the reset signal;
- controlling, by a relay drive circuit, an output power master relay based on the processor fault signal, the output power master relay providing output power to the output relay;
- and
- deactivating the output power master relay thereby disconnecting the output power to the output relay.
A method of controlling an output relay of a chemical controller, the output relay being coupled to a pump, and the pump configured to introduce at least one chemical into an aquatic application, the chemical controller controlling an operation of the pump using the output relay, the method comprising:
- utilizing a watchdog timer circuit to receive a signal from a processor;
- monitoring the signal from the processor using the watchdog timer circuit;
- receiving the signal from the processor using the watchdog timer circuit and continuing to monitor the signal;
- determining that the processor has failed to send the signal to the watchdog timer circuit;
- outputting a processor fault signal from the watchdog timer circuit upon determining that the processor has failed to send the signal;
- a relay drive circuit receiving the processor fault signal;
- and
- disconnecting output power to the output relay when the relay drive circuit receives the processor fault signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.