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US 12,359,956 B2Granted
Car wash additive monitoring
AssigneeFranklin Fueling Systems, Inc.
InventorsRandall Boucher, Vitaliy Demin, Danny Norton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A car wash additive measuring system and method use a bubbler which provides a flow of pressurized gas through each bulk container. A pressure of each individual flow of pressurized gas is measured by a pressure transducer to output a signal indicative of the level of additive stored in the container. Flow rates of the respective flow of pressurized gas may be adjusted to accommodate particular additives.
Claims22
A car wash, comprising:
- a plurality of containers, each of the plurality of containers containing a liquid additive for dispensing in the car wash;
- a source of a pressurized gas;
- a manifold receiving a flow of the pressurized gas and partitioning the flow of the pressurized gas into a plurality of partitioned flows;
- a plurality of dip tubes, each dip tube extending into one of the plurality of containers and terminating at an exit orifice near a floor of a corresponding one of the plurality of containers, each of the partitioned flows distributed by the manifold to a corresponding one of the plurality of dip tubes and exiting the one of the plurality of dip tubes at the exit orifice of the one of the plurality of dip tubes,
- a plurality of pressure sensors, each of the plurality of pressure sensors in fluid communication with a corresponding one of the plurality of dip tubes and operable to sense a sensed pressure of the one of the plurality of dip tubes, whereby each of the plurality of pressure sensors senses a back pressure in a corresponding one of the plurality of containers;
- and
- a processor receiving the sensed pressure from each of the plurality of dip tubes and programmed to calculate a height of the liquid additive in each of the plurality of containers.
4 more elements
A method of operating a car wash system, the method comprising:
- placing a plurality of dip tubes into a corresponding plurality of containers, each of the plurality of containers containing liquid additive for dispensing in the car wash system, each of the plurality of dip tubes extending into a corresponding one of the plurality of containers and terminating at an exit orifice near a floor of the one of the plurality of containers;
- connecting the plurality of dip tubes to a source of a pressurized gas;
- partitioning a flow of the pressurized gas into a plurality of partitioned flows each flowing to a corresponding one of the plurality of dip tubes;
- measuring a pressure within each of the plurality of dip tubes with one of a plurality of pressure sensors, each of the plurality of pressure sensors in fluid communication with a corresponding one of the plurality of dip tubes and operable to sense a sensed pressure of the one of the plurality of dip tubes, whereby each of the plurality of pressure sensors senses a back pressure in a corresponding one of the plurality of containers, such that a back pressure in each corresponding one of the plurality of containers is determined;
- and
- calculating a height of the liquid additive in each of the plurality of containers.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.