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US 12,455,077 B2Granted
Gas-burning fire installation with an igniter control system
AssigneeTravis Industries, Inc.
InventorAiden Wilson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to gas-burning fire installations, such as gas-burning fireplace assemblies, fire table assemblies, gas lamps, gas torches, lanterns, other gas-burning lighting features, heated fountains, etc., that have fuel igniters and igniter control systems. Some embodiments provide a gas-burning fire installation that has a control unit configured to operate in an ignition mode or a run mode, and check for Proof of Flame (POF) gain or loss based on temperature readings by a sensor coupled to a burner and the control unit.
Claims17
A gas-burning fire installation, comprising:
- a burner;
- a fuel line coupled to the burner and configured to carry a fuel gas to the burner for ignition;
- a control valve coupled to the fuel line and positioned to control fuel gas flow toward the burner;
- a sensor coupled to the burner;
- an igniter adjacent to the burner;
- and
- a control unit operatively coupled to the control valve, the sensor, and the igniter, wherein the control unit is configured to operate in an ignition mode and a run mode,
- wherein while operating in the ignition mode, the control unit is configured to:
- turn on power to the control valve, the sensor, and the igniter;
- allow the igniter to heat up for an igniter heating period;
- operate the control valve to direct a flow of fuel gas to a burner of the gas-burning fire installation;
- allow the igniter to ignite the flow of fuel gas at or adjacent to the burner;
- check for Proof of Flame (POF) gain based on data from the sensor;
- upon determining that there is POF gain—
- switch to operating in the run mode;
- and
- upon determining that there is no POF gain after a POF waiting period—
- operate the control valve to terminate the flow of fuel gas to the burner;
- turn off the igniter;
- wait for a first re-ignition period;
- retry ignition of the burner for a predetermined number of attempts;
- and
- turn off power to the control valve and the igniter upon failing to determine that there is POF gain after retrying ignition of the burner for the predetermined number of attempts;
- and
- wherein while operating in the run mode, the control unit is configured to:
- repeatedly check for POF loss based on data from the sensor by determining that either (1) a first average temperature measured by the sensor has dropped by at least a predetermined temperature difference be ow a highest recorded temperture or (2) a second average temperature open measured by the sensor is below a predetermined minimum flame temperature;
- and
- upon determining that there is POF loss—
- operate the control valve to terminate the flow of fuel gas to the burner;
- wait for a second re-ignition period;
- operate the control valve to direct the flow of fuel gas to the burner;
- and
- allow the igniter to reignite the flow of fuel gas at or adjacent to the burner.
30 more elements
A method of operating a gas-burning fire installation, comprising:
- operatively coupling a control unit to a control valve, a sensor, and an igniter of the gas-burning fire installation, wherein the control unit is configured to operate in an ignition mode and a run mode;
- while operating the control unit in the ignition mode—
- turning on power to the control valve, the sensor, and the igniter;
- allowing the igniter to heat up for an igniter heating period;
- operating the control valve to direct a flow of fuel gas to a burner of the gas-burning fire installation;
- allowing the igniter to ignite the flow of fuel gas at or adjacent to the burner;
- checking for Proof of Flame (POF) gain based on data from the sensor by;
- recording a baseline cold temperature;
- checking if a first average temperature measured by the sensor is above a predetermined minimum flame temperature;
- upon determining that the first average temperature is above the predetermined minimum flame temperature—
- establishing POF gain upon determining that the first average temperature has increased by at least a predetermined temperature difference above the baseline cold temperature;
- returning to checking if the first average temperature is above the predetermined minimum flame temperature upon determining that the first average has not increased by at least the predetermined temperature difference above the baseline cold temperature;
- upon determining that the first average temperature is not above the predetermined minimum flame temperature—
- returning to checking if the first average temperature is above the predetermined minimum flame temperature;
- upon determining that there is POF gain—
- switching to operate the control unit in the run mode;
- and
- upon determining that there is no POF gain after a POF waiting period—
- deactivating the control valve to terminate the flow of fuel gas to the burner;
- turning off the igniter;
- waiting for a first re-ignition period;
- retrying ignition of the burner for a predetermined number of attempts;
- and
- turning off power to the control valve, the sensor, and the igniter upon failing to determine that there is POF gain after retrying ignition of the burner for the predetermined number of attempts;
- and
- while operating the control unit in the run mode—
- repeatedly checking for POF loss based on data from the sensor;
- and
- upon determining that there is POF loss—
- operating the control valve to terminate the flow of fuel gas to the burner;
- waiting for a second re-ignition period;
- reactivating the control valve to direct the flow of fuel gas to the burner;
- and
- allowing the igniter to reignite the flow of fuel gas at or adjacent to the burner.
31 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for performing a method of operating a gas-burning fire installation that has a control unit coupled to a control valve, a sensor, and an igniter, wherein the control unit is configured to operate in an ignition mode and a run mode, the method comprising:
- while operating the control unit in the ignition mode—
- turning on power to the control valve, the sensor, and the igniter;
- allowing the igniter to heat up for an igniter heating period;
- activating the control valve to direct a flow of fuel gas to a burner of the gas-burning fire installation;
- allowing the igniter to ignite the flow of fuel gas at or adjacent to the burner;
- checking for Proof of Flame (POF) gain based on data from the sensor;
- upon determining that there is POF gain—
- switching to operate in the run mode;
- and
- upon determining that there is no POF gain after a POF waiting period—
- deactivating the control valve to terminate the flow of fuel gas to the burner;
- turning off the igniter;
- waiting for a first re-ignition period;
- retrying ignition of the burner for a predetermined number of attempts;
- and
- turning off power to the control valve, the sensor, and the igniter upon failing to determine that there is POF gain after retrying ignition of the burner for the predetermined number of attempts;
- and
- while operating the control unit in the run mode—
- repeatedly checking for POF loss based on data from the sensor by determining that either (1) a first average temperature measured by the sensor has dropped by at least a predetermined temperature difference below a highest recorded temperature or (2) a second average temperature measured by the sensor is below a predetermined minimum flame temperature;
- and
- upon determining that there is POF loss—
- deactivating the control valve to terminate the flow of fuel gas to the burner;
- waiting for a second re-ignition period;
- reactivating the control valve to direct the flow of fuel gas to the burner;
- and
- allowing the igniter to reignite the flow of fuel gas at or adjacent to the burner.
23 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.