Cooling compressor intake air
OwnerWilliam Fornofinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Cooling air provided to a compressor air inlet such that water vapor in the inlet air condenses to lower a moisture content of the air provided to the compressor.
Claims25
A controller for controlling a cooling device to control a temperature and moisture content of air provided to an air inlet of a vehicle air compressor, the controller comprising:
- a) an input for receiving input signals that represent one or more of a loaded or unloaded status of the vehicle air compressor, a temperature of air provided to the compressor air inlet, and a moisture content of air provided to the compressor air inlet;
- b) a logic applying arrangement for applying a temperature control algorithm to the input signals to derive output signals;
- and
- c) an output that provides the output signals to the cooling device to control the cooling device based on the input signals, the cooling device cooling the air provided to the compressor air inlet to a temperature below the freezing point of moisture in the air.
A controller for controlling the conditioning of air provided to a vehicle air compressor, the controller comprising:
- a) an input to receive at least one input signal indicative of at least one of an operating state of the air compressor, a temperature of air provided to the compressor, and a moisture content of air provided to the compressor;
- b) an output to provide an output signal to control a cooling device, the cooling device fluidly communicating with the air provided to the compressor and cooling the air to a temperature below the freezing point of moisture in the air;
- and
- c) means to control actuation of the cooling device through regulation of the output signal in response to the at least one input signal.
A controller to control conditioning of air provided to an air inlet of a vehicle air compressor, the controller comprising:
- a) an input for receiving at least one input signal representative of at least one of an operating state of the vehicle air compressor, a temperature of air provided to the compressor air inlet, and a moisture content of air provided to the compressor air inlet;
- b) a logic applying arrangement for determining output signals in response to the at least one input signal, a first output signal controlling actuation of a cooling device to cool the air to a temperature below the freezing point of the moisture in the air;
- and
- c) an output for providing the output signals to at least one of the cooling device and a heating device.
An apparatus to control the cooling of air provided to an air inlet of an associated vehicle air compressor, the apparatus comprising:
- a) an input for receiving an input signal provided by an associated governor, the input signal indicative of the operating state of the associated compressor;
- b) a logic applying arrangement for providing an output signal in response to the input signal, the output signal controlling actuation of an associated cooling device to cool the air provided to the air inlet of the associated vehicle air compressor to a temperature below the freezing point of moisture in the air when the input signal from the associated governor indicates the associated vehicle air compressor is operating in a loaded state;
- and
- c) an output for providing the output signal to the associated cooling device.
A controller for controlling a device to control the conditioning of air provided to a vehicle air brake system, the controller comprising:
- a) at least one input for receiving at least one input signal from at least one sensing device;
- b) an arrangement for applying an algorithm to determine at least one output signal as a result of the at least one input signal, the at least one output signal provided to a cooling device fluidly communicating with air provided to a vehicle air brake system and cooling the air to a temperature below the freezing point of moisture in the air as determined by the algorithm applying arrangement;
- and
- c) at least one output for providing the at least one output signal to the cooling device.
A method of controlling the conditioning of air provided to a compressor air inlet, the method comprising:
- a) receiving at least one signal indicative of at least one of an operating state of the compressor, a temperature of air provided to the compressor air inlet, and a moisture content of air provided to the compressor air inlet;
- b) comparing the at least one signal to a predetermined threshold;
- c) generating an output signal as a result of the comparing step;
- and
- d) providing the output signal to control actuation of a cooling device, the cooling device cooling the air provided to the compressor air inlet to a temperature below the freezing point of the moisture in the air.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.