Valve control system and valve control method
AssigneeOMRON Corporation
InventorsHajime IZUTANI, Tsuyoshi MATSUMOTO, Fumiharu SHIMOHARA
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A valve control system includes general-purpose valves arranged in a pipe that allows the flow of fluid, first and second sensors, and a safety controller. The general-purpose valves are valves that can be opened and closed according to electric signals, and may be, e.g., solenoid valves, respectively. The first and second sensors are sensors that detect a state of fluid flowing from the corresponding valves, and are formed of, e.g., pressure switches, respectively. The safety controller may satisfy safety standards, and outputs signals for controlling the valves based on signals provided from the first and second sensors, respectively.
Claims15
A valve control system, comprising:
- a first valve arranged in a flow path configured for a flow of fluid, said first valve being openable and closable according to a first electric signal;
- a second valve arranged in said flow path at a position downstream of said first valve, said second valve being openable and closable according to a second electric signal;
- a first sensor arranged in said flow path, and positioned between said first and second valves to detect a state of fluid flowing from said first valve;
- a second sensor arranged in said flow path, and positioned downstream from said second valve to detect a state of fluid flowing from said second valve;
- and
- a safety controller configured to control said first and second valves based on a result of detection of said first sensor and a result of detection of said second sensor.
A valve control method for execution by a valve control system,
- said valve control system including:
- a first valve arranged in a flow path configured for a flow of fluid, said first valve being openable and closable according to a first electric signal,
- a second valve arranged in said flow path at a position downstream of said first valve, and said second valve being openable and closable according to a second electric signal,
- a first sensor arranged in said flow path, and positioned between said first and second valves to detect a state of ffluid flowing from said first valve,
- a second sensor arranged in said flow path, and positioned downstream from said second valve to detect a state of fluid flowing from said second valve, and
- a safety controller configured to control said first and second valves based on a result of detection of said first sensor and a result of detection of said second sensor;
- and
- said valve control method comprising:
- checking that the result of detection of said first sensor indicates that said fluid is not flowing from said first valve and that the result of detection of said second sensor indicates that said fluid is not flowing from said second valve;
- executing first control to open said first valve after the result of detection of said first sensor and the result of detection of said second sensor are checked;
- checking that the flowing of said fluid from said first valve is indicated by the result of detection of said first sensor performed after a first period elapsed since execution of said first control;
- executing second control to open said second valve in response to changing of the result of detection of said first sensor;
- and
- checking that the flowing of said fluid from said second valve is indicated by the result of detection of said second sensor performed after a second period elapsed since execution of said second control.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.