Configurable process control device with electronic display assembly
AssigneeGeneral Equipment and Manufacturing Company, Inc., d/b/a TopWorx, Inc.
InventorRobert Lynn LaFountain
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A configurable process control device, which includes a field device, such as a valve position controller, that can be configured by a user to emulate any one of a plurality of different types of process control devices, is provided with an electronic display assembly. The electronic display assembly is operatively connected with a control circuit that is arranged to respond to the specific configuration of the field device to cause the electronic display assembly to display information relevant to the specific type of control device the field device has been configured to emulate. The information may include safety certification information specific to each of the different types of process control devices that the field device can be configured to emulate.
Claims20
A configurable process control device for use in a plurality of use environments, wherein at least one of a pre-defined plurality of certifications must be displayed in conjunction with the configurable process control device depending on which of the use environments the configurable process control device is to be used in, the configurable process control device comprising:
- a field device;
- a first control circuit operatively coupled to the field device, the first control circuit arranged to control the field device and arranged to be reconfigured by a user to allow the field device to selectively emulate any of a plurality of different process control device types;
- an electronic display assembly, the electronic display assembly arranged to selectively display different information;
- and
- a second control circuit, the second control circuit operatively coupled to the electronic display assembly and the first control circuit, the second control circuit having access to a plurality of different certification information sets, each certification information set corresponding to a different one of the plurality of different process control device types;
- wherein the second control circuit causes the electronic display assembly to display a selected one of the certification information sets corresponding to the process control device type the field device has been selected to emulate.
A valve position controller, comprising:
- a controller housing;
- a switch carried by the controller housing;
- a switch control circuit, the switch control circuit arranged to control the switch and arranged to be selectively reconfigured by a user to allow the switch to selectively emulate any of a pre-selected plurality of different switch types;
- an electronic display assembly carried by the controller housing, the electronic display assembly arranged to selectively display different information;
- and
- a display control circuit, the display control circuit operatively connected to the electronic display assembly and the switch control circuit, the display control circuit having access to a plurality of different information sets, each information set containing attributes of a corresponding one of the switch types;
- wherein the display control circuit causes the electronic display assembly to display a selected one of the information sets corresponding to which switch type the switch is configured to emulate.
A method of displaying certification information for a configurable process control device, the configurable process control device having a field device and a device control circuit arranged to be configured in any one of a pre-selected plurality of configurations to cause the field device to emulate any one of a pre-selected plurality of different types of process control devices, the method comprising the steps:
- configuring the device control circuit to cause the field device to emulate a first selected one of the different types of process control devices;
- providing an electronic display with the field device;
- and
- configuring the electronic display to display first certification information in response to the configuration of the device control circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.