Safety Vacuum Release System
AssigneePentair Water Pool and Spa, Inc. & Danfoss Drives/AS
InventorsRobert W. Stiles, JR., Lars Hoffmann Berthelsen
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Abstract
Some embodiments of the invention provide a pumping system for at least one aquatic application. The pumping system includes a pump, a motor coupled to the pump, a user interface associated with the pump designed to receive input instructions from a user, and a controller in communication with the motor. The controller determines a power parameter associated with the motor and compares the power parameter to a predetermined threshold value. The controller triggers a safety vacuum release system based on the comparison of the power parameter and the threshold value.
Claims16
A pumping system for at least one aquatic application, the pumping system comprising:
- a pump;
- a motor coupled to the pump;
- a user interface associated with the pump, the user interface configured to receive input instructions from a user;
- and
- a controller in communication with the motor,
- the controller determining a power parameter associated with the motor,
- the controller comparing the power parameter to a predetermined threshold value, and
- the controller triggering a safety vacuum release system based on the comparison of the power parameter and the threshold value;
- wherein the power parameter is an absolute power consumption value of the motor.
A safety vacuum release system for at least one aquatic application, the safety vacuum release system comprising:
- a pump including an inlet;
- a motor coupled to the pump;
- a detached controller configured to control operation of the pump;
- and
- an on-board controller in communication with the motor,
- the on-board controller designed to detect if an obstruction is present in the inlet based only on at least one measurement related to the power consumption of the motor defining a power consumption value.
A method of operating a safety vacuum release system with a controller for a pump including a variable speed motor, the method comprising:
- measuring an actual power consumption of the motor necessary to pump water;
- filtering the actual power consumption with a fast low-pass filter to obtain a current power consumption;
- filtering the actual power consumption with a slow low-pass filter to obtain a lagged power consumption;
- calculating an absolute power consumption by subtracting the lagged power consumption from a current power consumption;
- calculating a relative power variation by dividing the absolute power consumption by the lagged power consumption;
- triggering the safety vacuum release system when the relative power variation is less than a negative threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.