Failure indication system
AssigneeFarrpro, Inc.
InventorsAmos Isaac Petersen, Steven James Hoff, James Donald Riley, Christian Loza
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one or more arrangements, a failure indication system is provided having a light assembly, a heating mat assembly and a control circuit. The light assembly is configured to project a wavelength of light that is visible to animals and that illuminates the heating mat assembly to attract an animal to the heating mat. The control circuit is configured to detect when a fault has occurred with the heating mat assembly. When the control circuit detects that a fault has occurred with the heating mat assembly, the control circuit causes the light assembly to indicate the heating mat assembly is not functioning properly.
Claims20
A failure indication system (10), comprising:
- a light assembly (11) including a housing (12) and a lighting element (66);
- a heating mat assembly (145) configured to generate heat for livestock;
- a control circuit (202) communicatively connected to the light assembly (11) and the heating mat assembly (145), the control circuit (202) configured to:
- monitor power drawn by the heating mat assembly (145),
- detect when the heating mat assembly (145) is drawing power outside of normal operating limits indicating a fault condition, and
- cause the lighting element (66) to produce a visual indication when the fault condition is detected, wherein the visual indication is different from a normal operating indication of the lighting element (66).
A method for indicating a fault in a heating mat system, comprising:
- monitoring, by a control circuit (202), power drawn by a heating mat assembly (145);
- comparing the power drawn by the heating mat assembly (145) to predetermined operating limits;
- detecting a fault condition when the power drawn by the heating mat assembly (145) is outside the predetermined operating limits;
- and
- causing a lighting element (66) to produce a visual indication in response to detecting the fault condition, wherein the visual indication comprises at least one of pulsing, flashing, turning off, rotating, or changing colors.
A livestock heating system, comprising:
- a heating mat (146) configured to provide heat to livestock;
- a light assembly (11) positioned to illuminate the heating mat (146), the light assembly (11) including a lighting element (66) configured to attract animals to the heating mat (146);
- a control system (200) including a control circuit (202) and at least one sensor (206), the control circuit (202) configured to:
- receive signals from the at least one sensor (206) indicative of an operating condition of the heating mat (146),
- determine whether the heating mat (146) is operating within normal operating limits based on the signals, and
- control the lighting element (66) to produce a first visual indication during normal operation and a second visual indication different from the first visual indication when the heating mat (146) is not operating within the normal operating limits.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.