US 6,439,878 B1Granted

Apparatus for controlling combustion device

AssigneeRB Controls Co., Ltd.

InventorsHajime Kawauchi, Toshihisa Terade

Life of this patent

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Abstract

When an error occurs to a combustion device, a microcomputer inside a control apparatus for the combustion device closes a safety valve thereby stopping gas supply to a gas burner. In a conventional control apparatus, when a power source resetting is actuated with a power switch, the safety valve is opened to supply the gas burner with gas even though the cause for the error has not been resolved. As a solution, when an error occurs, the fact of such an occurrence is stored in a nonvolatile memory, i.e., electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM. It is so arranged that, unless the reset switch is operated, the memory in the EEPROM is not reset. After resetting, the memory in the EEPROM is read out. As long as the reset has not been made, the safety valve is not opened, but the program immediately proceeds to a state in which the operation of the reset switch is held in suspension.

Claims5

Dependent claims

An apparatus for controlling a combustion device, said combustion device having a microcomputer for detecting various abnormal conditions which occur in said combustion device and for performing a predetermined processing wherein said predetermined processing is optionally stopping an operation of said combustion device when such abnormal conditions have been detected, said apparatus comprising:

a reset switch for resetting said microcomputer;
a nonvolatile memory,
wherein, when a particular abnormal condition among the various abnormal conditions has occurred, a number of occurrence of the particular abnormal condition is stored in said nonvolatile memory, and
wherein, when said microcomputer is reset without resort to said reset switch, the operation of said combustion device is held in a suspended state until said reset switch is operated if the number of occurrence, stored in said nonvolatile memory, of the particular abnormal condition amounts to a predetermined number.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/906,699Filed 18 Jul 2001
Priority: JP 2000-31675117 Oct 2000
Published: US 2002/0045143 A118 Apr 2002
Granted: 27 Aug 2002
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

F23N 5/242
Preventing development of abnormal or undesired conditions, i.e. safety arrangements: using electronic means
F23N 2223/04
Signal processing; Details thereof: memory
F23N 2223/08
Signal processing; Details thereof: microprocessor; Microcomputer
F23N 2231/02
Fail safe: using electric energy accumulators