Control system for controlling a heater

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11558933-B2
Application number	US-201916294201-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 6, 2019
Priority date	Mar 8, 2018
Publication date	Jan 17, 2023
Grant date	Jan 17, 2023

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed toward a control system for controlling a heater system. The control system includes a plurality of zone control circuits, at least two auxiliary controllers, and a primary controller. The zone control circuits are operable to provide power to a plurality of heater zones of the heater system and to sense performance characteristics of the zones. The auxiliary controllers are coupled to the plurality of zone control circuits to control power to the plurality of zones and to monitor operation of the heater zones based on the performance characteristics. The primary controller is coupled to the auxiliary controllers and is configured to provide an operation set-point for each of the heater zones based on the performance characteristics. The auxiliary controllers operate the zone control circuits to supply power to the heater system based on the operation set-point.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control system for controlling a heater system having a plurality of resistive heating elements that define a plurality of heater zones, the control system comprising:
a plurality of zone control circuits configured to provide power to the plurality of resistive heating elements to have the plurality of resistive heating elements emit heat and to sense electrical characteristics of the plurality of resistive heating elements;
at least two auxiliary controllers coupled to the plurality of zone control circuits, wherein the at least two auxiliary controllers are configured to control power to the plurality of heater zones via the plurality of zone control circuits and monitor operation of the heater zones based on the electrical characteristics of the plurality of resistive heating elements; and
a primary controller coupled to the at least two auxiliary controllers, the primary controller being configured to provide an operation set-point for each of the heater zones based on the electrical characteristics, wherein the at least two auxiliary controllers operate the plurality of zone control circuits to supply power to the heater system based on the operation set-point, wherein:
each of the at least two auxiliary controllers includes a power controller and a sensor controller,
each power controller and each sensor controller is coupled to the primary controller, and
the sensor controllers are coupled to each other and to each of the plurality of zone control circuits.

2. The control system of claim 1 , wherein each power controller is coupled to a set of the zone control circuits different from another power controller.

3. The control system of claim 1 further comprising a power supply switch configured to couple and decouple a power source to the control system.

4. The control system of claim 3 , wherein:
the primary controller and the at least two auxiliary controllers are coupled to the power supply switch,
the primary controller and each of the at least two auxiliary controllers are configured to perform a system diagnostic, and
the primary controller and each of the at least two auxiliary controllers are configured to operate the power supply switch based on the system diagnostic, wherein the system diagnostic comprises performing a zone-to-zone diagnostic, the zone-to-zone diagnostic comprising:
determining a temperature difference between a pair of adjacent heater zones from among the plurality of heater zones; and
determining a performance characteristic of the heater system based on the temperature difference.

5. The control system of claim 1 , wherein each of the zone control circuits includes a power module to provide power to the heater zone and a sensor module to measure the electrical characteristics of the heater zone.

6. The control system of claim 5 , wherein each of the sensor modules is coupled to the at least two auxiliary controllers, and the power modules are provided in sets, such that each set of power modules is coupled to an auxiliary controller different from another set of power modules.

7. The control system of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least two auxiliary controllers are configured to perform a diagnostic verification check based on the sensed electrical characteristics.

8. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the at least two auxiliary controllers receive electrical characteristics from the zone control circuits, and based on the electrical characteristics calculate a performance characteristic, perform a system diagnostic, perform a diagnostic verification check, or a combination thereof.

9. A control system comprising:
a plurality of zone control circuits configured to provide power to a plurality of heater zones of a heater system and measure electrical characteristics of the heater zones;
at least two auxiliary controllers coupled to the plurality of zone control circuits, wherein the at least two auxiliary controllers are configured to control power to the plurality of heater zones via the plurality of zone control circuits, and wherein the at least two auxiliary controllers calculate a performance characteristic of the heater system based on the electrical characteristics, and wherein the at least two auxiliary controllers are configured to perform a diagnostic verification check to authenticate at least one of (i) the electrical characteristics measured by the at least two auxiliary controllers and (ii) the performance characteristic measured by the at least two auxiliary controllers;
a primary controller coupled to the at least two auxiliary controllers, wherein the primary controller provides an operation set-point for each of the heater zones of the heater system based on the performance characteristic of the heater system, wherein the primary controller is configured to selectively perform a protective action based on the diagnostic verification check; and
a power supply switch coupled to the primary controller and to each of the at least two auxiliary controllers, wherein the power supply switch is configured to couple and decouple a power source to the control system.

10. The control system of claim 9 , wherein the primary controller executes one or more additional diagnostics to detect an abnormal performance, and wherein the primary controller operates the power supply switch to decouple the power source from the control system in response to detecting the abnormal performance.

11. The control system of claim 9 , wherein:
each of the at least two auxiliary controllers includes a power controller and a sensor controller,
each power controller and each sensor controller is coupled to the primary controller, and
the sensor controllers are coupled to each other and to each of the plurality of zone control circuits.

12. The control system of claim 11 , wherein each power controller is coupled to a set of the zone control circuits different from another power controller.

13. The control system of claim 9 , wherein each of the zone control circuits includes a power module to control power to the heater zone and a sensor module to measure the electrical characteristics of the heater zone.

14. The control system of claim 13 , wherein each of the sensor modules is coupled to the at least two auxiliary controllers, and the power modules are provided in sets, such that each set of power modules is coupled to an auxiliary controller different from another set of power modules.

15. The control system of claim 13 , wherein each power module includes a power converter configured by an auxiliary controller from among the at least two auxiliary controllers to provide power to the heater zone of the heater system.

16. The control system of claim 13 , wherein each sensor module is configured to measure a voltage, a current, or a combination thereof as the electrical characteristics of the heater zone.

17. The control system of claim 16 , wherein each of the at least two auxiliary controllers is configured to calculate a temperature of the heater zone based on the electrical characteristics from the sensor module.

18. The control system of claim 9 , wherein:
the plurality of heater zones are defined by a plurality of resistive heating, and
the plurality of zone control circuits is configured to provide power to the plurality of resistive heating elements to have the plurality of resistive heating elements emit heat and to sense electrical characteristics of the plurality of resistive heating elements.

19. A control system for controlling a heater system having a plur

Assignees

• Watlow Electric Mfg

Inventors

• Lemke John
• Currie Martin
• Bohlinger William
• Breitlow Stanton H
• Kidney Adam
• Peterson Kurt
• Hentges James

Classifications

• H05B3/42 Primary

  non-flexible · CPC title

• H05B1/0288 Primary

  for non specified applications · CPC title

• G05D23/1934

  each space being provided with one sensor acting on one or more control means · CPC title

• H05B1/0291

  Tubular elements · CPC title

• H05B1/0202 Primary

  Switches · CPC title