Flow control equipment and automatic refilling system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12264749-B2
Application number	US-202217807020-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2022
Priority date	Jan 10, 2022
Publication date	Apr 1, 2025
Grant date	Apr 1, 2025

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a flow control equipment and an automatic refilling system. The flow control equipment includes: a housing, including a discharge hole in a bottom of the housing; a liquid inlet tube connecting with a top of the housing; a motor located in the housing; a flow locking blade and a plurality of flow control blades connected to the motor, where leakage holes of different sizes are formed in the flow control blades, and the motor drives the flow control blades and the flow locking blade to rotate to align the different leakage holes with the discharge hole, or to seal the discharge hole; and a liquid outlet tube connecting with the discharge hole.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An automatic refilling system, comprising:
a flow control equipment, wherein the flow control equipment, comprises:
a housing, comprising a discharge hole, the discharge hole being in a bottom of the housing;
a liquid inlet tube, connecting with a top of the housing;
a motor, located in the housing;
a flow locking blade and a plurality of flow control blades, connected to the motor, wherein leakage holes of different sizes are formed in the flow control blades, and the motor drives the flow control blades and the flow locking blade to rotate to align the different leakage holes with the discharge hole, or to seal the discharge hole;
a liquid outlet tube, connecting with the discharge hole;
a liquid supply equipment, connected to the liquid inlet tube, and configured to provide a liquid;
a controller, connected to the flow control equipment, and configured to control the motor to rotate the flow locking blade or the flow control blades to a position above the discharge hole;
a liquid buffering groove, connected to the liquid outlet tube; and
a liquid tank, located below the liquid buffering groove, and configured to accommodate the liquid; and,
wherein
a plurality of drainage holes having a same height or different heights are formed in a bottom or a sidewall of the liquid buffering groove; and the automatic refilling system further comprises:
a plurality of drainage tubes, connected to the drainage holes, and configured to drain the liquid in the liquid buffering groove to a sidewall of the liquid tank.

2. The automatic refilling system according to claim 1 , wherein
the liquid buffering groove is of a cylinder, a cube, a spheroid or an ellipsoid.

3. The automatic refilling system according to claim 1 , wherein
there are one or more liquid buffering grooves and one or more flow control equipment.

4. The automatic refilling system according to claim 1 , wherein
the liquid buffering grooves connect through the drainage tubes.

5. The automatic refilling system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a flowmeter, provided on the liquid inlet tube, wherein the flowmeter is configured to acquire flow data and send the flow data to the controller.

6. The automatic refilling system according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a liquid level measurer, provided in the liquid tank, wherein
the liquid level measurer is configured to measure a liquid level in the liquid tank and send the liquid level to the controller.

7. The automatic refilling system according to claim 6 , wherein
the liquid level measurer comprises a piezoresistive strain gauge, provided at a bottom of the liquid tank.

8. The automatic refilling system according to claim 6 , wherein
the controller is configured to:
record a variation of each of the flow data and the liquid level within a preset time period; and
calculate, according to the variation of each of the flow data and the liquid level, a consumption rate and a consumption amount of the liquid within the preset time period.

9. The automatic refilling system according to claim 8 , wherein
there is a standard consumption rate interval of the liquid in the controller; and
the controller is configured to generate an alarm signal when the consumption rate falls beyond the standard consumption rate interval.

10. The automatic refilling system according to claim 8 , wherein
there is a preset target liquid level in the controller; and the controller is configured to:
generate a flow adjustment instruction according to the preset target liquid level, the flow data and the consumption rate, and send the flow adjustment instruction to the flow control equipment; and
the flow control equipment increases or decreases a flow of the liquid based on the flow adjustment instruction, such that the liquid level is the same as or close to the preset target liquid level.

11. The automatic refilling system according to claim 8 , further comprising:
a display equipment, connected to the controller, wherein
the display equipment is configured to display the flow data, the liquid level, the consumption rate and the consumption amount.

12. The automatic refilling system according to claim 6 , wherein
there are a lower liquid level limit and an upper liquid level limit in the controller; and the controller is configured to:
generate a refilling instruction when the liquid level reaches the lower liquid level limit, and send the refilling instruction to the flow control equipment; and
generate a flow locking instruction when the liquid level reaches the upper liquid level limit, and send the flow locking instruction to the flow control equipment; and
the flow control equipment is configured to:
rotate the flow control blades to the position above the discharge hole according to the refilling instruction, or rotate the flow locking blade to the position above the discharge hole according to the flow locking instruction.

Assignees

• Changxin Memory Tech Inc

Inventors

• Liu Bo
• Liang Xueyu

Classifications

• H10P72/0612 Primary

  Production flow monitoring, e.g. for increasing throughput · CPC title

• F16K3/32

  Means for additional adjustment of the rate of flow · CPC title

• B41F23/0476

  Cooling (B41F23/0483 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B41F13/22

  Means for cooling or heating forme or impression cylinders · CPC title

• G05D9/12

  characterised by the use of electric means · CPC title