Pump controller system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9328727-B2
Application number	US-97377810-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2010
Priority date	Dec 8, 2003
Publication date	May 3, 2016
Grant date	May 3, 2016

Abstract

A method and apparatus for a pump control system. One or more embodiments of the invention include a pump controller that can perform a self-calibrating procedure, can provide precise motor speed control, can provide a limp mode before shutting down the motor when system parameters are exceeded and/or fault conditions occur, can detect fault conditions, and can store fault conditions for later retrieval.

First claim

I claim:

1. A method of detecting a foreign object obstruction to fluid circulation in a pool or spa having a pump control system including a pump driven by a motor, the method comprising:
measuring a voltage and a current of the pump control system;
determining a power factor of the pump control system including operating a power factor correction module to correct the power factor to a substantially constant corrected value;
determining whether a fault condition has occurred due to the presence of a foreign object obstruction based on the voltage, the current, and the corrected power factor;
shutting down the motor when the fault condition has occurred; and
indicating to a user that the fault condition has occurred.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein measuring the voltage includes sensing an AC line voltage.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein measuring the current includes sensing an AC line current.

4. The method of claim 1 and further comprising indicating to a user that the fault condition has occurred using at least one light-emitting diode.

5. The method of claim 1 and further comprising sensing a pressure in order to determine whether the fault condition has occurred.

6. The method of claim 1 and further comprising sensing a temperature in order to determine whether the fault condition has occurred.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein operating the power factor correction module includes operating a power factor correction circuit to regulate the power factor.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the power factor correction circuit includes a converter and a rectifier module.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the power factor includes regulating the power factor to be 0.9 or greater.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the power factor includes regulating the power factor to be 0.98 or greater.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the power factor includes regulating a DC bus voltage associated with the motor to be a target DC bus voltage value over an operational range of the motor.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the target DC bus voltage value is about 350 V.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the target DC bus voltage value is about 380 V.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether a fault condition has occurred due to the presence of a foreign object obstruction based on the voltage, the current, and the corrected power factor includes determining whether a high-speed fault condition has occurred by determining a change in bus current with respect to time.

15. The method claim 1 , further comprising sensing a pressure in an output line of the pump with a pressure sensor positioned between the pump and the pool or the spa, and wherein the pressure sensor is a 0-5V DC pressure sensor.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sensing a flow in an output line of the pump with a flow sensor.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a temperature of a heatsink of a controller of the pump control system and shutting down the motor when the temperature of the heatsink exceeds a predetermined temperature value.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising shutting down the motor when an input is received from an automatic run-stop input switch, the automatic run-stop input switch providing the input when the automatic run-stop input switch is actuated.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sensing a voltage of a DC bus line of the pump control system with a voltage sensor, and sensing a current of the DC bus line with a current sensor.

20. A method of detecting a foreign object obstruction to fluid circulation with a pump control system including a controller and a pump driven by a motor, the method comprising:
the controller measuring a current being provided to the motor;
the controller regulating a bus voltage associated with the motor to a target bus voltage value over an operational range of the motor;
the controller regulating a power factor of the pump control system to a substantially constant corrected value;
the controller determining whether a fault condition has occurred due to the presence of a foreign object obstruction based on the regulated bus voltage at the target bus voltage, the measured current deviating outside of an acceptable range, and the regulated power factor; and
the controller shutting down a motor drive of the motor when the fault condition has occurred.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the step of shutting down the motor drive of the motor includes shutting down a variable speed motor drive of the motor.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the power factor is regulated to be 0.9 or greater.

23. The method of claim 20 , wherein the power factor is regulated to be 0.98 or greater.

24. The method of claim 20 , wherein the target bus voltage value is about 350 V.

25. The method of claim 15 , wherein the target bus voltage value is about 380 V.

26. The method of claim 20 , further comprising sensing a pressure in an output line of the pump with a pressure sensor, and wherein the pressure sensor is at least one of a 4-20 mA pressure sensor and a 0-5V DC pressure sensor.

27. The method of claim 20 , further comprising the controller communicating with an external device using a serial communication link, the external device allowing a user to read a plurality of parameters stored in an EEPROM memory of the controller.

28. The method of claim 20 , further comprising determining a temperature of the controller and shutting down the motor when the temperature of the controller exceeds a predetermined temperature value and a voltage to the motor falls below a predetermined voltage level.

29. The method of claim 20 , further comprising the controller shutting down the motor drive when a foreign object detection sensor provides an input to the controller indicating a foreign object obstruction.

30. The method of claim 20 , wherein the controller includes a DSP, the DSP determining an AC bus current from a sensed DC bus line current using a plurality of conversion factors.

31. A method of detecting a foreign object obstruction to fluid circulation with a pump control system including a pump driven by a motor, the method comprising:
regulating a power factor of the pump control system to a constant value under varying pump loads;
regulating a DC bus voltage associated with the motor to a target DC bus voltage value over an operational range of the motor;
determining whether a fault condition has occurred due to the presence of a foreign object obstruction by determining a change in bus current with respect to time; and
shutting down a variable speed motor drive of the motor when the fault condition has occurred.

32. The method of claim 31 , wherein the power factor is regulated to be 0.9 or greater.

33. The method of claim 31 , wherein the power factor is regulated to be 0.98 or greater.

34. The method of claim 31 , wherein the target DC bus voltage value is about 350 V.

35. The method of claim 31 , wherein the target DC bus voltage value is about 380 V.

36. The method of claim 31 , further comprising sensing a pressure in an output line of the pump with a pressure sensor,

Assignees

• Koehl Robert M
• Pentair Water Pool & Spa Inc

Inventors

• Koehl Robert M

Classifications

• G05B2219/37371

  Flow · CPC title

• F04B49/10 Primary

  Other safety measures · CPC title

• H02P29/00

  Arrangements for regulating or controlling electric motors, appropriate for both AC and DC motors (arrangements for starting electric motors H02P1/00; arrangements for stopping or slowing electric motors H02P3/00; control of motors that can be connected to two or more different electric power supplies H02P4/00; regulating or controlling the speed or torque of two or more electric motors H02P5/00; vector control H02P21/00) · CPC title

• H02H7/0852

  directly responsive to abnormal temperature by using a temperature sensor (in a control circuit H02H7/0833) · CPC title

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title