IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0505397
(2009-07-17)
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등록번호 |
US-8659183
(2014-02-25)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
- Crist, Timothy J.
- Dietz, Kenneth J.
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출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery, LLP
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
8 인용 특허 :
115 |
초록
▼
Methods for controlling irrigation devices coupled to and receiving operational power from a multi-wire interface of an irrigation system, and related irrigation devices, are provided. In some forms, the methods define initialization of the irrigation devices having received operational power, inclu
Methods for controlling irrigation devices coupled to and receiving operational power from a multi-wire interface of an irrigation system, and related irrigation devices, are provided. In some forms, the methods define initialization of the irrigation devices having received operational power, including the timing of charging, discharging and recharging of the irrigation devices in order to provide a time staggered recharging of the energy reserves of the irrigation devices. In some forms, the methods involve the use of different delay periods at different irrigation devices coupled to irrigation valves to place multiple irrigation valves into a known position. In some embodiments, these methods spread out the usage of charging energy drawn from the multi-wire interface by the irrigation devices coupled thereto to reduce inrush currents.
대표청구항
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1. A method for controlling an irrigation device coupled to and receiving operational power from a multi-wire interface of an irrigation control system, the method comprising: receiving operational power at the irrigation device as part of an operation during which the irrigation device is one of a
1. A method for controlling an irrigation device coupled to and receiving operational power from a multi-wire interface of an irrigation control system, the method comprising: receiving operational power at the irrigation device as part of an operation during which the irrigation device is one of a plurality of irrigation devices receiving the operational power substantially simultaneously;charging an energy reserve of the irrigation device using the operational power, wherein the energy reserve of each of the plurality of irrigation devices is charged and adapted to supply power to an actuator coupled to an irrigation valve;identifying a delay period for the irrigation device, wherein the delay period is different than a delay period of at least one other irrigation device of the plurality of irrigation devices, and wherein the delay period defines a period of time that the irrigation device is to delay before the energy reserve is discharged;discharging the energy reserve after the delay period lapses; andrecharging the energy reserve by drawing current from the multi-wire interface to provide a time staggered recharging of the energy reserves of the plurality of the irrigation devices. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identifying of the delay period comprises: obtaining an identifier that identifies the irrigation device; anddetermining the delay period based upon at least a portion of the identifier. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the irrigation device relative to other irrigation devices of the plurality of irrigation devices. 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the obtaining comprises: obtaining the identifier from memory associated with the irrigation device. 5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the irrigation device. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the actuator comprises a latching solenoid. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identifying of the delay period comprises: obtaining an identifier that identifies the irrigation device; anddetermining the delay period based upon at least a portion of the identifier and a delay value. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identifying of the delay period comprises: obtaining an identifier that identifies the irrigation device; anddetermining the delay period based upon a number of least significant bits (LSBs) of the identifier. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the discharging step comprises discharging the energy reserve while bypassing the delay period for a plurality of times corresponding to performance of the discharging step during manufacturing. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the discharging step comprises discharging the energy reserve after the delay period lapses to power the actuator to position the irrigation valve to a known position. 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the discharging step comprises discharging the energy reserve after the delay period lapses to power the actuator to close the irrigation valve. 12. The method according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of irrigation devices comprises between about 200 and 800 irrigation devices. 13. The method according to claim 1 wherein the energy reserve comprises a capacitor. 14. An irrigation device to be coupled to and receive operational power from a multi-wire interface of an irrigation control system, the irrigation device comprising: an actuator configured to control water flow to at least one water delivery device;an energy reserve coupled to the actuator and configured to receive and be charged by operational power as part of an operation during which the irrigation device is one of a plurality of irrigation devices receiving and being charged by the operational power substantially simultaneously; anda controller configured to:identify a delay period for the irrigation device once the energy reserve is charged, wherein the delay period is different than a delay period of at least one other irrigation device of the plurality of irrigation devices, wherein the delay period defines a period of time that the irrigation device is to delay before causing the discharging of the energy reserve;cause the energy reserve to be discharged after the delay period lapses, the discharge configured to supply power to the actuator; andcause the energy reserve to be recharged by drawing current from the multi-wire interface to provide a time staggered recharging of the energy devices of the plurality of the irrigation devices. 15. The irrigation device according to claim 14, wherein the controller is further configured to cause the energy reserve to be discharged to actuate the actuator to prevent water flow. 16. The irrigation device according to claim 14, wherein the energy reserve comprises a capacitor. 17. The irrigation device according to claim 16, wherein the actuator comprises a solenoid. 18. The irrigation device according to claim 14, wherein the actuator comprises a latching solenoid. 19. The irrigation device according to claim 14, further comprising driver circuits under control of the controller and coupling the energy reserve to the actuator. 20. The irrigation device according to claim 14 wherein the plurality of irrigation devices comprises between about 200 and 800 irrigation devices. 21. The irrigation device according to claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to identify of the delay period by being configured to: obtain an identifier that identifies the irrigation device; anddetermine the delay period based upon at least a portion of the identifier. 22. A method for initializing a plurality of irrigation devices each coupled to and receiving operational power from a multi-wire interface of an irrigation control system, the method comprising: receiving initial operational power at each of the plurality of irrigation devices substantially simultaneously;charging an energy reserve of each of the plurality of irrigation devices using the received operational power, wherein the energy reserve of each of the plurality of irrigation devices is charged and adapted to supply power to a respective actuator coupled to a respective irrigation valve;identifying, by a controller at each of the plurality of irrigation devices, a delay period, wherein the delay period is different than a delay period of at least one other of the plurality of irrigation devices, and wherein the delay period defines a period of time that the irrigation device is to delay before the energy reserve is discharged;discharging the energy reserve of each of the plurality of irrigation devices after the delay period lapses; andrecharging the energy reserve of each of the plurality of irrigation devices by drawing current from the multi-wire interface to provide a time staggered recharging of the energy reserves across the plurality of the irrigation devices. 23. A method for initializing a plurality of irrigation devices each coupled to and receiving operational power from a multi-wire interface of an irrigation control system, the method comprising: receiving initial operational power at each of the plurality of irrigation devices substantially simultaneously;powering up each of the plurality of irrigation devices using the received operational power substantially simultaneously;identifying a delay period for each of the plurality of irrigation devices, wherein the delay period for at least one irrigation device is different than the delay period for a least another irrigation device;controllably discharging and recharging an energy reserve of each of the plurality of irrigation devices after the delay period lapses at each of the plurality of irrigation devices to provide a time staggered recharging of the energy reserves across the plurality of the irrigation devices. 24. A method for use in controlling an irrigation device coupled to and receiving power from a multi-wire interface of an irrigation control system, the method comprising: receiving the power at the irrigation device from the multi-wire interface as part of an operation during which the irrigation device is one of a plurality of irrigation devices receiving the power from the multi-wire interface substantially simultaneously;powering up a controller of the irrigation device using the power; andoutputting a control signal, after a delay period, to position an irrigation valve coupled to the irrigation device to a known position, as part of an operation during which irrigation valves coupled to the plurality of irrigation devices are also positioned to the known position after a respective delay period, wherein the delay period is different than the respective delay period of at least one other of the plurality of irrigation devices, such that the positioning of the irrigation valves of the plurality of irrigation devices is staggered in time. 25. The method according to claim 24 further comprising: positioning the irrigation valve to the known position using an energy reserve of the irrigation device. 26. The method according to claim 25 wherein the energy reserve comprises a capacitor. 27. The method according to claim 25 further comprising: charging, prior to the outputting step, the energy reserve of the irrigation device using the power, wherein the energy reserve of each of the plurality of irrigation devices is charged. 28. The method according to claim 27 wherein the outputting the signal step comprises outputting the control signal after the delay period, the method further comprising: discharging, responsive to the control signal, the energy reserve to position the irrigation valve to the known position. 29. The method according to claim 28 wherein the discharging the energy reserve step comprises: directing discharged energy from the energy reserve to an actuator coupled to the irrigation valve. 30. The method according to claim 29 wherein the actuator comprises a latching solenoid. 31. The method according to claim 28 further comprising: recharging, after the discharging step, the energy reserve by drawing current from the multi-wire interface, as part of an operation during which the energy reserves of the plurality of irrigation devices are also recharged to provide a time staggered recharging of the energy reserves of the plurality of the irrigation devices. 32. The method according to claim 24 further comprising: identifying the delay period for the irrigation device. 33. The method according to claim 32, wherein the identifying step comprises: obtaining an identifier that identifies the irrigation device; anddetermining the delay period based upon at least a portion of the identifier. 34. The method according to claim 33, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the irrigation device relative to others of the plurality of irrigation devices. 35. The method according to claim 33, wherein the obtaining comprises: obtaining the identifier from memory associated with the irrigation device. 36. The method according to claim 33, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the irrigation device. 37. The method according to claim 32, wherein the identifying step comprises: obtaining an identifier that identifies the irrigation device; anddetermining the delay period based upon at least a portion of the identifier and a delay value. 38. The method according to claim 32, wherein the identifying step comprises: obtaining an identifier that identifies the irrigation device; anddetermining the delay period based upon a number of least significant bits (LSBs) of the identifier. 39. The method according to claim 24 wherein the plurality of irrigation devices comprises between about 200 and 800 irrigation devices.
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