Processing system for the preparation of compressed air

Details Processing system for the preparation of compressed air Processing system for the preparation of compressed air

1999-10-25

2001-12-25

Smith, Duane S. (Department: 1724)

Gas separation: apparatus

With control means responsive to sensed condition for...

C096S417000, C055SDIG001

Reexamination Certificate

active

06332917

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a processing system for the preparation of compressed air composed of individual units, for example a filter unit, a regulating unit, an oiler unit and/or the like, which can be connected with a control device by means of a bus provided the customer bus.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Such processing systems for compressed air are generally known and commercially available. In these known systems, each one of the units contained therein, provided it contains electrical sensors or active elements, is separately connected to the control device. This means that all units are radially connected with the control device. The user can act on individual units with the aid of the control device, for example, he can control and/or regulate the interaction of the individual units of the compressed air processing system with the aid of controls which can be programmed and stored and are contained in the control device.
The individual units of the known compressed air processing systems can be combined in a modular way by the user. The user can select here which units are required in his present case of application and must be correspondingly selected. Thus, in the end the selection and the arrangement of the individual units define the compressed air processing system.
A disadvantage of the known compressed air processing system lies in that a considerable installation outlay is created with an increase in components because of the parallel wiring.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a processing system for compressed air which can cooperate with various control devices in the most flexible manner.
This object is attained by means of the present invention in a compressed air processing system of the type mentioned at the outset in that the units are connected with each other via a system bus and that an interface is provided, by means of which the system bus can be couple with the customer bus.
Thus, the individual units of the compressed air processing system of the present invention are no longer directly coupled with the control device. Instead, the present invention provides a decoupling of the units from the control device, which takes place by means of the interface. The units, which are connected with each other via a mutual system bus, are arranged on one side of the interface. Because of this the units and the system bus are completely independent of the control device used and can therefore always be designed to be similar, independently of this control device. The customer bus, by means of which the compressed air processing system can be connected to the control device of the respective user, is located on the other side of the interface. Thus, this other side of the interface depends on the control device and can be adapted in every case of application to the respectively used control device.
By means of a decoupling in accordance with the present invention of the units from the customer bus it is achieved that the compressed air processing system can be used in an extremely flexible manner. The extra outlay for the interface required by this is negligible in comparison with the usefulness. By means of the present invention it is achieved in particular that the individual units can be uniformly designed, which is coupled with great savings in the production costs of the units. It is also possible by means of the present invention to offer a compressed air processing system with which the user no longer needs to be bothered by possible bus connections, which depend on the type of control device or the like, but wherein the user can concentrate solely on the desired properties of the compressed air processing system. The operative linking of the individual units is automatically assured by the introduction of the interface in accordance with the invention.
In connection with an advantageous further development of the present invention, each of the individual units can also be directly connected with the customer bus. In this way it is made possible for a customer to employ the respective units also in a compressed air processing system in accordance with the prior art. It is understood that in this case the advantages of the present invention cannot be realized. On the other hand, however, a further possibility of employing the units is offered to the user.
In connection with an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, there are different protocols of the customer bus, wherein the interface is provided for a multitude of the protocols of the customer bus.
In what follows, a protocol of a customer bus is understood to be the way in which certain lines of the customer bus are electrically connected, for example, or how certain signals, for example, are generated in these lines, in particular in view of their chronological sequence, and are transferred to the customer bus. There obviously is a multitude of options as to how such a protocol of a customer bus can be determined. The result of this is that the interface of the compressed air processing system of the present invention must be adapted to these different possibilities of the protocols of the customer bus.
A first possibility of the adaptation can consist in that a defined interface is made available for each defined protocol of the customer bus. In this case the interface can be embodied as a component of the hardware. However, it is also possible to achieve the adaptation to the various protocols of the customer bus by means of software. In this case the interface is a hardware component, which is differently programmed in accordance with the respective protocol.
It is particularly useful that the interface is provided for a plurality of the protocols of the customer bus. In this case the interface is a hardware component which is adapted to the various protocols of the customer either by way of hardware and/or software. The advantage of this interface lies in that a user can use the same interface for different control devices. Therefore the user need not bother with bus connections or the like, which depend on the control device, but instead can concentrate directly on his application-specific compressed air processing system.
A further advantage of the present invention is achieved in that the interface is embodied as a further unit. The user can then use the interface like a further module in his compressed air processing system. As a whole, this results in a uniform system, which is closed in itself. The user then only needs to connect his control device to this system and can then begin using the compressed air processing system.
In further advantageous embodiments of the present invention, input signals can be issued to at least one of the units via the system bus, or respectively output signals can be transmitted by at least one of the units via the system bus. Thus, input and output signals are transmitted via the system bus. By means of this it is possible that these input and output signals are available on the system bus and can therefore be used by the individual units. This has the advantage that controls or regulating devices can be contained in the individual units, which make use of the noted input and output signals. Because of this the individual units can be designed to be considerably “more intelligent”. In this way it is achieved that the entire compressed air processing system has a considerably greater flexibility and quality than the compressed air processing systems known up to now.
Further characteristics, application possibilities and advantages of the present invention ensue from the following description of exemplary embodiments, which are represented in the figures in the drawings. Here, all described or represented characteristics, by themselves or in any arbitrary combination, constitute the subject of the present invention, independently of their combination in the claims or their dependencies, as well as independently of their wording, or respectively representation, in the descripti

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