MAINTAINING INFLATABLE PRODUCT PRESSURE

Abstract

A method of maintaining the internal pressure of an inflatable product utilises control apparatus. An air flow generator, operated by a motor, supplies a flow of air internally to a connected inflatable product. A sensor arrangement monitors the internal pressure of the connected inflatable product and a motor controller adjusts the speed of the motor depending upon the monitored pressure.

Claims

1. A method of maintaining the internal pressure of an inflatable product, utilising control apparatus, wherein: an air flow generator, operated by a motor, supplies a flow of air internally to a connected inflatable product; a sensor arrangement monitors the internal pressure of the connected inflatable product; and a motor controller adjusts the speed of the motor depending upon the monitored pressure.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor arrangement monitors the internal pressure of the connected inflatable product by monitoring the torque and/or speed of the motor.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein parameters of the motor are measured and the torque determined therefrom.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein operation of the control apparatus is autonomous.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the speed of the motor is selectively or automatically reduced to maintain a lower pressure in the inflatable product in a lower energy mode and is selectively or automatically increased to maintain a higher pressure in the inflatable product in a higher energy mode.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the control apparatus monitors the pressure of the inflatable product when in the lower energy mode and, if the pressure increases, increases the speed of the motor to increase the supply of air to the inflatable product.

7. A method of maintaining the internal pressure of an inflatable product, utilising control apparatus, wherein: an air flow generator, operated by a motor, supplies a flow of air internally to a connected inflatable product; and a motor controller adjusts the speed of the motor, wherein the speed of the motor is selectively or automatically reduced to maintain a lower pressure in the inflatable product in a lower energy mode and is selectively or automatically increased to maintain a higher pressure in the inflatable product in a higher energy mode.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the control apparatus monitors the pressure of the inflatable product when in the lower energy mode and, if the pressure increases, increases the speed of the motor to increase the supply of air to the inflatable product.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the current drawn by the motor is limited upon start up and the speed of the motor is accelerated until the air flow generator is operating at a predetermined maximum speed.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control apparatus includes a sensor for monitoring windspeed and the motor controller initiates an alert if the monitored windspeed is beyond a set threshold.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control apparatus includes additional sensors which monitor other operational states and/or parameters including one or more of: failure of the air flow generator, power supply failure, motor and/or motor controller temperature.

12. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein an alert is initiated if the value of an operational parameter falls outside a predetermined value.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control apparatus is connected wirelessly to an external device.

14. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control apparatus operates when supplied with any voltage in the range 85V-265V and/or when supplied with a voltage having a frequency of 50 Hz and/or when supplied with a voltage having a frequency of 60 Hz.

15. Control apparatus for maintaining the internal pressure of an inflatable product, the control apparatus comprising: an air flow generator for supplying a flow of air internally to a connected inflatable product, the air flow generator having a motor for operation thereof; a sensor arrangement configured to monitor the internal pressure of the connected inflatable product; and a motor controller arranged to adjust the speed of the motor depending upon the monitored pressure.

16. Control apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein the speed of the motor is selectively or automatically reduced to maintain a lower pressure in the inflatable product in a lower energy mode and is selectively or automatically increased to maintain a higher pressure in the inflatable product in a higher energy mode.

17. Control apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the control apparatus monitors the pressure of the inflatable product when in the lower energy mode and, if the pressure increases, increases the speed of the motor to increase the supply of air to the inflatable product.

18. Control apparatus for maintaining the internal pressure of an inflatable product, the control apparatus comprising: an air flow generator for supplying a flow of air internally to a connected inflatable product, the air flow generator having a motor for operation thereof; and a motor controller arranged to adjust the speed of the motor, wherein the speed of the motor is selectively or automatically reduced to maintain a lower pressure in the inflatable product in a lower energy mode and is selectively or automatically increased to maintain a higher pressure in the inflatable product in a higher energy mode.

19. Control apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the control apparatus monitors the pressure of the inflatable product when in the lower energy mode and, if the pressure increases, increases the speed of the motor to increase the supply of air to the inflatable product.

20. Control apparatus as claimed in claim 15, further comprising a user operable control panel to allow manual adjustment of the speed of the motor.

Description

[0025] By way of example only, an embodiment of this invention will now be described in detail, with reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:—

[0026] FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of the control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0027] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 ready for use on an inflatable bouncy castle.

[0028] Referring to both figures there is shown control apparatus 10 configured to supply air to an inflatable product. In this embodiment, the inflatable product is a bouncy castle 11 but in other embodiments various other inflatable products, as discussed above, could be supplied with air in a similar manner. The control apparatus 10 includes an air flow generator. In this embodiment, the air flow generator is in the form of a fan 12. The fan 12 is operated by an electric motor 13 and these are housed within a casing 14. An AC or DC power source 15 is arranged to supply power to the control apparatus 10. A generator (not shown) may alternatively be used and the control apparatus 10 is capable of use therewith. To facilitate this, the control apparatus 10 includes a resistor 17 to dissipate excess energy. This will serve to protect the internal components should too much energy be generated.

[0029] A PCB 20 is mounted in the casing 14 and is configured to communicate with the power source 15 and with the fan motor 13. The PCB 20 contains various sensors 18, 19 arranged to measure and monitor various parameters of the control apparatus 10, including the motor speed, motor torque, current used by the motor 13, input voltage to the PCB 20 and temperature of both the PCB 20 and the motor 13.

[0030] A motor controller in the form of a microprocessor 21 is also provided on the PCB 20 and this is programmed to indirectly monitor the pressure within the bouncy castle 11 and to adjust the speed of the motor 13 in response thereto. The microprocessor 21 may, for example, use the motor speed, voltage and/or current values obtained by the sensors 18, 19 provided on the PCB 20 to establish the torque. There is a relationship between the pressure in the bouncy castle 11 and the torque of the motor 13, and the microprocessor 21 uses this information to determine whether the speed of the fan 12 needs to be increased or decreased. If the torque, and thus pressure, is too high, then the speed of the fan 12 is reduced. If the torque, and thus pressure, is too low, then the speed of the fan 12 is increased. This means that operation of the control apparatus 10 is not directly dependent solely on the supply voltage and frequency, and this allows the control apparatus 10 to maintain a desired air pressure for a variety of different inflatables and when powered using a variety of supply voltages and/or frequencies.

[0031] If the windspeed value is too high the bouncy castle 11 can become unstable. The control apparatus 10 is also configured to receive information from an external sensor for monitoring windspeed, in this embodiment in the form of an anemometer 22 mounted on the bouncy castle 11. The microprocessor 21 is configured to initiate an alert if the monitored windspeed is beyond a set threshold. The alert may be a visual and/or audio alarm. The threshold will be selected based upon safety guidelines concerning windspeed.

[0032] The control apparatus 10 also includes a “low energy mode” which consumes less electrical energy and can be selected by the operator of the bouncy castle 11 to establish a lower pressure value to be maintained. This will serve to reduce the speed of the motor 13 and to reduce the supply of air to the inflatable product. This mode may be selected where the inflatable product is an amusement attraction, such as a bouncy castle 11, inflatable slide, inflatable obstacle course, etc., and in instances where the inflatable is not being used (e.g. no one is on the inflatable) but it is preferable to maintain the structural integrity thereof. The control apparatus 10 includes an alert in the form of a speaker 25 to provide an audio indication that the low energy mode has been initiated. The alert is triggered at predefined intervals of every 30 seconds. An increase in torque of the motor 13 during low energy mode tends to indicate that someone has climbed on to the bouncy castle 11. The control apparatus 10 will continue to monitor the torque of the motor 13 when in low energy mode and, if the torque increases, will immediately increase the speed of the motor 13 to increase the supply of air to the bouncy castle 11, so that it is inflated to a safe operating pressure as quickly as possible. The speaker 25 of the control apparatus 10 is set to trigger so as to notify the operator when there is a change to the status of the energy mode.

[0033] The control apparatus 10 operates in one of two further modes. The first is autonomous mode and the second is in user-operated mode.

[0034] In autonomous mode, the control apparatus 10 operates automatically without user input. To help to prevent any electrocution protection circuitry from tripping on start up, the apparatus 10 will initiate a soft start to limit the inrush current and accelerate the fan 12 up to a predetermined maximum speed in the range 2800 rpm to 4000 rpm. The maximum current drawn during start-up is 14 amps. When the fan 12 has accelerated up to full speed, the apparatus 10 will monitor the various parameters and adjust fan speed as detailed above and at the same time monitor the motor for any failure modes.

[0035] Failure modes include the following: locked rotor, over/under voltage, power failure (determined by monitoring motor speed), over/under current, excessive torque on the motor 13, under speed of the motor 13, failed PCB 20 and/or motor 13, over torque/under torque, high temperature, etc.

[0036] In the event of the following failure modes, the microprocessor 21 will shut down the fan motor 13 or the fan 12 will not start if not already running: locked rotor, over/under voltage (i.e. if used on a generator and the resistor is not installed), power failure (this will shut down the fan 12), failed PCB 20/motor 13, zero speed of the motor 13 and high temperature of motor 13 and PCB 20.

[0037] In the event of the following failure modes the microprocessor 21 will adjust the speed of the fan 12 to attempt to compensate: excessive torque on the motor 13 (the microprocessor 21 shall reduce the motor speed), under speed of the motor 13 (microprocessor 21 shall attempt to speed up the motor 13).

[0038] In the event of the other failure modes occurring, in order to try to maintain a safe operating pressure, the fan 12 will continue to run until the motor 13 fails or the microprocessor 21 fails.

[0039] In user-operated mode, use is made of a control panel 28 which is designed to attach to the casing 14 of the control apparatus 10. The control panel 28 is configured to provide a visual indication of the status of the features of the control apparatus 10. The panel 28 includes a series of LEDs 29 to signal a status, such as a warning, e.g. an unsafe event or component failure and/or a text screen 30 to provide a written message, such as the present speed of the motor 13 or pressure of the bouncy castle 11. Additionally, the control panel 28 may include a touch panel 31 to allow manual control of the speed of the fan 12. The control panel 28 includes a speaker 32 to provide audio alerts to the operator relating to particular events, as specified above.

[0040] The PCB 20 of the control panel 28 also includes a transceiver 33 to allow the control apparatus 10 to connect wirelessly to an external device, such as a mobile computing device (mobile phone, smartwatch, tablet computer and/or laptop computer) and/or server (e.g. which provides a cloud service), by Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, radio, cellular or other wireless protocols.

[0041] The ability of embodiments of the present invention to monitor operation of the control apparatus and to alter the speed of the fan in response thereto provides significant advances in the field of inflatable products. Embodiments of the present invention further enable the operator to be alerted to unsafe conditions, which will then allow the operator to take appropriate action to improve safety and reduce the likelihood of accidents occurring.