Valve manifold circuit board with serial communication circuit line

Abstract

A valve manifold block for a fluid valve manifold has a valve manifold block with a printed circuit board received in a passage in the valve manifold block. A set of conductive valve lines on the circuit board extend between and are connected to a respective set of first electrical connectors and a respective set of second mating electrical connectors. The circuit board also having at least one conductive valve line extending to a third connector on the circuit board operably leading to one voltage side of the valve unit. A conductive common line is operably connected to an opposite voltage side of the valve unit. A serial communication line connects to a respective serial communication line in another valve manifold block for communicating information relating to the valve unit.

Claims

1. A valve manifold block for a fluid valve manifold comprising: said valve manifold block having a plurality of fluid pathways and ports therein controlled by a valve unit operably mounted thereto, and a passage passing through said valve manifold from a first side to a second side of said valve manifold block; a printed circuit board being received in said passage having a first edge in proximity to said first side with a plurality of first electrical connectors and a second edge in proximity to said second side with a plurality of second mating electrical connectors to connect to respective first electrical connectors in another printed circuit board in another valve manifold block; the circuit board having a set of conductive valve lines connected to and extending between said respective set of first electrical connectors and said set of second mating electrical connectors; the circuit board also having at least one conductive valve line extending from a respective first electrical connector to a third connector on said circuit board operably leading to one voltage side of said valve unit; a conductive common line connected to said third connector operably connected to an opposite voltage side of said valve unit and also connected to a respective first electrical connector and a respective second mating electrical connector; and a serial communication line having a respective first electrical connector at said first edge and a respective second mating electrical connector at said second edge, for connection to a respective serial communication line in another valve manifold block for communicating information relating to said valve unit.

2. A valve manifold block as defined in claim 1 further comprising: said circuit board serves a second valve unit on said valve manifold block.

3. A valve manifold block as defined in claim 2 further comprising: said serial communication line extending to and connected to a low or high voltage side of both said valve unit and said second valve unit.

4. A valve manifold block as defined in claim 1 further comprising: said serial communication line extending to and connected to a low or high voltage side of said valve unit.

5. A valve manifold block as defined in claim 1 further comprising: said serial communication line being a detection circuit line to detect if said valve unit mounted to said valve manifold block uses a single solenoid valve unit or double solenoid valve unit.

6. A valve manifold block as defined in claim 5 further comprising: said circuit board serves a second valve unit on said valve manifold block; said detection circuit line extending to a fourth connector on said circuit board for connection to a high voltage side of said second valve unit; and said set of conductive valve lines extending from said respective set of first electrical connectors at said first edge and extending and shifted to a staggered relative position at said set of second mating electrical connectors.

7. A valve manifold block as defined in claim 6 further comprising: a leg line connected from said third connector to said detection circuit line through a diode to only allow current to pass in the direction from said leg line to said detection circuit line to the valve.

8. A fluid control system comprising: a fluid valve manifold having a plurality of valve manifold blocks fastened to each other so as to form fluid pathways extending through said manifold and a passage through each valve manifold that aligns with each other to collectively form a continuous electrical conduit for receiving a series of connected circuit boards that each actuate a valve unit mounted to each valve manifold block; each circuit board having a set of conductive valve lines connected to and extending between a respective set of first electrical connectors and a respective set of second mating electrical connectors; a conductive common line connected to one voltage side of a respective first electrical connector and respective second mating electrical connector for connection to a respective conductive common line in another valve manifold block; a serial communication line in each circuit board having a respective first electrical connector at said first edge and a respective second mating electrical connector at said second edge for connection to a respective serial communication line in another valve manifold block; at least one circuit board serving at least one double solenoid valve unit having two conductive valve lines for each double solenoid valve unit extending from said first electrical connector to a third connector at an opposite voltage side of each double solenoid valve unit at said valve manifold block for actuating each double solenoid valve unit; at least one circuit board serving at least one single solenoid valve unit having a conductive valve line for each single solenoid valve unit extending from said first electrical connector to a third connector at an opposite voltage side of each single solenoid valve unit at said valve manifold block for actuating each single solenoid valve unit; and said at least one circuit board serving said at least one single solenoid valve unit having its serial communication line extending to and connected to said low voltage side to said single solenoid valve unit for communicating information relating thereto.

9. A fluid control system as defined in claim 8 further comprising: a leg line connected from said third connector to said detection circuit line through a diode to only allow current to pass from said leg line to said detection circuit line.

10. A fluid control system as defined in claim 9 further comprising: said set of conductive valve lines extending from said respective set of first electrical connector at said first edge and extending and shifted to a staggered relative position at said set of second mating connectors.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Reference now is made to the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is an exploded side elevational view of a fluid control system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of one circuit board installed in a manifold block for two valve units as shown in FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a circuit board for two single solenoid valve units in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a circuit board for two double solenoid valve units in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

(6) FIG. 5 is a plan view of a first face of the circuit board for two single valve units as shown in FIG. 3 illustrating the circuit layout;

(7) FIG. 6 is a plan view of a second face of the circuit board for two single valve units as shown in FIG. 3 illustrating the circuit layout;

(8) FIG. 7 is a schematic end view of a first edge of the circuit board for two single solenoid valve units as shown in FIG. 3 illustrating the terminals' connections to respective circuits in the circuit board;

(9) FIG. 8 is a schematic end view of a second edge of the circuit board for two single solenoid valve units as shown in FIG. 3 illustrating the terminals' connections to respective circuits in the circuit board;

(10) FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the detection circuit installed on the first face of the circuit board for two single solenoid valve units as shown in FIG. 3;

(11) FIG. 10 is a plan view of a first face of the circuit board for two double solenoid valve units as shown in FIG. 4 illustrating the circuit layout;

(12) FIG. 11 is a plan view of a second face of the circuit board for two double solenoid valve units as shown in FIG. 4 illustrating the circuit layout;

(13) FIG. 12 is a schematic end view of a first edge of the circuit board for two double solenoid valve units as shown in FIG. 4 illustrating the terminals' connections to respective circuits in the circuit board;

(14) FIG. 13 is a schematic end view of a second edge of the circuit board for two double solenoid valve units as shown in FIG. 4 illustrating the terminals' connections to respective circuits in the circuit board;

(15) FIG. 14 is a schematic view of a circuit leads connected to the four valves in the two solenoid double valve units for the circuit board shown in FIG. 4; and

(16) FIG. 15 is a schematic view of an alternate embodiment in accordance with the invention between a smart master and smart slave valve device with two coils.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(17) Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the fluid control system 10 is modular in nature and depending on the application has a varying number of valve manifold blocks 12 interconnected together. Only two manifold blocks 12 are shown for simplicity of the drawings. Some of the valve manifold blocks 12 may have single solenoid valve units 13 mounted thereon and some of the valve manifold blocks 12 may have double solenoid valve units 14 mounted thereon. All blocks 12 are connected to a communication module 15. The manifold block 12 has fluid supply and exhaust ports 17 therethrough that are connected through ports (not shown) that lead to the valve units 13 and 14 to control fluid flow.

(18) Preferably, each valve manifold block 12 may accommodate two single solenoid valve units 13 or two double solenoid valve units 14. Each valve manifold block 12 has a passage 28 that receives a single circuit board assembly 30 or a double circuit board assembly 32. Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, each circuit board assembly 30 and 32 may have a board 34 with a pair of stop shoulders 36 that engage appropriate shoulders and grooves in the passage 28. Each circuit board may also have a pair of flexible tab arms 37 that also similarly engage the groove in the passage such that the circuit board can be removably installed into the passage 28 by a snap fit.

(19) Each circuit board 30 and 32 has pin connectors 38 and 39 mounted on a respective board 34. Each board has a first edge 40 and second edge 42 with respective trace contacts 44 and 46. As shown in FIG. 3, a standard bridge connector 43 electrically connects the aligned trace contacts 44 and 46 of adjacent boards 30. The single board 30 has a diode assembly 48 mounted thereon. Circuit board 32 is absent this diode assembly 48 as illustrated in FIG. 4.

(20) Referring now to FIGS. 5 through 9, the board 30 as shown in FIG. 3 will be described in further detail. The first edge 40 may have trace contacts 44 on both faces 52 and 54 of the board. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 the terms labeled A or B, e.g. A1-A19 and B1-B19 as a prefix refer to the positions of the contacts and conductive lines on the respective side 50 or 52. The terms labeled with the V as a prefix, e.g. V1, V2, etc. refer to the downstream valve number that the circuit operates counting from the shown circuit board. The number notation, e.g. 56, 66 are the conductive printed circuit lines on each board. A set of conductive valve lines 56 labeled V3 through V31 in FIGS. 7 and 8 on both faces 52 and 54 extend from one edge 40 to the second edge and may be decremented one position from edge 40 to edge 42. For example, on face 52, V3 at position A5 on edge 40 drops one position to position A4 on edge 42 to be connected to a V1 contact at position A4 on edge 40 of a sequential board. On face 52, V4 at position B5 on edge 40 may drop one position to position B4 to be connected to a V2 contact at position B4 of the sequential board. Top contacts at position A19 and B19 are not connected to any conductive lines on the board. In this particular shown circuit board, V31 indicates that the valve manifold using that circuit board is limited to a maximum thirty-one solenoid valves. Other layouts for the circuit board lines are possible to arrange for less or for more solenoid valves.

(21) At first edge 40, the conductive valve line 66 corresponding to position A4 and operating the first valve V1, i.e. the valve on the present manifold block 12 leads to pin connector 38. Another conductive valve line 76 corresponding to position B4 and operating the second valve, i.e. the second single solenoid valve on the present manifold block 12 leads to pin connector 39. The pin connectors 38 and 39 are connected to the respective valve units 13. Each valve solenoid unit 13 is also respectively connected to pin connectors 38 and 39 which are connected to legs 91 and 92 that lead to a common voltage line 86 labeled Vcomn at each face 52 and 54. The Vcomn lines 86 at each face are connected to each other. The lines 86 are normally connected to a 24 volt supply to power all of the valve units 12 and 13.

(22) Conductive lines 56 and 66 corresponding to V1 and V2 also both have legs 58 and 59 leading to a respective diode 60 and 62 in diode assembly 48. Each diode has its output connected to a leg 64 as clearly shown in FIG. 9 that connects to a leg 94 that leads to a detection circuit line 96 that extends from edge 40 to 42 at positions A1 and A1 at each edge. This detection line 96 as well as the common voltage line 86 labeled Vcomn are not decremented but pass straight through from one edge to the other without dropping any positions. Other lines such as an auxiliary power circuit lines 72 labeled 24 VDC at position B2 and its return line 74 labeled 0 VDC at B1 as well as a protective earth line 82 labeled PE and often referred to as a ground at position A2 may also pass straight through without any decrementation of position. Legs 97 and 98 connect line 82 to the respective connector pins 38 and 39.

(23) Referring now to FIGS. 10-14, the double circuit board 32 is constructed to mount two double solenoid valve units. Similar or corresponding part numbers from the board 30 will have corresponding similar numbers. As such, a set of conductive valve lines 56 labeled particularly V5 through V32 at edge 40 corresponding to position A6-A19 on face 50 and positions B6-B19 on face 52 pass to edge 42 and are decremented two positions i.e. to positions A4-A17 on face 50 and B4-B17 on face 52 such that they connect to corresponding positions on a sequential board. At edge 42, contacts A19 and A18 on face 52 and B19 and B18 are not connected to any conductive lines on the double board 32.

(24) The board 32 has conductive valve lines 66 for V1 and V2 connected to pin connector 38 and conductive valve lines 76 for V3 and V4 are connected to pin connector 39 to power the two double solenoid valve units 14. Similar to the single circuit board 30, the double board 32 has a common voltage line 86 labeled Vcomn at each face 50 and 52 to power all the valve units, detection line 96, auxiliary power circuit lines 72 labeled 24 VDC and its return line 74 at 0 VDC, and protective earth line 82 PE or ground line that are not decremented. The detection line 96 at position A1 is not connected to the connectors 38 or 39 or the double valve units associated with this double circuit board 32.

(25) In this valve operation, there is a sinking driver, i.e. power line which is supplied to along conductive power line 86 which is connected to all solenoids. In order to actuate the valve, each line 56, 66, or 76 must individually be grounded. This is usually done through an IC chip or driver at the end of the line, e.g. at the communication module 15 and connected to all of the conductive lines 56, 66 and 76. When a selected line is grounded, electrical current is then able to flow from the common power line 86 labeled Vcomn and through the selected solenoid and to ground to actuate an individual valve V1-V32. However, it is also foreseen that a sourcing driver can also work, i.e. a grounding common is connected to all solenoids and to actuate a valve, a voltage, for example 24V is individually connected.

(26) The detection line 96 can be used to determine if the circuit board is a single board 30 or a double board 32. In one method, all the conductive valve lines 56, 66, and 76 are actuated. In the shown system this actuation is done by grounding the valve lines V1-V32 through an IC component or driver connected at one end from the first board. The power supply line 86 Vcomn is then able to provide current through each solenoid and down through the individual lines V1-V32. In operation, all the solenoid valves are actuated and the V1-V32 lines are grounded, thus the voltage detected on the detection line 96 is 0V.

(27) Each contact is selectively and individually deactuated, i.e. turned off in sequence by the driver IC circuit usually housed in communication module 15. When the V1 line in the shown circuit board 30 is turned off, the V1 line is no longer grounded so V1 line reads 24V, in other words it now has the same voltage as the Vcomn line. The leg 58 which is directly connected to the V1 line also reads 24V and passes through the diode 60 as shown in FIG. 9 to outlet leg 94 on the circuit board which connects to the detection line 96. The detection line 96 then reads 24V.

(28) The V1 line is then re-actuated, and the V2 line is deactuated. Similarly, the V2 line will then read 24V when the V2 line is deactuated. The detection leg 94 downstream of diode 62 again reads 24V. Thus when V1 and V2 lines both are sequentially deactuated and the detection lines reads 24V for both deactuations, it is thus determined that the circuit board associated with V1 and V2 for this board is a single solenoid circuit board 30.

(29) On the other hand, if the four voltage lines i.e. V1-V4 of double board 32 are actuated and deactuated in sequence, the detection line 96 as shown in FIG. 14 does not change from its 0V readout, because it is not connected to any of line V1-V4 on this double board 32. Thus when the detection circuit line reads 0V when the fours lines V1-V4 are sequentially actuated and deactuated, it can be deduced that the circuit board associated with these four valve lines are with a double solenoid board 32.

(30) The process of the driver sinking (or sourcing) the voltage charge for this detection is very fast, so as not to change the position of the valve. For example, a sinking pulse or strobe connected by the driver to 0V can be 0.2 milliseconds. This is substantially too short to mechanically move the valve from its previous position. Furthermore, when the strobe is sent to valve status V1, none of the other valve lines V2-V32 are affected, because they did not received this strobe.

(31) Other logical mapping and communications can be used with this single detection line 96 that passes through all the circuit boards 30 and 32. For example, if only one line V2 reads 24 V when deactuated but V1 remains at 0V when deactuated, it may be deduced that there is a no coil or solenoid valve in the valve unit associated with V1.

(32) It is also foreseen that instead of a detection line, a single serial communication line may be used in other embodiments and for other purposes than detecting the presence of single and double solenoid circuit boards and the presence or absence of single or double solenoid valve units mounted on the valve manifold units of a fluid control system. Referring now to FIG. 15, a serial communication line 100 can be used with smart slave devices, e.g. smart valves 102 with its own serial controller 104 and transmitting and receiving circuit 106 as shown in FIG. 15. These other purposes for example can be counting the number of actuations or having other communication signals emanating from the individual valve units and sent through the serial communication line 100 to be received to a processor or other communication device, e.g. communication module 15, at the end of the line, programming or parameterization functionality.

(33) In an alternative embodiment, in order to transmit data from the driver master 108 to the slave (valve) on the same connecting trace 100 that is also used to power the electronic circuitry and micro controller 104, the master device 108 then modulates the current to create voltage pulses that are greater than the bias potential allowing the slave device to identify that the data is coming from the master driver. The slave can only respond to a master's request or command, it cannot initiate communication. When responding to a master's request, the slave modulates the current to the single wire trace 100 in order to create voltage pulses that are less than the bias potential, allowing the master to identify that data is coming back from the slave.

(34) This handshaking routine is comprised of data frames which consist of a start bit, 8 data bits and one stop bit. The complete data frame consists of 8 bytes, an address byte, a command byte, five data bytes and one checksum byte. The checksum byte is simply the sum of the preceding seven bytes and is used for error detection. Circuitry 106 and 104 on the slave valve is able to decode these data pulses for parameter and/or diagnostic functions.

(35) Addressing the slaves is required since the single wire communication trace is connected to the entire set of 32 valves. Thus, it is important to identify which slave valve is being addressed. This addressing function for each smart valve is done on initial power-up, or is initiated by the user when appropriate, and is achieved by the utilization of the existing coil output signals which are typically used to energize solenoid coils of conventional valves.

(36) Upon power-up, the coil output signals are configured to sequentially strobe each coil trace 110 and 112 with a very fast pulse from coil driver 115, which is too fast to energize the coil 116, 118 of an attached valve 102. The common voltage is along line 113. A detect circuit 114 in the slave is then triggered by the strobe pulse to allow that specific slave to receive an address.

(37) Once the first slave obtains an address from the master, the strobing sequence is incremented so the next slave can be assigned sequential addresses. The system continues this addressing routine until all 32 possible slaves are assigned a sequential address. After all slaves are addressed, the master can communicate to each individual slave without affecting any other slave's function. Because each of the slaves receives a sequential address (1-32), the smart driver can then communicate with each slave individually at any time during operation. Smart slaves may be mixed on the same manifold with regular (Non-smart) valves.

(38) Each of the smart valves (slaves) connected to the one wire is able to communicate with the smart driver through its transmit and receive circuit 120. Commands and data are sent from the smart driver to the smart slaves along line 100. Data and slave type is sent from the smart slaves to the smart driver along line 100.

(39) One function that the smart valve may have is counting the number or times it has been energized. The smart valves will detect the activation of both the A and B coils 116, 118 and will record the total counts into non-volatile memory located on the smart valve circuitry. Additional slave types such as smart pressure transducer (Detect and report air pressure) or smart pressure regulator (regulate air pressures) are also possible.

(40) In this fashion, communication through the valve manifold block assembly of a fluid control system is achieved by using a single serial communication line that is in direct contact with individual valve units throughout the manifold block assembly.

(41) Other variations and modifications are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.