Description:Complete Specification:
The following specification describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

Field of the invention:
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a controller and method to manage consumption of fluid cylinders in an industry.

Background of the invention:
[0002] Nature of certain fluids such as inert gases, such as Argon gas, is to expand, in turn increases the cylinder pressure resulting in release of Argon via safety valve. This results in loss of quantity unutilized in production or the industry.

[0003] According to a prior art KR0123200 discloses an apparatus for supplying gas from a plurality of gas barrels. The gas collecting device where a plurality of gas tanks are connected and the filled gas in the gas tanks are sequentially used, includes: a pressure sensor for sensing the pressure of gas connected to each of the gas tanks; a gas flowing controller for controlling the gas flow filled in the gas tank; a state display for displaying the state of gas filled in the gas tank; and a gas tank switching controller for displaying the gas state by means of a corresponding state display in accordance with the pressure of each gas tank sensed by the pressure sensor, locking the gas flowing controller of the consumed gas tank, and controlling an arbitrary gas tank to open a valve thereof to sequentially use the filled gas in the gas tanks.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings:
[0004] An embodiment of the disclosure is described with reference to the following accompanying drawing,
[0005] Fig. 1 illustrates a controller to manage consumption of fluid cylinders, according to an embodiment of the present invention, and
[0006] Fig. 2 illustrates a method for managing consumption of the fluid cylinders, according to the present invention.

Detailed description of the embodiments:
[0007] Fig. 1 illustrates a controller to manage consumption of fluid cylinders, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The controller 110 is shown as part of a system 100 of fluid cylinders 112 used in an industry or production/manufacturing plant. The fluid cylinders 112 are interfaced to a common supply line 108 with respective pressure sensors 106 and respective electronic control valves 102. At least one of the fluid cylinders 112 is connected to the common supply line 108 and enabled to supply the stored fluid to the common supply line 108 with respective electronic control valve 102 in open position, while remaining fluid cylinders 112 are disabled from supplying fluid to the common supply line 108 with respective electronic control valves 102 in closed position, characterized in that, the controller 110 configured to detect abnormal pressure in at least one fluid cylinder 112 among the plurality of fluid cylinders 112 based on comparison of comparison of respective individual pressure with a threshold value. The controller 110 disables the supply of fluid from the at least one enabled/active fluid cylinder 112, which is under normal operation, and simultaneously enables/actuates the at least one fluid cylinder 112 with abnormal pressure to the common supply line 108 by operation of respective electronic control valve 102. The controller 110 re-enables the supply of fluid from the disabled fluid cylinder 112 back to the common supply line 108 when pressure of the at least one fluid cylinder 112 with abnormal pressure satisfies a predefined/predetermined criteria.

[0008] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, the abnormal pressure corresponds to increase in pressure more than the safe limit in the fluid cylinder 112. Further, the fluid cylinders 112 are also referred to as canisters or reservoir, or dura. The fluid cylinders 112 with abnormal pressure may be referred to as abnormal fluid cylinder 112 or malfunction/faulty fluid cylinder 112.

[0009] According to the present invention, the controller 110 is provided with necessary signal detection, acquisition, and processing circuits. The controller 110 is the control unit which comprises input/output interfaces having pins or ports, a memory element (not shown) such as Random Access Memory (RAM) and/or Read Only Memory (ROM), Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) and a Digital-to-Analog Convertor (DAC), clocks, timers, counters and at least one processor (capable of implementing machine learning) connected with each other and to other components through communication bus channels. The memory element is pre-stored with logics or instructions or programs or applications or modules/models and/or threshold/safe limit values/ranges, predefined/predetermined criteria which is/are accessed by the at least one processor as per the defined routines. The internal components of the controller 110 are not explained for being state of the art, and the same must not be understood in a limiting manner. The controller 110 may also comprise communication units to communicate with external computer or server/cloud computer through wireless or wired means such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, serial networks, and the like. The controller 110 is implementable in the form of System-in-Package (SiP) or System-on-Chip (SOC) or any other known types. Examples of controller 110 comprises but not limited to, microcontroller, microprocessor, microcomputer, etc.

[0010] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, the controller 110 identifies and displays the at least one fluid cylinder 112 with abnormal pressure on a display screen. The same information is stored in a local compute and/or server cloud computer.

[0011] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, the consumption of fluid from the fluid cylinders 112 is managed as per a predetermined sequence. The sequence is resumed once the fluid cylinder 112 with abnormal pressure is consumed as per predefined criteria.

[0012] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, when at least two fluid cylinders 112 with abnormal pressure are detected by the controller 110, the controller 110 configured to manage the consumption of the at least two abnormal cylinders 112 until pressure in both satisfies the predefined criteria. According to the present invention, the one of the predefined criteria is to wait till the pressure in the at least one fluid cylinders 112 with abnormal pressure is below a preset pressure value.

[0013] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, the fluid cylinder 112 comprises inert gas such as Argon. The fluid cylinders 112 are consumed in the welding process. According to the present invention, the at least one fluid cylinder 112 with detected abnormal pressure is tagged unsafe and later the tag is removed when the predefined criteria is satisfied. The tagging and removal of the tag is performed by the controller 110.

[0014] According to the present invention, a working of the system 100 and the controller 110 is elaborated for clarity. Consider three fluid cylinders 112 are provided, namely A, B and C. All the three fluid cylinders 112 are connected to the common supply line 108 through respective connecting interfaces/tubes/conduits, pressure sensor 106, manual valve 104 and electronic control valves 102. The provision of manual valve 104 is mandatory for safety reasons and the present invention is implementable without the manual valve 104 as well. The pressure sensor 106 is either wired or wireless. Now consider A is connected and is supplying Argon to the common supply line 108 for welding process at a load end shown with an arrow. After some time, suddenly the controller 110 detects abnormal pressure in comparison to the threshold value in B based on the reading by the corresponding pressure sensor 106. The controller 110 immediately disables/turns OFF the supply of Argon from A by switching OFF the corresponding electronic control valve 102, and enables/turns ON the supply of the Argon from B by switching ON the corresponding electronic control valve 102. The supply of fluid is continued from B till the predefined criteria is satisfied. Once the predefined criteria is met or satisfied, the controller 110 disconnects B by switching OFF corresponding electronic control valve 102 and re-enables A to the common supply line 108 by switching ON the corresponding electronic control valve 102. Assume, the sequence set in the controller 110 is A-B-C, then after managing B, the controller 110 switches back to A instead of C to completely utilize A and then followed by B and C.

[0015] In the above working example, if both B and C were detected with abnormal pressure, then both B and C are connected to the common supply line 108 one at a time or two at a time based on the configuration. Considering on connection at a time, the connection and supply of Argon is toggled between B and C, and when the pressure in both B and C are within favorable/safe limits or satisfies the predefined criteria, then the controller 110 re-enables the supply of fluid from A back to the common supply line 108 and resumes the supply of fluid. Once A is completely consumed, then B is connected for the supply followed by C.

[0016] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the system 100 to manage consumption of fluid cylinders 112 is provided. The system 100 comprises fluid cylinders 112 connected to the common supply line 108. A connecting branch 114 is used to connect the plurality of fluid cylinders 112. The fluid cylinders 112 are interfaced to the common supply line 108 with respective pressure sensors 106, respective electronic control valves 102 and manual valves 104. At least one of the fluid cylinders 112 is connected to the common supply line 108 and enabled to supply the stored fluid to the common supply line 108 with respective electronic control valve 102 in open position, while remaining fluid cylinders 112 are disabled from supplying fluid to the common supply line 108 with respective electronic control valves 102 in closed position, characterized in that, the controller 110 connected to the pressure sensors 106 and configured to manage the consumption of the fluids. The controller 110 configured to detect abnormal pressure in at least one fluid cylinder 112 among the plurality of fluid cylinders 112 based on comparison of comparison of respective individual pressure with the threshold value. The controller 110 disables the supply of fluid from the at least one enabled fluid cylinder 112, which is under normal operation, and simultaneously enables/actuates the at least one fluid cylinder 112 with abnormal pressure to the common supply line 108 by operation of respective electronic control valve 102. The controller 110 re-enables the supply of fluid from the disabled fluid cylinder 112 back to the common supply line 108 when pressure of the at least one fluid cylinder 112 with abnormal pressure satisfies a predefined/predetermined criteria.

[0017] Fig. 2 illustrates a method for managing consumption of the fluid cylinders, according to the present invention. The method characterized by plurality of steps of which a step 202 comprises detecting, by the controller 110, at least one fluid cylinder 112 among the plurality of fluid cylinders 112 having abnormal pressure by comparing respective individual pressure with the threshold value. The pressure is measured by the respective pressure sensor 106. A step 204 comprises disabling, by the controller 110, supply of fluid from the at least one enabled/active fluid cylinder 112, which is under normal operation, and simultaneously enabling supply of fluid from the at least one fluid cylinder 112 with abnormal pressure to the common supply line 108 by operating respective electronic control valve 102. A step 206 comprises re-enabling, by the controller 110, the supply of fluid from the disabled fluid cylinder 112 to the common supply line 108 when pressure of the at least one fluid cylinder 112 with abnormal pressure satisfies the predefined criteria. Again the pressure sensor 106 is used to read the pressure of the fluid supplied by the respective fluid cylinder 112. A step 208 comprises identifying, by the controller 110, and displaying the at least one fluid cylinder 112 with abnormal pressure on the display screen.

[0018] According to the present invention, the method of managing comprises consuming the fluid cylinders 112 in the predetermined sequence and resuming with the sequence of the consumption after managing the fluid cylinder 112 with abnormal pressure. Further, if at least two fluid cylinders 112 with abnormal pressure are determined, the method comprises managing the at least two fluid cylinders 112 with abnormal pressure until pressure in the at least two fluid cylinders 112 satisfies the predefined criteria.

[0019] According to the present invention, the method is applied for system 100 where the fluid cylinders 112 comprises inert gases such as Argon. The fluid is consumed in the welding process.

[0020] According to the present invention, the at least one fluid cylinder 112 with detected abnormal pressure is tagged unsafe and later the tag is removed when the predefined criteria is satisfied.

[0021] According to the present invention, the system 100, the controller 110, and the method provides changeover of supply at threshold pressure value and reconnection between safe and unsafe fluid cylinders 112. The controller 110 detects the breach of threshold pressure value and activates the fluid cylinder 112 for consumption. Once the lower identified value of the pressure is reached, the controller 110 automatically reactivates the fluid cylinder 112 which was already active for supplying the fluid. Only after the full fluid cylinder 112 is empty, the sequence logic connection takes over. In the present invention, the aspects of two or more fluid cylinders 112 with pressure reaching threshold value is also taken care and the connection happens between them till the lower identified value of the pressure is reached or the predefined criteria is satisfied. The present invention enables full utilization of quantity of fluid inside the fluid cylinder 112. The system 100 is automated [24x7] without manual attention required.

[0022] It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.
, Claims:We claim:
1. A controller (110) to manage consumption of fluid cylinders (112), said fluid cylinders (112) interfaced to a common supply line (108) with respective pressure sensors (106) and respective electronic control valves (102), at least one of said fluid cylinders (112) is enabled to supply said stored fluid to said common supply line (108) with respective electronic control valve (102) in open position, while remaining fluid cylinders (112) are disabled from supplying fluid to said common supply line (108) with respective electronic control valves (102) in closed position, characterized in that, said controller (110) configured to
detect abnormal pressure in at least one fluid cylinder (112) among said fluid cylinders (112) based on comparison of respective individual pressure with a threshold value,
disable supply of fluid from said at least one enabled fluid cylinder (112), which is under normal operation, and simultaneously enable supply of fluid from said at least one fluid cylinder (112) with abnormal pressure to said common supply line (108) by operation of respective electronic control valve (102), and
re-enable the supply of fluid from said disabled fluid cylinder (112) to said common supply line (108) when pressure of said at least one fluid cylinder (112) with abnormal pressure satisfies a predefined criteria.

2. The controller (110) as claimed in claim 1 identifies and displays said at least one fluid cylinder (112) with abnormal pressure on a display screen.

3. The controller (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein consumption of fluid from said fluid cylinders (112) is managed as per a predetermined sequence, wherein said sequence is resumed once said fluid cylinder (112) with abnormal pressure is consumed as per predefined criteria.

4. The controller (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein when at least two fluid cylinders (112) are detected with abnormal pressure, said controller (110) configured to manage consumption of fluid from said at least two fluid cylinders (112) until pressure in both satisfies said predefined criteria.

5. The controller (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said fluid cylinder (112) comprises inert gas such as Argon, said fluid cylinders (112) are consumed in welding process.

6. A method for managing consumption of fluid cylinders (112), characterized by, said method comprising the steps of:
detecting at least one fluid cylinder (112) among said fluid cylinders (112) having abnormal pressure by comparing respective individual pressure with a threshold value,
disabling supply of fluid from said at least one enabled fluid cylinder (112), which is under normal operation, and simultaneously enabling supply of fluid from said at least one fluid cylinder (112) with abnormal pressure to said common supply line (108) by operating respective electronic control valve (102), and
re-enabling the supply of fluid from said disabled fluid cylinder (112) to said common supply line (108) when pressure of said at least one fluid cylinder (112) with abnormal pressure satisfies a predefined criteria.

7. The method as claimed in claim 5 comprises identifying and displaying said at least one fluid cylinder (112) with abnormal pressure on a display screen.

8. The method as claimed in claim 5 comprises consuming said fluid cylinders (112) in a predetermined sequence, and resuming said sequence of consumption after managing said fluid cylinder (112) with abnormal pressure.

9. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein when at least two fluid cylinders (112) with abnormal pressure are detected, said method comprises managing said at least two fluid cylinders (112) until pressure in said at least two fluid cylinders (112) satisfies said predefined criteria.

10. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said fluid cylinder (112) comprises inert gas such as Argon, wherein said fluid is consumed in welding process.