Abstract: A system controls dispensing different chemicals received from containers at a plurality of ports. Each container has data thereon that identifies the chemical within the container. The system reads the data from each container to determine which port is associated with each chemical. When a given chemical is required, the system activates a flow control device coupled to the port associated with that given chemical, thereby supplying the given chemical to a consuming device. Therefore regardless of into which port an operator places a particular chemical, the system automatically knows which port has which chemical and the dispensing is configured accordingly. Various mechanisms for storing the data on and reading the data from the container are described.

Abstract: A dispensing system responds to reading data stored on a container by determining a dose for a chemical stored in that container. Then each time that the chemical is to be fed into a cleaning machine, the dispensing system operates a flow control device to deliver the designated dose. Thus the dispensing system is automatically reconfigured when different concentrations of the chemical are supplied to the dispensing system. Various mechanisms for storing the data on and reading the data from the container are described.

Abstract: A pump system includes a peristaltic pump having a rotor, a motor and a controller. The motor is configured to drive the peristaltic pump so as to deliver a liquid product from a source to a receiving location. The controller monitors a drive current of the motor so as to track rotation of the pump's rotor. The controller counts units of rotation of the pump's rotor, and stops the motor when the counted units of rotation reach a specified target count value.

Abstract: A method and system of measuring the differential time of flight of a signal transmitted between first and second transducers. First, multiple broadband signal pulses are transmitted in a first direction by the first transducer and received by the second transducer. Then, the received pulses are averaged to form a first received waveform. Next, multiple identical pulses are transmitted in a second direction and the received pulses are again averaged to form a second received waveform. Then, the first and second waveforms are cross-correlated. The peak of the cross-correlation data identifies a coarse measurement of the differential time of flight of the signal. Also, multiple sinusoidal signal pulses are transmitted in each direction and averaged, thereby creating third and fourth received waveforms. A first point is selected on the third waveform and first phase information is generated from a Fourier transform of the center frequency vector beginning at the first point.