| CPC F15B 9/09 (2013.01) | 4 Claims |
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1. An actuator system comprising:
two or more matching universal valves each comprising a body that houses sections comprising a one way fill valve section, a center block valve section, and a one way exhaust valve section and three ports, wherein one of the two or more universal valves is coupled to one section of the actuator and another one of the two or more universal valves is coupled to another section of the actuator;
a one or more sensors;
at least one driver system coupled to control movement in each of the universal valves between the fill valve section, the block valve section, and the exhaust valve section;
a controller coupled to the one or more sensors and the at least one drive system, the controller comprising one or more processors coupled to a memory comprising a learning algorithm configured to generate characterization data over a number of cycles of retractions and extractions of a piston in which a continuous position of the piston is sensed and tracked in time to learn how long the one way fill valve section, the center block valve section, and the one way exhaust valve section of each of the universal valves must be in a particular position to effect a given movement of a piston and minimize a total amount of fluid used to effect the movement, wherein the processors are configured to be capable of executing programmed instructions stored in the memory comprising the programmed instructions to:
access the characterization data that identifies a first switch time prior to reaching a fully advance position and a second switch time prior to reaching a fully retracted position that minimize the total amount of the fluid used to effect an actuation;
move one of the universal valves so the one way fill valve section of the one of the universal valves is in a fill valve position to initiate an input flow of the fluid and move another one of the universal valves so the one way exhaust valve section of the another one of the universal valves is in an exhaust valve position to initiate an exhaust flow of the fluid until the first switch time prior to reaching a fully advance position has been reached based on the characterization data;
move the one of the universal valves so the center block valve section of the one of the universal valves is in a block valve position that stops the input flow of the fluid and move the another one of the universal valves so the center block valve section of the another one of the universal valves is in a block valve position that stops the exhaust flow of the fluid when the first switch time prior to reaching a fully advance position has been reached based on the characterization data; and
move the one of the universal valves so the one way exhaust valve section of the one of the universal valves is in an exhaust valve position to initiate an exhaust flow of the fluid to reverse direction and move the another one of the universal valves so the one way exhaust valve section of the another one of the universal valves is in a to the fill valve position to initiate an input flow of additional fluid until the second switch time prior to reaching a fully retracted position has been reached based on the characterization data.
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