Patent ID: 9256228
Filing Date: 2016-02-09
CPC Classification: F16K,G05D,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A method for managing operation of a mass flow controller comprising: detecting a particular type of change in operating conditions of the mass flow controller, wherein the particular type of change is one of a plurality of different types of potential changes in the operating conditions, the different types of potential changes include a set point change, pressure change, and control loop variable change; selecting, from among a plurality of different types of available data, condition-specific-data that is a particular one of the different types of available data, the condition-specific-data is selected based upon the particular type of change in the operating conditions that occurs; initiating, when the particular type of change in the operating conditions is detected, a recording of N samples of the condition-specific-data to obtain a snapshot of operating characteristics of the mass flow controller after the particular type of change in the operating conditions occurs; determining, based upon the N samples of the condition-specific-data, a functional parameter value for each of a plurality of condition-specific functional parameters that are determined by the particular type of change in the operating conditions, each of at least a portion of the determined condition-specific functional parameter values characterizes operation of the mass flow controller based upon the N samples of the condition-specific data; creating a plurality of data sets in a first data store a first time the particular type of change in the operating conditions is detected, each of the plurality of data sets includes fields for statistical values for a corresponding one of the condition-specific functional parameters that are associated with the particular type of change in the operating conditions; updating, each time the particular type of change in the operating conditions is detected, and until a predefined event occurs, the statistical values in each of the data sets that correspond to the condition-specific functional parameters that are determined by the particular type of change in the operating conditions; and performing one or more diagnostic actions based upon current values of the condition-specific functional parameters and the statistical values in the data sets in the first data store.