Patent ID: 8606414

Claim:
An electrically-operated multi-channel chemical transport bus system, the system comprising: a plurality of flow lines, each flow line connected to a respective flow port; a plurality of bus lines; a plurality of electrically operated connecting valves connecting each of the flow lines to each of the bus lines, wherein each connecting valve is connected to one of the plurality of flow lines and each one of the plurality of bus lines at associated taps; a controller connected to the plurality of electrically operated connecting valves, the controller to selectively operate each of the plurality of connecting valves, wherein the controller controls the connecting valves to enable a burst of chemical fluidic communication between a first flow port and at least one second flow port to allow a fluid to flow between the first flow port and the at least one second flow port, wherein the controller enables fluidic communication for a first duration during which the flow through the first port ends before the fluid reaches the at least one second flow port, wherein at least one sensor is associated with at least one of the flow lines, wherein the at least one sensor detects the flow in the at least one flow line, and wherein the controller uses at least one signal from the at least one sensor to time the fluid flow between the first and second flow ports.