Controller system for swim spa

Abstract

A swim spa comprising a system that can provide information on the workout swim session based on a feedback control mechanism that provides the operating conditions of the flow regulator. Based on the information relating to the state of the flow regulator, the system is able to provide information regarding the water flow rate and possibly other information that may then be used to correlate or calculate information relating to the swim session. This is accomplished through the use of pre-recorded correlations between flow regulator settings and resulting water flow.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A swim spa comprising:
 a control system;   a timer;   a flow regulator; and   a storage device comprising one or more pre-recorded correlations between settings of the flow regulator and water flow rate;   wherein based on the pre-recorded correlations and a time duration recorded by the timer, the control system is configured to provide information relating to a swim session.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the flow regulator comprises at least one of valve, motor, motorized pump, diaphragm, and solenoid. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , the storage device comprises a MEMs device. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a valve and wherein the flow regulator settings comprises a degree of opening of the valve. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , further comprising a first sensor able to signal the degree of opening of the valve. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , the first sensor further comprising a rotor connected to a motor that operates the valve. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 5 , the first sensor comprising:
 a rotor;   a wiper connected to the rotor; and   one or more sense pads that determine the position of the wiper.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the rotor is further connected to a motor that operates the valve and that turns the rotor by the same amount it opens or closes the valve. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising a second valve and a second sensor able to signal the degree of opening of the second valve. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the control system comprises a controller serially connected with a first sensor module comprising the first sensor and a second sensor module comprising the second sensor such that the controller is able to send a signal to the first sensor module, the first sensor module is able to send a signal to the second sensor module, and the second sensor module is able to send a signal to the controller. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the signals are only sent in one direction. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the flow regulator settings comprise a relay signal. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the flow regulator settings comprising a pressure drop registered by a diaphragm. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the information relating to the swim session comprises at least one of distance swam and calories burned. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the information relating to the swim session is calculated in real time based on pre-recorded correlations. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a controller with an output to provide the information relating to the swim session. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , the output comprising a display. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the flow regulator comprises at least one valve and a motor to operate the valve. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the series of correlations comprise valve opening settings and resulting water flow rate.