1. A system comprising:
a main pump including an inlet and an outlet, the main pump configured to supply energy to a pumped fluid; and
a booster pump fluidly coupled to either the inlet or the outlet of the main pump such that the pumped fluid flows through a pumping chamber of the booster pump whether the booster pump is active or inactive;
wherein the booster pump is configured to (i) modify the energy of the pumped fluid when active and (ii) allow the pumped fluid to flow through the pumping chamber without substantially modifying the energy of the pumped fluid when inactive.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the booster pump is configured to increase the energy of the pumped fluid when active.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the booster pump is configured to decrease the energy of the pumped fluid when active.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the booster pump is an active membrane pump comprising a membrane positioned in the pumping chamber and an electromagnetic driver coupled to the membrane.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an energy recovery system fluidly coupled to the main pump and the booster pump, the energy recovery system configured to (i) extract and store energy from the pumped fluid while the booster pump is inactive and (ii) supply energy to the booster pump while the booster pump is active.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the energy recovery system comprises:
a generator disposed in a flow path of the pumped fluid; and
an electrical energy storage device coupled to the generator and configured to store energy extracted by the generator.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the booster pump is configured to be inactive whenever the main pump is inactive and to be active whenever the main pump is active.
8. The system of claim 1, further comprising an electronic controller operatively coupled to the booster pump, wherein the electronic controller is configured to (i) determine whether the energy supplied to the pumped fluid by the main pump is sufficient and (ii) activate the booster pump in response to determining that the energy supplied to the pumped fluid by the main pump is not sufficient.
9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a pressure sensor fluidly coupled to the outlet of the main pump and operatively coupled to the electronic controller to communicate pressure data to the electronic controller, wherein the electronic controller is configured to determine whether the energy supplied to the pumped fluid by the main pump is sufficient by analyzing the pressure data.
10. A system comprising:
a main pump including an inlet and an outlet, the main pump configured to produce fluid flow; and
a booster pump fluidly coupled to the outlet of the main pump such that the fluid flow passes through a pumping chamber of the booster pump whether the booster pump is active or inactive;
wherein the booster pump is configured to (i) increase a rate of the fluid flow when active and (ii) allow the fluid flow to pass through the pumping chamber without substantially decreasing the rate of the fluid flow when inactive.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the booster pump is an active membrane pump comprising a membrane positioned in the pumping chamber and an electromagnetic driver coupled to the membrane.
12. The system of claim 10, wherein the booster pump further comprises an energy recovery system configured to (i) extract and store energy from the fluid flow while the booster pump is inactive and (ii) supply energy to the booster pump while the booster pump is active.
13. The system of claim 10, wherein the booster pump is configured to be inactive whenever the main pump is inactive and to be active whenever the main pump is active.
14. The system of claim 10, further comprising:
an electronic controller operatively coupled to the booster pump; and
a pressure sensor operatively coupled to the electronic controller and configured to communicate pressure data to the electronic controller, the pressure data indicating a pressure of the fluid flow;
wherein the electronic controller is configured to (i) determine whether the pressure data demonstrates a predetermined relationship to a pressure threshold and (ii) activate the booster pump in response to a determination that the pressure data demonstrates the predefined relationship to the pressure threshold.
15. A method comprising:
operating a main pump to supply energy to a pumped fluid, wherein a booster pump is coupled to either an inlet or an outlet of the main pump such that the pumped fluid flows through a pumping chamber of the booster pump whether the booster pump is active or inactive; and
activating the booster pump, while operating the main pump, to modify the energy of the pumped fluid.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising deactivating the booster pump, while operating the main pump, to allow the pumped fluid to flow through the pumping chamber of the booster pump without substantially modifying the energy of the pumped fluid.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein activating the booster pump comprises activating the booster pump to increase the energy of the pumped fluid.
18. The system of claim 15, wherein activating the booster pump comprises activating the booster pump to decrease the energy of the pumped fluid.
19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
extracting and storing energy from the pumped fluid before the booster pump is activated; and
supplying stored energy to the booster pump when activating the booster pump.
20. The method of claim 15, wherein activating the booster pump comprises activating the booster pump in response to determining, using an electronic controller, that the energy supplied to the pumped fluid by the main pump is not sufficient.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A sealed electronic connector comprising:
an insert;
a housing molded around said insert with a portion of said insert protruding from said housing; and
a sealing material applied where said insert protrudes from said housing, wherein said sealing material adheres to said insert and said housing.
2. The sealed electronic connector of claim 1, wherein said sealing material creates a moisture resistant seal between said insert and said housing.
3. The sealed electronic connector of claim 1, wherein said sealing material has viscous properties tuned to substantially inhibit said sealing material from flowing under the influence of gravity.
4. The sealed electronic connector of claim 1, wherein said sealing material is a conformal coating material.
5. The sealed electronic connector of claim 1, further comprising a collar in said housing around said insert wherein said collar allows said sealing material to collect.
6. The sealed electronic connector of claim 5, wherein said collar comprises an upstanding wall adjacent to and surrounding said insert.
7. The sealed electronic connector of claim 6, wherein said connector includes a plurality of inserts and wherein at least one said insert protrudes from said housing at an alternative relative elevation from another said insert.
8. A method of sealing an electronic connector having an insert molded into a housing and wherein a portion of said insert protrudes from said housing, the method comprising applying a sealing material where said insert protrudes from said housing.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein said sealing material has viscous properties tuned to generally prevent said sealing material from flowing under the influence of gravity.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein said sealing material is a conformal coating material.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein said sealing material is a room temperature vulcanizing conformal coating material.
12. The method of claim 8, further comprising applying a pressure differential to said connector to draw said sealing material between said insert and said housing.
13. The method of claim 8, wherein said sealing material is disposed in the form of a bead about said insert.
14. A method of forming an electronic connector, said method comprising:
molding a thermoplastic casing about a leadframe such that a portion of said leadframe extends from said casing, said leadframe extending from said casing to form a joint disposed about said leadframe;
applying a conformal coating material at said joint to seal said joint to inhibit egress of moisture there by.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein said molding a thermoplastic casing about a leadframe comprises forming a collar at said joint about said leadframe, and wherein said applying a conformal coating material comprises applying said conformal coating material in said collar.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein said molding a thermoplastic casing comprises molding a thermoplastic casing about a plurality of leadframes such that a portion of said leadframes extend from said casing to form joints disposed about said leadframes, and said applying a conformal coating material comprises applying a conformal coating material at a plurality of said joints.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one said insert protrudes from said housing at an alternative relative elevation from another said insert.
18. The method of claim 14, further comprising applying a pressure differential to said connector to draw said sealing material between said joint and said leadframe.
19. The method of claim 14, wherein said applying a conformal coating material at said joint comprises applying a conformal coating material in the form of a bead surrounding said leadframe.