Patent Application
20240068689
This disclosure relates generally to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. More particularly, in certain embodiments, this disclosure relates to an HVAC system with wireless damper and zoning control.
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are used to regulate environmental conditions within an enclosed space. Air is cooled via heat transfer with refrigerant flowing through the HVAC system and returned to the enclosed space as conditioned air.
In some cases, it is desirable to provide flows of conditioned air to different zones of a space being serviced by an HVAC system. For example, a single evaporator coil may provide cooled air that can be sent to two or more zones, corresponding, for instance, to different sections or rooms of a building. When cooling is not needed to one zone, a damper may be closed to prevent the flow of conditioned air to that zone. However, in previous HVAC systems it can be difficult (e.g., costly, time-intensive, resource intensive or even impossible (e.g., if sufficient control infrastructure is not already in place) to retrofit an HVAC system to add additional zones. Furthermore, previously available dampers for controlling airflow to separate zones typically only open or close to provide binary on or off states for the flow of conditioned air. No further control of the airflow to different zones was possible. Instead, a signal is sent to open or close the damper to a given zone, and information is not provided to confirm that the action was successful or what impact the action had on the airflow provided to the zone. Additionally, previous zoned HVAC systems are limited on the number of possible zones, for example, because of the limited availability of wired interface connections on conventional control systems.
This disclosure solves problems of previous zoned HVAC systems by facilitating improved damper control. The improved zoned HVAC systems of this disclosure include dampers that wirelessly communicate with the thermostat and/or controller that provides instructions for zone operations. For example, a wireless receiver/transmitter of the damper may receive instructions for opening and closing the moveable plate of the damper in order to adjust the flow of air to its corresponding zone. A zone temperature sensor may measure a zone temperature that is used to determine when and/or how much conditioned air should be provided to the zone. The degree of openness of the damper's plate can be adjusted to more effectively and efficiently reach and/or maintain a target or setpoint temperature. In this way, zones can be controlled more effectively, resulting in overall improvements to HVAC system efficiency and the comfort provided to occupants of a space.
Furthermore, in some cases, the dampers include or are coupled to one or more sensors, such as flow rate sensors and/or pressure sensors, that can provide feedback regarding how the damper is performing and/or an amount or quality of air provided to a corresponding zone. This feedback can be used to appropriately adjust the degree of openness of the damper's movable plate and/or detect/diagnose problems with the damper (e.g., a broken actuator motor). Additionally, existing HVAC infrastructure may be more readily retrofitted to include the wireless dampers of this disclosure, for example, because additional dampers can be added without extensive rewiring of the control system and because the number of zones is not limited by availability of physical inputs in a controller interface.
Certain embodiments may include none, some, or all of the above technical advantages. One or more other technical advantages may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the figures, descriptions, and claims included herein.
In an embodiment, an HVAC system includes a thermostat comprising a processor configured to determine instructions for providing a flow of conditioned air to a first zone of the HVAC system. The HVAC system includes a damper located in a duct associated with the first zone of the HVAC system. The damper includes a moveable plate configured to block the flow of conditioned air through the duct when the movable plate is in a closed position and allow the flow of conditioned air through the duct when the movable plate is in an at least partially open position. The damper includes a wireless receiver and transmitter configured to receive the instructions for providing the flow of conditioned air to the first zone. The damper includes an actuator configured to move the movable plate based at least in part on the received instructions, thereby adjusting the flow of conditioned air to the first zone.
For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Embodiments of the present disclosure and its advantages are best understood by referring to
As described above, prior to the present disclosure, zoned HVAC systems had limited control options due to the typically simple wired connectivity between zone dampers and a controller. The conventional control schemes of previous technology provided only one-way communication to the zone dampers for either closing or opening the dampers. Furthermore, previous HVAC systems were difficult or impossible to retrofit to add additional zones. The wireless zone dampers described with respect to
The thermostat 102 generally determines an amount of conditioned air that should be provided to each zone serviced by the HVAC system 100. The thermostat 102 is generally located within the conditioned space (e.g., a room or building) serviced by the HVAC system 100. While a single thermostat 102 is illustrated in
In the example of
The thermostat 102 is in wireless communication via wireless connections 110 to mobile device 112, zone temperature sensors 114a-b, and wireless zone dampers 116a-f. Wireless connection 110 may be achieved through Bluetooth communication or another method of relatively short-range two-way communication. The mobile device 112 may be used to configure the thermostat 102 and/or other components of the HVAC system 100 at the time of installation. In some cases, the mobile device 112 may facilitate communication of user commands to the thermostat 102 and/or the presentation of various status messages, as described above with respect to the display of the thermostat 102 (e.g., zone temperatures, zone setpoints, and the like) on the mobile device 112.
The thermostat 102 is in wireless communication via wireless connections 110 to zone temperature sensors 114a-f. A zone temperature sensor 114a-f is located in each zone serviced by the HVAC system 100. As described further below with respect to
The thermostat 102 is in wireless communication via wireless connections 110 to the wireless zone dampers 116a-f. In the example of
In some cases, multiple wireless zone dampers 116a-f may form a mesh communication network to facilitate communication between the thermostat 102 and any wireless zone dampers that are at a sufficiently great distance from the thermostat 102 to be out of range using direct communication over wireless connection 110.
Returning to the example of
In an example operation of the HVAC system 100, the HVAC system 100 includes two zones, including zone 202 and 206 of
The wireless zone damper 116a-f includes a moveable plate 302, an actuator 304, and a wireless receiver and transmitter 306. The moveable plate 302 is configured to block the flow of conditioned air through the duct in which the wireless zone damper 116a-f is located when the moveable plate 302 is in a closed position and allow the flow of conditioned air through the duct when the movable plate 302 is in an at least partially open position. The actuator 304 includes a motor or other device for moving the moveable plate between the open and closed positions and, optionally, to intermediate positions in which the duct is partially open. The actuator 304 may be an electronic motor or similar device. At any given time, the moveable plate 302 may be at a zone damper position 314.
The wireless receiver and transmitter 306 sends information to and receives information from the thermostat 102. The wireless receiver and transmitter 306 may be in communication with the zone temperature sensor 114a-f. The wireless receiver and transmitter 306 may be a Bluetooth receiver and transmitter. For example, the wireless receiver and transmitter 306 may receive instructions 336 from the thermostat 102 indicating a zone damper setpoint 312 (e.g., indicating a degree of openness at which to set the movable plate 302) at which to set the moveable plate 302. As another example, the wireless receiver and transmitter 306 may send a zone air pressure 316 measured by the pressure sensor 308 and/or a zone air flowrate 318 measured by air flow sensor 310, as described further below. Instructions 336 received by the wireless receiver and transmitter 306 are used to cause the actuator 304 to move the moveable plate 302 from a current zone damper position 314 to a zone damper setpoint 312 indicated by the thermostat 102.
The wireless zone damper 116a-f may include or may be in communication with a pressure sensor 308 and/or an air flow sensor 310. The pressure sensor 308 measures a pressure of air in the duct in which the wireless zone damper 116a-f is located. The air flow sensor 310 measures a flow rate of conditioned air through the duct in which the wireless zone damper 116a-f is located. Information from the pressure sensor 308 and/or the air flow sensor 310 may be used to adjust (e.g., continuously or at intervals) the degree of openness of the moveable plate 302 (e.g., by updating the zone damper setpoint 312).
The zone temperature sensor 114a-f measures one or more air properties 320 (e.g., zone temperature 322, zone humidity, zone occupancy, or the like) of the zone in which the wireless zone temperature sensor 114a-f is deployed. The zone temperature sensor 114a-f measures a zone temperature 322, which, as described below can be used to determine a zone damper setpoint 312 indicating a degree of openness to which the wireless zone damper 116a-f should be adjusted.
The thermostat 102 receives information from the wireless zone damper 116a-f, wireless zone temperature sensor 114a-f, pressure sensor 308, and/or air flow sensor 310; uses this information to determine zone damper setpoint 312 corresponding to a degree of openness at which to set the moveable plate 302; and provides instructions 336 to the wireless zone damper 116a-f to adjust the moveable plate 302 accordingly. For example, the thermostat 102 may compare the zone temperature 322 to a zone temperature setpoint 330 to determine whether conditioned air should be provided to the zone. If no conditioned air is needed, the zone damper setpoint 312 may correspond to a closed position, such that no air can flow through the duct to reach the zone. If the zone temperature 322 is far from the zone temperature setpoint 330 (e.g., if the difference between the zone temperature 322 and the zone temperature setpoint 330 is greater than a threshold value), the zone damper setpoint 312 may correspond to a fully open position (e.g., a 100% degree of openness). For intermediate differences between the zone temperature 322 and the zone temperature setpoint 330, the zone damper setpoint 312 may correspond to a partial degree of openness of the moveable plate 302. For example, the degree of openness may scale as appropriate with the difference between the zone temperature 322 and the zone temperature setpoint 330.
In some cases, the thermostat 102 may detect a malfunction of the wireless zone damper 116a-f and/or another HVAC system component based at least in part on the zone air pressure 316 and/or the zone air flowrate 318. For example, if the zone air pressure 316 and/or the zone air flowrate 318 do not change following an instruction to change the zone damper position 314 (i.e., when an instruction with a new zone damper setpoint 312 is sent), then the wireless zone damper 116a-f may be malfunctioning. For example, the actuator 304 may not be properly opening and closing the moveable plate 302.
The thermostat 102 may include a processor 324, memory 326, and input/output (I/O) interface 328. The processor 324 includes one or more processors operably coupled to the memory 326. The processor 324 is any electronic circuitry including, but not limited to, state machines, one or more central processing unit (CPU) chips, logic units, cores (e.g., a multi-core processor), field-programmable gate array (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or digital signal processors (DSPs) that communicatively couples to memory 326 and controls the operation of HVAC system 100. The processor 324 may be a programmable logic device, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, or any suitable combination of the preceding. The processor 324 is communicatively coupled to and in signal communication with the memory 326. The one or more processors are configured to process data and may be implemented in hardware or software. For example, the processor 324 may be 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit or of any other suitable architecture. The processor 324 may include an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) for performing arithmetic and logic operations, processor registers that supply operands to the ALU and store the results of ALU operations, and a control unit that fetches instructions from memory 326 and executes them by directing the coordinated operations of the ALU, registers, and other components. The processor may include other hardware and software that operates to process information, control the HVAC system 100, and perform any of the functions described herein (e.g., with respect to
The memory 326 includes one or more disks, tape drives, or solid-state drives, and may be used as an over-flow data storage device, to store programs when such programs are selected for execution, and to store instructions and data that are read during program execution. The memory 326 may be volatile or non-volatile and may comprise ROM, RAM, ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), and static random-access memory (SRAM). The memory 326 is operable to store any suitable set of instructions, logic, rules, and/or code for executing the functions described in this disclosure with respect to
The I/O interface 328 is configured to communicate data and signals with other devices. The I/O interface 328 includes a wireless transmitter and receiver 332, such as a Bluetooth transmitter and receiver for communicating over wireless connection 110 of
At operation 404, the thermostat 102 determines whether conditioned air should be provided to the zone. For example, if the HVAC system 100 is providing cooling and the zone temperature 322 is greater than the zone temperature setpoint 330, then conditioned air should generally be provided to the zone. If conditioned air is not needed at the zone, the thermostat 102 may proceed to operation 406 and provide instructions 336 with a damper setpoint 312 indicating to close the wireless zone damper 116a-f. The actuator 304 then causes the moveable plate 302 to move to close the wireless zone damper 116a-f and block the flow of conditioned air to the zone. If conditioned air is needed at the zone, the thermostat 102 proceeds to operation 408.
At operation 408, the thermostat 102 determines a damper setpoint 312 corresponding to a degree of openness of the wireless zone damper 116a-f. The damper setpoint 312 may be determined using one or more of the zone temperature 322, the zone air pressure 316, and the zone air flowrate 318. For example, a damper setpoint 312 may be determined that causes the wireless zone damper 116a-f to have a higher degree of openness more if a larger amount of cooling is needed in the zone (e.g., if the zone temperature 322 is relatively far from the zone temperature setpoint 330). In some cases, the damper setpoint 312 may be adjusted to achieve a target zone air flowrate 318. The target zone air flowrate 318 may be predefined for the zone or determined based at least in part on the amount of cooling needed in the zone. In some cases, the damper setpoint 312 may be adjusted to achieve a target zone air pressure 316 in the duct in which the wireless zone damper 116a-f is installed. The target zone air pressure 316 may be predefined for the zone or determined based at least in part on the amount of cooling needed in the zone.
At operation 410, the thermostat wirelessly transmits instructions 336 indicating the damper setpoint 312. The actuator 304 causes the moveable plate 302 to move to reach the damper setpoint 312. At operation 412, the thermostat 102 may determine whether the moveable plate 302 successfully moved to the damper setpoint 312. For example, the thermostat may compare the zone damper position 314 to the damper setpoint 312 to determine whether these positions are the same. If they are not the same, then the wireless zone damper 116a-f may not have successfully achieved the damper setpoint 312. As another example, the thermostat 102 may determine whether the zone air pressure 316 and/or zone air flowrate 318 changed in a manner that indicates the damper setpoint 312 was achieved. If the damper setpoint 312 is achieved, the thermostat 102 returns to the start of method 400. If the damper setpoint 312 is not achieved, the thermostat 102 may send a notification of a possible malfunction of the wireless zone damper 116a-f at operation 414.
Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to method 400 depicted in
While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods might be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is not to be limited to the details given herein. For example, the various elements or components may be combined or integrated in another system or certain features may be omitted, or not implemented.
In addition, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described and illustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may be combined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, or methods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled or communicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicating through some interface, device, or intermediate component whether electrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in the art and could be made without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed herein.
To aid the Patent Office, and any readers of any patent issued on this application in interpreting the claims appended hereto, applicants note that they do not intend any of the appended claims to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) as it exists on the date of filing hereof unless the words “means for” or “step for” are explicitly used in the particular claim.
