Patent Grant
6997390
This invention relates to controlling residential forced air HVAC systems, specifically an improved zone climate control system, for installation in an existing HVAC system, that is less expensive, easier to install, and provides more utility than the prior art, such that a plurality of rooms in the residence each have independent temperature regulation according to predetermined temperature schedules and locally entered temperature commands, and such that the air in each room is heated or cooled according to the occupancy and the activity in said room, improving the comfort of the occupants and reducing the energy used to heat or cool the residence.
The majority of single-family houses in the United States have forced air central heating systems. Many of these also have air conditioners that use the same air distribution system. These heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are typically controlled by a single, centrally located thermostat. The thermostat controls the HVAC equipment to maintain a constant temperature at the thermometer. The temperatures in other rooms of the house are not actively controlled, so the temperatures in different rooms can differ by many degrees from the temperature at the thermostat.
Manually adjusting the airflow to each room is the primary method available to control the temperature away from the thermostat. However, the temperatures away from the thermostat depend on many dynamic factors such as the season (heating or cooling), the outside temperature, radiation heating and cooling through windows, and the activities of people and equipment in the rooms. The desired temperature also depends on the activity of the occupant, for example lower temperatures for sleeping and higher temperatures for relaxing. Maintaining comfortable temperatures requires constant adjustment, or may not be possible.
These temperature control problems are well known to HVAC suppliers, installers, and house occupants. Zone control systems have been developed to improve temperature control. Typically, a small number of thermostats are located in different areas of the house, and a small number of mechanized airflow dampers are placed in the air distribution ducts. A control unit dynamically controls the HVAC equipment and the airflow to simultaneously control the temperatures at each thermostat. These conventional systems are difficult to retrofit, and provide limited function and benefit. They are provided by several companies such as: Honeywell, 101 Columbia Road, Morristown, N.J. 07962; Carrier, One Carrier Place, Farmington, Conn. 06034; Jackson Systems, LLC100 E. Thompson Rd., Indianapolis, Ind. 46227; Arzel Zoning Technology, Inc., 4801 Commerce Parkway, Cleveland, Ohio 44128; Duro Dyne, 81 Spence Street, Bay Shore, N.Y. 11706; and EWC Controls, Inc., 385 Highway 33, Englishtown, N.J. 07726.
With only a few zones, there can still be significant temperature variations from room to room within a zone. A few systems have proposed thermostats for each room and airflow control devices for each air vent, but no practical solution for easy retrofit has been disclosed. As the number of independent zones increases, it becomes more complex to specify an appropriate setting for each zone while providing convenient centralized and remote control. Typical residential HVAC systems are designed to produce one fixed rate of heating and cooling, so adapting the existing systems to provide heating or cooling for only one or two rooms is difficult. These systems do provide methods to measure energy usage or provide information to help reduce energy use. They have not been widely adopted, because they are expensive, difficult and intrusive to install in most existing houses, and provide limited utility and benefit compared to their cost and inconvenience.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,078 issued Sep. 30, 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,319 issued Sep. 12, 1995 to Dushane et. al describe a retrofit room-by-room zone control system for residential forced air HVAC systems that uses complex electrically activated airflow control devices at each air vent. The devices are mechanically complex, each with a radio receiver, servo motor, and multiple mechanical louvers. The devices are powered by batteries that are recharged by a generator powered by airflow through the air vent. Another embodiment is described that uses wires connected to a central control unit to control the airflow control devices, adding complexity to the installation process. The airflow control devices replace the existing air grills, so the installation is visible, and multiple sizes and shapes of airflow control devices are needed to accommodate the variety of air vents found in houses. The devices are expensive and have no shared mechanisms for control or activation to reduce the cost of the multiple devices required. The preferred embodiment uses household power wiring for communications between the thermostats and the central control, requiring visible wires from a power outlet to the thermostat. A cited advantage of the system is it does not have sensors inside the ducts, so the system cannot make control decisions based on plenum pressure or plenum temperature, therefore excessive noise and temperatures may occur for some settings of the airflow control devices. The thermostats and common controller have complex interfaces with limited functionality, making the system difficult to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,545 issued Jan. 6, 1998 to Sweitzer describes another zone system where the airflow control devices are louvers actuated by a local electromechanical mechanism. This invention requires modification to the air ducts and connecting wires from the airflow control devices to the common controlling device. This system is expensive and difficult to retrofit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,524 issued Oct. 8, 1985, U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,144 issued Jul. 15, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,956 issued May 10, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,986 issued Dec. 15, 1992 to Zelczer, et al. describe a variety of inflatable bladders used as airflow control devices in air ducts. All of these are adapted for mounting in a way that requires access to the air ducts for cutting holes and inserting devices into the duct, and for the controlling air tube to pass from the inside of the air duct to the outside of the duct for passage to the device that provides the air for the bladders. These airflow control devices do not provide a way for non-intrusive installation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,116 issued Jun. 11, 1985, U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,269 issued May 5, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,045 issued Nov. 8, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,856 issued May 21, 1991 to Tartaglino describe a series of inflatable bladders of different shapes and control methods. The disclosed control methods relate to the air pressure and vacuum used to inflated and deflate the bladders. The bladder shapes are novel but different from those used in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,374 issued Aug. 10, 1993 to Hyzyk, et al. describes an inflatable bladder used as an airflow control device installed inside an air duct at an air vent. The bladder is inflated by a small blower also mounted in the air vent and powered by a battery. It receives control signals from a separate thermostat located in the room. This devices uses substantial power and battery life is limited. Since the blower for inflating the bladder is located at the air vent, noise from the blower is a problem which the inventor provides a muffler to help control. Each bladder is an independent unit and there is no sharing of components for controlling or powering, so there are no savings when many airflow devices are used in a zone control system. The device does provide a practical solution for providing centrally controllable airflow devices for each air vent in a house.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,501 issued Jun. 30, 1998 to Merry, et al. describes a system for selectively circulating unconditioned air for a predetermined time to provide fresh air. The system uses conventional airflow control devices installed in the air ducts and the system does not use temperature difference to control circulation. This system is difficult to retrofit and does not exploit selective circulation to equalize temperatures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,265 issued Jun. 18, 1991 to Buchholz, et al. describes a zone control system with conventional thermostats located in each zone. This system teaches one method for distributing conditioned air to zones based dependent on the zone that has the greatest need for conditioning. However, the thermostats make on-off requests for conditioning based on local set points, so the system must deduce need based on the duty cycle of on-off requests. The control system does not have access to the actual temperature in the zone nor any other characteristic of the zone such as thermal resistance or thermal capacity. This system is not practically adaptable to a residential system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,988 issued Aug. 30, 1994 to Rein, et al. describes a hierarchical wireless control system for zone control. This system is designed for large commercial buildings and is not practically adaptable for retrofit to a house.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,512 issued Sep. 12, 2000 to Dushane, et al. describes a wireless thermostat system where each wireless device has a number of programming functions for setting temperature and time schedules. Each thermostat function must be programmed at each device and there is no method to share programming effort or information between devices. The cost and complexity of a full functioning thermostat is duplicated for each device. The number of input buttons and the display capabilities at each device is limited, so programming is complex and functionality is limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,404 issued Apr. 10, 2001 to Dushane, et al. describes another wireless thermostat device comprising battery wireless thermometers reporting to a wireless thermostat. This device provides no method for entering commands at the wireless thermometer and uses a fixed slow rate of reporting the temperature stored at the wireless thermometer. The system is not adapted for use with a zone control system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,648 issued Jul. 6, 1993 to Simon, et al. describes a wireless HVAC system using spread spectrum radio transmission technology. The control architecture requires reliable two-way communication and is not practical for battery powered operation. The described system cannot operate with infrequent and unreliable transmissions from the wireless thermometers and is not adaptable for low cost installation into existing residential HVAC systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,480 issued Jan. 27, 1998 to Zepke, et al. describes and claims using wireless SAW transmitters and receivers in an HVAC system. The patent teaches only the replacement of other wireless technology such as described in previously cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,648 with SAW based wireless technology and does not add to the art of retrofit zone climate control.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,296 issued Jul. 21, 1998 to Mehta describes a thermostat that has several 24-hour temperature schedules that are specified by entering a complex sequence of commands using a small number of buttons. The display can only display a small portion of the data of each temperature schedule at one time. Using this type of interface to program multiple temperature schedules for multiple zones would take great effort and is complex. This device is not practically adaptable for use in a room-by-room zone control system for a house.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,714 issued Apr. 11, 1989 to Otsuka, et al. describes a device for specifying multiple temperature schedules for multiple thermostats. It uses a display and a set of buttons designed specifically for this purpose. The system is designed for use with programmable thermostats that can be set locally or the device can program the thermostats with data entered at the central control. This device provides only a way of programming each thermostat with a common device, and is not adapted to controlling rooms within a house, a group of rooms, or the entire house, with a single temperature schedule. It provides no means for saving temperature schedules or grouping temperature schedules into temperature programs for the entire house. The device is not practical for adapting to a residential house.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,232 issued Sep. 7, 1999 to Parlante describes a method for measuring the relative energy used by each unit of many units served by a single furnace based on the accumulated time each unit draws energy. The method prorates the total based on time and does not account for different rates of energy use by each unit. The method requires individual timers for each unit and a method for communicating times to a central location. The method does not provide accurate results when each unit draws energy at different rates from the common source, and is not adaptable to a residential zone controlled forced air HVAC system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,883 issued Feb. 26, 2002 to Simmons, et al. describes a control system for a set of zones that draw energy form a common supply. The system claims to save energy using occupant sensors and parameters entered locally in each zone to request conditioning only when the zone is occupied. The system does not have a centralized way to specify and control the zones as groups or as an entire house, and the system is not practical for residential retrofit or use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,384 issued Mar. 23, 1999 to Griffloen describes a method for installing a tube inside another tube using a fluid under pressure. This method is not adaptable to air ducts because air duct are variable size, have irregular bends and corners, and are designed to withstand very small pressure differences.
The prior art individually or in combination does not provide a practical means for providing a zone control system or retrofit to existing HVAC residential buildings and homes. Individual components needed for each room have replicated components that could be shared to reduce cost. Installation of the components requires access and or modification to existing air ducts and changing or modifying objects visible to the occupant of the rooms. The control systems are complex and difficult to control, so the occupants are not able to get full benefit from zone control. The control systems provide no information about the energy used to condition each room nor predictions that help the occupants make informed decisions about comfort versus energy savings. Prior systems provide no means for diagnosing energy usage to identify HVAC equipment or building problems that can be cost-effectively repaired.
An objective of this invention is an improved zone climate control system that provides better comfort because the temperature in each room is monitored and the airflow through each air duct is controlled by a control processor that also controls the HVAC equipment. In effect, each room has its own thermostat.
Another objective of this invention is an improved zone climate control system that can be practically installed in most existing houses with forced air HVAC systems. Wireless thermometers are used to monitor the temperatures, so power and control wires are eliminated. The air ducts are used as conduits for small pneumatic tubes that control and actuate the airflow control devices. The installation only uses access to the air vents in the rooms and the centrally located discharge plenum. There is no need to access the air ducts, modify the air ducts, or add wires from the thermometers to the control processor.
Another objective of this invention is an improved zone climate control system that is low cost. The invention uses an optimized combination of mature electronics technology, simple mechanics, and software, to reduce the total system cost.
Another objective of this invention is an improved zone climate control system that reduces energy use. Individual rooms can be heated and cooled according to independent minute-by-minute and day-by-day schedules that match occupancy and activity.
Another objective of this invention is an improved zone climate control system that measures the relative energy used to condition each room. This information is used to diagnose insulation and HVAC equipment problems, providing the information needed to make cost-effective decisions about improvements in house or HVAC equipment. This information is also used to predict the change in energy usage caused by a change in the temperature schedule of a room, enabling the occupant to make informed decisions about comfort versus energy usage.
Another objective of this invention is an improved zone climate control system that the house occupants find easy to use. An intuitive, graphical application running on personal data assistant (PDA such as a Palm) or a personal computer is used to specify the temperature schedules for each room for each day, and to specify the function assigned to a push button on the wireless thermometers. Other push buttons on the thermometers provide simple methods for the most common adjustments such as temporarily changing the room temperature.
Briefly described, this invention is an improved zone climate control system for installation in existing residential forced air HVAC systems. The system is low cost and installation is quick, easy, and non-intrusive. The system provides independent room-by-room, minute-by-minute, and day-by-day temperature control. Pneumatic airflow control devices are installed in each air vent and the controlling air tubes are pulled through the existing air ducts to the central discharge plenum so that the air ducts are not accessed, disassembled, or modified in any other way during installation. Battery powered wireless thermometer devices are placed in each room to report the local temperature and provide programmable one-button functions for controlling temperatures. A control processor mounted on the plenum controls the existing HVAC equipment and airflow control devices while monitoring plenum pressure and plenum temperature to control the temperature in each room following temperature schedules assigned to the rooms. A PDA or PC application is used to specify and assign minute-by-minute temperature schedules to each room for each day. The relative energy used to condition each room is stored and displayed so that the occupant can make informed decisions between comfort and energy savings, and identify correctable problems with the HVAC equipment or house insulation.
The existing thermostat 21 is connected by a multi-conductor cable 73 to the existing HVAC controller 22 that switches power to the blower, furnace and air conditioner. The existing thermostat 21 commands the blower and furnace or blower and air conditioner to provide conditioned air to cause the temperature at thermostat to move toward the temperature set at the existing thermostat 21.
A wireless thermometer 70 is placed in each room in the house. All thermometers transmit, on a shared radio frequency of 433 MHz, packets of digital information that encode 32-bit digital messages. A digital message includes a unique thermometer identification number, the temperature, and command data. Two or more thermometers can transmit at the same time, causing errors in the data. To detect errors, the 32-bit digital message is encoded twice in the packet. The radio receiver 71 decodes the messages from all the thermometers 70, discards packets that have errors, and generates messages that are communicated by serial data link 72 to the control processor 60. The radio receiver 71 can be located away from the shielding effects of the HVAC equipment if necessary, to ensure reception from all thermometers.
The control processor 60 is connected to the existing HVAC controller 22 by the existing HVAC controller connection 74. The control processor 60 interface circuit uses the same signals as the existing thermostat 21 to control the HVAC equipment. The existing thermostat connection 73 is also connected to the control processor 60 interface circuit that includes a manual two position switch. In the first switch position, the HVAC controller 22 is connected to the control processor 60. In the second switch position, the HVAC controller is connected to the existing thermostat 21. The existing thermostat 21 is retained as a backup temperature control system.
The control processor 60 controls the HVAC equipment and the airflow to each room according to the temperature reported for each room and according to an independent temperature schedule for each room. The temperature schedules specify a heat-when-below-temperature and a cool-when-above-temperature for each minute of a 24-hour day. A different temperature schedule can be specified for each day for each room. These temperature schedules are specified by the occupants using an interface program operating on a standard PDA (personal data assistant) 80. PDAs are available from several manufacturers such as Palm. The interface program provides graphical screens and popup menus that simplify the specification of the temperature schedules and the assignment of schedules to rooms for the days of the week and for other special dates. The PDA 80 includes a standard infrared communications interface called IrDA that is used to communicate with the control processor 60. The IrDA link 81 is mounted in the most convenient air vent 18, behind its air grill 31. The IrDA link 81 has an infrared transmitter and receiver mounted so that it can communicate with the PDA 80 using infrared signals though the air grill. The IrDA link 81 is connected to the control processor 60 by the link connection 82 that is pulled through the air duct with the air tube to that air vent. After changes are made to the temperature schedules, the PDA 80 is pointed toward the IrDA link 81 and the standard IrDA protocol is used to exchange information between the PDA 80 and the control processor 60.
The IrDA link 81 also has an audio alarm and light that are controlled by the control processor 60. The control processor can sound the alarm and flash the light to get the attention of the house occupants if the zone control system needs maintenance. The PDA 80 is used to communicate with the control processor 60 to determine specific maintenance needs.
The present invention can set the bladders so that all of the airflow goes to a single air vent, thereby conditioning the air in a single room. This could cause excessive air velocity and noise at the air vent and possibly damage the HVAC equipment. This is solved by connecting a bypass air duct 90 between the conditioned air plenum 15 and the return air plenum 11. A bladder 91 is installed in the bypass 90 and its air tube is connected to an air valve 40 so that the control processor can enable or disable the bypass. The bypass provides a path for the excess airflow and storage for conditioned air. The control processor 60 is interfaced to a temperature sensor 61 located inside the conditioned air plenum 15. The control processor monitors the conditioned air temperature to ensure that the temperature in the plenum 15 does not go above a preset temperature when heating or below a preset temperature when cooling, and ensures that the blower continues to run until all of the heating or cooling has been transferred to the rooms. This is important when bypass is used and only a portion of the heating or cooling capacity is needed, so the furnace or air conditioner is turned only for a short time. Some existing HVAC equipment has two or more heating or cooling speeds or capacities. When present, the control processor 60 controls the speed control and selects the speed based on the number of air vents open. This capability can eliminate the need for the bypass 90.
A pressure sensor 62 is mounted inside the conditioned air plenum 15 and interfaced to the control processor 60. The plenum pressure as a function of different bladder settings is used to deduce the airflow capacity of each air vent in the system and to predict the plenum pressure for any combination of air valve settings. The airflow to each room and the time spent heating or cooling each room is use to provide a relative measure of the energy used to condition each room. This information is reported to the house occupants via the PDA 80.
This brief description of the components of the present invention installed in an existing residential HVAC system provides an understanding of how independent temperature schedules are applied to each room in the house, and the improvements provided by the present invention. The following discloses the details of each of the components and how the components work together to proved the claimed features.
The bladders for controlling airflow in rectangular ducts are also cylinders made by seaming together two circular shapes 321 and a rectangular shape 322. The cylinder is oriented so that the axis of the cylinder is parallel to the widest dimension of the duct. The height of the cylinder is about 110% of the wider dimension of the duct. The cylinder diameter is at least 110% of the narrower dimension of the duct, but can be as much as 200%. When inflated, the bladder accepts only enough air to fill the air duct.
All installation and assembly work is done in the room where the air vent is located. The air grill is removed and an air tube 32 is pulled from the air vent to the plenum 15. The air tube is secured to the mounting strap 401 and the proper size and shape bladder 30 is secured to the mounting strap. The inside surface 410 of the air vent or air duct is prepared by smoothing, cutting, or covering sharp edges and screws. In many cases, no preparation is required. This surface is chosen so it is close enough to the front of the air vent to provide convenient access for any surface preparation work. The mounting strap is inserted into the air vent and the mounting strap is bent and position so the inflated bladder meets the surface 410. The mounting strap is then secured to the inside of the air vent by one or two sheet metal screws. The air grill is then reinstalled. After installation, the bladder is hidden by the air grill, and there are no visible signs of installation. The installation requires no other modification to the air duct, air vent, or air grill, and no other access to the air duct is required.
The servo carriage has a bearing post 710 and a bearing plate 711 that support the two valve bearings 712. The valve bearings are press fit into holes molded in the bearing post and bearing plate. The valve threaded rod 713 is a standard #8 sized screw with 32 threads per inch. The ends of the valve threaded rod are machined to fit the valve bearings so the rod can rotate with minimum friction and constrained so it can not move in any other way. The valve drive spur gear 714 is approximately 1″ in diameter and is fastened to the end of the valve threaded rod.
The valve motor 720 is mounted on the bearing plate 711 by two screws 721 (one screw 721 is hidden by spur gear 714) that pass through the bearing plate into the end of the motor. The valve motor spur gear 722 is approximately 3/16″ in diameter and is fastened to the shaft of the valve motor. The valve motor is positioned so that the valve motor spur gear engages the valve drive spur gear. The valve motor operates on 5 volts DC using approximately 0.3 A. It rotates CW or CCW depending on the direction of current flow. The control processor 60 has an interface circuit that enables it to drive the valve motor CW or CCW at full power. The control is binary on or off. The valve motor, valve motor spur gear, and valve drive spur gear are chosen so that the valve threaded rod rotates approximately 1000 RPM when the valve motor is driven.
The servo slider 730 has a slider threaded bearing 731 that engages the valve threaded rod 713. The servo slider is supported by the valve threaded rod and is constrained by the threaded rod in all directions except rotation about the axis of the threaded rod. The servo slider passes through the slider slot 732 in the servo carriage. The slider slot constrains the servo slider so that as the valve threaded rod rotates, the servo slider can only move parallel to the axis of the slot and the axis of the valve threaded rod. The fit between the servo slider and the slider slot is loose to minimize friction as the slider moves.
The bearing post 710 and bearing plate 711 also support the valve PCB (printed circuit board) 740. The valve PCB connects to a 6-conductor flat flexible cable 706 that connects to the interface circuit of the control processor 60. Two wires from the valve motor connect to PCB 740 and to two conductors in the flexible cable. The valve PCB supports the A-photo-interrupter 741 and the B-photo-interrupter 742. The photo-interrupters are positioned so that A-slider tab 743 and B-slider tab 744 on the servo slider 730 pass through the photo-interrupters as the servo slider is moved by the valve motor and valve threaded rod. The photo-interrupters generate binary digital signals that encode three positions of the of the servo slider. These digital signals are connected to the control processor through the flexible cable and are used by the control processor when driving the valve motor to position the servo slider.
When the control processor begins operation, the position of the valve servo is unknown, and must be initialized. The valve servo is initialized first by testing the signals from the A- and B-photo-interrupters. If both are uninterrupted, then the valve servo is in the center position 800 and properly initialized. Any other combination of signals from the photo-interrupters represents one of two possible positions.
If both photo-interrupters are interrupted, then either the A-slider tab 743 or the B-slider tab 744 is interrupting the light paths. For this case, the servo slider is driven towards the B-position 801 until the B-photo-interrupter becomes uninterrupted. The servo slider either is in the B-position or is just right of the center position. After a pause for the valve motor to come to a stop, the servo slider is driven towards the B-position again. If the A-photo-interrupter becomes uninterrupted within a short time, the servo slider is in the center position, and the valve servo is initialized. If the A-photo-interrupter remains interrupted, then the servo slider is jammed in the B-position and must be driven towards the A-position until both photo-interrupters are uninterrupted.
If initially only the A-photo-interrupter is interrupted, then the servo slider either is in the B-position 801 or is slightly right of the center position. The servo slider is driven towards the B-position and if the A-photo-interrupter becomes uninterrupted within a short time, the servo slider is in the center position, and the valve servo is initialized. If the A-photo-interrupter remains interrupted, then the servo slider is jammed in the B-position and must be driven towards the A-position until both photo-interrupters are uninterrupted.
If initially only the B-photo-interrupter is interrupted, then the servo slider either is in the A-position 802 or is slightly left of the center position. The servo slider is driven towards the A-position and if the B-photo-interrupter becomes uninterrupted within a short time, the servo slider is in the center position, and the valve servo is initialized. If the B-photo-interrupter remains interrupted, then the servo slider is jammed in the A-position and must be driven towards the B-position until both photo-interrupters are uninterrupted.
Motor bracket 902 is attached to the valve block using screws. The motor bracket has molded spacers in line with the screw holes so that when attached, the motor bracket is perpendicular to the valve blocks and spaced so that the servo slider can be positioned over the air valve closest to the motor bracket. Likewise bearing bracket 903 is attached to the valve blocks using screws 921. The bearing bracket has molded spacers in line with the screw holes so that when attached, the bearing bracket is perpendicular to the valve blocks and spaced so that the servo slider can be positioned over the air valve closest to the bearing bracket. The bearing bracket has a cutout at the bottom center so that the pressure air tube 51 and the vacuum air tube 52 can be attached to the air-feed tee 603. The combination of the motor bracket, bearing bracket, and valve bank 601 and 602 connected together with screws form a rigid structure that is mounted as a single unit.
The position motor operates on 5 volts DC using approximately 0.5 A. It rotates CW or CCW depending on the direction of current flow. The control processor 60 has an interface circuit that enables it to drive the position motor CW or CCW at full power. The control is binary on or off. The EOT (end of travel) photo-interrupter 930 is mounted on the bearing bracket 903 so that the carriage guide 705 interrupts the light path when the valve servo is positioned over the valve slide 510 closest to the bearing bracket. The binary digital signal from the EOT photo-interrupter is interfaced to control processor 60. The rotation photo-interrupter 931 is mounted on the bearing bracket 903 and is positioned so that the rotation cam 907 interrupts the light path about 50% of the time as the position threaded rod rotates. For ½ of a rotation, the light path is interrupted and is uninterrupted for the other part of a rotation. The binary digital signal from the rotation photo-interrupter is interfaced to the control processor.
When the control processor begins operation, the position of the valve servo carriage is unknown and must be initialized. If the EOT photo-interrupter is uninterrupted, the position servo is driven to move the valve servo carriage towards the bearing bracket until the EOT photo-interrupter's light path is interrupted by the carriage guide. The EOT photo-interrupter is positioned so that when the position motor stops, the servo slider 730 is positioned over the valve slide closest to the bearing bracket. If the EOT photo-interrupter is initially interrupted, the exact position of the valve servo carriage is not known. Therefore, the position servo is driven to move the valve servo away from the bearing bracket until the EOT photo-interrupter is uninterrupted. Then the position servo is driven to move the valve servo towards the bearing bracket until the EOT photo-interrupter is interrupted, just as if the EOT photo-interrupter was initially uninterrupted.
After the valve and position servos are initially positioned, the control processor can set the air valves by controlling the position and valve motors. Beginning with the air valve closest to the bearing bracket, the control processor moves the servo slider to either the A-position or the B-position to set the valve slider to the pressure position or the vacuum position. Then the servo slider is returned to the center position. Then the position servo is driven to move the valve servo so it is positioned over the second air valve. The position threaded rod has 16 threads per inch and the valve slides are spaced ¼″ center to center. Therefore, four revolutions of the threaded rod move the valve servo a distance equal to the distance between adjacent valve slides. The control processor monitors the rotation photo-interrupter 931 while the position threaded rod rotates, counting the number of transitions from interrupted to uninterrupted. After four such transitions, the position motor is stopped. Then the valve servo is drive to set the next valve, and after returning to the center position, the position motor drives the position threaded rod for four more revolutions. This cycle is repeated until all 24 valves are set. The preferred embodiment of the servo controlled valves requires less then one minute to set the positions of all 24 air valves.
After twenty-four air valves are set, the valve servo is positioned over the air valve closest to the motor bracket. The next time the valves are set, the position servo moves the valve servo toward the bearing bracket. The valve servo position is re-initialized by using the EOT photo-interrupter to set the position for the air valve closest to the bearing bracket. This ensures any errors in counting rotations are corrected every other cycle of setting air valves.
The pump PCB (printed circuit board) 1001 and the 5V DC power supply 1002 are fastened to the enclosure base 50A. The pump PCB has a standard optically isolated triac circuit that uses a 5V binary signal from the control processor 60 to control the 110V AC power to the air pump. The pump PCB also has terminals to connect the 110V AC power cord 54, the AC supply to 5V power supply 1003, the 5V power from the supply 1004, and the controlled AC supply to the air pump 1005. The 3-conductor power and control cable 55 connects to the pump PCB by connector 1006.
The pressure and vacuum produced by the air pump are unregulated. A pair of diaphragm relief valves 1000 made from injected molded plastic are use to limit the pressure and vacuum to about 1 psi. The relief valves are connected to the air pump by flexible air tubes 1007 to provide noise isolation. The relief valves connect to the pressure air tube 51 and the vacuum air tube 52.
Referring to
The LCD (liquid crystal display) 1200 of the wireless thermometer is comprised of several display areas. The temperature display 1203 shows the current temperature in degrees Fahrenheit at the thermometer. The thermometer has a “Warm” push button 1204, a “Cool” push button 1205, and a “N/S” push button 1207 that are used to enter control commands that are transmitted to the control processor 60 where the commands are executed. The actual behavior of the commands is determined by parameters set in the control processor.
One set of commands specifies temporary temperature changes in the room controlled by the thermometer. The local temperature can be increased or decreased by discrete amounts. The preferred embodiment provides two levels of “warmer” (+2 and +4 degrees) and two levels of “cooler” (−2 and −4 degrees). The display area 1206 displays none or only one of the commands “Warm”, “Warmer”, “Cool”, “Cooler”. The commands are selected by pushing the button 1204 or 1205. When no commands are active, all elements of display 1206 are turned off. Pushing the “Warm” button causes the “Warm” element of display 1206 to turn on. Pushing the “Warm” button a second time causes the “Warmer” element to turn on and the “Warm” element to turn off. Additional pushes of 1204 are ignored. When no commands are active, pushing the “Cool” button causes the “Cool” element of display 1206 to turn on. Pushing the “Cool” button a second time causes the “Cooler” element to turn on and the “Cool” element to turn off. Additional pushes of 1205 are ignored. When the “Warmer” display element is turned on, pushing the “Cool” button causes the “Warm” element to turn on and the “Warmer” element to turn off. A second push causes the “Warm” element to turn off so all elements are off. A third push turns on the “Cool” element. Likewise, when the “Cooler” element is on, each push of the “Warm” button causes the display 1206 to sequence through “Cool”, none on, “Warm”, and “Warmer”.
When a temperature command is entered, the thermometer sends the command to the control processor, and the control processor controls the HVAC equipment to cause the temperature change. The thermometer stores the temperature when the command was entered. When the requested change in temperature is achieved, the thermometer turns off the display 1206 and the command is cancelled. The temperature command is temporary to compensate for unusual comfort conditions. When the change is achieved, the room is allowed to return to the temperature specified in its temperature schedule.
A second command entered from the thermometer changes the complete temperature schedule program for the room, a group of rooms, or the whole house. The PDA 80 is used to specify the temperature schedule programs and to associate a “Normal” temperature schedule program and a “Special” temperature schedule program to each thermometer. By default, the “Normal” and “Special” programs are the same, so the change schedule command has no effect. A change schedule command is entered by pressing the “N/S” 1207 push button, which toggles the display area 1208 so that either “Normal” or “Special” is on. For example, if “Normal” is on, pushing the “N/S” push button turns on “Special” and turns off “Normal”. Each additional push toggles the display. The selection is fixed until the “N/S” button is pushed again. For example, this command could be programmed to switch the entire house between a normal set of temperature schedules to a vacation schedule that used a minimum of energy. The “N/S” button is pushed once when leaving on vacation to set the “Special” mode, then pressed after returning to select the normal temperature schedules. Only one thermometer need be programmed for this behavior. Other thermometers can be programmed to switch schedules that affect only their assigned room.
All of the thermometers transmit on the same radio channel at 433 MHz using 100% AM modulation to send binary data. Full signal strength represents a binary “one” and the absence of a signal represents a binary “zero”. Self-clocking, phase-shift Manchester coding is used to send the data message bit-serially. A “one”-“zero” sequence represents a data bit value of “1” and a “zero”-“one” sequence represents a data bit value of “0”. A data packet is composed of a fixed pattern of “one”s and “zero”s followed by 32-bits of encoded data followed by a repeat of the same fixed pattern and the same 32-bits of encoded data. A complete packet requires about 0.3 seconds to transmit. If a radio signal of comparable strength at the same frequency is present when the packet is transmitted, errors will occur because the other signal will mask the “zero” value, which is the absence of a radio signal. Sending the 32-bit data twice in the packet provides robust error detection. After decoding, the receiver compares the two 32-bit values, and if they are not identical, the packet is discarded.
While the 32-bit data remains constant, the thermometer transmits packets at an average rate of one packet per 120 seconds. When the 32-bit data changes, the thermometer transmits at an average rate of one packet per 15 seconds for three minutes. After the 32-bit data is stable for 3 minutes, the average rate is reduced to one packet per 120 seconds. Each thermometer transmits an average of 0.3/120˜0.25% of the time when the data is unchanged and 0.3/15˜2% of the time for 3 minutes after the data has changed. Although the average time between transmissions is 15 seconds or 120 seconds, each thermometer uses a different pseudorandom process to determine the specific time between successive transmissions. This “randomizes” the transmissions to ensure an equal probability for each thermometer that the shared radio channel is clear when it transmits a packet. With 20 thermometers sharing the same radio channel about 80%–90% of the packets are received without errors. The transmission range in a house is about 100 feet, so systems in adjacent houses may interfere, but thermometers in houses further away will not interfere. Even with 80 thermometers sharing the same radio channel, sufficient packets are received error free to enable the present invention to operate. If necessary, other channels in the 433 MHz band can be used to enable more thermometers to operate in the same area.
The receiver must be placed so that data packets from all thermometers are received reliably. The radio receiver measures the signal strength of each received packet and encodes a measure of the signal strength as an 8-bit value. The receiver module has an analog output 1316 that is amplified by a standard op-amp 1320. In the preferred embodiment, the op-amp is an LM358 manufactured by National Semiconductor, Santa Clara Calif. The ratio 13R2/13R1 of resistors 13R1 and 13R2 is selected so that the peak-to peak output 1321 of the op-amp is about ½ full scale (2.5V) for a signal of acceptable strength. When the digital output 1322 from the microprocessor is “1” (5V), the resistors 13R3 and 13R4 bias the op-amp so its output is about ⅔ full scale (3.3V). Diode 13D1 in combination with resistor 13R5 and capacitor 13C1 form a peak detector and filter for the signal 1321. The 13R5*13C1 time constant is about 100 microseconds. The peak detector is connected to input 1325 of the microprocessor. Input 1325 has a threshold voltage of about 2 volts, so the microprocessor reads “1” if the voltage is above 2 volts and reads “0” if the voltage is below 2 volts. The microprocessor sets output 1322 to “1” (5V) when receiving packets and the input 1325 follows the peak signal. Since the output of the op-amp is biased above the threshold of the 1325 input, the microprocessor will always read “1” while receiving data. When the microprocessor receives a valid 32-bit message, the output 1322 is set to “0” (0V). This causes the op-amp output to be 0V and the peak detector discharges towards 0V with a time constant of 13R5*13C1. The microprocessor digitally encodes the peak signal strength by measuring the time it takes for the digital input 1325 to cross the threshold so the microprocessor reads “0”.
The present invention retains the existing thermostat for back up control. The multi-wire existing thermostat connection 73 is cut and both ends are spliced to wires that connect to the interface 1400. The corresponding existing HVAC controller wires are connected to terminals 14T1 for “Heat”, 14T2 for “Blower”, 14T3 for “Cool”, 14T4 for “Auxiliary”, and 14T5 for common AC supply from the HVAC controller. Likewise, the corresponding existing thermostat wires are connected to terminals 14T11 for “Heat”, 14T12 for “Blower”, 14T13 for “Cool”, 14T14 for “Auxiliary”, and 14T15 for common AC supply from the HVAC controller. Four output signals 1410, 1411, 1412, and 1413 from the control processor 60 connect through identical solid-state switches 1401, 1402, 1403, and 1404 and through switch 1405 to the corresponding terminals connected to the existing HVAC controller. Switch 1405 is a four-pole, double-throw slide switch shown in the position that connects the control processor to the existing HVAC controller. When switch 1405 is in the other position, the existing thermostat is connected to the existing HVAC controller.
Each solid-state switch 1401 through 1404 is comprised of an optoisolator triac driver 1420 connected to the control gate of triac 1421. One power terminal of the triac is connected to the common supply 14T5 from the existing HVAC controller. The other power terminal of the triac is connected to a control signal such as “Heat” 14T1 of the existing HVAC controller. The optoisolator is connected to the common supply by resistor 14R2 to provide the reference voltage for the triac gate signal. The triac is protected from high voltage spikes by the bypass path through resistor 14R3 and capacitor 14C1. The control signal 1410 from the control processor 60 connects to the input of optoisolator triac driver 1420. Resistor 14R1 limits the current used by the optoisolator when driving the triac. When the control signal is “1” (5V), no current flows through 14R1, the triac is off, and the HVAC equipment is off. When the control signal is “0” (0V), current flows through 14R1 and the optoisolator, the triac, and the HVAC equipment are on.
The serial data bus 1510 connects to a timekeeper circuit 1511 comprised of an integrated circuit timekeeper, a 32 kHz crystal, and a watch battery. In the preferred embodiment, the integrated circuit is part number DS1302 manufactured by Dallas Semiconductor, Dallas, Tex. (now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.). The timekeeper circuit operates continuously, independent of the main processor, using a dedicated crystal and backup battery when the main processor is not powered. The timekeeper computes the current time of day with one-second resolution, the day of the week (1–7), the month (1–12), the day of the month (1–31), and the year (00–99), properly accounting for leap years. The main processor can set or read the time and date at any time using the serial data bus.
The serial data bus 1510 connects to a multi-channel 12-bit resolution ADC (analog-to-digital converter) 1512. The ADC encodes the analog signal from the plenum temperature sensor 61 and the analog signal from plenum pressure sensor 62. In the preferred embodiment, the ADC is an TSC2003 manufactured by Texas Instruments, the temperature sensor is an LM135 manufactured by STMicroelectronics, Carlton, Tex., and the pressure sensor is an MPXM2010 manufactured by Motorola, Austin, Tex. The pressure sensor output signal is amplified by a factor of 100 using a conventional op-amp circuit before conversion by the ACD. The main processor uses the serial bus to command the ADC to encode the pressure sensor or the temperature sensor. After a delay for the ADC to encode the signal, the main processor reads the encoded value using the serial bus.
The main processor has a plurality of programmable digital input and output signals used to control and monitor the components of the present invention. The valve motor 720 and position motor 910 are controlled by the four servo control signals 1521, 1522, 1523, and 1524. The photo-interrupters 741, 742, 930, and 931 are monitored by the servo position sensing signals 1525, 1526, 1527, and 1528. The servo interface 1560 has drivers for the valve and position motors and circuits to condition the signals from the photo-interrupters. The air pump 1020 is controlled by the air pump control signal 1529 and connected to the air pump by the power and control connection 55. The HVAC equipment “Heat” 1410, “Blower” 1411, “Cool”1412, and “Auxiliary”1413 are controlled by the HVAC control signals 1530, 1531, 1532, and 1533 that are connected to the HVAC interface circuit 1400. The radio receiver 71 is connected to the radio receiver signal 1534 by the radio connection 72. The IrDA send signal 1535 is connected to IrDA link 81 by link connection 82. The IrDA link 81 is connected by link connection 82 to the IrDA receive signal 1536. The alert receive signal 1537 and alert send signal 1538 are also connected to IrDA link 81 by link connection 82.
The preferred embodiment has provisions to control residential houses that have two or more independent HVAC systems. The remote receive signal 1539 and the remote send signal 1540 are connected by remote connection 1550 to a remote processor that controls the remote HVAC equipment, the servo controlled air valves, and measures the plenum temperature and pressure in the remote HVAC system. The remote system does not have a radio receiver 71 or an IrDA link 81.
During the installation process, the main processor communicates using the RS232 serial connection 1551 with a laptop computer used to configure and calibrate the system. The connection 1551 connects to the RS232 receive signal 1541 and the RS232 send signal 1542. The RS232 interface can also be used during operation to monitor system behavior or provide remote communications and control via a telephone modem or Internet connection.
Circuit 1620 includes the photo-interrupter 930 that is connected to the main processor signal 1525. Resistor 16R8 limits the current through the light emitting diode connected to 5V. Resistor 16R7 provides the load for the phototransistor so that when the light path is uninterrupted, the phototransistor conducts and the signal 1525 is “1”. When the light path is interrupted, the phototransistor does not conduct, and signal 1525 is “0”. The circuits 1630, 1650, and 1660 for photo-interrupters 931, 741, and 742 are identical to 1620 and function in the same way to produce signals 1526, 1527, and 1528.
The main enclosure base 1701 has a cutout sized and positioned to provide clearance for the valve header 504 on the valve block 601 and valve block 602. The servo controlled air valve 40 as shown in
The main enclosure top 1710 fits to the base 1701 to form a complete enclosure. Vent slots 1711 in the main enclosure top provide ventilation. A cutout 1712 in the main enclosure top matches the location of switch 1405 on PCB 1700 so that when the main enclosure top is in position, the switch 1405 can be manually switched to either position.
To install the present invention, a hole 1720 approximately 16″×16″ is cut in the side of the conditioned air plenum 15. The hole provides access for the process used to pull the air tubes 32 and to provide access when attaching the air tubes. The material removed to form the hole is made into a cover 1730 for the hole by attaching framing straps 1722, 1723, 1724, and 1725 to 1730. The framing straps are made from 20-gauge sheet metal approximately 2″ wide. The mounting straps have mounting holes 1726 approximately every 4″ and ¼″ from each edge and have a thin layer of gasket material 1727 attached to one side. The straps are cut to length from a continuous roll, bent flat, and attached to the hole-material using sheet metal screws 1728 through the holes along the inside edge of the framing straps so that the framing straps extend approximately 1″ beyond all edges of the hole-material. For clarity, only the screws used with framing strap 1722 are shown.
A rectangular hole is cut in the cover 1730 and is sized and positioned to match the cutouts in the bottom of the main enclosure base 1701 that provide clearance for the air valve headers and clearance for the pressure and temperature sensors and the link connection. The main enclosure base is fastened to the cover. After all connections from inside the plenum are made, the cover is attached to plenum using sheet metal screws through the holes along the outer edge of the framing straps. The gasket material on the mounting straps seals the mounting straps to the plenum and the cover 1730. When a bypass 90 is installed, it is often convenient to connect the bypass duct to the conditioned air plenum 15 through a hole 1731 in the cover 1730.
The alert send 1538 signal is connected to input 1811 of the microprocessor 1810. In the preferred embodiment, the microprocessor is a PIC12C508 manufactured by Microchip Technology Inc., Chandler Ariz. The microprocessor output 1812 is connected to a piezo audio transducer 1820. Microprocessor output 1813 drives the base of transistor 18TR1 through resistor 18R4 so that the transistor conducts when output 1813 is “1”, causing LED (light emitting diode) 1821 to emit light. Current flow through the LED and transistor 18TR1 is limited by resistor 18R3. When pushed, the reset push button switch 1814 connects “0” (ground) to microprocessor input 1815. The microprocessor output 1819 is connected to the alert receive signal 1537 by the IrDA link connection 82.
5V power from the control processor is decoupled by capacitor 18C2 and connected to the microprocessor power input 1816 through isolation diode 18D1. The 3V backup battery 1817 is connected to the microprocessor power input 1816 through isolation diode 18D2. Normally the microprocessor is powered by 5V from the control processor, and diode 18D2 isolates the power input 1816 from the battery. When power is not supplied by the control processor, the battery is isolated from the control processor power supply by diode 18D1 and the battery supplies power the to microprocessor. The microprocessor can operate using voltages between 2.5V and 5V. The 5V power from the control processor is connected to microprocessor input 1818 so the microprocessor can sense when the control processor is not supplying power.
The microprocessor is programmed to perform the alert functions specified by 8-bit commands from the control processor. The program can generate an audible tone of various frequencies by periodically inverting the logic level of output 1812 connected to the audio transducer 1820. Likewise, the LED can be flashed at various rates by periodically inverting the logic level of output 1813. Different combinations of tones and LED flashes are used to form different alerts. For example, a “Major Alert” is a continuously changing tone and a fast LED flashing, a “Minor Alert” is a single tone turned on and off for one second periods and a slow flashing LED, and a “Progress Alert” is a sequence of three tones and a single LED flash. An alert command from the control processor is sent as an 8-bit byte using a standard UART bit-serial protocol at 1200 bits per second. The microprocessor 1810 receives and decodes the command byte, and executes its program to generate the appropriate alert. A “Major Alert” is used to signal a major problem that needs immediate attention such as a non-functioning furnace. A “Minor Alert” is used to signal a minor problem such as a low battery indication from a thermometer. A “Progress Alert” is used to signal completion of a task such as establishing communications with the PDA 80.
The microprocessor is programmed to perform a “watch dog” function to ensure the control processor is functioning properly. One alert command is called the “I'mOK” command. The control processor must send this command to the microprocessor at least every minute. If the microprocessor does not regularly receive the “I'mOK” command, the microprocessor generates the “Major Alert”. Likewise, if the control processor does not supply power, the microprocessor generates the “Major Alert”. The occupant can turn off any alert by pushing the reset button 1814 connected to input 1815. The microprocessor sets the output signal 1819 to “1” when the reset button is pushed. This signals the control processor by signal 1537 that the occupant has acknowledged the alert. The control processor can send an alert command to reset the output 1819 to logic level “0”.
The present invention includes an interface program executed by the PDA 80 that is used to specify the temperature schedules applied to each room. The interface program can have many variations and operate on a variety of processors such as a standard PC or processor-display screen device designed specifically for the present invention. Likewise, the processor that executes the interface program can communicate with the control processor by a variety of wireless or wired methods. The described interface program is intended to be an example and not restrictive.
The interface program does not affect any other operation of the PDA, so the PDA can be used for other purposes. The PDA display screen is touch-sensitive and a stylus is tapped on the screen or moved on the screen to make selections and enter data. Selections are indicating by an inverted display that shows white areas as black and black areas as white. An object is selected when its display is inverted. The interface program follows the same protocols as other PDA programs so someone familiar with the PDA finds the interface program intuitive and easy to use. The standard PDA home menu is used to select the interface program.
An “Add” selection 2006 and a “Del” selection 2007 is displayed on the same line and following “12:00 am” 2002, and on the same line and following each time 2004. Selecting “Add” causes all of the lines of the temperature display below the “Add” selection to be moved down by two lines. Then a new comfort-climate 2005 is added to first line below the “Add” selection, and a new time 2004 is added to the second line below the selected “Add” selection. This sequence of operations adds a complete new period to the 24-hour schedule. When the temperature schedule has more than five periods, the “Midnight” display 2003 is replaced with “More” and the first five periods are displayed. Selecting the “More” selection 2003 causes the last 5 periods to be displayed, the display 2003 to display “Midnight”, and the display 2002 to display “More”. Selecting the “More” selection 2002 causes the first 5 periods to be displayed. Selecting a “Del” selection 2007 deletes the period immediately below the selection, removing two lines from the temperature schedule display. The portions of the temperature schedule beginning three lines below the “Del” selection and ending with “Midnight” 2003 are moved up by two lines.
Selecting any of the times 2004 causes the “Enter Time” popup menu 2010 to appear. The numerical portions of the selected time 2004 are displayed by digits 2011, 2012, and 2013. Digit 2011 is displayed selected when the popup menu first appears. One and only one of these three digits can be selected at any time. Display 2014 has selections for digits “0”, “1”, . . . “12”. Selecting one of these digits causes the selected digit 2011, 2012, or 2013 to be replaced by the digit selected in display 2014. When a digit 2011, 2012, or 2013 is replaced, the following digit 2012, 2013, or 2011 is automatically selected so that sequential selections in display 2014 sequentially enter the digits to specify the time. For digit 2011, the “0” selection cannot be made because it would specify an invalid time. For digit 2012, selections “6”, “7”, . . . “12” cannot be made. For digit 2013, selections “10”, “11”, and “12” cannot be made. Display 2015 has four selections “am”, “Noon”, “pm”, and “Midn”. One and only one of these can be selected at any time. The selections “am” and “pm” are combined with the numerical portion to complete the time selection. The “Noon” selection causes the time display 2004 to display “Noon” and the “Midn” selection causes the time display 2004 to display “Midnight”. Selections on the “Enter Time” popup can be made in any order. Selecting “Return” 2017 causes the “Enter Time” popup to disappear and the newly selected time to be displayed in the selected time display 2004. Selecting “Cancel” 2016 causes the “Enter Time” popup to disappear and the selected time 2004 is unchanged.
Associated with the temperature schedule are a “CPY” selection 2018 and a “PST” selection 2019. Selecting “CPY” causes the displayed temperature schedule to be copied to memory for storage. Selecting “PST” causes the temperature schedule copied by the “CPY” selection to replace the currently displayed temperature schedule.
A “TS Program” is the set of temperature schedules by each room in the house on each day of the week. For example if a house has 15 rooms, then 7*15=105 temperature schedules comprise a full TS Program for that house. For most residential houses, the temperature schedule is the same for many rooms and many days of the week, so there are typically only a few different schedules. The extreme example is a single temperature schedule for all rooms and for all days. If the temperature schedule has a single 24-hour period, then the TS Program specifies that every room is conditioned to the same temperature all of the time. The 7-Day display 2020 and the Group-room display 2030 are used to display and to select the days and rooms that use the same temperature schedule.
The 7-Day display 2020 has selections “Wk”, “SUN”, “MON”, . . . , “SAT” corresponding to the entire week (“Wk”) and the days of the week Sunday, Monday, . . . , Saturday. The display has two modes: a “select-mode” and an “edit-mode”. The “Sel Edit” selection 2021 displays the current mode so that “Sel Edit” indicates select-mode and “Sel Edit” indicates the edit-mode where a bold character corresponds to an inverted display. Selecting “Sel Edit” causes the mode to change to “Sel Edit” so that select-mode becomes edit-mode. Selecting “Sel Edit” causes the mode to change to “Sel Edit” so that edit-mode becomes select-mode. When the 7-Day display is in the select-mode, all days that use the displayed temperature schedule are displayed as selected. When any unselected day is selected, the temperature schedule for that day is displayed and all of the other days that use that same schedule are displayed as selected. For example, suppose the TS Program used one set of temperature schedules for weekdays and another set for weekend days. 7-Day display 2020 shows “SUN” and “SAT” selected, so the temperature schedule is used for weekend days. Selecting any of “MON” through “FRI” causes the display 2022 to display “MON” through “FRI” as selected and the weekend days as unselected. The weekday temperature schedule is displayed. When in the edit-mode, the 7-Day display is used to select the days that should use the displayed temperature schedule. Selecting a day changes the selection of that day. If the day is selected, it becomes unselected, if unselected it becomes selected. The temperature schedule does not change when day selections are made in the edit-mode.
The Group-room display 2030 selects groups and rooms. Its function is similar to the 7-Day display. The Group-room display has a “select-mode” and an “edit-mode” controlled by the “Sel Edit” selection 2021. The 7-Day display and Group-room display are either both in edit-mode or both in select-mode. The Group-room display 2030 displays all of the groups and rooms that use different temperature schedules. When in the select-mode, all of the groups and rooms that use the displayed temperature schedule are displayed as selected. Selecting any unselected group or room selects the temperature schedule used by that group or room and all of the groups and rooms that use that temperature schedule are displayed as selected. The displayed temperature schedule is uniquely identified by the 7-Day display 2020 day selections and the Group-room display 2030 group and room selections.
The PDA interface program automatically includes in the Group-room display 2030 all of the groups and rooms needed to represent the entire TS Program. If a room is part of a group and does not have a separate set of temperature schedules, then the room is not displayed. It is represented by its group. Typically, most of the rooms are grouped so a typical Group-room display has 3–5 groups and 2–5 rooms that use different temperature schedules.
When a room that belongs to a group uses different temperature schedules, it is displayed below its group, indented, and marked with a “>” symbol. Display 2032 displays the group “Living Area” with one of its member rooms “Kitchen”. When “Living Area” is selected, the temperature schedule used by all of the rooms in the “Living Area” except “Kitchen” is displayed. When “>Kitchen” is selected as in display 2033, the temperature schedule used by “Kitchen” is displayed.
When in the edit-mode, the Group-room display is used to select the groups and rooms that should use the displayed temperature schedule. Selecting a group or room only changes the selection of that group or room. If it is selected, it becomes unselected, and if unselected it becomes selected. The temperature schedule does not change when a group or a room is selected or deselected when in edit-mode.
After editing a temperature schedule, selecting the “SAVE” selection 2040 saves the displayed temperature scheduled and assigns it to all of the selected groups and rooms in the Group-room display 2030 for all of the selected days in the 7-Day display 2020. The other temperature schedules and assignments in the TS Program are not affected. Selecting the “CANCEL” selection 2041 discards all of the changes made to the temperature schedule since the last “SAVE” or “CANCEL” selection. Changes made using any of popup menus are not affected. Any change made to the temperature schedule causes the 7-Day and Group-room displays to go to edit-mode. Selecting “SAVE” or “CANCEL” causes the 7-Day and Group-room displays to go to select-mode.
It is sometimes desirable to have all of the temperature schedules used by a group or room during the seven days of the week be assigned to other groups or rooms. When in the edit-mode, selecting the “Wk” selection in display 2020 causes all of the temperature schedules used by the selected group or room to be treated as a single 7-day temperature schedule. The temperature schedule display 2001 is replaced by display 2050. Each temperature schedule is represented by a rectangle outlined by a dotted line. Display 2051 represents each day of the week using the first letter of that day. The row of seven temperature schedules used by the selected group or room is displayed as selected. Display 2052 displays the 7-day temperature schedule used by the “Master Suite” as selected. The Group-room display 2030 displays as selected all of the groups and rooms that use that identical 7-day temperature schedule. Display 2050 displays as selected only the one group or room originally selected, while display 2030 displays as selected all groups and rooms that use that 7-day temperature schedule. Any group or room in the Group-room display 2030 can then be selected or deselected. The group or room that was originally selected to specify the 7-day temperature schedule can be deselected. Selecting the “Save” selection 2040 causes the 7-day temperature schedule to be assigned to the groups and rooms selected, causes the mode to become select-mode, and causes display 2050 to be replaced by the normal temperature schedule display 2001. The 7-Day display 2020 displays “Wk” as unselected and “SUN” as selected. Other days that use the displayed temperature schedule are displayed as selected. When in edit-mode, selecting the “CPY” selection 2018 causes the 7-day temperature schedule used by the selected group or room to be copied to memory. Selecting “CPY” does not change the edit-mode or any of the displays. When in edit-mode, selecting the “PST” selection 2019 causes the previously copied 7-day temperature schedule to be assigned to all of the groups and rooms selected in the Group-room display 2030. If a single temperature schedule was previously copied, then that temperature schedule is assigned to all days of the 7-day temperature schedule. When in edit-mode, selecting the “PST” selection 2019 causes the mode to become select-mode and causes display 2050 to be replaced by the normal temperature schedule display 2001. The 7-Day display 2020 displays “Wk” as unselected and “SUN” as selected. Other days that use the displayed temperature are displayed as selected. When in edit-mode, selecting the “CANCEL” selection 2041 discards all changes, causes the mode to become select-mode, and causes display 2050 to be replaced by the normal temperature schedule display 2001.
Likewise, it is sometimes desirable to have all of the temperature schedules used by all of the groups and rooms for one day of the week be assigned to other days of the week. When in the edit-mode, selecting the “Entire House” selection in display 2030 causes all of the temperature schedules used during the selected day to be treated as a single entire-house temperature schedule. The temperature schedule display 2001 is replaced by display 2050. The column of temperature schedules associated with the selected day of the week is displayed as selected. The 7-Day display 2020 displays as selected all of the days that have an identical entire-house temperature schedule. Display 2050 displays as selected only the one day originally selected, while display 2020 displays as selected all days that use the same entire-house temperature schedule. Any day in the 7-Day display 2020 can then be selected or deselected. The day that was originally selected to specify the entire-house temperature schedule can be deselected. Selecting the “Save” selection 2040 causes the entire-house temperature schedule to be assigned to the days selected in the 7-Day display 2020, causes the mode to become select-mode, and causes display 2050 to be replaced by the normal temperature schedule display 2001. The Group-room display 2030 displays “Entire House” as unselected and the first group or room as selected. Other groups or rooms that use the displayed temperature schedule are displayed as selected. While in edit-mode, selecting the “CPY” selection 2018 causes the selected entire-house temperature schedule to be copied to memory. Selecting “CPY” does not change the edit-mode or any of the displays. While in edit-mode, selecting the “PST” selection 2019 causes the previously copied entire-house temperature schedule to be assigned to all of the days selected in the 7-Day display 2020. If a single temperature schedule was previously copied, then that temperature schedule is assigned to all temperature schedules in the entire-house temperature schedule. A copied 7-day temperature schedule cannot be assigned as an entire-house temperature schedule and a copied entire-house temperature schedule cannot be assigned as a 7-day temperature schedule. When in edit-mode, selecting the “PST” selection 2019 also causes the mode to become select-mode and causes display 2050 to be replaced by the normal temperature schedule display 2001. The Group-room display 2030 displays “Entire House” as unselected and the first group or room as selected. Other groups or rooms that use the displayed temperature schedule are displayed as selected. When in edit-mode, selecting the “CANCEL” selection 2041 discards all changes, causes the mode to become select-mode, and causes display 2050 to be replaced by the normal temperature schedule display 2001.
Selecting the “G/Rms” selection 2035 causes the “Edit Menu” popup menu 2200 to appear, shown in
Selecting the “TS Program” selection 2042 causes the “TS Program” popup menu 2220 to appear as shown in
Selecting the “INFO” selection 2043 causes the “Information” popup menu 2300 to appear as shown in
Selecting the “SYNC” selection 2044 causes the PDA 80 to attempt to establish an IrDA communications link with the control processor 60 and exchange information. The control processor sends data about HVAC configurations and activity, and maintenance needs to the PDA. The PDA sends all of the current TS Program information. The control processor maintains the master copy of the TS Programs and the information to initialize and adapt the PDA interface program to the house. Several different PDAs can be used in the same home, and the same PDA can be used in different houses, provided the proper password is used. The control processor generates a unique identification for each data exchange to manage merging changes from multiple PDAs using different versions of the data.
Each Comfort-Climate has an “Edit” selection 2102 that when selected, causes the “Edit Comfort-Climate” popup menu 2110 to appear. The “Cool When Above This Temperature” display 2113 displays the maximum temperature for the Comfort-Climate. Each selection of the up arrow 2111 causes the temperature display 2113 to increase by one. Each selection of the down arrow 2112 causes the temperature display to decrease by one. Selecting the temperature display 2113 causes the “Enter Temperature” popup menu 2130 to appear. The first digit of the temperature display 2131 is displayed as selected. The digit keyboard display 2133 has ten digit selections “0”, “1”, . . . “9”. The digit 2131 is set by selecting a digit in display 2133. After the first digit is selected, the second digit display 2132 is selected. Digit 2132 is set by selecting a digit in display 2133. Selecting the “Return” button 2135 causes the popup menu 2130 to disappear and the entered temperature is displayed in display 2113. Selecting the “Cancel” button 2134 discards any changes and causes the popup menu 2130 to disappear.
The “Heat When Below This Temperature” display 2116 displays the minimum temperature for the Comfort-Climate. The temperature is set using the same process used to set the temperature display 2113. Selecting the up arrow 2114 increases the temperature, selecting down arrow 2115 to decreases the temperature, and selecting the temperature display 2116 causes the “Enter Temperature” popup menu 2130 to appear.
When not heating or cooling, the present invention can equalize temperatures by using the blower 12 to force unconditioned air to the warmer and cooler rooms. The temperatures are equalized as the return air mixes. The “Air Circulation” display 2117 provides three options to control circulation: “Off”, “Mid”, and “High”. Circulation is turned off when “Off” is selected. The “Mid” selection turns on circulation when the temperature is more than four degrees above the heat-when-below-temperature or four degrees below the cool-when-above-temperature. The “High” selection turns on circulation when the temperature is more than two degrees above the heat-when-below-temperature or two degrees below the cool-when-above-temperature.
The present invention controls the noise produced by the HVAC blower by controlling the plenum pressure, and thus the air velocity through air vents and grills. The “Quiet as Possible” display 2118 has selections “Yes” and “No”. When “Yes” is selected, the minimum plenum pressure is used when the comfort zone is in effect. For example, the Comfort-Climate used during sleep times in bedrooms may select “Yes” option. When “No” is selected, the maximum plenum pressure may be used.
The name display 2120 displays the name of the Comfort-Climate. When the name display 2120 is selected, the “Enter Name” popup menu 2140 appears with the name displayed in display 2141. The name can be edited of entered using the standard PDA “graffiti” strokes. Selecting the “Clear” selection 2142 clears the display 2141 so a new name can be entered. Selecting the “keyboard” selection 2143 causes the PDA keyboard popup menu 2150 to appear and the name (if any) from display 2141 to be displayed in display 2151. The name is edited or entered by selecting letters from the display area 2152. Selecting the “Done” selection 2153 causes the keyboard popup menu to disappear and the entered name to be displayed in the name display 2141. Selecting the “Cancel” selection 2145 cause any changes to be ignored, the “Enter Name” popup menu to disappear, and the name display 2120 is not clanged. When the name display 2141 displays the desired name, selecting the “Return” selection 2144 causes the name popup menu to disappear and the new name to be displayed in the name display 2120.
Selecting the “Cancel” selection 2122 causes any changes to be discarded and the “Edit Comfort-Climate” popup menu 2110 to disappear. Nothing in display 2100 is changed. Selecting the “Return” selection 2121 saves the changes and causes the popup menu 2110 to disappear. Selecting the “Delete” selection 2123 removes the Comfort-Climate from the display 2100 and the popup menu 2110 to disappear. A popup warning message appears if the deleted Comfort-Climate is used in any TS Program and a substitute Comfort-Climate must be selected before the delete is allowed.
Selecting the “New” selection 2170 in popup menu 2100 creates a new Comfort-Climate. The “New Comfort-Climate” popup menu 2160 appears with selections copied from the Comfort-Climate that was displayed when “New” was selected. The name display 2161 is initialized to “No Name”. The popup menu 2160 is the same as 2110 except for the title and the initialization of the name display 2161. Selecting selection “Return” 2162 causes the popup menu 2160 to disappear and the new Comfort-Climate to be displayed in 2101. The heat-when-below-temperature and the cool-when-above-temperatures are displayed with the Comfort-Climate name. Selecting selection “Cancel” 2163 aborts the creation of the new Comfort Climate and causes the popup menu 2160 to disappear and no changes to be made to 2101.
Selecting the “Cancel” selection 2171 causes the popup menu 2100 to disappear and all changes to be discarded. This includes adding, editing, and deleting any of the Comfort-Climates. Selecting the “Return” selection 2172 causes the popup menu 2100 to disappear and all changes to be saved.
Selecting the “New Item” selection 2202 causes the “Edit Group/Room” popup menu 2210 to appear with “No Name” displayed in the name display 2212. None of the rooms in the display 2211 is displayed as selected. Selecting a room causes its name to appear in the name display 2212. Selecting the “Return” selection 2215 causes the popup menu 2210 to disappear and the selected room to be added to the display 2201 and the Group-room display 2030. If two or more rooms are selected, a new group is created and given the default name “New Group” displayed in 2212. If the name “New Group” is already in use, a number is added to make the name unique: “New Group 2”, . . . etc. Selecting the name display 2212 causes the “Enter Name” popup menu 2140 to appear and the group name can be edited.
Selecting the “Cancel” selection 2203 causes all of the changes to be discarded and the “Edit Menu” popup menu 2200 to disappear. The Group-room display 2030 is unchanged. Selecting the “Return” selection 2204 causes the display 2201 to be copied to the Group-room display and the “Edit Menu” popup to disappear.
TS Programs of type “Part Prog” and “Schedule” can overwrite portions of another TS Program. The “TS Program” popup menu 2220 displays a “Paste” selection 2223 for each TS Program of type “Part Prog” and “Schedule”. Selecting a “Paste” selection 2223 causes the selected TS Program to overwrite portions of the TS Program being edited and causes the popup menu 2220 to disappear. For type “Part Prog” TS Programs, only the temperature schedules for the specified rooms and days associated with the “Part Prog” are overwritten. For type “Schedule” TS Programs, only the currently displayed temperature schedule is overwritten. Selecting “Paste” 2223 does not change the TS Program name displayed in TS Program display 2042.
Selecting the “New Prog” selection 2225 creates a new TS program. The “Edit Program” popup menu 2230 appears and the name display 2231 displays “New TS Program”. Selecting the name display 2231 causes the “Enter Name” popup menu 2140 to appear and the default TS Program name can be edited. Display area 2232 has selections to specify the program type. One and only one of the three “Yes” selections can be made. Selecting the “Yes” selection associated with “Save as Schedule” sets the program type to “Schedule”. Selecting the “Yes” selection associated with “Save as Full Program” sets the program type to “Full Prog”. No information is needed from the 7-Day display or Group-room display. A type “Part Prog” TS Program has any combination of individual 7-day temperature schedules and/or entire-house temperature schedules. The current selections in the 7-Day display 2020 and the Group-room display 2030 specify the 7-day and entire-house temperature schedules to save. Each group or room selected in the Group-room display 2030 causes its 7-day temperature schedule to be saved in the TS Program. Each day selected in the 7-Day display causes its entire-house temperature schedule to be saved in the TS Program. If no day is selected in display 2020, the temperature schedule display 2001 is displayed as blank, and only 7-day temperature schedules are saved. If no groups or rooms are selected, the temperature schedule display 2001 is displayed as blank, and only entire-house temperature schedules are saved. Selecting the “Return” selection 2235 creates the TS Program as specified by the various selections and the popup menu 2230 disappears. The display 2222 displays the newly created TS Program. Selecting the “Cancel” selection 2234 discards any changes and the popup menu 2230 disappears. No changes are made to the display 2222.
“Modify Program” selection 2224 is used to modify existing TS Programs. The <Normal> TS Program cannot be modified. The TS Program displayed by display 2042 is modified by selecting the display 2042, which causes the “TS Program” popup menu 2220 to appear. Selecting the “Modify Program” selection 2224 causes the “Edit Program” popup menu 2230 to appear. Selecting the “Delete” selection 2233 deletes the TS Program from memory, removes the TS Program from the display 2222, sets display 2042 to “<Normal>”, and causes the popup 2230 to disappear. The program type and the program name can be changed by making selections in the same way as described in the preceding for creating a new TS Program. Selecting the “Cancel” selection 2234 discards all changes and the popup menu 2230 disappears. Selecting the “Return” selection 2235 saves the changes and causes the popup 2230 to disappear.
A TS Program can be associated with a set of dates. The TS Program is only used for the specific dates associated with that TS program. Display 2229 shows a TS Program associated with the dates “13–19 Jan”. The TS Program is known by the dates and has no other name. Selecting the “New Date” selection causes the “Edit Date” popup menu 2240 to appear. Selecting the “Modify Program” selection 2224 also causes the “Edit Date” popup menu 2240 to appear if the TS Program displayed in display 2042 is associated with a set of dates. The date display 2241 displays an alphanumeric abbreviation of the currently selected dates. The month-year display 2242 displays the selected month and year of the monthly calendar display 2248. Each selection of the right arrow 2243 causes the calendar to advance by one month. Each selection of the left arrow 2244 causes the calendar to go back one month. Each selection of the down arrow 2245 causes the calendar to advance by 7 days. The calendar then spans two months and the display 2248 displays the days of both months. Each selection of the up arrow 2246 causes the calendar to go back 7 days. Display 2247 displays the abbreviations for the days of the week. Any combination of dates can be selected in the monthly calendar display 2248. The stylus can be dragged across the calendar to select consecutive dates. The date display 2241 is changed as dates are selected and deselected. Display 2249 provides selections “Save as Partial Program” and “Save as Full Program” to select the TS Program type. (A “Schedule” type program cannot be associated with a date.) These TS Program type selections function as described in the proceeding for creating new TS Programs.
Selecting the “Delete” selection 2250 deletes the TS Program from memory, removes it from the display 2222, causes the display 2042 to display “<Normal”>, and causes the popup 2240 to disappear. Selecting the “Cancel” selection 2251 discards all changes and the popup menu 2240 disappears. Selecting the “Return” selection 2252 saves the changes and causes the popup 2240 to disappear. The new or modified TS Program is displayed in display 2222.
A data structure in common memory is associated with each thermometer.
After initialization, the program executes an infinite loop with major branching controlled by state variable STATE that can have one of the following values: IDLE, HEAT, COOL, or CIRCULATE. The loop begins with common routines 2410 that are executed every pass through the loop. Examples of common routines are reading the timekeeper 1511, processing data from the thermometer radio receiver 71, processing the temperature schedules from the PDA 80 to set the heat when below temperatures (zone[i].HtoTemp) and cool when above temperatures (zone[i].CtoTemp) for all rooms, and recoding data for energy use analysis. After the common routines are executed, the state specific routines are executed.
When STATE=IDLE, all of the HVAC equipment 12, 13, and 14 is off and the air pump 50 is off. The temperatures are processed by 2411 to determine if heating, cooling, or circulation is needed. If not, STATE is unchanged and the loop is started again. If heating or cooling is needed, a thermal model is used to determine the optimal DURATION (in seconds) of the conditioning cycle. If circulation is needed, DURATION is set to 300 seconds, a reasonable time for most houses. The air valves are set so that the airflow goes only to the rooms needing conditioning or circulation. An airflow model is used to predict the plenum pressure with and without bypass 90 enabled. For some circumstances in some installations, it may be necessary to enable airflow to rooms that do not need conditioning so there is enough airflow to keep the plenum pressure below its maximum. STATE is set to HEAT, COOL, or CIRCULATE, and a secondary state variable STATE2 is set to zero.
The airflow model to predict plenum pressure that is used in the preferred embodiment is: plenum pressure=k0/(sum(if on(ki))) where k0 is a global scale factor an ki is a calibrated factor that represents the relative airflow capacity of the ith air vent. “if on(ki))” means that if the air vent is enable for airflow, the value is ki, and if the airflow is disabled, the value is 0. If the system has an airflow bypass, the bypass is treated as though it was an air vent.
The values for k are calibrated during the installation process. The plenum pressure while blower 12 is running is measured for each of a number of different combinations of enabled air vents. If there are n k's to determine, about 4n different combinations are used, selected so that each air vent is enabled about the same name number of times over the 4n measurements. Then a standard iterative numerical process is used to find the set of values for the k's that produce plenum pressure predictions that best match the set of measured values. The value of k0 is different when heating and cooling. This is calibrated by measuring the plenum pressure when heating and when cooling with a fixed set of air vents enabled, and then scaling the respective values of k0 so the predicted plenum pressure matches the measured values. After calibration, the predicted plenum pressure is typically accurate within +/−5% of the measured plenum pressure.
The calibrated ki's are closely related to the airflow capacity of each air vent. Therefore, when any combination of air vents are enabled, the portion of the total airflow going through the jth air vent is kj/(sum(if on(ki))). This is closely related to the portion of the energy used to condition the room associated with the jth air vent during a cycle of HVAC conditioning. Accumulating these portions for 24-hours for each air vent and for each HVAC cycle, and scaling by the total time of the HVAC cycles produces an accurate daily estimate of the percentage of energy used to condition each room.
The position motor and the valve motor are driven by routine 2412 to set all of the air valves to their proper pressure or vacuum position. This takes less than a minute. The common processing 2410 is not done while setting the air valves, but interrupts are enabled and processed between the times when the motors are driven. After the air valves are set, a control variable START_TIME is set to the current time read from the timekeeper 1511, the air pump 50 is turned on. STATE is tested by 2420, and if equal to HEAT, the heat routine 2413 is executed. STATE is tested by 2421, and if equal to COOL, the cool routine 2414 is executed. STATE is tested by 2422, and if equal to CIRCULATE, the circulate routine 2415 is executed. STATE is set to IDLE by routine 2416. This should never happen, but it ensures the loop continues if an error occurs.
When bypass 90 is enabled, the plenum temperature many become too hot when heating or too cold when air conditioning. Routine 2604 uses the plenum temperature sensor 61 to measure the plenum temperature. In the heat routine 2413, when the plenum temperature exceeds the maximum, the furnace (or other heat source) 13 is turned off while blower 12 remains on. Circulation continues so that the plenum temperature decreases. After the plenum cools sufficiently, the heat is turned on. In the cool routine 2414, when the plenum temperature is less than the minimum, the air conditioner (or other cooling source) 14 is turned off while blower 12 remains on. Circulation continues so that the plenum temperature increases. After the plenum warms sufficiently, the cooling is turned on.
When the current time is more than START_TIME+DURATION, the HVAC equipment is turned off and STATE2 is set to 2. When STATE2=2, the routine 2607 is executed. For the circulate routine 2415, the plenum temperature and pressure checks are not used, so STATE is set to IDLE and the blower is turned off. For the heat routine 2413, circulation is continued until the plenum temperature is close to normal room temperature to ensure that most of the heat is transferred to the rooms. Then the blower is turned off and the plenum pressure monitored until it becomes zero. This ensures that the furnace controller is not continuing to run the blower. When the plenum pressure is zero, STATE is set to IDLE. For the cool routine 2414, circulation is continued until the plenum temperature is close to normal room temperature to ensure that most of the cooling is transferred to the rooms. Then the blower is turned off and the plenum pressure monitored until it becomes zero. This ensures that the cooling controller is not continuing to run the blower. When the plenum pressure is zero, STATE is set to IDLE.
The Active TS Program 2700 “Name Index” specifies the currently active TS program.
The TS Programs 2702 data structure is identified by its “Name Index”. Any number of TS Programs can have the same “Name Index”. All TS Programs with their “Name Index” equal to the Active TS Program “Name Index” are processed. “Rooms” is a 32-bit binary number that specifies the rooms that use this TS Program. The first bit corresponds to the room assigned to the first instance of the zones data structure shown in
The TS Program has a “Temperature Schedule Index” for each day of the 7-day cycle. The “Temperature Schedule Index” specifies an instance in the array of Temperatures Schedules 2705 data structures. Each Temperature Schedule has eight pairs of “Time” and “Comfort-Climate Index” values. The first pair specifies the Comfort-Climate in use from 12:00 am until the first “Time”. The second pair specifies the comfort zone in use from the first “Time” until the second “Time” and so on.
The “Comfort-Climate Index” specifies an instance in the array of Comfort-Climate 2703 data structures. Each Comfort-Climate data structure has values corresponding to parameters that can be specified for the Comfort-Climates using the “Edit Comfort-Climate” popup menu 2110 shown in
The Special Dates 2704 data structure specifies a range of dates when the normal Active TS Program is replaced by a different TS Program. The “TS Program Name Index” identifies the TS Program for the special dates. The other six parameters specify the start date and the end date for the special TS Program as a day, month, and year. These correspond directly the dates read from the timekeeper 1511.
The data structures shown in
After the final “Temp Sch Index” is assigned for each room, the corresponding Temperature Schedules data structures 2705 are processed for each room to fine the “Comfort Zone Index” that is active for the present time. The corresponding “Comfort Zone” data structure 2703 for each room is used to set the heat to temperature, cool to temperature, and other parameters for the room.
The present invention is designed for easy installation in existing residential houses. Only access to the air vents and the central HVAC plenum 15 are required. All required installation processes are known to those skilled in the art of HVAC installation with the exception of pulling the air tubes 32 through the air ducts. The present invention includes a novel process for pulling the air tubes trough the air ducts. The description of the process refers to the views shown in
1. Referring to
2. Referring to
3. Referring to
4. A perspective view of an inflated parachute 2810 is shown in
5. Referring to
6. Referring to
7. Referring to
8. If the parachute snags, it can be freed by pulling the string back and forth. This temporarily collapses the parachute so that turbulence in the airflow helps find another path for the parachute.
9. Referring to
10. Referring to
11. Referring to
12. Referring to
13. Referring to
14. Process steps 5 through 13 are repeated for each of the remaining air vents, in order of furthest to nearest to the plenum 15.
15. After all of the air tubes are pulled, the flexible duct and seal are removed from the conditioned air plenum.
This process typically requires 5 to 15 minutes per air tube. If obstructions in an air duct block the parachute, then other conventional and more time consuming methods are used. After the air tubes are pulled, the installation can proceed using standard techniques.
From the forgoing description, it will be apparent that there has been provided an improved forced-air zone climate control system for existing residential houses. Variation and modification of the described system will undoubtedly suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the forgoing description should be taken as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
This application is a divisional of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/249,198 filed Mar. 21, 2003 entitled “An Improved Forced-Air Zone Climate Control System for Existing Residential House” by this inventor, and claims benefit of its priority date.
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| 4178840 | Caknis | Dec 1979 | A |
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| 5167366 | Desmarais et al. | Dec 1992 | A |
| 5169121 | Blanco et al. | Dec 1992 | A |
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| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 4-214134 | Aug 1992 | JP |
| 10-25825 | Jan 1998 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050116055 A1 | Jun 2005 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10249198 | Mar 2003 | US |
| Child | 11028845 | US |
