AU2007201327A1 - Air conditioning alert system - Google Patents

Description

P001 Section 29 Regulation 3.2(2)

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: Air conditioning alert system The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: AIR CONDITIONING ALERT SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to air conditioning, heating and cooling system and control systems for controlling temperature and air flow from an air conditioning unit to a plurality of zones. This invention particularly relates to domestic installations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION With particular reference to the Australian domestic air conditioning market, ducted air conditioning systems generally allow users to select which zones or rooms are switched on at any one time. In most cases the selection of the air conditioning unit to service the residence is made in consultation with an air conditioning consultant who should have discussed the needs of the user.

It will be appreciated that in most situations it is unlikely that all individual zones of an installation need to be switched on at the same time. For example, during the middle of the day it may not be necessary to have the bedroom zones switched on. Similarly during the middle of the night it is unlikely that there will be any necessity to have a kitchen zone switched on. A consultant will usually therefore consider which zones of the house are likely to be switched on at any one time and recommend an air conditioning unit which is capable of servicing what would be considered to be a usual demand. For example, it may be that the combination of the kitchen, living, family and general living areas exceeds the total area of the bedrooms. Further it may be that for this residence the user considers that they will either have the living areas switched on or one or more of the bedrooms switched on, and that it is unlikely that they would have both the living areas and the bedrooms switched on at the same time. In this arrangement the consultant would usually select an air conditioning unit that was of sufficient capacity that it could service the living areas of the house. Therefore in such a situation it will be appreciated that the air conditioning unit would not be rated to service all zones of the house at the one time.

In some situations the user may also select an air conditioning unit with a smaller capacity in order to save the initial capital costs of the unit.

When air conditioning units are installed at a property, and the units are not rated to be able to service the total area of the property with all zones turned 0 on, then it is usual for the installer to advise the user that they can only turn on a maximum of x zones at any one time. For example, in a house divided in to seven separate zones, the user could be advised that they would only be able to turn on a maximum of three zones at any one time.

Smaller capacity units are usually selected as to install an air conditioning unit that was capable of servicing an entire residence, would usually be expensive and result in a more inefficient system than is required. That is the unit would not be utilised to its potential.

N Whilst a building can be divided up in to any number of zones, it is very S 10 unlikely that each of these zones will be of equal size. For example, it would be C expected that a lounge or family room would be larger than a bedroom or study.

Therefore, whilst a user is advised as to how many zones they can have on at any one time for optimum performance, this is not necessarily a accurate number, and it is possible that a greater number of smaller zones could be turned on at any one time.

Whilst the user may be advised at installation as to how many zones can be switched on at any one time, it is not uncommon for a user to either forget this instruction, or simply to ignore the instruction. Similarly when a residence is sold it is unlikely that the new owners will be aware of how many zones can be switched on at any one time. This can lead to users regularly switching on more zones than the air conditioning unit is rated for. At times, during moderate weather this effective "over demand" on the air conditioning unit may not be overly severe and the user may be satisfied with the end result. However, at extremes in temperature conditions, or during extended periods of either high or low temperatures, it is likely that the air conditioning system will struggle to achieve the temperatures required by the user if all zones are on. The common reaction of many users when faced with such a situation is to make a service call seeking to address a fault even though a fault does not actually exist. Whilst service personnel could advise the user that the system is only rated for a certain number of zones, the service call is largely unnecessary and a waste of resources.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of admission that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect the present invention provides a control system for an air conditioning system, the air conditioning system servicing a plurality of zones, i wherein the control system monitors which zones are active, and if the active Szones exceed the capabilities of the air conditioning system then an alert is i signalled.

0 10 In a further aspect the present invention provides a control system for an i air conditioning system, wherein the control system in response to user demands operates dampers to control the flow of air into user selected zones wherein the control system calculates total area of the user selected zones and compares said total area with a predetermined capacity area, wherein the capacity area is the area an air conditioning unit of the air conditioning system is rated to service, and if the total area exceeds the capacity area an alert is signalled.

The alert could take numerous forms, including an LED, a message on an alphanumeric display, and/or an audible sound.

Depending on the implementation the system could be configured such that if an alert is signalled, the system either immediately, or after a predetermined time period when no action is taken by a user, either progressively shuts of zones in a predetermined or random order, or alternatively adjusts the set point temperature set by the user so as to reduce the demands on the air conditioning unit.

In these arrangements the zones could be set to various priorities meaning that either certain zones are not switched off in preference to others, or alternatively that the set point temperatures of only certain zones are affected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It will be convenient to further describe the present invention with respect to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the possible arrangements of the invention. Other arrangements of the invention are possible, and consequently the particularity of the accompanying drawings is not to be understood as superseding the generality of the preceding description of the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates an overall system diagram to implement the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a possible arrangement of a control system in monitoring zones.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown a possible system diagram. It will be noted that the system illustrated in Figure 1 is envisaged to utilise wireless transmissions. It will of course be appreciated that the present invention is equally applicable to wired solutions.

The master control unit 2 controls the operation of the air conditioning unit and/or zone temperature controls. Effectively the control unit controls the temperature and/or flow of air from the air conditioning unit to the respective zones. Depending on the implementation the communication with the master control unit 2 can be either by hard wire, radio frequency, or some other communication medium. The zone motors 3, are able to control the air dampers for each zone so as to ensure the correct amount of air is delivered so as to maintain the required set point temperature. These air dampers 3 are controlled by the master control unit 2, and generally it would be expected to have one motor for each zone. The system will generally include at least one sensor 5 in each of the zones for which the temperature is to be controlled. The sensor 5 is used to sense the average temperature within the zone, and this temperature is then communicated back to the master control unit 2. In the example of Figure 1, such signals are transmitted by a wireless means, although based on present technology this is more likely to be wired.

The present invention should also include a user control panel 4 which is connected to the master control unit 2. This control panel 4, amongst other duties should allow the user to select which zones of the installation are to be activated at any one time. The control panel 4 may also include a master set temperature control, or alternatively, the master control unit 2 may receive signals from individual rooms as to what temperature the user wishes the room to be set at. In response to the instructions entered by the user by the user control panel 4, the master control unit 2 will adjust the zone motors 3 for each zone, so as to ensure the temperature sensed by sensor 5 meets that of the temperature selected by the user.

The user control panel 4 may also include a display which allows error conditions to be advised to the user. In the present invention this display may allow a user to immediately see that excess zones are activated. In a more complex arrangement, the system could actually communicate to the user that the area of the zones has been exceeded.

As a result of seeing the area warning message the user could then either adjust the set point temperatures, or more preferably switch off one of the zones so as to allow the air conditioning unit to run at optimum.

Some systems may also be configured to take action if an alert signal is made. Depending on the installation, the system may progressively switch off zones or adjust the set point temperatures. Whilst adjusting the set point temperatures does not necessarily address the excess zone condition, it does reduce the demands on the air conditioning unit. In either case, the system may be configured such that various zones take priority over others. In this way, if five zones are switched on for a system which is only rated for three zones, then the two zones having the lowest priority could be switched off.

Referring now to Figure 2 an actual process is exemplified. When a user activates an air conditioning system, and starts 10 various zones, the master control unit 2 will calculate the active area 11 of the zones selected by the user.

During or before installation, it is necessary for the system to be pre-programmed with the actual area each zone covers. In this way the system will be able to actively calculate how much area the zones which are activated cover.

The system also needs to be pre-programmed with what capacity or maximum area the air conditioning unit can handle. The master control unit 2 will compare the active area calculated to be required with this predetermined maximum area 12. If the active area does not exceed the maximum area then the system will check to ensure that the warning screen does not include an alert.

If an alert is shown, then the screen will be cleared 16 and the system then moves on to any other functions it is required to handle. If the warning screen is not active then again the system simply moves on to cater for other responsibilities. It will be appreciated that in some implementations it may not be necessary to check whether the warning screen is active If the system does detect that the active area is greater than the maximum area 12, then a suitable alert is displayed 13. This display could take the form of an alert LED, a numerical error code, or more preferably a textual message advising the user that excess zones or excess area are switched on for the optimum rating of the air conditioning unit. This display then allows the user to either take corrective action by decreasing the number of zones, or adjusting the set point temperatures, or ignore the warning.

In some systems it may be preferred to enable the system to take corrective action 14 itself should an alert be signalled. This corrective action could either be configured to operate immediately, or after a predetermined time interval when no corrective action is taken by user. As noted above, this corrective action could take the form of amendments to the user input set point temperatures so as to reduce the demands on the air conditioning unit.

Alternatively the system could be configured so as to progressively switch off zones to reduce the demands on the system.

The present invention therefore provides a system to allow a user to be advised when the capacity of their air conditioning unit is exceeded. It therefore allows a user to take corrective action and should result in less unnecessary service calls being made by a user. It also ensures that when a property is sold a new owner will also be aware as to when the capacity of the air conditioning unit is being exceeded.

Claims (4)

1. A control system for an air conditioning system, said air conditioning system servicing a plurality of zones, wherein said control system monitors which said zones are active, and if the active zones exceed the capabilities of said air conditioning system then an alert is signalled.

2. A control system for an air conditioning system; said control system in response to user demands operates dampers to control the flow of air into user selected zones; wherein said control system calculates a total area of said user selected zones and compares said total area with a predetermined capacity area; wherein said capacity area is the area an air conditioning unit of said air conditioning system is rated to service, and if said total area exceeds said capacity area an alert is signalled.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said alert is a LED, a message on an alphanumeric display, and/or an audible sound.

4. A system as claimed in any preceding claim wherein if an alert is signalled, said system progressively shuts of zones in a predetermined or random order. A system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein if an alert is signalled, said system progressively adjusts a set point temperature set by the user. ADVANTAGE AIR (AUST) PTY LTD WATERMARK PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS