Automatic temperature and humidity regulation – Distance-adjusted
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-30
2001-05-29
Wayner, William (Department: 3744)
Automatic temperature and humidity regulation
Distance-adjusted
C236S00100H, C165S236000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237854
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a system for automatically shutting off air conditioning to a room when a window or door leading to an uncooled area is opened, in order to conserve energy.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
In recent years increased interest and efforts have been exerted in order to avoid waste of energy both for cooling and heating of homes and buildings. It has been noted that a case of energy waste obtains when a heated or cooled room is thrown open to the environment, e.g. by opening windows or doors without turning off the source of heating and cooling.
This applies to both residential and even more to public buildings where considerable amounts of energy can be wasted by carelessly throwing open large windows and doors in large rooms without turning off the heating or cooling supply for that room.
A body of prior art addressing this problem has been uncovered by applicant. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,735 relates to a remote ultrasonic sending device for air conditioners, which discloses a remote sending device controlled by opening or closing of a window by means of a window actuator connected to an ultrasonic transmitter using one or more tuning forks to control a motor switch to activate or deactivate a blower motor of an air-conditioning system for a given area. This arrangement has the drawbacks that very large or noisy rooms may create interference with a system which is based on acoustic signaling, and that acoustic signals may be obstructed by curtains, walls, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,831 provides a system wherein the environmental temperature in an area is controlled by the detection of the presence or absence of personnel in a room. A microphone detects sounds in the room and actuates a control circuit to establish a set point for a temperature system which supplies heating and cooling to the room. The presence of people in the room is accompanied by sounds which are detected by the microphone to set the set point at an appropriate temperature to provide a comfortable environment. The absence of sound permits a new set point to be used to reduce the energy consumption of the heating or cooling system. A time delay circuit is optionally incorporated to eliminate undesirable cycling.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,100 shows a system wherein voice commands of two types are recognized by an air conditioner; a first command to jump to a different air delivery temperature, after which a gradual automatic return to the previously set temperature occurs, or a second command which will stop the automatic return at some arbitrary temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,796 shows a system which includes a simple apparatus for turning off a heating or air conditioning unit when a door or window is opened. Switches activated by the opening of doors or windows control the operation of a heater or air conditioner through a relay system that doubles as a burglar alarm when an alarm circuit is activated.
None of the prior art known to applicant provides features shown by applicant, namely a system which is readily suitable for large as well as small buildings, and has a high degree of safety against an unwanted operation caused by acoustic or other kinds of interference.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided a temperature-controlled system for at least one temperature controlled space having at least one closeable opening leading to a non-temperature controlled space, a closing element having an open or closed state filling the opening, and an open/closed sensor connected with said closing element for indicating an open/closed state of the closing element; heating-cooling supply means in the temperature controlled space for supplying heating-cooling thereto; temperature controlling means in the temperature controlled space in operative engagement with the heating-cooling supply means, for controlling the heating-cooling supply therein, and an operative connection from the open/closed sensor to the temperature controlling means for stopping supply of heating/cooling when the closing element is open, and wherein the operative connection includes a radio frequency transmitter coupled to the open/closed sensor, and a radio frequency receiver tuned to the radio frequency transmitter in operative engagement with the temperature controlling means.
According to a further feature, there is provided a system wherein the operative connection includes a metallic pair of wires.
According to still another feature, the open/closed sensor includes a magnet attached to the closing element and a ferro-magnetic reed relay fixedly disposed proximal to the magnet when the closing element is in closed condition, and wherein further the open/closed sensor includes a code generator for generating a space code identifying the temperature controlled space in response to opening of the closing element.
According to an additional feature the system includes a space code receiver coupled to the temperature controlling means being uniquely responsive to the space code for stopping the supply of heating/cooling only when the particular space code is received, and wherein further, the system includes a plurality of temperature controlled spaces, each plurality forming a temperature controlled zone of temperature controlled spaces, wherein the space code is common to all of the temperature controlled spaces forming temperature controlled space zone, and wherein further the temperature controlling means includes a thermostat having a manual input for manually controlling the temperature in the temperature controlled space, the thermostat having an overriding disabling input connected to the open/closed sensor for overridingly stopping supply of heating/cooling in response to the closing element being opened.
According to another feature of the invention there is provided a system wherein the reed relay includes a counter-biasing magnet proximal to the reed relay for maintaining the reed relay in open condition when the closing element is in closed condition, and wherein further the radio-frequency transmitter includes a power input, e.g. a battery for providing operating power for the transmitter, and a battery-saving input to the transmitter wherein the battery is connected to the power input via the reed relay, and further including a delay circuit for supplying a delayed start signal for the transmitter, and wherein additionally a plurality of transmitters are commonly connected to a battery, and wherein the transmitter includes a manually operable code switch for inserting a space code into the transmitter.
According to again another feature, the transmitter includes a universal synchronous-asynchronous receive-transmit circuit for generating an asynchronous transmit code, a common monitor radio receiver tuned to the transmitter, and a code display for displaying a zone code for an active transmitter.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment, shown schematically in the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3443121 (1969-05-01), Weisbrod
patent: 3729735 (1973-04-01), Dageford
patent: 4035796 (1977-07-01), Hedly et al.
patent: 4223831 (1980-09-01), Szarka
patent: 4232819 (1980-11-01), Bost
patent: 4338511 (1982-07-01), Six
patent: 4493100 (1985-01-01), Moriyama et al.
patent: 4863099 (1989-09-01), King et al.
patent: 4948045 (1990-08-01), Romano
patent: 5341988 (1994-08-01), Rein et al.
patent: 5385297 (1995-01-01), Rein et al.
patent: 5390206 (1995-02-01), Rein et al.
patent: 5476221 (1995-12-01), Seymour
Oltman Flynn & Kubler
Wayner William
LandOfFree
Air conditioning automatic shut-off system does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Air conditioning automatic shut-off system, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Air conditioning automatic shut-off system will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2502960