Heat exchange – With timer – programmer – time delay – or condition responsive... – Means to heat or cool for predetermined periods of time
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-22
2003-12-16
Wayner, William (Department: 3744)
Heat exchange
With timer, programmer, time delay, or condition responsive...
Means to heat or cool for predetermined periods of time
C236S04600F
Reexamination Certificate
active
06662866
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to conservation of electrical energy for heating and cooling structural enclosures by use of a switch system that overrides conventional thermostatic controls to optimize on-and-off cycling and levels of current in relationship to temperature and power requirements of electrical heating and cooling mechanisms.
Use of power cycling to conserve energy consumed by electrical heating and cooling mechanisms is well known, but not with a conservation switch system that overrides conventional thermostatic controls to optimize on-and-off cycling and levels of current use in relationship to temperature and power requirements in a manner taught by this invention.
Conventional thermostatic control of on-and-off switching of electrical heating and cooling mechanisms requires mechanism structure for overheating above desired temperature settings for heating and overcooling below desired temperature settings for cooling. Between the overheating for heating and the overcooling for cooling, there are mechanism-off periods for mechanism rest while temperatures inside of heated and cooled structural enclosures fluctuate in oscillation cycles correspondingly. As a result, oscillational operation of the mechanisms controlled by conventional thermostats results in an undue use of power.
The present invention can eliminate the undue use of power, thus conserving electrical energy.
Although prior devices exist which might conserve energy, none accomplishes that task in a manner or as well as the present invention. An energy management control system for programmed cycle control to diminish this rate of use of power is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,585, issued to Carney, et al. on Apr. 9, 1985. Carney, et al. is limited, however, to predetermined computer controls that are not application specific in a manner taught by this invention.
Examples of other known related but different energy management systems are described in the following patent documents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,491 issued to Berkeley, et al. on Oct. 6, 1998 discloses a method and device for conserving energy during peak loads by reducing fuel consumption. U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,758, issued to Takegawa, et al. on Oct. 21, 1997, describes a device for controlling a heating and cooling system by maintaining a temperature at a rate not detectable to occupants and saves energy at the same time through control of compressor run times. U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,252, issued to Walker, et al. on Jun. 27, 1995, described a computer system for adjusting power requirements of heating and cooling mechanisms to power available in power lines due to brownouts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,217, issued to Mortensen, et al. on Oct. 27, 1992, described a brownout protection and reset device which uses a microprocessor to delay resumption of operations for a preset time interval after a brownout. U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,968, issued to Grald on May 26, 1992, described a method and apparatus for controlling a heating and cooling system that uses a temperature error based on an on/off signal of a thermostat to control cycle time. U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,862, issued to Bhattacharya on Apr. 4. 1989, described a control valve for a gas heating system which includes thermostatic switching hardware. U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,705, issued to Levine, et al. on Apr. 4, 1989, described a thermostatic control device that uses a duty cycle basis in which ambient and desired temperatures are compared to arrive at an adjustment of run time so the thermostat does not have to be constantly adjusted to maintain a comfortable temperature. U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,279, issued to Harmon, Jr. on Apr. 7, 1987, described a system of controlling heating and cooling of a building with use of a thermostat with drift ramping and hold time to save energy.
The device of the present invention realizes much of its savings from the inherent over sizing built into most HVAC&R systems. The equipment of such systems is typically sized according to the amount of conditioned area needed, desired temperature, load factors, interior and exterior architecture, exposures and regional climate. The regional temperature data used is of an extreme nature, the hottest or coldest climate conditions which can be experienced in the region annually for a thirty day period. With this in mind, it is a known factor that the equipment runs at peak load for a very brief period to handle such load demands.
The logic of the present invention takes advantage of the latter design criteria by cycling the temperature generating unit off and on in a programmed optimization schedule. The latter control attempts to satisfy the heating or cooling demand with less cumulative run time on the respective conditioning plant. The goal is to eliminate the superheating and cooling which widely occurs in commercial and residential environments.
The present device accomplishes its mission by constant polling the control line(s) for calls for running the temperature generating unit. This communication will state how long a call has been present, how long the equipment has run, and when it becomes satisfied or does not. With the information gathered internal decisions are made regarding run time adjustments. Demand levels may dictate adjustments to the program, increases dictating longer runs while decreases dictate shorter runs. The end result is to reduce consumption of electric, gas and oil driven equipment which the device is addressing.
Other advantages of utilizing the present device in addition to the energy saving benefits are realized in maintenance and safety areas. The unit prohibits short cycling of any compressor-driven cooling plant. The unit incorporates a delay feature which disallows any potentially damaging quick restart. The compressor will not start until four minutes have passed since the last call was completed.
The present device also addresses the inability of the equipment involved to reach a temperature satisfaction point. An automatic override in the present device allows the equipment to run without interruption, if after a preset time, for example forty minutes, the desired setting has not been reached. This feature eliminates the possibility of discomfort appearing due to a cycling schedule. The unit will attempt to save energy only while a window of opportunity exists. Saving energy with the sacrifice of personal, customer or goods temperature tolerances and comfort is not an option.
Also, the present device provides an internal diagnostic feature which will, in case of failure, remove the device from the circuit and return complete control to the original control means, such as a thermostat. Additionally the device has the ability to be taken out of line with a mechanical switch located on the device itself, this fail-safe is not voltage dependent and will complete the circuit under any circumstances.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Objects of patentable novelty and utility taught by this invention are to provide an energy-conservation moderating system which:
displaces conventional thermostatic single-cycle on-and-off switching of heating and cooling mechanisms with plural-cycle short-time on-and-off switching between temperature-band on-call extremes and temperature-band means of temperature-band fluctuation selectively;
operates the heating and cooling mechanisms in response to application-specific temperature detection;
conveys desired temperature differences from predetermined proximateness of the heating and cooling mechanisms to temperature-use positions selectively when not operating; and
restores the conventional thermostatic single-cycle on-and-off switching of the heating and cooling mechanisms automatically for failsafe backup operation when on-time duration of the short-time on-and-off switching exceeds a preset time.
This invention accomplishes these and other objectives with an energy-conservation moderating system which interfaces with the motor control mechanism of compressors for air conditioners, coolers, and freezers. The device also interfaces with the heating control mecha
Encon International, Inc.
Livingston, Esq. Edward M.
Wayner William
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