Control device, components, and mobile service device for an HVAC system

• US 10,261,530 B2
• Filed: 01/16/2014
• Issued: 04/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Belimo Holding AG
• Original Assignee: Belimo Holding AG
• Inventors: Schmidlin, Peter, Grogg, Silvio
• Primary Examiner(s): Shechtman, Sean
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rao, Sheela
• Application Number:
  US14/761,061
• Publication Number:
  US 20150362928A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,916 Days
• Field of Search: 700276
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2228 Master detects and configures slaves
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25066 Configuration stored in each unit
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25092 Customized control features, configuration
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25296 Identification module, type connected I-O, device
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25297 Identify controlled element, valve, and read characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

The invention relates to a control apparatus (3) for an HVAC system (5), wherein the control apparatus (3) has a communication module (33) for communicating with one or more components of the HVAC system (5). The control apparatus comprises a passive NFC transponder (34), which is set up to receive and store a unique identifier (341) of each of the one or more components from a mobile service apparatus (2) before a power supply for the control apparatus (3) is switched on, and a control module (35) which is set up to access stored identifiers (341) after a power supply for the control apparatus (3) has been switched on and to transmit control signals to components determined by the identifiers via the communication module (33). The invention also relates to a mobile service apparatus (2) and to components in the form of drives (1), sensor apparatuses, regulators, operating devices and/or communication devices of the HVAC system (5).

Claims

1. A control device (3) for a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system (5), wherein the control device (3) has a communications module (33) for communicating with one or a plurality of components in the HVAC system (5), comprising:

a passive Near Field Communication (NFC) transponder (34) that is set up to receive and store a unique identifier (341) for each of the one or plurality of components from a mobile service device (2) prior to a power supply for the control device (3) being switched on, and

a control module (35) that is set up to access unique identifiers (341) stored in the passive NFC transponder (34) after a power supply for the control device (3) has been switched on and to transmit control signals to components determined by the unique identifiers via the communications module (33).

2. The control device (3) in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the passive NFC transponder (34) and the control module (35) are set up to receive and store unique identifiers and to transmit control signals related to one or a plurality of the following components:

a sensor device of the HVAC system (5), a drive (1) of the HVAC system (5), a regulating device of the HVAC system (5), a room control unit of the HVAC system (5), a gateway for communication between different communications networks of the HVAC system (5), an actuator of the HVAC system (5), and an interface device for input and output signals of the HVAC system (5).

3. The control device (3) in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the control module (35) is set up to transmit, after a power supply for the control device (3) is switched on, control signals to components determined by the unique identifiers, which control signals query whether the component in question is available.

4. The control device (3) in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the passive NFC transponder (34) is set up to receive and store component parameters allocated to the unique identifiers (341), wherein the control module (35) is set up to transmit control signals corresponding to the component parameters to components determined by the unique identifiers.

5. The control device (3) in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the control module (35) is set up to transmit control signals to components, which control signals query component parameters of the components, wherein the control module (35) is set up to transmit control signals corresponding to the component parameters to components determined by the unique identifiers.

6. The control device (3) in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the control module (35) is set up to produce a protocol that includes one or a plurality of the following contents:

a switch-on time for a power supply for the control device (3), a query time, and status of the availability of components and component parameters, with information about whether they are stored on the passive NFC transponder or were queried at a component.

7. The control device (3) in accordance with claim 6, characterized in that the control module (35) is set up to execute one or a plurality of the following steps:

transmit the protocol to a receiver if a communications link to the receiver is available, and store the protocol on the passive NFC transponder (34).

8. The control device (3) in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the control module (35) is set up to detect operating values (121, 321) of the HVAC system (5) of the components determined using the unique identifiers and to transmit control signals to related components corresponding to the detected operating values (121, 321).

9. The control device (3) in accordance with claim 1, comprising one or a plurality of the following components:

a sensor device for the HVAC system (5), a drive (1) for the HVAC system (5), a regulating device for the HVAC system (5), a room control unit for the HVAC system (5), a gateway for communication between different communications networks of the HVAC system (5), an actuator for the HVAC system (5), and an interface device for input and output signals of the HVAC system (5).

10. A method for configuring a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system (5), comprising:

reading out an identifier from a passive Near Field Communication (NFC) transponder of one or a plurality of components of the HVAC system (5) with an active NFC module before a power supply of the HVAC system (5) is switched on, and

writing read-out identifiers to a passive NFC transponder of a control device (3) of the HVAC system (5) with the active NFC module before the power supply of the HVAC system (5) is switched on.

11. The method in accordance with claim 10, characterized in that identifiers are displayed on a user interface, in that component parameters allocated to the identifiers are detected, and in that detected component parameters are written to a passive NFC transponder (14) of the one or plurality of components and/or to the passive NFC transponder (34) of the control device (3) with the active NFC module before the power supply of the HVAC system (5) is switched on.

12. The method in accordance with claim 10, characterized in that a protocol is produced that comprises one or more of the following contents:

read-out identifiers of the one or plurality of components, component parameters allocated to the identifiers, and time stamps allocated to these contents, wherein the protocol is transmitted in particular to a receiver.

13. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that has program code stored thereon and that is set up to control one or a plurality of processors of a mobile service device (2) that has an active Near Field Communication (NFC) module (24) such that:

an identifier is read out of a passive NFC transponder of one or a plurality of components of a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system (5) with the active NFC module, without a power supply for the HVAC system (5) being switched on for this purpose, and

read-out identifiers are written to a passive NFC transponder of a control device (3) of the HVAC system (5) with the active NFC module without the power supply for the HVAC system (5) being switched on for this purpose.

14. A drive (1) for a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system (5), wherein the drive (1) has an actuator (11) for a control element (112) of the HVAC system (5), comprising:

a passive Near Field Communication (NFC) transponder (14) that is set up to transmit a unique identifier (141) to a mobile service device (2) before a power supply for the drive (1) is switched on and to receive and store from the mobile service device (2) one or a plurality of drive parameters, and

a control module (15) that is set up to control the actuator after a power supply for the drive (1) is switched on, taking into account the one or plurality of stored drive parameters,

wherein the passive NFC transponder is set up to receive and store drive parameters from a plurality of drives (1) of the HVAC system (5).

15. The drive (1) in accordance with claim 14, further comprising a communications module (13) for communicating with a control device of the HVAC system (5), characterized in that the control module (15) is set up to receive via the communications module (13), and before a power supply for the drive (1) is switched on, control signals for controlling the actuator (11) and to control the actuator.

16. The drive (1) in accordance with claim 15, characterized in that the control module (15) is set up to transmit a confirmation to the control device (3) after a power supply for the drive (1) is switched on and upon receipt via the communications module (13) of a control signal from a control device (3), with which signal the availability of the drive (1) is checked.

17. The drive (1) in accordance with claim 15, characterized in that the control module (15) is set up to transmit the one or a plurality of drive parameters to the control device (3) upon receipt via the communications module (13) of a control signal from a control device (3), with which control signal the one or plurality of drive parameters are queried.

18. The drive (1) in accordance with claim 15, characterized in that the control device (15) is set up to detect operating values (121) of the HVAC system (5) via a sensor interface (12) and to transmit these operating values (121) to a control device (3) via the communications interface.

19. The drive (1) in accordance with claim 14, characterized in that the passive NFC transponder has a plurality of differently arranged transponder antennas.

20. The drive (1) in accordance with claim 14, characterized in that the passive NFC transponder has two transponder antennas that are attached to or in the housing of the drive (1) such that at least one of the two transponder antennas remains freely accessible after the drive (1) is assembled, especially on a side of the housing of the drive (1) that faces a wall or cover.