Anti-condensation control system
First Claim
15. An anti-condensation control apparatus for a refrigeration device comprising:
- a sensor module;
a control module receiving an input from said sensor module and operable to compare said input to a set point and generate an output indicative of a difference between said input and said set point, said control module continuously updating said output based on said input from said sensor module; and
a heater modulator operable to control a heater based on said output to maintain a temperature of air adjacent said sensor module above dew point temperature of room air.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An anti-condensation control apparatus for a refrigeration device generally includes a sensor module and a control module. The control module receives an input from the sensor module and compares the input to a set point. The control module generates an output indicative of a difference between the input and the set point and updates the output based on the input from the sensor module. A heater modulator controls a heater based on the output from the control module to maintain a temperature of the outer surface of a refrigerated device such that relative humidity adjacent the sensor module is substantially between 90-95 percent relative humidity, or slightly above dew point.
106 Citations
40 Claims
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15. An anti-condensation control apparatus for a refrigeration device comprising:
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a sensor module;
a control module receiving an input from said sensor module and operable to compare said input to a set point and generate an output indicative of a difference between said input and said set point, said control module continuously updating said output based on said input from said sensor module; and
a heater modulator operable to control a heater based on said output to maintain a temperature of air adjacent said sensor module above dew point temperature of room air. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An anti-condensation control apparatus for a bank of refrigeration devices comprising:
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a sensor module positioned on a control surface of at least one of the refrigeration devices;
a control module receiving an input from said sensor module and operable to compare said input to a set point and generate an output indicative of a difference between said input and said set point, said control module continuously updating said output based on said input from said sensor module; and
a heater modulator operable to control a heater of each of the refrigeration devices based on said output to maintain a temperature of air adjacent a control surface of each of the refrigeration devices and the sensor module to a temperature such that relative humidity at the sensor module is generally between 90-95 percent. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. An anti-condensation control apparatus for a bank of refrigeration devices comprising:
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a sensor module having a first sensor positioned adjacent a control surface of at least one of the refrigeration devices;
a control module receiving an input from said sensor module and operable to compare said input to a set point and generate an output indicative of a difference between said input and said set point, said control module continuously updating said output based on said input from said sensor module; and
a heater modulator operable to control a heater based on said output to maintain a temperature of air adjacent said first sensor above a dew point temperature of room air. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of controlling condensation on a refrigeration device, the method comprising;
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sensing a condition of air adjacent a sensor associated with the refrigeration device;
comparing said input to a set point;
outputting an error based on said comparison;
processing said error to determine an output between zero and one hundred percent;
modifying said output between a percent minimum and percent maximum; and
heating a surface of the refrigeration device adjacent said sensor to maintain a temperature of said surface such that the relative humidity at said sensor is approximately 90-95 percent. - View Dependent Claims (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 37, 40)
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38. A method of controlling condensation on a refrigeration device, the method comprising:
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sensing a condition of air adjacent a sensor associated with the refrigeration device;
comparing said input to a set point;
outputting an error based on said comparison;
processing said error to determine an output between zero and one hundred percent;
modifying said output between a percent minimum and percent maximum; and
heating a surface of the refrigeration device to maintain a temperature of said air adjacent said sensor such that the relative humidity of said sensor is approximately 90-95 percent. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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40-1. The method of claim 37, further comprising sensing a temperature of said surface.
Specification