Appliance room controller

• US 20060049268A1
• Filed: 10/07/2005
• Published: 03/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tjernlund Products, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Tjernlund Products, Inc.
• Inventors: Hoyez, Timothy G., Weimer, John R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,651,034 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 236/51
• CPC Class Codes: F23N 2225/04 pressure
• CPC Class Codes: F23N 2233/04 with variable speed
• CPC Class Codes: F23N 2233/08 with variable speed
• CPC Class Codes: F23N 2237/02 two or more burners
• CPC Class Codes: F23N 3/082 using electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: F23N 5/184 using electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: F23N 5/242 using electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 16/2073 with a plurality of pressure sources

Abstract

A universal controller for coordinating activity of an appliance room including a configurable air control portion, and a configurable appliance control portion. The configurable air control portion controls at least one air flow condition of the appliance room and includes an air control interface adapted to be operatively coupled with at least one of an influent combustion air system and a venting system. The configurable appliance control portion controls operation of a plurality of appliances and includes at least one appliance interface adapted to be operatively coupled with the plurality of appliances. The appliance control portion is adapted to selectively coordinate operation of individual appliances such that a selected at least one of the plurality of appliances can be operated according to a dynamically adjustable sequence.

Claims

1. A universal controller for coordinating activity of an appliance room, comprising:

a configurable air control portion that controls at least one air flow condition of the appliance room and includes an air control interface adapted to be operatively coupled with at least one of an influent combustion air system and a venting system; and

a configurable appliance control portion that controls operation of a plurality of appliances and includes at least one appliance interface adapted to be operatively coupled with the plurality of appliances,

wherein the appliance control portion is adapted to selectively coordinate operation of individual appliances such that a selected at least one of the plurality of appliances can be operated according to a dynamically adjustable sequence.

2. The universal controller of claim 1, and further comprising:

a central processor unit (CPU) adapted to execute air control and appliance control instructions of the air control portion and the appliance control portion, respectively.

3. The universal controller of claim 1, and further comprising:

an operator interface operatively coupled with the air control portion and the appliance control portion, and adapted to facilitate configuration of at least one of the air control and appliance control portions.

4. The universal controller of claim 3, wherein the operator interface provides a menu-based parameter adjustment interface.

5. The universal controller of claim 1, and further comprising:

an auxiliary device control portion that controls at least one auxiliary device and includes at least one auxiliary interface adapted to be operatively coupled with at least one auxiliary device.

6. The universal controller of claim 1, wherein the at least one appliance interface includes an input that receives status information from a motor drive.

7. The universal controller of claim 1, and further comprising:

a real-time clock,

wherein the dynamically adjustable sequence is adjusted based on a value of the real-time clock.

8. A universal controller for coordinating activity of an appliance room, comprising:

a user-configurable air control portion that controls at least one air flow condition of the appliance room based on a first adjustable configuration setting and includes an air control interface adapted to be operatively coupled with at least one of an influent combustion air system and a venting system;

a user-configurable appliance control portion that controls operation of at least one appliance based on a second adjustable configuration setting and includes at least one appliance interface adapted to be operatively coupled with the at least one appliance;

a user-configurable auxiliary device control portion that controls at least one auxiliary device based on a third adjustable configuration setting and includes at least one auxiliary interface adapted to be operatively coupled with at least one auxiliary device; and

a central processor unit (CPU) that is a part of the air control portion, the appliance control portion, and the auxiliary device control portion, wherein the CPU is adapted to accept the first, second, and third configuration settings.

9. The universal controller of claim 8, wherein the CPU is programmed to selectively execute at least two processes among:

an air control process set of at least one air control process;

an appliance control process set of at least one appliance control process; and

an auxiliary device control process set of at least one auxiliary process; and

wherein the CPU is programmed to execute an appliance room control process that coordinates execution of the at least two selectively executed processes.

10. The universal controller of claim 8, wherein the auxiliary interface includes a data bus capable of individually addressing separate auxiliary devices.

11. The universal controller of claim 8, wherein the auxiliary device control portion is adapted to interface with at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of:

a water temperature sensor;

an indoor temperature sensor;

an outdoor temperature sensor;

an indoor humidity sensor;

an outdoor humidity sensor;

a wind speed sensor;

a combustible gas detection sensor; and

an exhaust gas detection sensor.

12. The universal controller of claim 8, wherein the auxiliary device control portion is adapted to interface with at least one actuable device selected from the group consisting of:

a louver actuator;

a valve actuator;

a damper actuator;

a motor control relay; and

a motor drive.

13. The universal controller of claim 8, wherein the CPU includes a primary processor interfaced with a secondary processor, wherein the primary processor is configured for generally real-time sequential processing and the secondary processor is configured for generally input/output and interfacing processing.

14. A universal controller for coordinating activity of an appliance room, comprising:

a housing; and

an air control portion situated in the housing and including a first set of wiring terminals adapted to be electrically coupled with an influent combustion air system and a second set of wiring terminals adapted to be electrically coupled with a venting system,

wherein wiring terminals of first and second sets of wiring terminals are physically situated and grouped together according to wiring terminal set, respectively.

15. The universal controller of claim 14, further comprising:

an appliance control portion situated in the housing, the appliance control portion including a third set of wiring terminals adapted to be electrically coupled with the first appliance and a fourth set of wiring terminals adapted to be electrically coupled with the second appliance,

wherein wiring terminals of first, second, third, and fourth sets of wiring terminals are physically situated and grouped together according to wiring terminal set, respectively.

16. The universal controller of claim 14, wherein the influent combustion air system and the venting system are each adapted to interface with a plurality of signal types, wherein wiring terminals of the first and the second sets of wiring terminals are color-coded according to signal type.