System and method for controlling indoor air flow for heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment
First Claim
1. A heating, ventilating and air conditioning system comprising:
- an indoor unit including a motor driven fan for circulating air to and from an enclosed space, said fan being driven by a variable speed electric motor, at least one heat exchanger disposed in a flow path of air circulating through said indoor unit; and
a controller operably connected to said indoor unit including a programmable microcontroller operable to provide pulse width modulated signals to a motor control unit for said motor, said controller including one of installer and user selectable values of motor speed for controlling airflow through said heat exchanger to provide at least one comfort parameter sensed by said user.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An HVAC system includes a variable speed electric motor driven fan for circulating air to an enclosed space through an indoor unit for providing heating or cooling effect to air circulated through the indoor unit. A controller with user or system installer actuatable switches includes a programmable microcontroller providing a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal to a motor control unit to select a predetermined air flowrate less than full air flowrate during system startup and shutdown. User input parameters include selected percentages of full air flowrate to satisfy requirements for reduced noise level, lower humidity and for improved sensible heating of air being circulated, the latter being effective particularly for heat pump applications. Selection of pre-run, short run and shutdown cycles may be provided.
-
Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A heating, ventilating and air conditioning system comprising:
-
an indoor unit including a motor driven fan for circulating air to and from an enclosed space, said fan being driven by a variable speed electric motor, at least one heat exchanger disposed in a flow path of air circulating through said indoor unit; and
a controller operably connected to said indoor unit including a programmable microcontroller operable to provide pulse width modulated signals to a motor control unit for said motor, said controller including one of installer and user selectable values of motor speed for controlling airflow through said heat exchanger to provide at least one comfort parameter sensed by said user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. In a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system including an indoor unit comprising a variable speed electric motor driven fan for circulating air to and from an enclosed space, said indoor unit including at least one heat exchanger for providing one of a heating and cooling effect to said air circulating to said indoor space and a controller including user actuatable switch actuators and a microcontroller operable to provide a signal to a motor control unit for said electric motor to control motor speed and air circulation rate to said indoor space, the method characterized by:
providing a selected pulse width modulated electrical signal to said motor control unit to provide a predetermined motor speed corresponding to said pulse width modulated signal to modify the air flowrate to a predetermined percentage of full air flowrate available from said fan. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
20. In a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system including an indoor unit comprising a variable speed electric motor driven fan for circulating air to and from an enclosed space, said indoor unit including at least one heat exchanger for providing one of a heating and cooling effect to said air circulating to said indoor space and a controller including switch actuators and a microcontroller operable to provide a signal to a motor control unit for said electric motor to control motor speed and air circulation rate to said indoor space, the method characterized by:
providing a selected electrical signal to said motor control unit to provide a predetermined motor speed corresponding to said selected signal to modify the air flowrate to a predetermined percentage of full air flowrate available from said fan during one of a pre-run period after a call for one of heating and cooling effect from said system, a short run period following said pre-run period, and a system shutdown phase commencing with satisfaction of a call for one of heating and cooling effect by said system. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
Specification