ELECTRONIC EVAPORATIVE COOLER CONTROLLER WITH WIRELESS REMOTE SENSOR

• US 20150102114A1
• Filed: 10/16/2013
• Published: 04/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harold G. Mcfarland
• Original Assignee: Harold G. Mcfarland
• Inventors: McFarland, Harold G.
• Granted Patent: US 9,500,384 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 236/44.A
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/523 for displaying temperature data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/58 using Internet communication
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/20 Humidity
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/00 Control inputs relating to environmental factors not covered by group F24F2110/00
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/10 Weather information or forecasts

Abstract

A controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler using a wireless remote sensor to detect outside temperature, humidity and barometric pressure transmitted via a radio frequency transceiver to be processed by a programmable main controller unit by a user according to a plurality of programming modes to generate digital control data to be sent to the paired evaporative cooler to control its fan'"'"'s speed and water pump'"'"'s speed; the paired evaporative cooler can also be controlled using wireless communication by a hand held remote control device controlling a switching unit mounted inside the paired evaporative cooler to operate its fan'"'"'s speed and water pump'"'"'s speed; additionally, the main controller unit can receive control data by an incorporated Wi-Fi receiver and transmitter which, through an associated website, will allow real time control and programming of the main controller unit from either a personal computer, or a mobile computing device, or a smart cellular phone.

Claims

1. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler, said controller system comprises:

a main controller unit, used inside a building, to control the inside temperature and inside humidity by operating and controlling a paired evaporative cooler, said main controller unit is programmable in response to the input data received which are;

the outside measured humidity, outside measured temperature and outside barometric pressure, and said main controller unit is programmable according to a plurality of programming modes to generate digital control data to be sent to a paired evaporative cooler to cause the control of variations of the paired evaporative cooler fan'"'"'s speed and the variations of the paired evaporative cooler water pump speed;

a remote sensor unit, operating outside a building, said remote sensor unit is battery-powered, operated by a programmed internal microprocessor to collect outside temperature, outside humidity and outside_—

barometric pressure digital reading data, to be transmitted over a wireless communication medium via a radio frequency transceiver to said main controller unit;

said remote sensor unit is radio frequency-coupled to said main controller.

2. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler according to claim 1 wherein said main controller unit comprises:

a radio frequency transceiver to receive wirelessly outside temperature, outside humidity and weather forecast data readings;

a front panel of the main controller unit to allow a user to enter manual controls and input data and to display operating data;

electrical and electronic interface connections with a paired evaporative cooler device to be controlled and operated;

a real time clock which allows for timer control of separate weekday and weekend start and stop functioning of a paired evaporative cooler by making a logical comparison with an incorporated timer'"'"'s time;

a temperature sensor to collect inside temperature data;

a humidity sensor to collect inside humidity data;

a main controller microprocessor programmable by a user;

an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEprom);

a Wi-Fi receiver and transmitter comprising an operating software to allow, through an associated website, real time control and programming of the main controller unit from either a personal computer, or a mobile computing device or a smart cellular phone;

a receiver for radio transmitted time signal from either National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or a Global Positioning System (GPS).

3. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler according to claim 2 wherein said front panel of the main controller unit comprises:

manual switches which are;

Manual/Auto switch which, when set to;

the Auto position, said main controller microprocessor executes functions based on a logic of an operating program and input data entered by a user;

the Manual position, allows a user to manually control the evaporative cooler water pump operation and speed;

Program/Run switch which, when set to;

a Program position, will cause a programming menu to be displayed and illuminated on a multi-line digital backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit to allow a user to perform a programming sequence;

a Run position, will cause the programming sequence to terminate;

Off/Low/High Fan switch to manually turn on or off the paired evaporative cooler cooler'"'"'s fan and to manually adjust its speed;

Off/On Pump switch to manually turn on or off the paired evaporative cooler'"'"'s water pump;

manual buttons comprising;

Up button to increment the displayed setting by one unit;

Down button to decrement the displayed setting by one unit;

Next button to step through the functions and to illuminate the LCD display for five seconds;

reset button which causes the main controller microprocessor to re-start and clear a possible malfunction;

a battery cover to hold a backup battery which, in the event of a main controller unit power loss, will maintain time and date data stored inside a real time clock;

a multi-line digital backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit to display the main controller'"'"'s programming data;

and wherein said front panel allows a user to further program a connected evaporative cooler by entering the following setting data;

a desired inside temperature;

an upper limit inside humidity;

an upper limit outside humidity;

a current time and day of the week;

a weekday start and stop time;

a weekend start and stop time;

and wherein a unique serial ID number can be entered by a user on the main controller front panel and stored inside a EEprom memory with other user settings, to allow a replacement of a remote sensor, if necessary.

4. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler according to claim 1 wherein said remote sensor unit, identified with a unique serial number ID electronically inserted into all Radio Frequency (RF) communications, allow said remote sensor unit to electronically communicate data only to a paired main controller unit;

said remote sensor unit comprises;

a front panel of the remote sensor unit to allow a user to enter programming information and receiving information for the operation of the remote sensor unit, said front panel comprising;

a multi-line digital backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit;

manual buttons which comprise;

an Up button to increment the displayed setting by one unit;

a Down button to decrement the displayed setting by one unit;

a Next button to step through the functions and illuminate the LCD display for five seconds;

a reset button which causes the remote sensor unit microprocessor to re-start and clear any possible malfunction;

a battery cover to hold a backup battery which, in the event of the remote sensor unit power loss, will maintain time and date data stored inside a real time clock;

a real time clock to provide current time data to the remote sensor unit microprocessor;

said real time clock can be set by holding down the UP Button for two seconds to start a programming mode to allow the setting of current day and time;

a temperature sensor to collect outside temperature data;

a humidity sensor to collect outside humidity data;

a barometric sensor to detect current barometric pressure converted into weather forecast data by the remote sensor unit microprocessor;

a radio frequency transceiver to send collected outside temperature, humidity readings and weather forecast data to the main controller unit via a radio-wave frequency;

a remote sensor microprocessor, programmable by a user, which automatically starts collecting from said remote sensor outside temperature, outside humidity data and current barometric pressure readings whenever the remote sensor unit is powered on;

said remote sensor unit microprocessor alternates the display of local time, outside temperature, outside humidity and barometric pressure data on the LCD display unit.

5. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler according to claim 4 wherein said front panel of the remote sensor unit comprises:

manual buttons comprising;

Up button to increment the displayed setting by one unit;

Down button to decrement the displayed setting by one unit;

Next button to step through the functions and illuminate the LCD display for five seconds;

reset button which causes the remote sensor unit microprocessor to re-start and clear any possible malfunction;

a battery cover to hold a backup battery which, in the event of a power loss, will maintain time and date data stored inside a real time clock;

a multi-line digital backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit.

6. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler according to claim 2 wherein said main controller microprocessor programmable by a user is a eight core parallel microprocessor designed to:

process user control settings including desired indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity;

process of inside temperature, humidity and outside weather forecast, temperature and humidity data from the remote sensor by comparing them to entered user'"'"'s data to issue operating commands for a paired evaporative cooler;

the control of a paired evaporative cooler fan operation and selection of its fan'"'"'s speed;

control of a pre-wet feature to provide pre-wetting of cooling pads of the paired evaporative cooler before starting the controller system or restarting the paired evaporative cooler after an automatic shutdown;

alternates the display of upper limit temperature and upper limit humidity data on the main controller unit LCD display;

loads default settings for the inside temperature and humidity, and the outside temperature and humidity when the microprocessor is powered on;

continually cycle through a series of information and status displays on the LCD display unit;

said information displayed comprises current inside and outside temperature and outside humidity, barometric pressure, barometric pressure history, weather forecast data, complete date and time, desired inside temperature and desired inside humidity settings, weekday and weekend timer status, and timer activity status.

7. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler according to claim 4 wherein said remote sensor microprocessor, programmable by a user, is an eight-core parallel microprocessor designed to:

maintain a real time clock;

command the outside temperature humidity and barometric pressure sensors to collect outside temperature, outside humidity and weather forecast data to be transmitted wirelessly to the main controller micro-processor for processing.

8. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler according to claim 2 wherein said EEprom memory is used to store user settings to avoid their loss in case of a power interruption to the main controller unit;

said EEprom memory also stores a unique serial number ID of the remote sensor unit, said unique serial number ID is electronically inserted into all Radio Frequency (RF) communications with the remote sensor unit to electronically receive data only from a paired remote sensor unit;

said EEprom memory also stores a user-entered time zone offset for National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) radio-transmitted time signals or GPS signals.

9. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler, according to claim 1 wherein said main controller unit comprises:

a hand held remote control device comprising;

a radio frequency transceiver to receive wirelessly outside temperature, outside humidity and barometric pressure data readings;

a front panel to enter manual controls and user input data and to display operating data;

electrical and electronic interface connections with a wireless-connected switching unit mounted inside an evaporative cooler device to be controlled and operated;

a real time clock which allows for timer control of separate weekday and weekend start and stop functioning of a paired evaporative cooler;

a temperature sensor to collect inside temperature data;

a humidity sensor to collect inside humidity data;

a main controller microprocessor programmable by a user;

an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEprom);

a Wi-Fi receiver and transmitter comprising an operating software to allow, through an associated website, real time control and programming of the main controller unit from either a personal computer, or a mobile computing device or a smart cellular phone;

a receiver for radio transmitted time signal from either National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or GPS;

and wherein said front panel comprises;

a multi-line digital backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit;

manual buttons which comprise;

Up button to increment the displayed setting by one unit;

Down button to decrement the displayed setting by one unit;

Next button to step through the functions and illuminate the LCD display for five seconds;

a reset button which causes a the main controller unit microprocessor to re-start and clear a possible malfunction;

and wherein said hand held remote control device allows the user to further program a connected evaporative cooler by entering the following setting data;

a desired inside temperature;

an upper limit inside humidity;

an upper limit outside humidity;

a current time and day of the week;

a weekday start and stop time;

a weekend start and stop time;

a switching unit, RF operated, and mounted inside an evaporative cooler to be controlled, said switching unit comprising;

a housing equipped with;

an input power plug to be electrically connected to an existing power plug inside an evaporative cooler to be controlled, that currently supplies uncontrolled electric power to the evaporative cooler'"'"'s electric fan;

an input power plug to be electrically connected to an existing power plug, inside an evaporative cooler to be controlled, that currently supplies uncontrolled electric power to the evaporative cooler'"'"'s electric water pump;

an output power plug to be electrically connected to the evaporative cooler'"'"'s electric fan;

an output power plug to be electrically connected to the evaporative cooler'"'"'s electric water pump;

a radio frequency transceiver to receive wirelessly operating commands from said hand held remote control device;

a hand-held controller unit microprocessor programmable by a user to process commands from said hand held remote control unit to digitally control the operation and speed of a paired evaporative cooler'"'"'s water pump and electric fan.

10. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler, according to claim 2 wherein said main controller microprocessor, programmable by a user, executes:

a) a pre-wet sequence whenever;

a pre-wet internal flag is set to zero and

the current inside temperature is greater than the desired inside temperature plus five degrees and

the outside temperature is greater than the desired inside temperature plus one degree and

the current inside humidity is less than the user-set upper limit inside humidity and

the current outside humidity is less than the user-set upper limit outside humidity;

or

a pre-wet internal flag is set to zero and

the current inside temperature is greater than the desired inside temperature less two degrees and

the current outside temperature is greater than the desired inside temperature plus one degree and

the current inside humidity is less than the user-set upper limit inside humidity and

the outside humidity is less than the user-set upper limit outside humidity;

b) a turning on the cooler'"'"'s water pump and the turning on high the speed of the cooler'"'"'s fan whenever;

a pre-wet internal flag is set to one and

the current inside temperature is greater than the desired inside temperature plus five degrees and

the current outside temperature is greater than the desired inside temperature plus one degree and

the current inside humidity is less than the user-set upper limit inside humidity and

the current outside humidity is less than the user-set upper limit outside humidity;

c) a turning on the cooler'"'"'s water pump and the turning on low the speed of the cooler'"'"'s fan whenever;

a pre-wet internal flag is set to one and

the current inside temperature is greater than the desired inside temperature less two degrees and

the current outside temperature is greater than the desired inside temperature plus one degree and

the current inside humidity is less than the user-set upper limit inside humidity and

the current outside humidity is less than the user-set upper limit outside humidity;

d) a turning off the cooler'"'"'s water pump and the turning on high the speed of the cooler'"'"'s fan and setting a pre-wet internal flag to zero whenever;

the current inside temperature is greater than the desired inside temperature plus five degrees and

the current outside temperature is less than the desired inside temperature or

the current inside humidity is greater than the user-set upper limit inside humidity or

the current outside humidity is greater than the user-set upper limit outside humidity;

e) a turning off the cooler'"'"'s water pump and the turning on low the speed of the cooler'"'"'s fan and setting a pre-wet internal flag to zero whenever;

the current inside temperature is greater than the desired inside temperature less two degrees and

the current outside temperature is less than the desired inside temperature or

the current inside humidity is greater than the user-set upper limit inside humidity or

the current outside humidity is greater than the user-set upper limit outside humidity;

f) a turning off the cooler'"'"'s water pump and the turning off the cooler'"'"'s fan and setting a pre-wet internal flag to zero whenever the current inside temperature is less than the desired inside temperature less two degrees.

11. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler, according to claim 10 wherein said pre-wet sequence, is commanded and controlled by the main controller unit logic of the microprocessor, and it is executed before the cooler'"'"'s fan is started for the first time after a time of inactivity, consists in running the cooler'"'"'s water pump for four minutes to wet the cooling pads which are mounted in front of the cooler'"'"'s fan inside the controlled evaporative cooler.

12. A wireless, programmable controller system to control and operate a paired evaporative cooler, according to claim 3, wherein said programming menu comprises the display of the following selections:

Desired inside temperature

Upper limit inside humidity

Upper limit outside humidity

Current date

Current time

Weekday start of operation

Weekday stop of operation

Weekday Timer On/Off,

Set weekend start day and time

Set weekend end day and time

Weekend Timer On/Off;

and wherein said Current date and Current Time are saved into the real time clock and the rest of the selections are automatically saved by the microprocessor to a EEprom Memory.