AIR CONDITIONER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AIR CONDITIONER

• US 20150192938A1
• Filed: 07/24/2013
• Published: 07/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Jongsoo, Kim, Minjung, You, Jinyoung
• Granted Patent: US 9,971,365 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/00 Control or safety arrangements
• 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 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/523 for displaying temperature data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/54 using one central controller connected to several sub-controllers
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/57 using telephone networks
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/58 using Internet communication
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2120/00 Control inputs relating to users or occupants
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2120/20 Feedback from users
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range

Abstract

An air conditioner management system and a method for controlling an air conditioner are disclosed. A user interface device provides a user interface to sense a user measure indicating a user opinion regarding operation of an air conditioner, generates feedback data associated with the sensed user measure, and transmits the generated feedback data. A central management device receives and stores the feedback data transmitted by the user interface device and calculates a set value to control the air conditioner based on the received feedback data and previously stored feedback data.

Claims

1. An air conditioner management system comprising:

a user interface device to provide a user interface to sense a user measure indicating a user opinion regarding operation of an air conditioner, to generate feedback data associated with the sensed user measure, and to transmit the generated feedback data; and

a central management device to receive and store the feedback data transmitted by the user interface device and to calculate a set value to control the air conditioner based on the received feedback data and previously stored feedback data.

2. The air conditioner management system according to claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises at least one opinion menu item to display an expression indicating the user opinion.

3. The air conditioner management system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one opinion menu item comprises at least one selected from between a physical button and a soft button.

4. The air conditioner management system according to claim 2, wherein the user interface further comprises a function menu item to select a function of the air conditioner and the expression displayed by the opinion menu item is changed according to selection of the function menu item.

5. The air conditioner management system according to claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises at least one selected from among a graphical user interface (GUI), a web user interface (WUI), a command line interface (CLI), and a voice interface.

6. The air conditioner management system according to claim 1, wherein the user interface device comprises at least one selected from among a control panel, a handheld remote controller, a mobile terminal, a computer system, and a digital television.

7. The air conditioner management system according to claim 1, wherein the user interface device generates a feedback packet comprising the feedback data and transmits the generated feedback packet to the central management device and the feedback packet further comprises at least one selected from between time at which the user measure has been sensed and an identifier to identify the user interface device.

8. The air conditioner management system according to claim 1, wherein the central management device further stores an identifier to identify the user interface device, zone information to indicate a zone, and zone association information to associate the identifier with the zone information.

9. The air conditioner management system according to claim 8, wherein the central management device confirms a zone associated with the user interface device based on the zone association information and controls an air conditioner located in the confirmed zone based on the calculated set value.

10. The air conditioner management system according to claim 1, wherein the central management device calculates the set value further based on a weight.

11. The air conditioner management system according to claim 10, wherein the weight comprises at least one selected from among a number-of-persons weight, a time weight, a command meaning weight, and a manager policy weight.

12. The air conditioner management system according to claim 10, wherein the weight is changed based on time at which feedback data have been input.

13. The air conditioner management system according to claim 10, wherein the weight is changed based on the received feedback data.

14. The air conditioner management system according to claim 10, wherein the weight is changed based on a learning algorithm.

15. A method for controlling an air conditioner performed by an air conditioner management system comprising a user interface device and a central management device, the method comprising:

the user interface device sensing a user measure indicating a user opinion regarding operation of the air conditioner;

the user interface device generating feedback data associated with the user opinion in response to sensing of the user measure;

the user interface device transmitting the generated feedback data to the central management device;

the central management device storing the received feedback data; and

the central management device calculating a set value to control the air conditioner based on the received feedback data and previously stored feedback data.