SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMICALLY GENERATING BARCODES TO IDENTIFY HVAC SYSTEM FAULTS

• US 20190309971A1
• Filed: 04/19/2018
• Published: 10/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2018
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Burns, Jonathan A., Gillette, Theresa N., McCune, Tyler P.
• Application Number:
  US15/957,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20190309971A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/38 Failure diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06037 multi-dimensional coding
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10722 Photodetector array or CCD scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1417 2D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance

Abstract

The present disclosure includes systems and methods that facilitate quickly and conveniently addressing faults experienced by conditioned air equipment by dynamically generating a barcode on a thermostat. In some embodiments, the thermostat includes fault determination logic that determines that the conditioned air equipment is experiencing a fault and barcode generation logic that generates a barcode based on the fault. The authorized service personnel may scan the barcode using a mobile device and receive information about the fault. In this manner, the dynamically generated barcode may be used to quickly and conveniently address faults of the conditioned air equipment, repair the conditioned air equipment, perform maintenance on the conditioned air equipment, and the like.

Claims

1. A thermostat comprising:

fault determination logic programmed to determine that conditioned air equipment is experiencing a fault;

barcode generation logic programmed to generate a barcode based on the fault; and

an electronic display configured to display the barcode to facilitate communicating information related to the fault with an external device when the barcode is scanned by the external device.

2. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the barcode comprises a Quick Response (QR) code.

3. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein, when a component implemented in the conditioned air equipment is experiencing the fault:

the fault determination logic is programmed to determine identity of the component that is experiencing the fault; and

the barcode generation logic is programmed to generate the barcode such that the barcode indicates the identity of the component that is experiencing the fault to the external device when scanned by the external device.

4. The thermostat of claim 3, wherein the barcode comprises an identification number associated with the component.

5. The thermostat of claim 3, wherein the component comprises an air handler, a furnace, a coil, a heat pump, an air conditioning unit, or any combination thereof.

6. The thermostat of claim 3, wherein the barcode generation logic is programmed to generate the barcode such the barcode indicates warranty information associated with the component that is experiencing the fault to the external device when scanned by the external device.

7. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the barcode generation logic is programmed to generate the barcode such that the barcode indicates sensor data acquired when the conditioned air equipment experiences the fault to the external device when scanned by the external device.

8. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the barcode generation logic is programmed to generate the barcode such that the barcode indicates a frequency value associated with each time the conditioned air equipment experiences the fault to the external device when scanned by the external device.

9. The thermostat of claim 1, comprising time and date determination logic programmed to determine a time and date associated with when the conditioned air equipment experiences the fault.

10. The thermostat of claim 9, wherein the barcode generation logic is programmed to generate the barcode such the barcode indicates the time and date associated with when the conditioned air equipment experiences the fault to the external device when scanned by the external device.

11. The thermostat of claim 1, comprising a camera implemented on the external device, wherein the camera is configured to scan the barcode.

12. The thermostat of claim 11, wherein the external device comprises another electronic display configured to display an augmented reality sequence based on the fault in response to the camera scanning the barcode displayed on the electronic display of the thermostat.

13. The thermostat of claim 11, wherein the external device is configured to purchase items by at least selecting the items to be placed in a virtual shopping cart, wherein a component of the conditioned air equipment associated with the fault is placed in the virtual shopping cart in response to scanning the barcode by the camera of the external device.

14. A method of determining a fault in conditioned air equipment comprising:

receiving an indication of a fault on a thermostat occurring in the conditioned air equipment;

generating a barcode based on parameters of the fault; and

displaying the barcode on the thermostat to enable determining the parameters of the fault when the barcode is scanned.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising receiving an indication that service personnel is present at the thermostat.

16. The method of claim 15, comprising displaying a high-level indication of the fault on the thermostat.

17. The method of claim 15, comprising authorizing the service personnel.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein displaying the barcode occurs in response to authorizing the service personnel.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the barcode is configured to be scanned by a mobile device.

20. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium that stores instructions executable by a processor of a thermostat that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive an indication of a fault occurring in a component of conditioned air equipment;

generate a barcode based on the component of the conditioned air equipment, parameters of the fault occurring in the component, or both; and

display the barcode to enable determining the component experiencing the fault, the parameters of the fault, or both, in response to scanning the barcode.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive an indication that service personnel is present within a threshold distance from the conditioned air equipment.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the barcode is configured to enable an external device to determine the component experiencing the fault, the parameters of the fault, or both, in response to the external device scanning the barcode.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the instruction to generate the barcode comprises instructions to generate the barcode such that the barcode indicates part information of the component experiencing the fault.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the part information comprises a part number, warranty information, installation history, maintenance history, fault history, or any combination thereof, of the component.