Zone control system providing synchronization of system operation with the zone of greatest demand
First Claim
1. A zone control system comprisinga plurality of zone thermostats arranged to produce respective on/off output signals corresponding to the temperature induced demands of their respective zones,a plurality of zone control devices with each of said device controlling a respective one of the zones,zone controller means for determining a zone of greatest temperature induced demand distinct from a zone of lesser demand, for converting the length of the on-periods of said output signals representing the zone of lesser demand relative to the duty cycle of the zone of greatest demand and for synchronizing the start of the converted signals representing the zone of lesser demand with the start of the control signal for the zone of greatest demand andmeans for applying the synchronized start signals to respective ones of said zone control devices.
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Abstract
A zone control system uses signals from a plurality of separate zone thermostats to determine the zone of greatest thermal load or demand. Specifically, the on-time of each thermostat signal is integrated with respect to time so that the zone of greatest demand can be determined. The thermostat signal from the zone of greatest demand is used to control a duct damper between that zone and a heating/cooling plant. To synchronize the opening of the other zone duct dampers with the duct damper of the zone of greatest demand, the length of each of the on-periods of the thermostats in the other zones is first converted to the cycle rate of the zone of greatest demand thermostat since the other thermostats are operating at different duty cycles. A microprocessor-based master zone controller uses these converted on-signals to control respective zone duct dampers in the other zones coincident with the start of the thermostat on-period of the zone of greatest demand. Thus, the duty cycle of these duct control signals is equal to the duty cycles of the thermostats in the corresponding zones, but the control signals have time periods equal to that of the control signal for the zone of greatest demand.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A zone control system comprising
a plurality of zone thermostats arranged to produce respective on/off output signals corresponding to the temperature induced demands of their respective zones, a plurality of zone control devices with each of said device controlling a respective one of the zones, zone controller means for determining a zone of greatest temperature induced demand distinct from a zone of lesser demand, for converting the length of the on-periods of said output signals representing the zone of lesser demand relative to the duty cycle of the zone of greatest demand and for synchronizing the start of the converted signals representing the zone of lesser demand with the start of the control signal for the zone of greatest demand and means for applying the synchronized start signals to respective ones of said zone control devices.
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9. A zoned heating/cooling system comprising:
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a heating/cooling means a distribution means including means for proportioning a heating/cooling output from said heating/cooling means to a plurality of zones; a plurality of zone thermostats with each of said thermostats being arranged to produce on-off signals corresponding to temperature induced demands of respective ones of the zones; zone controller means connected to said thermostats to receive the on-off signals, to said heating/cooling means to control on-off operation of said heating/cooling means and to said distribution means to proportion the heating/cooling means output between the plurality of zones, said controller means determining the zone of greatest temperature induced demand and operating said heating/cooling means according to the thermostat signal from the zone of greatest demand and proportioning the output from said heating/cooling means by operating said distribution means in response to the thermal load of each zone, said zone controller means operating said distribution means synchronously with said thermostat signal from the zone of greatest demand. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A zoning control system for a heating/cooling system comprising
heating/cooling appliance means, distribution system means for sending heating/cooling medicine to a plurality of zones, means for controlling the flow of heat/cool to each zone and a temperature sensing means supplying as an error signal the numerical difference between the desired zone setpoint temperature and the sensed zone temperature in each zone, said controller means having operative connections to said temperature sensing means, said means for controlling heat/cool flow and said heating/cooling appliance means, said controller being effective to determine the zone of greatest demand requiring the greatest amount of heat/cool and to proportion the amount of heat/cool being supplied to one or more other zones, in response to their thermal loads, relative to the zone of greatest demand requiring the most heat/cool.
Specification