Zone demand controlled dual heat pump system and controller therefor
First Claim
1. A thermal zone demand controlled dual cascade arranged heat pump system and system controller for heating and cooling the air of building spaces having a plurality of thermal zones, comprising:
- (a) an air circulation system for circulating air to and from said thermal zones and having a conditioned air chamber and a plurality of air supply conduits each for connection in air supplying relation with a respective one of said thermal zones of said building space;
(b) first and second heat pumps being located externally of said building space and having first and second heat exchange refrigerant coils located in series within said air circulation system therein being connected in refrigerant circulating relation respectively with said first and second heat pumps and selectively heating and cooling air flowing to said conditioned air chamber;
(c) a plurality of thermal zone blowers being connected in said air circulation system and in air supplying relation with respective air supply conduits for conducting conditioned air from said conditioned air chamber through respective air supply conduits to respective thermal zones of said building space; and
(d) electronic controller circuitry being coupled for thermal demand control of said first and second heat pumps and said plurality of thermal zone blowers for operation of said first heat pump to accommodate a predetermined range of thermal load and for operation of said second heat pump to accommodate a range of thermal load in excess of said predetermined range of thermal load and for selective operation of said plurality of thermal zone blowers and when operating for selective operation of said thermal zone blowers at low blower speed and high blower speed responsive to sensed conditions of thermal load.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A thermal zone demand controlled dual cascade arranged heat pump system and system controller for building spaces, having first and second heat pumps and having an air circulation system for circulating air to and from said thermal zones and including a conditioned air chamber having first and second heat exchange refrigerant coils being connected in refrigerant circulating relation respectively with the heat pumps. A plurality of thermal zone blowers conduct conditioned air, heated or cooled, from the conditioned air chamber to respective thermal zones of the building space. Electronic controller circuitry of the system is coupled for thermal demand control of the heat pumps and the thermal zone blowers for operation of the first heat pump to accommodate a predetermined range of thermal load and for operation of the second heat pump along with the first heat pump to accommodate a greater thermal load. The controller circuitry also controls selective operation of the thermal zone blowers as well as operation of the thermal zone blowers at low blower speed or high blower speed responsive to sensed conditions of thermal load. The electronic controller circuitry further provides for selective reversal of dual heat pump operation to compensate for unequal operational wear of the heat pump units.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A thermal zone demand controlled dual cascade arranged heat pump system and system controller for heating and cooling the air of building spaces having a plurality of thermal zones, comprising:
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(a) an air circulation system for circulating air to and from said thermal zones and having a conditioned air chamber and a plurality of air supply conduits each for connection in air supplying relation with a respective one of said thermal zones of said building space; (b) first and second heat pumps being located externally of said building space and having first and second heat exchange refrigerant coils located in series within said air circulation system therein being connected in refrigerant circulating relation respectively with said first and second heat pumps and selectively heating and cooling air flowing to said conditioned air chamber; (c) a plurality of thermal zone blowers being connected in said air circulation system and in air supplying relation with respective air supply conduits for conducting conditioned air from said conditioned air chamber through respective air supply conduits to respective thermal zones of said building space; and (d) electronic controller circuitry being coupled for thermal demand control of said first and second heat pumps and said plurality of thermal zone blowers for operation of said first heat pump to accommodate a predetermined range of thermal load and for operation of said second heat pump to accommodate a range of thermal load in excess of said predetermined range of thermal load and for selective operation of said plurality of thermal zone blowers and when operating for selective operation of said thermal zone blowers at low blower speed and high blower speed responsive to sensed conditions of thermal load. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A thermal zone demand controlled dual cascade arranged heat pump system and system controller for building spaces, comprising:
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(a) a pair of heat pumps being located externally of the building space; (b) a plurality of thermostats each being located within a respective one of said thermal zones for sensing the temperature of air therein, said thermostats each having low speed and high speed blower control circuits each becoming electrically energized at a predetermined temperature range, one of said thermostats being a main thermostat and having a mode selector switch for selection of a "cool" mode, a "heat" mode and an "off" mode; (c) a conditioned air supply and return assembly having a conditioned air chamber, an air return plenum and a plurality of air supply conduits for conducting conditioned air from said conditioned air chamber to respective thermal zones; (d) a plurality of thermal zone air supply blowers each being situate for moving conditioned air from said conditioned air chamber through respective air supply conduits to respective thermal zones and each having low speed and high speed operating coils; (e) a pair of heat transfer refrigerant coils being interconnected respectively with said pair of heat pumps and being located in series within said conditioned air chamber upstream of said air supply conduits; (f) an air return blower being located within said conditioned air chamber and forcing air from said air return plenum into said conditioned air chamber; and (g) electronic heat pump and blower control circuitry being conditionable to select one of said heat pumps as the primary heat pump for operation to accommodate a predetermined thermal load and to select the other of said heat pumps as the secondary heat pump for operation simultaneously with said primary heat pump to accommodate thermal load in excess of said predetermined thermal load, said electronic heat pump and blower control circuitry also being conditionable for reversing said primary and secondary selection of said pair of heat pumps, said electronic heat pump and blower control circuitry further having a plurality of zone control circuits each being electronically coupled with one of said plurality of thermostats for thermal zone and thermal load controlled zone blower and heat pump control signals. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification