Method, system and apparatus for monitoring and adjusting the quality of indoor air
First Claim
1. An apparatus for monitoring and adjusting indoor air quality comprising:
- sensing means for evaluating an air sample from a zone, wherein the sensing means outputs at least one signature representative of a separate contaminant in the air sample;
processor means for comparing the at least one signature with known signatures and identifying a known contaminant when the at least one signature corresponds to one of the known signatures and inferring a hazard of a known contaminant of a spatially near one of the known signatures on the separate contaminant of the air sample when the at least one signature fails to match one of the known signatures; and
control means for adjusting the indoor air quality, wherein the control means performs corrective actions based on the comparison of the at least one signature and the known signatures.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system, method and apparatus is provided for monitoring and adjusting the quality of indoor air. A sensor array senses an air sample from the indoor air and analyzes the air sample to obtain signatures representative of contaminants in the air sample. When the level or type of contaminant poses a threat or hazard to the occupants, the present invention takes corrective actions which may include introducing additional fresh air. The corrective actions taken are intended to promote overall health of personnel, prevent personnel from being overexposed to hazardous contaminants and minimize the cost of operating the HVAC system. The identification of the contaminants is performed by comparing the signatures provided by the sensor array with a database of known signatures. Upon identification, the system takes corrective actions based on the level of contaminant present. The present invention is capable of learning the identity of previously unknown contaminants, which increases its ability to identify contaminants in the future. Indoor air quality is assured by monitoring the contaminants not only in the indoor air, but also in the outdoor air and the air which is to be recirculated. The present invention is easily adaptable to new and existing HVAC systems. In sum, the present invention is able to monitor and adjust the quality of indoor air in real time by sensing the level and type of contaminants present in indoor air, outdoor and recirculated air, providing an intelligent decision about the quality of the air, and minimizing the cost of operating an HVAC system.
262 Citations
41 Claims
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1. An apparatus for monitoring and adjusting indoor air quality comprising:
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sensing means for evaluating an air sample from a zone, wherein the sensing means outputs at least one signature representative of a separate contaminant in the air sample;
processor means for comparing the at least one signature with known signatures and identifying a known contaminant when the at least one signature corresponds to one of the known signatures and inferring a hazard of a known contaminant of a spatially near one of the known signatures on the separate contaminant of the air sample when the at least one signature fails to match one of the known signatures; and
control means for adjusting the indoor air quality, wherein the control means performs corrective actions based on the comparison of the at least one signature and the known signatures. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for monitoring and adjusting indoor air quality comprising:
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a sensor array to evaluate at least one air sample taken from at least one zone, wherein the sensor array produces at least one array signature representative of each contaminant in each air sample;
a library containing at least one known array signature, wherein each known array signature is representative of a separate contaminant; and
an inference engine configured to compare the at least one array signature produced by the sensor array with the known array signatures contained in the library, wherein the inference engine identifies each separate contaminant in each air sample when the at least one array signature matches the at least one known array signature and infers hazards of a known array signature fail own contaminant of a spatially near one of the at least one known array signature when the at least one array signature fail to match the at least one known array signature. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for monitoring and adjusting indoor air quality comprising:
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a sensor array to evaluate at least one air sample taken from at least one zone, wherein the sensor array produces at least one array signature representative of each contaminant in each air sample;
a library containing at least one known array signature, wherein each known array signature is representative of a separate contaminant; and
an inference engine configured to compare the at least one array signature produced by the sensor array with the known array signatures contained in the library, wherein the inference engine identifies each separate contaminant in each air sample, and wherein the adjustments to the indoor air quality are made based on the presence of an unknown contaminant that is inferred to be hazardous.
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25. A system for monitoring and adjusting the indoor air of at least one zone comprising:
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an air delivery system connected to the at least one zone;
at least one sensor array configured to sense and evaluate an air sample of each zone, wherein each sensor array produces at least one array signature representative of each air sample from each zone;
a library containing at least one known array signature, wherein each known array signature is representative of a separate contaminant; and
processor means for comparing the at least one array signature produced by the at least one sensor array with the at least one known array signature, wherein the processor means identifies each contaminant in each air sample from each zone when the at least one array signature matches one of the at least one known array signature and the processor means infers hazards of a spatially near one of the at least one known array signature when the at least one array signature fail to match one of the at least one known array signature. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method for monitoring and adjusting the quality of indoor air in at least one zone comprising the steps of:
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obtaining sample air from each zone;
obtaining array signatures for each contaminant in the sample air using a sensor array;
comparing the array signatures with a library of known array signatures;
identifying each contaminant in the sample air from each zone based on the comparison when the array signatures matches known array signatures;
inferring hazards of a spatially near one of the known array signatures when the array signtures fail to match the known array signatures; and
adjusting the quality of indoor air for each zone. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39)
obtaining array signatures for each contaminant in the sample air; and
comparing the array signatures with the library of known array signatures.
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39. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 37.
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40. A method for identifying each contaminant in an air sample obtained from a zone comprising the steps of:
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sensing the air sample with a sensor array;
obtaining an array signature for each contaminant in the air sample;
comparing the array signature of each contaminant with a library containing identified array signatures of identified contaminants;
identifying each contaminant in the air sample based on the comparison when the array signature matches identified array signatures; and
inferring hazards of a spatially near one of the identified array signatures when the array signatures fail to match the identified array signatures. - View Dependent Claims (41)
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Specification