Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning design apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A computer-readable medium storing a computer program for designing an HVAC system, the computer program comprising:
- an input module configured to receive inputs corresponding to design elements, characterized by properties stored in records, to design elements being connectable to establish an HVAC system to be designed;
a design module operably connected to the input module and configured to operate on the inputs to create the records reflecting the properties of the design elements and interactions thereof to establish a design of the HVAC system;
the input module and design module, further configured to automatically provide multiple schematic representations of different types of a selected design element, selected from the design elements, the multiple schematic representations reflecting distinct operational contexts of the selected design element, the distinct operational contexts comprising a first operational context representing the transport of mass, and a second operational context representing the transport of energy, wherein each schematic representation is made using a separate distinct palette of icons of components suited for that operational context, and to automatically maintain substantially complete and consistent information in the records, describing the properties of the selected design element in each of the distinct operational contexts; and
an output module configured to provide a user-interpretable output reflecting the design of the HVAC system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for designing an HVAC system using a database to manage values of properties corresponding to design elements. Elements include substantially all physical components and connections available for creating an HVAC system design. A user interface represents design elements arbitrarily selectable by a user and connectable to one another in a schematic to establish the HVAC system design. The system may provide, automatically, default values corresponding to the properties corresponding to the design elements. A user may select arbitrarily, from the design elements, an arbitrary number of selected design elements to be interconnected in the HVAC system design. A user may place and interconnect each arbitrary design element, while the system calculates, automatically, values of properties characterizing the arbitrary design elements; validating correctness of the interconnections and properties, calculating performance parameters, and providing drawings.
58 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A computer-readable medium storing a computer program for designing an HVAC system, the computer program comprising:
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an input module configured to receive inputs corresponding to design elements, characterized by properties stored in records, to design elements being connectable to establish an HVAC system to be designed; a design module operably connected to the input module and configured to operate on the inputs to create the records reflecting the properties of the design elements and interactions thereof to establish a design of the HVAC system; the input module and design module, further configured to automatically provide multiple schematic representations of different types of a selected design element, selected from the design elements, the multiple schematic representations reflecting distinct operational contexts of the selected design element, the distinct operational contexts comprising a first operational context representing the transport of mass, and a second operational context representing the transport of energy, wherein each schematic representation is made using a separate distinct palette of icons of components suited for that operational context, and to automatically maintain substantially complete and consistent information in the records, describing the properties of the selected design element in each of the distinct operational contexts; and an output module configured to provide a user-interpretable output reflecting the design of the HVAC system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for designing an HVAC system, the method comprising:
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providing a database having records and configured to manage values of properties corresponding to design elements corresponding to substantially all physical components and connections available for creating an HVAC system design; providing a user interface configured to represent design elements arbitrarily selectable by a user and connectable to one another in a schematic to establish the HVAC system design; providing, automatically, default values corresponding to the properties corresponding to the design elements; selecting arbitrarily, from the design elements, by a user, an arbitrary number of selected design elements to be interconnected in the HVAC system design; selecting, by a user, a relative location and interconnections corresponding to each selected design element; automatically providing multiple schematic representations of different types of at least one of the selected design elements, the multiple schematic representations reflecting distinct operational contexts of the selected design elements, the distinct operational contexts comprising a first operational context representing the transport of mass, and a second operational context representing the transport of energy, wherein each schematic representation is made using a separate distinct palette of icons of components suited for that operational context; calculating, automatically, values of properties characterizing the selected design elements; validating correctness of the interconnections and properties; calculating performance parameters corresponding to the HVAC system design; and providing drawings defining the HVAC system design for construction. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer-readable medium storing a computer program for designing an HVAC system, the computer program comprising:
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an input module configured to receive inputs corresponding to design elements, characterized by properties stored in records, the design elements being connectable to establish an HVAC system to be designed; a design module operably connected to the input module and configured to operate on the inputs to create the records reflecting the properties of the design elements and interactions thereof to establish a design of the HVAC system; the input module and design module, further configured to automatically provide multiple schematic representations of different types of a selected design element, selected from the design elements, the multiple schematic representations reflecting distinct operational contexts of the selected design element, the distinct operational contexts comprising a first operational context, representing the transport of mass, and a second operational context, representing the transport of energy, wherein each schematic representation is made using a separate distinct palette of icons of components suited for that operational context; the design and input modules, further configured to automatically maintain substantially complete and consistent information in the records, describing the properties of the selected design element in each of the distinct operational contexts; and an output module configured to provide a user-interpretable output reflecting the design of the HVAC system.
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Specification