Serial communicating HVAC system
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. An HVAC system comprising:
- a thermostat incorporating a central control, and operator input switches;
a data bus communicating control signals from said central control to an indoor HVAC unit, said indoor HVAC unit being operable to provide a heating function to air within an environment, said indoor HVAC unit being provided with a control that directly controls said indoor HVAC unit, and which receives control signals on said data bus from said central control.
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Abstract
An HVAC system is provided with control communication over a serial data bus. In this manner, the hard wired controls of the prior art are eliminated. A thermostat includes a central control microprocessor that communicates control signals to and from a microprocessor at an indoor unit. The indoor unit may be a furnace or a fan/heater combination. The microprocessor on the indoor unit is operable to receive signals from the central control microprocessor and control the indoor unit accordingly. Moreover, the microprocessor at the indoor unit is operable to pass control signals on to an outdoor unit such as an air conditioner or heat pump. Most preferably, this outdoor unit is provided with its own microprocessor. Further, other peripheral units may be incorporated to be controlled over the same data bus from the thermostat. Installation and updating of HVAC systems is greatly simplified by this control arrangement.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. An HVAC system comprising:
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a thermostat incorporating a central control, and operator input switches; a data bus communicating control signals from said central control to an indoor HVAC unit, said indoor HVAC unit being operable to provide a heating function to air within an environment, said indoor HVAC unit being provided with a control that directly controls said indoor HVAC unit, and which receives control signals on said data bus from said central control. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An HVAC system comprising:
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a data bus including four wires communicating signals from a central control to a control for an indoor HVAC unit, said data bus including two control wires carrying a plurality of distinct control signals and two power wires carrying power, said indoor HVAC unit providing a power source for providing power over said two power wires, said central control being a system control for generating and sending controls signals to said indoor HVAC unit control, said indoor HVAC unit being operable to provide heating and a fan function to move air within an environment; and an outdoor HVAC unit provided with four wires, with two power wires carrying power signals, and two control wires carrying a plurality of distinct control signals from said outdoor HVAC unit to said central control, said central control providing control signals to said outdoor HVAC unit control to operate said outdoor HVAC unit. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An HVAC system comprising:
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a central control; a thermostat having operator input switches; an indoor HVAC unit being operable to provide a heating function to air within an environment, said indoor HVAC unit being provided with a control that directly controls said HVAC unit; and a data bus communicating control signals from said central control to and from said thermostat and at least to said indoor HVAC unit, said indoor HVAC unit receiving control signals on said data bus from said central control and signals from said operator input switch being passed to said central control to generate control for said indoor HVAC unit over said data bus. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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Specification