Smart air ventilation system

• US 8,249,731 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2010
• Issued: 08/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Clean Energy Management Solutions, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Alan An-Thuan Tran, Alexander Bach Tran, Bao Q. Tran
• Inventors: Tran, Alexander Bach, Tran, Alan An-Thuan, Tran, Bao Q.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nwugo, Ojiako
• Application Number:
  US12/960,743
• Publication Number:
  US 20110077758A1
• Time in Patent Office: 624 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.1, 3405721-5725, 236 491- 495, 222/23, 222/52, 222/69
• US Class Current: 700/94
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0412 Low-profile patch shaped housings
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/045 with a separable interface unit, e.g. for communication
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1113 Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7275 Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25187 Transmission of signals, medium, ultrasonic, radio
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00004 characterised by the power network being locally controlled
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00024 by means of mobile telephony
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00026 involving a local wireless network, e.g. Wi-Fi, ZigBee or Bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/23 The load being a medical device, a medical implant, or a life supporting device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/64 The condition being economic, e.g. tariff based load management
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 : Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 : Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/126 : using wireless data transmission

Abstract

A system to control energy consumption in a building having a plurality of rooms with a wireless data transceiver; an occupancy sensor; a temperature sensor; a processor coupled to the wireless data transceiver, the occupancy sensor and the temperature sensor; and an air register including a motor coupled to the processor, the motor opening or closing one or more air vents in response to sensed motion or room temperature.

Claims

1. A system to control energy consumption in a building having a plurality of rooms, comprising:

an occupancy sensor;

a processor;

an air register housing the processor and the occupancy sensor, the air register including a motor coupled to the processor and the occupancy sensor, the motor opening or closing one or more air vents in response to sensed motion or room temperature; and

an air filter proximal to the air register and one or more scent chemical reservoirs coupled to the air filter to dispense computer controlled scent.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor in the air register is wired to the occupancy sensor, wherein the processor reads the output of the occupancy sensor, determines occupancy, and automatically closes the air vent(s) based on user specification or when the room is empty.

3. The system of claim 1, comprising a smart meter coupled to an appliance, wherein the smart meter includes bi-directional communication, power measurement and management capability, software-controllable disconnect switch, and communication over low voltage power line.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein room temperature is controlled by a thermostat or a remote processor sending an instruction to the processor.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the occupancy sensor comprises a wireless transceiver, wherein the wireless transceiver is periodically used to detect occupancy by detecting variations in reflected radio signals and otherwise used for data communication with another transceiver.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor communicates with an online weather service through an application program interface (API) for predicted weather condition.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor pre-charges room temperature in response to a demand response signal or a predetermined pattern.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor minimizes operating cost by shifting energy use to an off-peak period in response to utility pricing that varies energy cost by time of day.

9. The system of claim 1, comprising an energy harvester coupled to the processor.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the energy harvester comprises a solar cell.

11. The system of claim 1, comprising a heating ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) device coupled to a rechargeable energy reservoir, wherein the reservoir is charged during a utility off-peak period and used to power the HVAC device during a utility pricing period.

12. The system of claim 1, comprising a recognizer to determine room usage pattern by occupant(s), wherein the recognizer is coupled to the transceiver including one of:

a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) recognizer, a dynamic time warp (DTW) recognizer, a neural network, a fuzzy logic engine, a Bayesian network.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the occupancy sensor comprises an analyzer to process an RSSI signal from a wireless data transceiver to detect occupancy in the area.

14. The system of claim 1, comprising a light emitting diode coupled to the processor to detect light, wherein the processor determines lighting profiles that incorporate time-based control with occupancy, daylighting, and manual control and wherein the processor integrates time-based lighting control with occupancy sensing control.

15. The system of claim 1, comprising a local heater proximal to the air vent.

16. The system of claim 1, comprising a local air conditioner or cooler proximal to the air vent.

17. The system of claim 1, comprising a local fan proximal to the air vent.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the occupancy sensor is embedded in the air vent and wherein the occupancy sensor is an infrared occupancy sensor.

19. The system of claim 1, comprising a stereo system and a display to provide an immersive virtual reality experience, through computer controlled scent, sound and video.