HVAC system with camera and microphone

• US 9,958,176 B2
• Filed: 01/29/2014
• Issued: 05/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trane International Inc. (Trane Technologies plc)
• Original Assignee: Trane International Inc. (Trane Technologies plc)
• Inventors: Bicknell, Kirby Neal
• Primary Examiner(s): Ma, Kun Kai
• Application Number:
  US14/167,887
• Publication Number:
  US 20140217185A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,553 Days
• Field of Search: 704275, 382103, 382115
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2120/10 Occupancy
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/40 Noise

Abstract

A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system has an input configured to receive at least one of a first heating setting, a first ventilation setting, a first cooling setting, a first humidity setting, and a first air quality setting, at least one of an image sensor and a microphone connected to at least one component in the HVAC system, the image sensor and/or microphone being configured to capture data from a first zone, and a controller connected to the input and at least one of the image sensor and the microphone, the controller configured to control at least one of the first heating setting, the first ventilation setting, the first cooling setting, the first humidity setting, and the first air quality setting in response to receiving the data from at least one of the image sensor and the microphone.

Claims

1. A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:

an input device configured to receive at least one of a ventilation setting, a temperature setting, a humidity setting, and an air quality setting;

an image sensor connected to at least one component of the HVAC system, wherein the image sensor is configured to capture image data from a first zone; and

a controller connected to the input device and the image sensor, wherein the controller is configured to;

recognize at least one particular occupant;

change at least one of the ventilation setting, the temperature setting, the humidity setting, and the air quality setting to a predefined setting associated with the at least one particular occupant in response to receiving the image data and recognizing the at least one particular occupant,

prioritize a first particular occupant over another particular occupant in response to recognizing the at least one particular occupant in the image data, and

change the at least one of the ventilation setting, the temperature setting, the humidity setting, and the air quality setting to a predefined associated with the first particular occupant in response to prioritizing the first particular occupant.

2. The HVAC system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an indoor HVAC unit, an outdoor HVAC unit, and a thermostat unit, wherein the image sensor is connected to the controller via at least one of the indoor HVAC unit, the outdoor HVAC unit, and the thermostat unit.

3. The HVAC system according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to connect to a network, and wherein the controller is configured to transmit the image data from the image sensor to at least one of a destination on the network, a display attached to the controller, and an HVAC remote control system.

4. The HVAC system according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to recognize a predetermined condition from the image data.

5. The HVAC system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one particular occupant comprises at least one of a person in the first zone.

6. The HVAC system according to claim 1, wherein the controller comprises a housing and a display connected to the controller, wherein the display is configured to display the image data set.

7. The HVAC system according to claim 1, wherein the image sensor is at least one of (1) embedded in the at least one component of the HVAC system and (2) carried by the at least one component of the HVAC system.

8. A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:

an input device configured to receive at least one of a ventilation setting, a temperature setting, a humidity setting, and an air quality setting;

a microphone connected to at least one component of the HVAC system, wherein the microphone is configured to capture an audio data from a first zone; and

a controller connected to the input device and the microphone, wherein the controller is configured to;

recognize at least one particular occupant,

change at least one of the ventilation setting, the temperature setting, the humidity setting, and the air quality setting to a predefined setting associated with the at least one particular occupant in response to receiving the audio data and recognizing the at least one particular occupant,

prioritize a first particular occupant over another particular occupant in response to recognizing the at least one particular occupant in the audio data, and

change the at least one of the ventilation setting, the temperature setting, the humidity setting, and the air quality setting to a predefined setting associated with the first particular occupant in response to prioritizing the first particular occupant.

9. The HVAC system according to claim 8, further comprising:

an indoor HVAC unit, an outdoor HVAC unit, and a thermostat unit, wherein the microphone is connected to the controller via at least one of the indoor HVAC unit, the outdoor HVAC unit, and the thermostat unit.

10. The HVAC system according to claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to connect to a network, and wherein the controller is configured to transmit the audio data to at least one of a destination on the network, a speaker attached to the controller, and an HVAC remote control system.

11. The HVAC system according to claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to recognize a predetermined condition from the audio data.

12. The HVAC system according to claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to recognize in the audio data at least one of the presence of an animal in the first zone and the presence of a person in the first zone.

13. The HVAC system according to claim 8, wherein the microphone is at least one of (1) embedded in the at least one component of the HVAC system and (2) carried by the at least one component of the HVAC system.

14. A method for controlling a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:

entering a first setting into an HVAC system controller, wherein the first setting is at least one of a first temperature setting, a first ventilation setting, a first humidity setting, and a first air quality setting;

capturing at least one of an image data from an image sensor in a first zone or an audio data from a microphone in a first zone, wherein the first zone is at least partially controlled by the HVAC system;

receiving at least one of the image data or the audio data into the HVAC system controller;

recognizing at least one particular occupant in the first zone as a result of receiving the image data,

prioritizing a first particular occupant over another particular occupant in response to recognizing the at least one particular occupant in the image data or the audio data in the first zone,

recognizing a condition as a result of receiving the audio data into the HVAC system controller;

changing the first setting to a second setting in the HVAC system controller as a result of recognizing the at least one particular occupant in the first zone and changing the first setting to a third setting as a result of recognizing the condition in the first zone, wherein the second setting is a predefined setting associated with the at least one particular occupant, and wherein the third setting is a predefined setting associated with the condition in the first zone; and

changing the first setting to the predefined setting associated with the at least one particular occupant in response to prioritizing the first particular occupant in the first zone.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

passing the image data from the HVAC system controller to a display; and

displaying the image data set.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the image sensor is configured to capture the image data as video.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

passing the audio data from the HVAC system controller to an audio output device; and

replaying the audio data.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein recognizing the at least one particular occupant comprises recognizing at least one of a human being and a pet, and wherein recognizing the condition comprises recognizing at least one of the presence of the human being and the presence of the pet.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein recognizing the condition comprises recognizing a specific activity of at least one of a human being and a pet.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

entering a third setting into the HVAC system controller as a result of recognizing the condition in the first zone, wherein the third setting is an electronic lock on at least one of (1) an entry to the first zone and (2) an entertainment device.