U.S. patent application number 15/896882 was filed with the patent office on 2018-08-16 for smart vent apparatus and system.
The applicant listed for this patent is Hamid Farzaneh, Bhusan Gupta, Hamid NAJAFI. Invention is credited to Hamid Farzaneh, Bhusan Gupta, Hamid NAJAFI.
Application Number | 20180231271 15/896882 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 63104497 |
Filed Date | 2018-08-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180231271 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
NAJAFI; Hamid ; et
al. |
August 16, 2018 |
SMART VENT APPARATUS AND SYSTEM
Abstract
A smart vent system is provided comprising at least one smart
vent having a wireless connection to a gateway which interfaces
directly with the HVAC system to control the HVAC system's
operation, thereby bypassing or rendering unnecessary any
thermostats that would normally control the HVAC system. The smart
vent has a user device link for communicating directly with a user
device. The gateway may be configured to either communicate with a
smart thermostat or control the HVAC system directly. The smart
vent may be embodied in either one device or two intercommunicating
devices.
Inventors: |
NAJAFI; Hamid; (Redwood
City, CA) ; Gupta; Bhusan; (Redwood City, CA)
; Farzaneh; Hamid; (Redwood City, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
NAJAFI; Hamid
Gupta; Bhusan
Farzaneh; Hamid |
Redwood City
Redwood City
Redwood City |
CA
CA
CA |
US
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
63104497 |
Appl. No.: |
15/896882 |
Filed: |
February 14, 2018 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
62600070 |
Feb 14, 2017 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F24F 13/1426 20130101;
F24F 2013/1433 20130101; F24F 11/58 20180101; F24F 11/63 20180101;
F24F 11/76 20180101; F24F 2120/20 20180101; F24F 2110/10
20180101 |
International
Class: |
F24F 13/14 20060101
F24F013/14; F24F 11/58 20060101 F24F011/58; F24F 11/63 20060101
F24F011/63; F24F 11/76 20060101 F24F011/76 |
Claims
1. A smart vent system comprising a smart vent, the smart vent
comprising: a motorized vent configured to modulate between an open
position and a closed position; a temperature sensor configured to
sense the temperature in the smart vent environment and generate
temperature data based on the sensed temperature; a gateway link
configured to communicate with a gateway; a controller configured
to: generate HVAC system control information based on the
temperature data; control the modulation of the motorized vent; and
send the HVAC system control information to the gateway via the
gateway link.
2. The smart vent system of claim 1 wherein: the smart vent further
comprises a user device link for communicating directly with a user
device; and the controller is further configured, based on the
instructions stored in the memory, to: receive vent control
information from the user device via the user device link; and
control the modulation of the motorized vent based at least in part
on the received vent control information.
3. The smart vent system of claim 2 wherein: the smart vent is
configured to operate in a low-power mode; and the smart vent is
configured to exit the low-power mode in response to receiving a
communication over the user device link.
4. The smart vent system of claim 1, the smart vent further
comprising one or more additional sensors for sensing the smart
vent environment and generating smart vent sensor data based on the
sensed environment.
5. The smart vent system of claim 1, further comprising a gateway
configured to receive the HVAC system control information from the
smart vent over the gateway link.
6. The smart vent system of claim 5, the gateway comprising an HVAC
interface for directly controlling an HVAC system.
7. The smart vent system of claim 5, the gateway comprising a
program server link for communicating with a program server and for
sending HVAC control information to the program server.
8. The smart vent system of claim 5, the gateway comprising: an
HVAC interface for directly controlling an HVAC system in a first
configuration; and a program server link for communicating with a
program server and for sending HVAC control information to the
program server in a second configuration.
9. The smart vent system of claim 8, the gateway further comprising
a gateway user device link for communicating directly with a user
device.
10. The smart vent system of claim 8, the gateway further
comprising one or more gateway sensors for sensing the gateway
environment and generating gateway sensor data based on the sensed
environment.
11. A smart vent system comprising: a motorized vent device
comprising a motorized vent configured to modulate between an open
position and a closed position in response to received vent control
information; and a thermostat device comprising: a temperature
sensor configured to sense the temperature in the thermostat device
environment and generate temperature data based on the sensed
temperature; a gateway link configured to communicate with a
gateway; a short range link for communicating with the motorized
vent device; and a controller configured to: generate HVAC system
control information based on the temperature data; generate vent
control information based at least in part on the temperature data;
send the vent control information to the motorized vent device via
the short range link; and send the HVAC system control information
to the gateway via the gateway link.
12. The smart vent system of claim 11, the motorized vent device
further comprising one or more motorized vent device sensors for
generating motorized device sensor data and being configured to
send the motorized vent device sensor data to the thermostat device
over the short range link.
13. A gateway for managing a smart vent system, comprising a smart
vent link for receiving HVAC system control information from one or
more smart vents.
14. The gateway of claim 13, further comprising an HVAC interface
for directly controlling an HVAC system based on the received HVAC
system control information.
15. The gateway of claim 13, further comprising a program server
link for communicating with a program server and for sending the
HVAC control information to the program server.
16. The gateway of claim 13, further comprising: an HVAC interface
for directly controlling an HVAC system based on the received HVAC
system control information in a first configuration; and a program
server link for communicating with a program server and for sending
the HVAC control information to the program server in a second
configuration.
17. The gateway of claim 16, further comprising a gateway user
device link for communicating directly with a user device.
18. The gateway of claim 16, further comprising one or more sensors
for sensing the gateway environment and generating gateway sensor
data based on the sensed environment.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] At least one embodiment of the present invention pertains to
smart vents or registers, and more particularly, to a wirelessly
connected motorized vent or register in communication with a
gateway so as to act as a virtual thermostat.
BACKGROUND
[0002] A vast majority of homes and offices in the U.S. and other
countries use a "forced air" system for heating and cooling the
interior of the building. In many of these systems, especially in
residential settings, there is normally just one thermostat in one
location, one central blower, ducts to distribute air to the
different rooms, and vents in each room for the air to flow
through. This thermostat provides only one central point for
temperature control for the whole building.
[0003] If the door to a room is partially or completely closed, or
if the room is remote from the thermostat, the temperature in the
room can differ significantly compared to the temperature measured
by the thermostat. It can get either too hot or too cold depending
on variables like the size of the room, the size of the house, the
location or orientation of the room, the time of the year, the
construction of the HVAC system, etc.
[0004] Also, there is no way for the occupants to set different
temperatures for each room. For instance, parents might want to
keep their children's bedrooms warmer than the master bedroom when
the HVAC system is being used to heat the house. Conversely, the
children's rooms might need to be cooler than other rooms when the
HVAC system is being used to cool the house. Or some rooms may not
need to be heated or cooled at all when vacant, either temporarily
or permanently.
[0005] Accordingly, the lack of individual control for each room
makes a conventional HVAC and thermostat system very inefficient in
terms of both individual comfort and energy savings.
[0006] To enable individual temperature control for multiple rooms,
smart vent systems have been developed that allow control airflow
from an HVAC system to be controlled for individual vents located
in different rooms. The smart vents can open or close independently
in response to local temperature changes. In addition, a vent's
open or closed state can be influenced by control signals issued
from a central controller, usually in the form of a smart
thermostat, in order to regulate the air flow and therefore the
temperature of the individual rooms where the smart vents are
located. However, such systems' reliance on a smart thermostat or
other central controller presents limitations in effectively
regulating the temperature of individual rooms. The use of a
thermostat at a single central location prevents the system from
detecting the conditions of individual rooms and regulating the
HVAC and airflow to those rooms accordingly. In addition, by using
a single central controller to provide all control signals to the
vents, any limitations of the central controller, such as limited
input or output communications, will limit the responsiveness or
other capabilities of the system.
SUMMARY
[0007] This summary is provided to introduce in a simplified form
certain concepts that are further described in the Detailed
Description below and the drawings. This summary is not intended to
identify essential features of the claimed subject matter or to
limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[0008] In a first aspect, a smart vent system comprising one or
more smart vents is disclosed. The smart vent comprises a motorized
vent, a temperature sensor, a gateway link and a controller. The
motorized vent is configured to modulate between an open position
and a closed position. The temperature sensor is configured to
sense the temperature in the smart vent environment and generate
temperature data based on the sensed temperature. The gateway link
is configured to communicate with a gateway. The controller is
configured to generate HVAC system control information based on the
temperature data, control the modulation of the motorized vent, and
send the HVAC system control information to the gateway via the
gateway link.
[0009] In a second aspect, a smart vent system is disclosed
comprising a motorized vent device and a thermostat device. The
motorized vent device comprises a motorized vent configured to
modulate between an open position and a closed position in response
to received vent control information. The thermostat device
comprises a temperature sensor, a gateway link, and a short-range
link. The temperature sensor is configured to sense the temperature
in the thermostat device environment and generate temperature data
based on the sensed temperature. The gateway link is configured to
communicate with a gateway. The short-range link is used for
communicating with the motorized vent device. The controller is
configured to generate HVAC system control information based on the
temperature data, generate vent control information based at least
in part on the temperature data, send the vent control information
to the motorized vent device via the short range link, and send the
HVAC system control information to the gateway via the gateway
link.
[0010] In a further aspect, a gateway is disclosed. The gateway
manages a smart vent system. The gateway comprises a smart vent
link for receiving HVAC system control information from one or more
smart vents. The gateway in some embodiments can also communicate
with services hosted by remote computational entities.
[0011] Other aspects of the technique will be apparent from the
accompanying figures and detailed description. Further example
embodiments of the claimed subject matter will be appreciated from
the following detailed description and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] One or more embodiments of the present invention are
illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of
the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate
similar elements.
[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a smart system that uses a
smart thermostat.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a smart vent system,
including a gateway communicating directly with the HVAC system,
thereby eliminating the need for a smart thermostat.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a memory of an example smart
vent showing the structure of the software blocks stored in the
memory.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example gateway.
[0017] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the smart vent of FIG. 2
wherein the smart vent is composed of a single device.
[0018] FIG. 6 is the block diagram of a smart vent system wherein
the smart vent system is divided into two separate pieces, one
being a motorized vent device and the other being a thermostat
device with other sensors integrated within.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The making and using of the presently described embodiments
are discussed in detail below. The specific embodiments discussed
are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the
invention, and do not limit the scope of the invention.
[0020] References in this description to "an embodiment", "one
embodiment", or the like, mean that the particular feature,
function, structure or characteristic being described is included
in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Occurrences of
such phrases in this specification do not necessarily all refer to
the same embodiment. On the other hand, such references are not
necessarily mutually exclusive either.
[0021] Disclosed herein are smart vent devices and systems that
regulate the state of one or more smart vents based at least in
part on sensor data collected by sensors included in the smart vent
itself. A smart vent may have a motor or other mechanical actuator
to open or close the vent in response to received communications or
internal control signals. A smart vent equipped with a temperature
sensor and/or other room condition sensors (e.g. air quality, air
pressure, humidity, light, motion) may supplement or replace the
central temperature sensing functionality of a smart thermostat.
The use of a smart vent with sensors, as described herein, may
therefore eliminate the need for a smart thermostat as part of a
smart climate control system for a building. The described smart
vents with sensors may also enable feedback-regulated climate
control for individual rooms or other locations within a building
by providing room-specific temperature sensor data and/or other
sensor data.
[0022] In some embodiments, the smart vent is equipped with a user
device link for communicating with a user device. The user device
is operated by a user and may be a mobile electronic device (such
as a smartphone), a laptop or desktop computer, or another
electronic device (such as a remote control unit). The user device
link may be a wired or wireless communication link, such as a
Bluetooth.TM. Low Energy (BLE) link. In some embodiments, the user
device link allows for direct communication between the user device
and the smart vent without going through any intermediary devices
or networks. Some of these embodiments make use of a user device
link that is configured to wake the smart vent from a low-power or
sleep mode in response to communications from the user device.
[0023] In some embodiments, the smart vent is further provided with
a gateway link for communicating with a gateway. The gateway link
may in some embodiments be a long-range wireless link such as a
low-power low-frequency (LPLF) radio link. The gateway may in some
embodiments be an electronic device in communication with one or
more smart vents over those smart vents' gateway links. In some
embodiments, the gateway is configured to directly control an HVAC
system for the building. In other embodiments, the gateway is
configured to control the HVAC system indirectly through one or
more other devices. The gateway may respond to communications from
one or more of the smart vents to set the operating mode or
parameters of the HVAC system (e.g. power level of heating, power
level of cooling, humidity settings, off). The gateway may further
communicate with the smart vent systems to provide instructions for
opening or closing one or more of the smart vents. In some
embodiments, the smart vents spend the majority of their time in a
low-power or sleep mode, and communications with the gateway only
take place periodically during a wake-up period. This may make the
smart vents less immediately responsive to the gateway than they
are to the user device.
[0024] Thus, in some embodiments the smart vent comprises two
radios: one being a low power, but short range, Bluetooth (BLE)
radio and other being a low power, lower frequency (LPLF) radio but
with a longer range enabling it to have a wider area of coverage.
The smart vent communicates via BLE with a smart phone or similar
user device for short range communication and connects with a
gateway, which can be a further distance away, via the LPLF radio.
The smart vent receives a wireless command from the gateway or the
smart phone to open a vent so that air flows from the duct to the
room. A controller, such as a processor coupled to a memory, opens
the motorized vent by sending a command to a motor or a motor
controller to open the vent. A motor, coupled to the storage and
processor, opens the vent upon receiving the command, thereby
regulating the airflow into the room.
[0025] In some embodiments, a program server is provided to
coordinate the operation of the smart vents and HVAC system using
program data. The program data may include schedule data for
changing HVAC and vent operating parameters at different times of
day, different days of the week, or other time periods (such as
during a week when the building is scheduled to be empty). It may
also include operating parameters for the vents in particular rooms
or areas of the building, such as instructions for maintaining a
specific temperature in a specific room or for keeping a smart vent
in a vacant room closed. The program server may be a server or set
of servers on the Internet or another network in communication with
the gateway. In other embodiments, the program server may be an
electronic device in communication with the gateway through a
communication link rather than over a network. In still other
embodiments, the program server may be a software or hardware
module included as part of the same device as the gateway.
[0026] The smart vent(s), gateway, and program server may be used
in various combinations in different embodiments, as described in
detail herein. In some embodiments, a smart vent system is provided
to properly manage and control the temperatures in individual
rooms. The system may be employed to provide command and status
information to an HVAC control device that controls the HVAC system
and turns it on or off.
[0027] In some embodiments, this HVAC control device may be a smart
thermostat. The smart thermostat may be connected to a server in
the cloud or on another network, through an Internet connection or
other network connection. The smart thermostat may also be
connected to the HVAC system through a wired link and/or a wireless
link. The functionality of the smart thermostat may be accessed
using a software Application Program Interface (API). The smart
vent system can use the API to communicate with the smart
thermostat over a wired or wireless communication link.
[0028] In other embodiments, a smart vent system can eliminate the
need for a smart thermostat by directly communicating with a
gateway that can control the HVAC system (e.g., turn it on and
off). In such embodiments, the temperature sensing and regulating
functionality of the smart thermostat is replaced by one or more
smart vents with temperature sensors. Optionally, one of the smart
vents may be located where the smart thermostat would normally be
placed to control the temperature at that location. Such an
embodiment of a smart vent system provides two potential advantages
over a smart thermostat system using conventional vents: first, it
allows monitoring of the temperature or other climate conditions in
individual rooms via the sensing capabilities of the smart vents.
Second, even if a smart thermostat system were equipped with
multiple remote temperature sensors to provide temperature data on
individual rooms, it would still not be able to control the central
airflow in a manner so as to provide room-specific temperature
control, as it would not be able to control the airflow in each
room; doing so requires individually controllable smart vents in
each room.
[0029] Example embodiments will now be described in detail with
reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a
smart vent system 100 including at least one smart vent 120 working
with a smart thermostat 170 to control an HVAC system 180. The
smart vent 120 is located within a room and communicates with a
gateway 140 via a gateway link, such as wireless LPLF radio link
215. The smart vent 120 may send HVAC system control information
104 to the gateway 140 over the LPLF radio link 215, such as
instructions to turn the HVAC system 180 on or off, to switch
between heating and cooling, to modulate the power or speed of the
blower, and/or to regulate a humidifier or dehumidifier. The LPLF
radio link 215 may also be used by the smart vent 120 to receive
vent control information 102 from the gateway 140, such as
instructions to open or close the vent or to partially open the
vent a specific amount (i.e. to modulate the vent between an open
position and a closed position).
[0030] The gateway 140 communicates with a program server 150 via a
program server link. This link may in various embodiments be a
wired connection, such as Ethernet connection 122, or a wireless
connection, such as Wi-Fi (802.11) connection 124. The program
server 150 may in some embodiments be a cloud server in
communication with the gateway 140 over the Internet via the
Ethernet connection 122 or the Wi-Fi connection 124. The gateway
140 may use the Ethernet connection 122 or the Wi-Fi connection 124
to send information to the program server 150, such as sensor
information from one or more smart vent 120 sensors or HVAC control
information 104 to control the HVAC system 180. The gateway 140 may
also receive information over the Ethernet connection 122 or the
Wi-Fi connection 124 from the program server 150, such as vent
control information 102 to control the state of one or more smart
vents 120 based on the program data 106 of the program server 150.
For example, the program server 150 may send vent control
information 102 to the gateway 140 at a specific time of day to
cause a smart vent 120 in a specific room to close, thereby
minimizing the application of heating or cooling in a room that is
scheduled to be unoccupied at that time of day. The vent control
information 102 may be included as part of program data 106 sent
from the program server 150 to the gateway 140.
[0031] The program server 150 communicates with the smart
thermostat 170 through a smart thermostat server 160 using an API
defined by the smart thermostat server 160. The smart thermostat
server 160 may in some embodiments be a cloud server in
communication with the program server 150 over the Internet. The
smart vent 120 can direct the smart thermostat 170, via the gateway
140, program server 150, and smart thermostat server 160, to turn
the HVAC system 180 on or off depending on whether the desired room
temperature is achieved for all rooms equipped by smart vents.
[0032] The smart vent 120 can also communicate with a user device,
such as smart phone 130, directly via a user device link. The user
device link may be a radio link such as the BLE link 210 shown in
FIG. 1. The user device may send vent control information 102 to
the smart vent 120 via the BLE link 210 in some embodiments.
[0033] FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment where the smart thermostat
is eliminated altogether. In this smart vent system 200, a gateway
140 communicates directly with the HVAC system 180. This system 200
therefore eliminates the need for a smart thermostat 170 or its
associated server 160.
[0034] In operation, this smart vent system 200 can maintain
different temperatures for each smart-vent-equipped room. Smart
vents 120 can be placed in multiple rooms or locations and each can
send sensed temperature data from each room wirelessly over the
gateway link (LPLF radio link 215) to a gateway 140 which connects
to the HVAC system 180 directly. Once the gateway 140 detects that
all smart-vent-equipped rooms have reached their desired
temperature (according to program data 106 for desired temperatures
for each room), it will shut off the blower of the HVAC system 180
and wait for a smart vent 120 to report a sufficient change in
temperature to turn on the HVAC system again (i.e., a decrease in
sensed temperature can reactivate the heating system, or conversely
an increase in sensed temperature can reactivate the air
conditioner).
[0035] In some embodiments, the gateway may be set to a first
configuration to operate as shown in FIG. 1, and may be set to a
second configuration to operate as shown in FIG. 2.
[0036] The operation of the smart vent 120 is controlled by a
controller, such as a specialized hardware circuit or a processor
coupled to a memory containing software instructions. FIG. 3 is
block diagram illustrating the memory 300 of an example smart vent
120 and specifically the software 310 stored in the memory 300. The
software 310 includes a thermostat engine 320 for using the
temperature sensor to generate temperature data, a motor engine 330
for controlling the motorized vent, a BLE engine 340 for
communicating over the BLE link 210, an LPLF radio engine 350 for
communicating over the LPLF link 215, and a complementary sensors
engine 360 for controlling, or generating or receiving sensor data
from, other sensors included in the smart vent 120.
[0037] The thermostat engine 310 receives commands via the BLE link
210 (using the BLE engine 340) or LPLF radio link 215 (using the
LPLF radio engine 350) to open or close the vent using the motor
engine 330.
[0038] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an example gateway 140. A
controller 430, such as a microprocessor, controls and receives
inputs from a number of other subsystems. A smart vent link, such
as an LPLF radio link 215, communicates with the smart vents 120.
The gateway 140 has a gateway user device link, such as gateway BLE
radio link 212, which communicates with a user device such as a
smart phone 130. The user device may communicate with the gateway
140 in some embodiments for the purpose of configuration, testing,
and/or monitoring. A Wi-Fi radio link 410 and Ethernet connection
circuit 420 connect the gateway 140 to the program server 150 via
the Internet. The HVAC interface 440 connects the gateway 140 to
the HVAC system 180 to control turning the HVAC system 180 on and
off and/or controlling subsystems such as the blower speed. Gateway
sensors 435 can be a combination of different sensors for
monitoring environmental conditions such as air quality,
temperature, pressure, and humidity within or in the vicinity of
the HVAC system 180 and generating gateway sensor data based on the
sensed conditions. Power management circuits 450 receive electric
power from the AC power circuits 470 to operate the gateway, to
charge the backup battery 460, and to use the backup battery 460 to
power the gateway 140 when AC power is not available.
[0039] FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an example self-contained
smart vent 500. It consists of a controller 550 used to control and
communicate with a motorized vent 510 and a number of additional
sensors 520, including a temperature sensor 530 which is used to
measure the room temperature. The additional sensors 520 may also
include, in various embodiments, a humidity sensor, a pressure
sensor, a light sensor, an air quality sensor, a motion sensor, a
presence sensor, an air pressure monitor, an air quality monitor, a
CO2 monitor, a carbon monoxide monitor, a smoke monitor, a
microphone, an optical sensor, or any other sensor useful for
monitoring the environment or the state of the smart vent 120. In
this embodiment, the self-contained vent 120 communicates with the
gateway 140 and a user device (such as smart phone 130) as shown in
FIG. 2 using the LPLP radio link 215 and the BLE link 210
respectively. In this embodiment, the controller 550 is a processor
coupled to a memory 300 and manages the operation of the various
subsystems based on instructions stored in the memory 300.
[0040] FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a two-part smart vent 600
which is divided into two devices. One is a motorized vent device
620 which includes a motorized vent 621 and optionally one or more
motorized vent device sensors 622, such as a pressure sensor and a
humidity sensor. The other is a thermostat device 630 with a
temperature sensor 530 to measure the room temperature plus
optionally one or more other thermostat device sensors such as
sensors for humidity, pressure, light, air quality, presence, etc.
Motorized vent device 620 and thermostat device 630 communicate
with each other via a short range link such as a short range radio
link 640 (e.g. a BLE radio link), and the thermostat device 630
communicates with the gateway 140 through another longer range
radio link (such as an LPLF radio link 215). The motorized vent
device 620 may send motorized vent device sensor data 108 to the
thermostat device 630 over the short range link 640 for the
thermostat device 630 to relay to the gateway 140 or to use in its
own operations. The thermostat device 630 may send vent control
information 102 to the motorized vent device 620 to control the
motorized vent 621 based at least in part on temperature data
generated by the temperature sensor 530. This two-part smart vent
system allows a user to manually control the temperature of the
room by manually manipulating thermostat device 630, without having
to use a smart phone 130.
[0041] The program data 106 may include different information in
different embodiments. It may include schedule information
identifying desired temperature levels and/or humidity levels for
individual rooms or other locations at different times (e.g. times
of day, days of the week, multi-day periods, etc.). It may include
system operating parameters such as desired HVAC power consumption
under different conditions (such as peak or off-peak hours of the
day), desired HVAC blower speeds under different conditions, or
overall desired temperature or humidity. It may also include data
intended for system management, such as diagnostic information for
testing the gateway, smart vents, and/or their various
sub-systems.
[0042] Vent control information 102 may include information
instructing the motorized vent 510 to completely open, completely
close, or modulate its position to a set point between a fully open
and a fully closed position. In some embodiments it may include a
desired temperature and/or humidity level for the location of the
smart vent 120. The smart vent 120 can then act as a thermostat for
that location by controlling the motorized vent 510 to modulate
between an open and a closed position to maintain the desired
temperature and/or humidity level. In order to maintain the desired
temperature and/or humidity level, the smart vent 120 may also
generate HVAC system control information 104 and send it to the
gateway 140 in addition to modulating the position of the motorized
vent 510.
[0043] The HVAC system control information 104 may in some
embodiments include a blower speed setting and a heating
mode/cooling mode setting for the HVAC system 180. It may include
instructions to activate or deactivate the HVAC system 180. It may
include humidifier and/or dehumidifier settings for HVAC system 180
equipped with humidifiers or dehumidifiers. The format and/or
content of the HVAC system control information 104 sent from a
smart vent 120 to the gateway 140 may be the same or different from
that of the HVAC system control information 104 sent from the
gateway 140 to the program server 150. In some embodiments, the
gateway or the smart vents 120 may generate HVAC system control
information 104 based on the output of more than one smart vent
120: for example, the blower speed of the HVAC system may be set to
a level sufficient to effect a desired amount of heating or cooling
of all the locations where smart vents are located by combining the
blower speed settings of the HVAC system control information 104
from multiple smart vents 120. The HVAC system control information
104 may also include sensor data relevant to HVAC system operation,
which may in some embodiments be used by the program server 150 to
modify its schedule or program data 106. For example, the HVAC
system control information 104 may include presence information for
a location or for the building as a whole (as collected from, e.g.,
a presence sensor, a motion sensor, or a user device), which the
program server 150 may use to modify its schedule or to generate
new program information 106.
[0044] The user device, such as the smart phone 130, may be used to
directly communicate with the smart vent 120 over the user device
link (such as BLE link 210) or with the gateway 140 over the
gateway user device link (such as BLE link 212). The user device
may thus provide vent control information 102 to the smart vent 120
directly or via the gateway 140. The user device may also be used
to control other functions of the smart vent 120, gateway 140, HVAC
system 180, or program server 150 by passing control instructions
to the smart vent 120 or gateway 140 and having those instructions
relayed to the device being controlled. The user device may also be
used to display or otherwise communicate to the user information
provided by the various components of the smart vent system (100 or
200). For example, the user device could be used to display the
temperature in a room by receiving this information from the smart
vent 120 in that room. The temperature sensor 530 of the smart vent
120 would collect or generate this information and it would be
communicated to the user device via the user device link (such as
BLE link 210). The user device may also serve as a source of
presence data for the system: when the BLE link 210 of a smart vent
120 detects the nearby presence of the user device in communication
range, it could incorporate this presence information into its own
operational logic (e.g. opening the motorized vent 510 to heat or
cool the room where the presence is detected) and/or into its
communications with the rest of the system (such as including the
presence information in the HVAC system control information 104
sent to the gateway 140).
[0045] Data collected from the smart vent sensors 520 and gateway
sensors 435, such as the temperature sensor 530 and additional
sensors 622, 632, may be used by the various components of the
system in their operation. It may be taken into account by the
program server 150 to modify its schedule and/or to generate
program data 106. It may be used by the gateway 140, the program
server 150, the smart thermostat server 160, and/or the smart
thermostat 170 to control the operation of the HVAC system 180. It
may be displayed or otherwise communicated to a user, such as via
the user device or via a user interface included in the gateway 140
or smart thermostat 170. It may also be used by the smart vents 120
to change their operating parameters, such as the modulation of the
position of the motorized vent 510 or the smart vents' power
consumption mode settings.
[0046] Each of the various engines 320, 330, 340, 350, 360 shown in
FIG. 3, while shown as software, can be alternatively implemented
in pure hardware in some embodiments (e.g., specially-designed
dedicated circuitry such as one or more application-specific
integrated circuits (ASICs)), or in programmable circuitry
appropriately programmed with software and/or firmware, or in a
combination of pure hardware and programmable circuitry.
[0047] Similarly, the techniques described above can be implemented
by programmable circuitry programmed and/or configured by software
and/or firmware, or entirely by special-purpose circuitry, or by a
combination of such forms. Such special-purpose circuitry (if any)
can be in the form of, for example, one or more
application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable
logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),
etc.
[0048] Software or embedded firmware to implement the techniques
described herein may be stored on a machine-readable storage medium
and may be executed by one or more general-purpose or
special-purpose programmable microprocessors. A "machine-readable
medium", as the term is used herein, includes any mechanism that
can store information in a form accessible by a machine (a machine
may be, for example, a computer, network device, cellular phone,
personal digital assistant (PDA), manufacturing tool, any device
with one or more processors, etc.). For example, a
machine-accessible medium includes recordable or non-recordable
media (e.g., read-only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM);
magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media, flash memory
devices, other nonvolatile storage mediums, etc.).
[0049] The term "logic", as used herein, means: a) special-purpose
hardwired circuitry, such as one or more application-specific
integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs),
field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other similar device(s);
b) programmable circuitry programmed with software and/or firmware,
such as one or more programmed general-purpose microprocessors,
digital signal processors (DSPs) and/or microcontrollers, or other
similar device(s); or c) a combination of the forms mentioned in a)
and b).
[0050] Although various components of the example devices and
systems are described and illustrated as a single component, in
other embodiments their functions may be split among multiple
different components. For example, the controller 550 used to
control the functions of the smart vent 120 may in some embodiments
be implemented as two or more subsystem controllers for controlling
one or more of the subsystems of the smart vent, such as a main
controller and a separate motor subsystem controller.
[0051] Note that any and all of the embodiments described above can
be combined with each other, except to the extent that it may be
stated otherwise above or to the extent that any such embodiments
might be mutually exclusive in function and/or structure.
[0052] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it will be recognized
that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but
can be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit
and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the specification
and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather
than a restrictive sense.
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