HEATING, VENTILATING AND AIR CONDITIONING ACTUATOR

Abstract

An HVAC actuator (10), comprising: an electric motor (20) configured to move an actuated part (40) coupled to the electric motor (20); an electronic circuit (12) connected to the electric motor (20) and configured to control the electric motor (20); and an energy storage element (22) configured to provide electrical energy to the HVAC actuator (20) in absence of external power supply, wherein the electronic circuit (12) is further configured to receive operating commands directed to the actuated part (40), and to control the electric motor (20) to move the actuated part (40), responsive to the operating commands received in absence of external power supply.

Claims

1. An HVAC actuator, comprising: an electric motor configured to move an actuated part coupled to the electric motor; an electronic circuit connected to the electric motor and configured to control the electric motor; and an energy storage element configured to provide electrical energy to the HVAC actuator in absence of external power supply, wherein the electronic circuit is further configured to receive operating commands directed to the actuated part, and to control the electric motor to move the actuated part, responsive to the operating commands received in absence of external power supply.

2. The HVAC actuator according to claim 1, wherein the electronic circuit is configured to enable a user to manually commission, calibrate and/or configure the HVAC actuator without the need of an external energy source.

3. The HVAC actuator according to claim 1, further comprising an operating element for generating the operating commands directed to the actuated part based on operating input from a user.

4. The HVAC actuator according to claim 3, wherein the operating element comprises one or more switching elements.

5. The HVAC actuator according to claim 3, wherein the operating element comprises a communication interface configured to receive operating commands from a controller device external to the HVAC actuator.

6. The HVAC actuator according to claim 5, wherein the controller device comprises a mobile computing device having a user interface for receiving operating input from a user, the mobile computing device being configured to generate the operating commands directed to the actuated part based on the operating input.

7. The HVAC actuator according to claim 5, wherein the communication interface comprises a radio communication interface configured to establish a radio communication link with a corresponding radio communication interface of the controller device and to receive the operating commands via the radio communication link.

8. The HVAC actuator according to claim 5, wherein the communication interface comprises a wire-based communication interface configured to establish a wire-based communication link with a corresponding wire-based communication interface of the controller device and to receive the operating commands via the wire-based communication link.

9. The HVAC actuator according to claim 1, wherein the energy storage element is a battery.

10. The HVAC actuator according to claim 1, further comprising a heating element, the electronic circuit being configured to control the heating element to heat the energy storage element.

11. The HVAC actuator according to claim 1, wherein the electronic circuit is further configured to: switch the HVAC actuator into a low power mode; receive a wake-up command; and wake the HVAC actuator from the low power mode upon receipt of the wake-up command.

12. The HVAC actuator according to claim 11, further comprising a wake-up trigger configured to generate the wake-up command in response to user input.

13. The HVAC actuator according to claim 12, wherein the operating element is configured to generate the wake-up command in response to user input.

14. The HVAC actuator according to claim 1, wherein the electronic circuit is further configured to control a charging level of the energy storage element to prevent a charging level below a deep-discharge level and/or to prevent a charging level above an overcharge level.

15. The HVAC actuator according to claim 1, wherein the actuated part comprises a valve and/or a flap for regulating a flow of fluid.

16. An HVAC system comprising: one or more HVAC actuators according to claim 5 connected to one or more actuated parts; and a controller device comprising: a communication interface configured to establish a communication link with the one or more communication interfaces of the one or more HVAC actuators; and a user interface for receiving operating commands from a user, wherein the controller device is configured to transmit the operating commands to the one or more HVAC actuators via the communication link.

17. The HVAC actuator according to claim 4, wherein the one or more switching elements comprise one or more push buttons and/or one or more control knobs.

18. The HVAC actuator according to claim 9, wherein the battery comprises a rechargeable battery or a Lithium-ion battery.

19. The HVAC actuator according to claim 12, wherein, the wake-up trigger comprises a trigger switch or a radio communication receiver.

20. The HVAC system according to claim 16, wherein the controller device is a mobile computing device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The herein described disclosure will be more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which should not be considered limiting to the disclosure described in the appended claims. The drawings which show:

[0022] FIG. 1: a highly schematic perspective view of an embodiment of an HVAC actuator according to embodiments of the present disclosure, comprising switching elements;

[0023] FIG. 2: a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an HVAC actuator according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] FIG. 3: a highly schematic perspective view of a further embodiment of an HVAC actuator according to embodiments of the present disclosure, comprising a radio communication interface;

[0025] FIG. 4: a block diagram of an embodiment of an HVAC system according to embodiments of the present disclosure, comprising an HVAC actuator and a mobile computing device;

[0026] FIG. 5: a highly schematic perspective view of a further embodiment of an HVAC actuator according to embodiments of the present disclosure, comprising a wire-based communication interface; and

[0027] FIG. 6: a block diagram of a further embodiment of an HVAC actuator according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Reference will now be made in detail to certain embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all features are shown. Indeed, embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Whenever possible, like reference numbers will be used to refer to like components or parts.

[0029] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a highly schematic perspective view respectively a block diagram of an embodiment of an HVAC actuator 10 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the HVAC actuator 10 comprises an electric motor zo, an electronic circuit 12 and an energy storage element 22. The electric motor zo is configured to move an actuated part 40 coupled to the electric motor zo. The actuated part 40 is not part of the HVAC actuator 10. The electronic circuit 12 is connected to the electric motor zo and configured to control the electric motor zo. The energy storage element 22 is configured to provide electrical energy to the HVAC actuator zo in absence of external power supply, illustrated by a broken connection with reference numeral zoo. Operating element(s) 60 is provided to allow a user to manually commission, calibrate and/or configure the HVAC actuator 10. The embodiment of the HVAC actuator 10 shown on FIG. 1 comprises switching elements 61 as operating elements such as electro-mechanical switches.

[0030] To conserve electric energy, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the electronic circuit 12 is further configured to: switch the HVAC actuator 10 into a low power mode (such as a standby mode); receive a wake-up command; and wake the HVAC actuator 10 from the low power mode upon receipt of the wake-up command. According to a particular embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic circuit 12 is configured to wake the HVAC actuator 10 from the low power mode upon actuation of any of the switching elements 61 and to switch the HVAC actuator 10 into a low power mode when the switching elements 61 have not been actuated for a certain period of time.

[0031] FIGS. 3 to 5 show highly schematic perspective views respectively a block diagram of further embodiments of an HVAC actuator 10 comprising a communication interface 62 configured to receive operating commands from a controller device 100 external to the HVAC actuator 10.

[0032] As illustrated on FIGS. 3 and 4, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the communication interface 62 comprises a radio communication interface 62.1 configured to establish a radio communication link with a corresponding radio communication interface of the controller device 100, such as a mobile computing device 100 having a user interface 104.

[0033] FIG. 5 shows a highly schematic perspective view of a further embodiment of an HVAC actuator 10 according to embodiments of the present disclosure, comprising a wire-based communication interface 62.2 configured to establish a wire-based communication link with a corresponding wire-based communication interface 106 of the controller device 100 and to receive the operating commands via the wire-based communication link.

[0034] FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a further embodiment of an HVAC actuator 10 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The electronic circuit 12 of the HVAC actuator 10 comprises: a data store 14 for storing data content comprising configuration data for operating the HVAC actuator 10 and/or for operation-related data recorded by the HVAC actuator 10 and a processor 16 for executing computer readable instructions. In order to avoid damage to the energy storage element 22, the HVAC actuator further comprises a heating element 24, the electronic circuit 12 being configured to control the heating element 24 such as to heat the energy storage element 22.

[0035] Furthermore, the HVAC actuator 10 comprises a wake-up trigger 26 configured to generate the wake-up command (such as a wake-up pulse). According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the wake-up trigger 26 is an electrical switch or a radio communication receiver (such as an NFC receiver).

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0036] HVAC actuator 10 [0037] electronic circuit 12 [0038] data store 14 [0039] processor 16 [0040] communication interface 18 [0041] electric motor 20 [0042] energy storage element 22 [0043] heating element 24 [0044] wake-up trigger 26 [0045] actuated part 40 [0046] sensor 24 [0047] operating element 60 [0048] switching element(s) 61 [0049] communication interface 62 [0050] radio communication interface 62.1 [0051] wire-based communication interface 62.2 [0052] controller device (such as mobile computing device) 100 [0053] radio communication interface (of controller device) 102 [0054] user interface (of controller device) 104 [0055] wire-based communication interface (of controller device) 106