HVAC system that collects customer feedback in connection with failure triage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10684035-B2
Application number	US-201815865061-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 8, 2018
Priority date	Jan 8, 2018
Publication date	Jun 16, 2020
Grant date	Jun 16, 2020

Abstract

A heating, ventilation and air condition (HVAC) system configured for automated failure triage, inventory analysis, and customer feedback communication is provided. The HVAC system includes a controller in operable communication with at least one peripheral component of the HVAC system for receiving information relating to the at least one peripheral component, and configured to receive customer feedback information, and a server in operable communication with the controller for receiving and analyzing the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and the customer feedback information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A heating, ventilation and air condition (HVAC) system configured for automated failure triage, inventory analysis, and customer feedback communication, the HVAC system comprising:
a user interface device that, in response to a condition being satisfied, presents an element requesting customer feedback information indicative of how the HVAC system is being used;
a controller in operable communication with the user interface device and at least one peripheral component of the HVAC system for receiving information relating to the at least one peripheral component, and configured to receive the customer feedback information; and
a server, in operable communication with the controller, that receives and analyzes the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and the customer feedback information, and identifies a failure of the at least one peripheral component based at least in part on the customer feedback information indicative of how the HVAC system is being used.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server is cloud based.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to bundle the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and transmit the bundled information to the server for triage and assessment.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to archive the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and the customer feedback information.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the information relating to the at least one peripheral component includes one of a name of the at least one peripheral component, a location of the HVAC system, technical data, logs, stack dumps, backups, a description of the failure of the at least one peripheral component, and inventory needed to correct the failure of the at least one peripheral component.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the server is configured to transmit the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and the customer feedback information to one of a product management entity and a change control board entity where:
the information relating to the at least one peripheral component is evaluated to determine the failure of the at least one peripheral component, a severity of the failure of the at least one peripheral component, assign a priority if more than one failure of the at least one peripheral component is detected, assign a priority if more than one at least one peripheral component is detected, and possible solutions to the failure of the at least one peripheral component; and
the customer feedback information is evaluated to determine how the HVAC system is being used by the customer, a location of the HVAC system, a location of a vendor associated with the HVAC system of the customer, a number of devices associated with the HVAC system, and applications and their respective quantities of the HVAC system.

7. A method of use for a heating, ventilation and air condition (HVAC) system configured for automated failure triage, inventory analysis, and customer feedback communication, the method comprising:
presenting, at a user interface device, a graphical element requesting customer feedback information indicative of how the HVAC system is being used;
receiving, by a controller in operable communication with at least one peripheral component of the HVAC system and the user interface device, information relating to the at least one peripheral component and the customer feedback information; and
receiving and analyzing, at a server in operable communication with the controller, the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and the customer feedback information and identifying a failure of the at least one peripheral component based at least in part on the customer feedback information that is indicative of how the HVAC has been used.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the server is cloud based.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising bundling, at the controller, the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and transmitting, from the controller, the bundled information to the server for triage and assessment.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising archiving, at the server, the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and the customer feedback information.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein archiving the information relating to the at least one peripheral component includes archiving information including one of a name of the at least one peripheral component, a location of the HVAC system, technical data, logs, stack dumps, backups, a description of the failure of the at least one peripheral component, and inventory needed to correct the failure of the at least one peripheral component.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising transmitting, from the server, the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and the customer feedback information to one of a product management entity and a change control board entity where:
the information relating to the at least one peripheral component is evaluated to determine the failure of the at least one peripheral component, a severity of the failure of the at least one peripheral component, assign a priority if more than one failure of the at least one peripheral component is detected, assign a priority if more than one at least one peripheral component is detected, and possible solutions to the failure of the at least one peripheral component; and
the customer feedback information is evaluated to determine how the HVAC system is being used by the customer, a location of the HVAC system, a location of a vendor associated with the HVAC system of the customer, a number of devices associated with the HVAC system, and applications and their respective quantities of the HVAC system.

13. A building automation system (BAS) for controlling a heating, ventilation and air condition (HVAC) system, the BAS comprising:
a user interface device that presents an element requesting the customer feedback information indicative of how the HVAC system is being used;
a controller in operable communication with the user interface device and at least one peripheral component of the HVAC system for receiving information relating to the at least one peripheral component, and configured to receive customer feedback information;
a server, in operable communication with the controller, that receives and analyzes the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and the customer feedback information, and identifies a failure of the at least one peripheral component based at least in part on the customer feedback information indicative of how the HVAC system is being used.

14. The BAS of claim 13 , wherein the server is cloud based.

15. The BAS of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to bundle the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and transmit the bundled information to the server for triage and assessment.

16. The BAS of claim 13 , wherein the server is configured to archive the information relating to the at least one peripheral component and the customer feedback information.

17. The BAS of claim 16 , wherein the information relating to the at least one peripheral component includes one of a name of the at least one peripheral component, a location of the HVAC system, technical data, logs, stack dumps, backups, a description of the failure of the at least one peripheral component, and inventory needed to correct the failure of the a

Assignees

• Trane Int Inc

Inventors

• Martin Mark
• Meyers Brian

Classifications

• H04L12/2823 Primary

  Reporting information sensed by appliance or service execution status of appliance services in a home automation network (device-related reporting H04L43/065; arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00) · CPC title

• F24F11/49

  ensuring correct operation, e.g. by trial operation or configuration checks · CPC title

• F24F11/38 Primary

  Failure diagnosis · CPC title

• F24F11/32

  Responding to malfunctions or emergencies · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title