Integrated smart actuator and valve device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11226129-B2
Application number	US-201916512728-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 16, 2019
Priority date	Jan 5, 2017
Publication date	Jan 18, 2022
Grant date	Jan 18, 2022

Abstract

A system configured to modify an environmental condition of a building includes a valve configured to regulate a flow of a fluid and an actuator. The actuator includes a motor and a drive coupling, the drive coupling driven by the motor and coupled to the valve for driving the valve between multiple positions. The system further includes a flow rate sensor configured to measure the flow rate of the fluid through the valve and a processing circuit coupled to the motor and the flow rate sensor. The processing circuit is configured to receive a flow rate setpoint and a flow rate measurement, determine an actuator position setpoint based on the flow rate setpoint and the flow rate measurement, and operate the motor to drive the drive coupling to the actuator position setpoint. The flow rate sensor and the processing circuit are located within a common integrated device chassis.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system configured to modify an environmental condition of a building, the system comprising:
a valve configured to regulate a flow rate of a fluid through a conduit;
an actuator comprising a motor and a drive coupling, the drive coupling driven by the motor and coupled to the valve for driving the valve between multiple positions;
a flow rate sensor configured to measure the flow rate of the fluid through the valve; and
a processing circuit coupled to the motor and the flow rate sensor and configured to:
receive a flow rate setpoint;
receive a flow rate measurement from the flow rate sensor;
determine an actuator position setpoint based on the flow rate setpoint and the flow rate measurement;
operate the motor to drive the drive coupling to an actuator position based on the actuator position setpoint;
provide fault data to a controller; and

the controller comprising a processing circuit configured to:
classify the fault data as out of zone data or in zone data based at least in part on the actuator position of the valve; and
use only the in zone data of the fault data to determine a pressure setpoint of a pump, the pump configured to pump fluid through the valve.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to detect a fault condition based at least in part on the flow rate measurement from the flow rate sensor.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the flow rate sensor is an ultrasonic flow rate sensor.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a communications circuit communicably coupled to the processing circuit, the communications circuit configured to receive the flow rate setpoint.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the communications circuit is further configured to transmit at least one of a fault status and a valve position to an external network.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is a cascaded control system, and the flow rate setpoint is generated through an outer control loop.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to determine a pump pressure setpoint based at least in part on the actuator position setpoint.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein classifying the fault data as the out of zone data or the in zone data comprises determining that the out of zone data is substantially inconsistent with the in zone data.

9. A method for modifying an environmental condition of a building, the method comprising:
receiving, at a processing circuit, a flow rate setpoint;
receiving, at the processing circuit, a flow rate measurement from a flow rate sensor, wherein the flow rate sensor and the processing circuit are located within a common integrated device chassis;
determining, by the processing circuit, an actuator position setpoint based on the flow rate setpoint and the flow rate measurement;
driving, by the processing circuit, an actuator to the actuator position setpoint, wherein the actuator is coupled to a valve to drive the valve between multiple positions;
providing fault data to a controller, the fault data comprising the actuator position setpoint; and
classifying, by the controller, the fault data as out of zone data when the fault data is outside of a predetermined range or in zone data when the fault data is within the predetermined range,
wherein providing the fault data to the controller comprises providing a fault status of the actuator and the actuator position setpoint to the controller.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
detecting, by the processing circuit, whether the valve is experiencing a fault condition based at least in part on the flow rate measurement from the flow rate sensor.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
transmitting, by a communications circuit communicably coupled to the processing circuit, at least one of a fault status and a valve position to an external network.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining, by the processing circuit, a pump pressure setpoint based at least in part on the actuator position setpoint.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving the fault data from a plurality of actuators; and
using only the in zone data of the fault data to determine a pressure setpoint of a pump, the pump configured to pump fluid through the valve.

14. A controller configured to modify an environmental condition of a building, the controller comprising one or more processors and memory that when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving a flow rate setpoint;
receiving a flow rate measurement from a flow rate sensor;
determining an actuator position setpoint based on the flow rate setpoint and the flow rate measurement; and
driving an actuator to the actuator position setpoint, wherein the actuator is coupled to a valve to drive the valve between multiple positions;
receiving fault data, the fault data comprising the actuator position setpoint;
classifying the fault data as out of zone data when the fault data is outside of a predetermined range or in zone data if the fault data is within the predetermined range;
using only the in zone data of the fault data to determine a pressure setpoint of a pump, the pump configured to pump fluid through the valve; and
providing control signals to adjust the pump pressure to reach the setpoint.

Assignees

• Johnson Controls Tech Co

Inventors

• Drees Kirk H
• Doll Herbert J
• Duenkel Gerald A
• Passoni Marcello

Classifications

• F24F11/58

  using Internet communication · CPC title

• F24F11/57

  using telephone networks · CPC title

• F24F2140/00

  Control inputs relating to system states · CPC title

• F24F11/77

  by controlling the speed of ventilators · CPC title

• F24F11/63

  Electronic processing · CPC title