Multi-zone flexi-positioning air-conditioning system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11486587-B2
Application number	US-201816765923-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 23, 2018
Priority date	Nov 23, 2017
Publication date	Nov 1, 2022
Grant date	Nov 1, 2022

Abstract

An HVAC system is disclosed. The HVAC system includes at least one heat exchanger unit disposed within a predefined area. The HVAC system further includes at least one frame cooperating with each of the at least one heat exchanger unit. The at least one frame includes a guiding assembly configured to move each of the at least one heat exchanger unit across the predefined area. The guiding assembly includes a guiding rail. The guiding assembly further includes at least one slider cooperating with the guiding rail to enable movement of the at least one heat exchanger unit. Each of the at least one slider comprises a fastening unit configured to attach a heat exchanger unit to an associated slider. The guiding assembly includes at least one actuator, wherein each of the at least one actuator is configured to move an associated slider from the at least one slider.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system comprising:
at least one heat exchanger unit disposed within a predefined area; and
at least one frame cooperating with each of the at least one heat exchanger unit, wherein the at least one frame comprises a guiding assembly configured to move each of the at least one heat exchanger unit across the predefined area, and wherein the guiding assembly comprises:
a guiding rail enabling movement of the one or more heat exchanger units along the length of one or more of the at least one frame;
at least one slider cooperating with the guiding rail to enable movement of the at least one heat exchanger unit from one position to another position based on load, space, and flow requirements of a plurality of sub-areas within the predefined area, and a location of a plurality of sensors within the plurality of sub-areas, wherein each of the at least one slider comprises a fastening unit including two interlocking parts configured to detachably attach a heat exchanger unit from the at least one heat exchanger unit to an associated slider from the at least one slider, wherein a first interlocking part is affixed to the at least one heat exchanger and a second interlocking part is attached to the at least one slider; and
at least one actuator, wherein each of the at least one actuator is configured to move an associated slider from the at least one slider.

2. The HVAC system of claim 1 , further comprising a refrigeration unit connected to each of the at least one heat exchanger unit.

3. The HVAC system of claim 2 , further comprising at least one winding arrangement comprising at least one conduit configured to connect the at least one heat exchanger unit to the refrigeration unit.

4. The HVAC system of claim 3 , wherein each of the at least one conduit is a refrigerant line.

5. The HVAC system of claim 3 , wherein a winding arrangement from the at least one winding arrangement is configured to:
wrap an associated conduit from the at least one conduit, when a heat exchanger unit from the at least one heat exchanger unit connected to the associated conduit moves towards the refrigerant unit; and
unwrap the associated conduit, when the heat exchanger unit moves away from the refrigerant unit.

6. The HVAC system of claim 1 , further comprising the plurality of sensors, wherein data received from the plurality of sensors is used to control movement of the at least one heat exchanger unit.

7. The HVAC system of claim 6 , wherein the data received from the plurality of sensors comprises at least one of the load, the flow, the space or temperature data.

8. The HVAC system of claim 1 , further comprising a controller configured to activate each of the at least one actuator to move the associated slider.

9. The HVAC system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one actuator comprises at least one of a mechanical actuator, a hydraulic actuator, an electrical actuator, a pneumatic actuator, or a magnetic actuator.

10. The HVAC system of claim 1 , wherein the predefined area is an enclosed area, wherein the enclosed area comprises at least one partition dividing the enclosed area into the plurality of subareas.

11. A frame for a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system comprises:
a guiding assembly configured to move each of at least one heat exchanger unit across a predefined area, wherein the guiding assembly comprises:
a guiding rail enabling movement of the one or more heat exchanger units along the length of one or more of the at least one frame;
at least one slider cooperating with the guiding rail to enable movement of the at least one heat exchanger unit from one position to another position based on load, space, and flow requirements of a plurality of sub-areas within the predefined area, and a location of a plurality of sensors within the plurality of sub-areas, wherein each of the at least one slider comprises a fastening unit including two interlocking parts configured to detachably attach a heat exchanger unit from the at least one heat exchanger unit to an associated slider from the at least one slider, wherein a first interlocking part is affixed to the at least one heat exchanger unit and a second interlocking part is attached to the at least one slider; and
at least one actuator, wherein each of the at least one actuator is configured to move an associated slider from the at least one slider.

12. The HVAC system of claim 8 , wherein the controller unit is further configured to:
control flow of refrigerant fluid from the refrigeration unit to the at least one heat exchanger unit in response to moving the at least one heat exchanger unit to the location within the sub-area, based on the identified load, space, and flow requirements in the sub-area.

13. The HVAC system of claim 12 further comprising a display unit, wherein the controller is further configured to:
control the display unit to display current operating parameters of the HVAC system, temperature readings at each of the plurality of sub-areas, and a current position of each of the at least one heat exchanger unit in the plurality of sub-areas.

14. The HVAC system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine that the at least one heat exchanger unit is moving towards the refrigeration unit; and
instruct the at least one winding arrangement to start wrapping the at least one conduit to facilitate movement of the at least one heat exchanger unit towards the refrigeration unit.

15. The HVAC system of claim 14 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine that the at least one heat exchanger unit is moving away from the refrigeration unit; and
instruct the at least one winding arrangement to start unwrapping the at least one conduit to facilitate movement of the at least one heat exchanger unit towards the location within the sub-area.

16. The HVAC system of claim 15 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine whether the at least one heat exchanger unit has reached the location within the sub-area; and
control the refrigeration unit to supply the refrigerant fluid to the at least one heat exchanger unit via the at least one conduit, in response to determining that the at least one heat exchanger unit has reached the location within the sub-area.

17. The HVAC system of claim 16 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine the number of people within each of the plurality sub-areas based on the sensor data received from the plurality of sensors; and
identify flow requirements at each of the plurality of sub-areas, based on the number of people determined within each of the plurality of sub-areas.

18. The HVAC system of claim 17 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
recognize the face of a person located within a sub-area from the plurality of sub-areas, based the sensor data received from the plurality of sensors; and
identify flow requirements in the sub-area based on a customized temperature requirement of the person.

19. The HVAC system of claim 18 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
execute an operating program from a plurality of operating programs, wherein the operating program defines various times to move the at least one heat exchanger units to particular locations within the predefined area to attain a desired temperature;
activate the at least one actuator to move the at least one slider and thereby the attached at least one heat exchanger unit to an instr

Assignees

• L&T Technology Services Ltd

Inventors

• Karunanidhi Murlidharan
• Chandrasekaran Senthilkumar
• Kodisana Suresh
• Subramanian Aravind

Classifications

• F24F2110/30

  Velocity · CPC title

• F24F2110/10

  Temperature · CPC title

• F24F2221/14

  mounted on the ceiling · CPC title

• F24F1/0068

  characterised by the arrangement of refrigerant piping outside the heat exchanger within the unit casing · CPC title

• F24F1/0043 Primary

  characterised by mounting arrangements · CPC title