Damper inspection systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12031735-B2
Application number	US-202117344589-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 10, 2021
Priority date	Jun 10, 2021
Publication date	Jul 9, 2024
Grant date	Jul 9, 2024

Abstract

A damper inspection system for a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system includes a fuse link sensor configured to couple to a damper. The fuse link sensor includes a first contact and a second contact. The fuse link sensor is configured to transition between an engaged configuration in which the first contact is electrically coupled to the second contact and a disengaged configuration in which the first contact is electrically decoupled from the second contact. The damper inspection system includes a remote controller that includes control circuitry configured to electrically couple to the first contact and the second contact and to determine an operational status of a fuse link of the damper based on an electrical continuity between the first contact and the second contact.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A damper inspection system for a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
a fuse link sensor configured to couple to a damper and comprising a first contact and a second contact, wherein the fuse link sensor is configured to transition between an engaged configuration in which the first contact is electrically coupled to the second contact and a disengaged configuration in which the first contact is electrically decoupled from the second contact; and
a remote controller comprising control circuitry configured to electrically couple to the first contact and the second contact and to output an indication of an operational status of a fuse link coupled to a linkage of the damper based on an electrical continuity between the first contact and the second contact.

2. The damper inspection system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
transmit a test signal to the first contact;
determine that the fuse link is intact in response to receiving the test signal via the second contact; and
determine that the fuse link is ruptured in response to determining that the test signal is not received via the second contact.

3. The damper inspection system of claim 2 , wherein the remote controller is a portable device configured to electrically couple to the fuse link sensor via a harness, wherein the control circuitry is configured to transmit the test signal to the first contact via the harness and to receive the test signal via the second contact via the harness.

4. The damper inspection system of claim 2 , wherein the remote controller comprises a battery electrically coupled to the control circuitry, wherein the control circuitry is configured to generate the test signal with electrical power received from the battery.

5. The damper inspection system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
transmit a control signal to an actuator of the damper to adjust a position of the actuator;
receive a return signal from the actuator indicative of the position of the actuator; and
determine the position of the actuator based on the return signal.

6. The damper inspection system of claim 5 , wherein the remote controller comprises a user interface configured to display an additional indication indicative of the position of the actuator.

7. The damper inspection system of claim 1 , wherein the fuse link sensor comprises:
a first body portion comprising a conductive bridge; and
a second body portion comprising the first contact and the second contact, wherein the first body portion is configured to engage with the second body portion in the engaged configuration of the fuse link sensor to establish the electrical continuity between the first contact and the second contact via the conductive bridge, and wherein the first body portion is configured to disengage from the second body portion in the disengaged configuration of the fuse link sensor to separate the conductive bridge from the first contact and the second contact and disrupt the electrical continuity.

8. The damper inspection system of claim 7 , wherein the first body portion and the second body portion are configured to encapsulate the conductive bridge, the first contact, and the second contact in the engaged configuration of the fuse link sensor.

9. The damper inspection system of claim 1 , wherein the fuse link sensor is configured to couple to the linkage of the damper, wherein the fuse link sensor is configured to transition from the engaged configuration to the disengaged configuration in response to movement of the linkage induced by a biasing mechanism of the damper upon rupture of the fuse link.

10. A heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
a damper, comprising:
a fuse link sensor coupled to a linkage of the damper, wherein a first body portion of the fuse link sensor is engaged with a second body portion of the fuse link sensor in an engaged configuration of the fuse link sensor; and
a fuse link coupled to the linkage, wherein the fuse link is configured to rupture to enable the linkage to disengage the first body portion from the second body portion to transition the fuse link sensor to a disengaged configuration; and

a remote controller comprising control circuitry configured to output an indication that the fuse link is in a ruptured state in response to a determination that the fuse link sensor is in the disengaged configuration.

11. The HVAC system of claim 10 , comprising the linkage of the damper, wherein the linkage is configured to drive separation of the first body portion from the second body portion to transition the fuse link sensor from the engaged configuration to the disengaged configuration upon rupture of the fuse link.

12. The HVAC system of claim 10 , wherein the fuse link sensor comprises a first contact and a second contact, wherein the first contact and the second contact are electrically coupled to one another in the engaged configuration of the fuse link sensor and are electrically decoupled from one another in the disengaged configuration of the fuse link sensor, wherein the control circuitry is configured to send a test signal to the first contact to determine an electrical continuity between the first contact and the second contact, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine that the fuse link sensor is in the engaged configuration or in the disengaged configuration based on the electrical continuity.

13. The HVAC system of claim 12 , wherein the first contact and the second contact are disposed in the first body portion, and wherein the fuse link sensor comprises a conductive bridge disposed in the second body portion and configured to electrically couple the first contact to the second contact in the engaged configuration of the fuse link sensor.

14. The HVAC system of claim 10 , comprising an actuator coupled to the linkage and configured to actuate the linkage to transition one or more damper blades of the damper between open configurations and closed configurations, wherein the actuator is configured to output an analog signal indicative of a position of the actuator, the one or more damper blades, or both, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive the analog signal and output an indication indicative of the position of the actuator, the one or more damper blades, or both, based on the analog signal.

15. The HVAC system of claim 14 , wherein the remote controller comprises a battery electrically coupled to the control circuitry, wherein the control circuitry is configured to power the actuator via an electrical current supplied to the actuator by the battery.

16. The HVAC system of claim 10 , comprising the linkage, wherein the linkage is coupled to one or more damper blades of the damper and is configured to transfer a force from an actuator of the damper to the one or more damper blades, wherein the linkage comprises a first pin extending from a first link of the linkage and a second pin extending from a second link of the linkage, wherein the fuse link and the fuse link sensor are coupled to and extend between the first pin and the second pin.

17. The HVAC system of claim 10 , wherein the fuse link is configured to rupture in response to a temperature of the fuse link exceeding a threshold temperature value to transition from a connected state to the ruptured state.

18. A damper inspection system for a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
a fuse link sensor configured to transition

Assignees

• Air Distribution Tech Ip Llc

Inventors

• Maune Kent Steven
• Coyazo Michael Anthony
• Beneke Jeffrey Scott
• Tambakhe Rahul Ashokrao
• Bidila Ujjain Kumar
• Kole Anup Tejkumar
• Andukuri Vihari Venkata Vidya

Classifications

• G01R31/74

  Testing of fuses · CPC title

• F24F11/88 Primary

  Electrical aspects, e.g. circuits · CPC title

• F24F11/74

  for controlling air flow rate or air velocity · CPC title

• F24F2013/1433

  with electric motors · CPC title

• F24F13/1426

  characterised by actuating means · CPC title