Climate Control System with Automatic Wiring Detection

Abstract

A climate control system ( 10 ) includes an outdoor unit ( 14 ) and an indoor unit ( 12 ) having at least two fans ( 26,28 ). The fans ( 26,28 ) include control wiring ( 38,40 ) that is interchangeably connected to a control system ( 20 ), and feedback wiring ( 42,44 ) that is also interchangeably connected to the control system ( 20 ). The control system ( 20 ) is capable of automatically detecting the wiring configuration of the control wiring ( 38,40 ) and the feedback wiring ( 42,44 ). The climate control system ( 10 ) operates the fans ( 26,28 ) according to the detected wiring configuration to heat or cool an interior space.

1 . A climate control system comprising:
 an indoor unit for adjusting the temperature of indoor air, the indoor unit having a first fan and a second fan, each fan having control wiring;   an outdoor unit for transferring heat with outdoor air; and   a control system for controlling the operation of the indoor unit and the outdoor unit, the control system comprising:
 a first board connector and a second board connector, each board connector interchangeably connected to the control wiring of the first fan motor and the control wiring of the second fan motor; and 
 a fan controller connected to each board connector, the fan controller for controlling the operation of the first fan and the second fan and for automatically detecting a wiring configuration of the control wiring of the first and second fan motors. 
   
   
   
       2 . The climate control system of  claim 1 , wherein the fan controller comprises:
 a microcontroller;   a first fan driver connected to the fan wiring of the first fan and the microcontroller; and   a second fan driver connected to the fan wiring of the second fan and the microcontroller.   
   
   
       3 . The climate control system of  claim 1 , the control wiring further comprising feedback wiring. 
   
   
       4 . The climate control system of  claim 3 , each of the fans further comprising a rotation sensor connected to the respective feedback wiring. 
   
   
       5 . The climate control system of  claim 1 , the fans further comprising feedback wiring. 
   
   
       6 . The climate control system of  claim 5 , the control system further comprising a first feedback board connector and a second feedback board connector, each feedback board connector connected to the fan controller and interchangeably connected to the feedback wiring of the first fan and the feedback wiring of the second fan, wherein the fan controller is configured to automatically detect a wiring configuration of the feedback wiring of the first and second fans. 
   
   
       7 . A fan control system comprising:
 a first fan and a second fan;   a first fan motor and a second fan motor, each fan motor having control wiring terminated in a wiring connector;   a fan motor controller for automatically detecting a wiring configuration of the first and second fan motors; and   a first board connector and a second board connector connected to the fan motor controller, wherein the wiring connectors are interchangeably connected to the first board connector and the second board connector.   
   
   
       8 . The fan control system of  claim 7 , wherein the fan motor controller comprises:
 a microcontroller;   a first fan driver connected to the microcontroller; and   a second fan driver connected to the microcontroller.   
   
   
       9 . The fan control system of  claim 7 , the fan motors further comprising a motor rotation sensor. 
   
   
       10 . The fan control system of  claim 9 , the rotation sensor comprising a Hall-effect sensor. 
   
   
       11 . The fan control system of  claim 8 , wherein each fan driver comprises:
 an optical coupler for isolating the fan motor from the microcontroller; and   means connected to the optical coupler for delivering power to the fan motor.   
   
   
       12 . The fan control system of  claim 11 , wherein the means for delivering power is selected from the group consisting of a triac, a transistor, and a relay. 
   
   
       13 . The fan control system of  claim 7 , the control wiring comprising feedback wiring. 
   
   
       14 . The fan control system of  claim 7 , each fan motor further comprising first feedback wiring terminated in a feedback wiring connector. 
   
   
       15 . The fan control system of  claim 7 , further comprising a first feedback board connector and a second feedback board connector, each feedback board connector connected to the fan motor controller, the feedback wiring of each fan motor being interchangeably connected to the first feedback board connector and the second feedback board connector. 
   
   
       16 . A method of automatically detecting a wiring configuration of multiple fan motors, each fan motor having a rotation sensor, the method comprising:
 i. turning on a first fan motor;   ii. detecting the rotation of the fan motor with one of the rotation sensors;   iii. associating the rotation sensor of step ii with the first fan motor;   iv. turning off the first motor; and   v. repeating steps i-iv for each fan motor.   
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 vi. verifying that each rotation sensor is associated with a unique fan motor.   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , step vi comprising:
 verifying that each rotation sensor is assigned to a fan motor; and   verifying that no two rotation sensors are assigned to the same fan motor.   
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising initiating a fan diagnostics mode if any steps fails. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising operating the fans according to the detected wiring configuration if all steps are successful.