Conditioning apparatus and method to regulate it

Abstract

A method to regulate a conditioning apparatus including a conditioning body inside which conditioning means are disposed, suitable to modify the state of a flow of air to cause a determinate effect in an internal environment, where the method provides to receive an indication of target environmental parameters to be reached in the internal environment, detect the actual parameters in the environment, and regulate the functioning of the conditioning means by means of a control and command unit.

1 . A method to regulate a conditioning apparatus comprising a conditioning body inside which conditioning means are disposed, suitable to modify the state of a flow of air to cause a determinate effect in an internal environment, wherein the method comprises:
 receiving an indication of values of target environmental parameters to be reached in said internal environment;   detecting the current environmental parameters in the internal environment to be conditioned in correspondence with a detection zone, wherein the method provides to:   detect a distance between the conditioning body and a portable remote detection unit comprising one or more detection devices configured to detect one or more environmental parameters in a detection zone surrounding the position thereof;   regulate the functioning of the conditioning means by means of a control and command unit communicating with said portable remote detection unit to regulate on each occasion the flow rate and/or the thermo-hygrometric characteristics of a conditioned flow of air to be delivered in said internal environment as a function of said distance detected so as to align said detected environmental parameters with said target environmental parameters.   
     
     
         2 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein it provides to store, in said control and command unit, threshold values of minimum distance and maximum distance with respect to said conditioning body, defining a predefined zone of optimal functioning for said conditioning apparatus. 
     
     
         3 . The method as in  claim 2 , wherein, if said actual distance detected is comprised between said thresholds of minimum distance and maximum distance, the method provides to detect said current environmental parameters in said first detection zone by means of said remote detection unit. 
     
     
         4 . The method as in  claim 2 , wherein, if the actual distance detected is not comprised between said thresholds of minimum distance and maximum distance, the method provides to detect said current environmental parameters by means of a fixed detection unit associated with the conditioning body and configured to detect one or more environmental parameters in a second detection zone close to said conditioning body. 
     
     
         5 . The method as in  claim 2 , wherein it provides to verify, as a function of said distance detected, whether the portable remote detection unit is inside or outside said predefined zone of optimal functioning and, if this is not the case, provide a signal to the user, by means of a user interface, to inform him/her of a possible condition of non-optimal functioning and/or invite him/her to approach or move away from said conditioning body in order to return within said predefined zone. 
     
     
         6 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein the values of the target environmental parameters to be reached are defined automatically by said control and command unit as a function of a specific functioning mode selected by the user in which the target environmental parameters are extracted and defined automatically by a comfort algorithm stored in an internal memory provided in said control and command unit. 
     
     
         7 . The method as in  claim 6 , wherein said comfort algorithm comprises a two-dimensional map for the functioning of said conditioning apparatus which reports, as a function of pairs of temperature and relative humidity values, determinate functioning parameters for said conditioning means suitable to obtain in said detection zone pairs of temperature and humidity values corresponding to an optimum comfort zone and said control and command unit commands said conditioning means based on said functioning parameters. 
     
     
         8 . The method as in  claim 6 , wherein said comfort algorithm provides to use a three-dimensional map for the functioning of the conditioning apparatus, which provides different functioning modes of the conditioning means as a function of both said temperature and relative humidity values detected in the internal environment, and also of said distance detected. 
     
     
         9 . The method as in  claim 6 , wherein, if said actual distance detected is not comprised between said thresholds of minimum distance and maximum distance, the method provides to deactivate said specific functioning mode and to consider as target environmental parameters the values set by the user by means of a user interface. 
     
     
         10 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein it provides to use devices based on Bluetooth communication protocol, both to transmit the environmental parameters detected in said detection zone to said control and command unit, and also to detect said distance between said remote detection unit and said conditioning body. 
     
     
         11 . A conditioning apparatus comprising:
 a conditioning body inside which conditioning means are disposed, suitable to modify the state of a flow of air to cause a determinate effect in the surrounding environment;   a control and command unit disposed in the conditioning body and configured to regulate the functioning of the conditioning means;   at least one portable remote detection unit comprising one or more detection devices configured to detect one or more environmental parameters in a detection zone surrounding the position thereof and communication devices suitable to communicate with the control and command unit at least in order to transmit the environmental parameters detected, wherein said apparatus comprises:   a spatial detection device configured to detect at least the distance between the remote detection unit and the conditioning body and communicate it to the control and command unit;   wherein said control and command unit is configured to regulate and adapt the functioning of said conditioning means in order to modify the state of a conditioned flow of air to be delivered in the environment to be conditioned at least as a function of commands received from the user through a user interface, of the distance detected between said remote detection unit and said conditioning body so as to align said environmental parameters detected with determinate target environmental parameters.   
     
     
         12 . The conditioning apparatus as in  claim 11 , wherein said communication devices and said spatial detection device are integrated in a single device that uses a Bluetooth communication protocol and is configured to perform both data transmission and also detection of said distance functions.