Patent ID: 6566633
Filing Date: 2003-05-20
Classification: G05D,H02J,Y02B,Y04S

Abstract:
A thermal control apparatus comprising:a plurality of heaters and/or coolers each controlled to be on and off for changing a temperature of each of a plurality of thermal control objects; for each of said plurality of thermal control objects, a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the thermal control object and for outputting the measured temperature; a heater and/or cooler ON/OFF priority output circuit which, in response to input of said measured temperature, outputs a priority for turning on each of said plurality of heaters and/or coolers, based on said measured temperature and a predetermined order value for turning on said plurality of heaters and/or coolers in correspondence with temperature; and an energy managing section for turning on a heater or cooler with high priority and turning off a heater or cooler with low priority based on said priority output from said ON/OFF priority output circuit, such that the sum of energy supplied for actuating said plurality of heaters or coolers does not exceed a predetermined energy limit.