Abstract:
A device comprising a fin structure, a vent disposed in the fin structure, a cooling coil disposed in the vent, a light disposed in the fin structure and wherein the fin structure is configured to create a Coanda effect for air exiting the vent.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates generally to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and more specifically to a chilled beam light and temperature control. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Chilled beams are typically used to provide cooled air, but can block light sources and, when exposed to low water temperatures or high humidity, generate condensation that drips on persons underneath the chilled beam. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    A chilled beam is disclosed that uses a fin structure to create a Coanda effect, to modify the flow of air from the chilled beam from a vent disposed in the fin structure. A cooling coil disposed in the vent is used to chill the air from the vent, and a light is disposed in the fin structure. 
         [0004]    Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]    Aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which: 
           [0006]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a chilled beam in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of a chilled beam with direct and indirect lighting, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a diagram of a chilled beam with an air duct interface, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is a diagram of a system for controlling a chilled beam, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is a diagram of an algorithm for controlling a chilled beam, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    In the description that follows, like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawings with the same reference numerals. The drawing figures might not be to scale and certain components can be shown in generalized or schematic form and identified by commercial designations in the interest of clarity and conciseness. 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of chilled beam  100  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Chilled beam  100  can be constructed from metallic materials such as stainless steel, copper and aluminum, can include additional decorative and functional components made from plastic, wood or other materials, and can include other suitable system components, such as lighting modules and valve controllers. 
         [0013]    Chilled beam  100  includes fins  102 , which are used to create a Coanda effect to cause conditioned air to flow out of chilled beam  100  to the left and right of chilled beam  100 , instead of in a downward direction from chilled beam  100 . Fins  102  are arcuate and symmetrical about an X axis and a Y axis of chilled beam  100 , and extend equidistant from a center line of chilled beam  100 , but can also or alternatively be provided in other suitable configurations, such as with an asymmetrical structure about the X axis, with an asymmetrical structure about the Y axis, with a design that does not create a Coanda effect on one or both sides or in other suitable configurations. 
         [0014]    In addition, fins  102  include lighting fixtures that are disposed in the top and bottom of each fin, to provide for both direct and indirect lighting. Piping manifold  104  is used to supply heated or chilled water or other suitable heating and cooling media to chilled beam  100 . Air duct  106  provides air to chilled beam  100  for heating or cooling, such as fresh air from outside of a building, recirculated air from inside of a building, a mix of fresh and recirculated air or air from other suitable sources. Supports  108  provide the structural support for chilled beam  100 , and are attached to the ceiling, a beam, a girder, or other suitable support structures. 
         [0015]    In operation, chilled beam  100  hangs from a ceiling or other suitable support structure and provides fresh air to a room in conjunction with heating or cooling the air, so as to allow the room climate to be controlled. In addition, chilled beam  100  includes direct and indirect lighting and humidity control, as discussed further herein. 
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of chilled beam  200  with direct and indirect lighting, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Chilled beam  200  includes indirect lighting fixtures  202 A and  202 B and direct lighting fixtures  204 A and  204 B, which are coupled to a suitable controller (not explicitly shown) to allow a user to turn on either or both of indirect lighting fixtures  202 A and  202 B and either or both of direct lighting fixtures  204 A and  204 B. In this manner, a user who is working underneath chilled beam  200  can turn on direct lighting fixtures  204 A and  204 B if additional direct lighting is required, whereas indirect lighting fixtures  202 A and  202 B can be used to provide ambient lighting to the room. 
         [0017]    Chilled beam  200  further includes fluid inlets  210 A and  212 A and fluid outlets  210 B and  212 B, which can provide heated water on  212 A and  212 B or chilled water on  210 A and  210 B, steam or other suitable fluids to heat exchanger coils  206  and pipes  208 . A valve structure  218  with one or more separate valves can be used to control the flow of heated or chilled water, and can be disposed at a suitable location, either within chilled beam  200  or at a location along the supply lines to fluid inlets  210 A and  212 A. In one exemplary embodiment, chilled water can be provided to heat exchanger coils  206 , which remove heat from air provided by duct  106  to vents  214 A and  214 B. As previously discussed, the shape of fins  102  causes the air from vents  214 A and  214 B to travel in directions  216 A and  216 B, respectively, due to the Coanda effect, instead of blowing directly downward onto any persons who happen to be underneath chilled beam  200 . In this manner, the temperature of the air within a room or other enclosed space can be controlled while avoiding exposure of persons within the room or enclosed space to drafts. In addition, heated water can be provided to pipes  208 , which are disposed underneath heat exchanger coils  206 , so as to raise the ambient temperature in the vicinity of the bottom of heat exchanger coils  206  so as to prevent the formation of condensation. In the absence of heated pipes  208 , such condensation could accumulate and drip onto persons who happen to be underneath chilled beam  200 . A controller (not explicitly shown) can be used to measure the relative humidity of the air within the room or enclosed space, and heated water, steam or other suitable heating can be provided to pipes  208  when the humidity is above a level at which condensation forms. Pipes  208  can also be provided without any connection to a source of heating, such as in areas with low relative humidity, for decorative purposes only. 
         [0018]    In addition, heated water, steam or other suitable heating fluids can be provided to pipes  208  for the purpose of heating the room or enclosed space by radiant heating, such as during the night when air is not being provided to the room through duct  106  and vents  214 A and  214 B. In this manner, chilled beam  200  can be used both for providing cooling during the day and heating during the night. 
         [0019]      FIG. 3  is a diagram of chilled beam  300  with air duct interface  302 , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Air duct interface  302  is used to couple chilled beam  300  to an air duct (not explicitly shown), to allow fresh or combined fresh and recirculated air to be provided to chilled beam  300 . In addition, fluid inlets  304 A and  306 A and fluid outlets  304 B and  306 B are used to convey chilled or heated water or other suitable fluids to chilled beam  300 . Fluid inlets  304 A and  306 A and fluid outlets  304 B and  306 B extend downward from a ceiling or other suitable structures, parallel and adjacent to the duct that is used to provide fresh or combined fresh and recirculated air to chilled beam  300 , and then turn 90 degrees and run parallel and adjacent to fins  308  and duct  310 . 
         [0020]      FIG. 4  is a diagram of a system  400  for controlling a chilled beam, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. System  400  can be implemented in hardware or a suitable combination of hardware and software, and can be one or more software systems operating on one or more special purpose processors. In one exemplary embodiment, system  400  can be implemented on a touch screen user interface device and an associated processor that includes wireless connectivity to temperature sensors, humidity sensors, valve operators, lighting controllers, building energy management systems and other suitable systems and components. 
         [0021]    As used herein, “hardware” can include a combination of discrete components, an integrated circuit, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or other suitable hardware. As used herein, “software” can include one or more objects, agents, threads, lines of code, subroutines, separate software applications, two or more lines of code or other suitable software structures operating in two or more software applications, on one or more processors (where a processor includes a microcomputer or other suitable controller, memory devices, input-output devices, displays, data input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse, peripherals such as printers and speakers, associated drivers, control cards, power sources, network devices, docking station devices, or other suitable devices operating under control of software systems in conjunction with the processor or other devices), or other suitable software structures. In one exemplary embodiment, software can include one or more lines of code or other suitable software structures operating in a general purpose software application, such as an operating system, and one or more lines of code or other suitable software structures operating in a specific purpose software application. As used herein, the term “couple” and its cognate terms, such as “couples” and “coupled,” can include a physical connection (such as a copper conductor), a virtual connection (such as through randomly assigned memory locations of a data memory device), a logical connection (such as through logical gates of a semiconducting device), other suitable connections, or a suitable combination of such connections. 
         [0022]    Humidity control  404  receives temperature data from a room temperature sensor, temperature data from a chilled water source, humidity data from a room humidity sensor, humidity data from an air source humidity sensor and other suitable data, and determines whether local heating on a surface adjacent to a cooling coil is needed to prevent condensation on the cooling coil. In this exemplary embodiment, dew point tables or other suitable data can be used to determine whether chilled water that is being provided to a cooling coil of a heat exchanger will cause condensation to form on the coil. If it is determined that condensation will form, humidity control  404  can actuate a control valve to allow heated water to flow to pipes that are disposed underneath the cooling coil, so as to decrease the relative humidity of air in the immediate vicinity of the cooling coil, and prevent the formation of condensation. Likewise, if the humidity content of air within the room is different from the humidity content of fresh air that is being provided to the chilled beam, then additional processing can be used to determine whether the control valve for heated water should be activated, such as based on design factors of the chilled beam and the measured room and air source humidity levels, air flow rates or other data. 
         [0023]    Direct light control  406  provides automatic or user control for direct lighting of a space underneath a lighted chilled beam. In one exemplary embodiment, a motion sensor or other device can be used to determine whether a person is underneath the lighted chilled beam, and direct light control  406  can activate direct lighting of the lighted chilled beam if the motion sensor data or other suitable data indicates that a person is present. In addition or alternatively, a switch, touch screen interface or suitable user control can be used to allow a user to manually turn direct lighting on or off, as needed. 
         [0024]    Indirect light control  408  provides automatic or user control of indirect lighting of a space in the vicinity of a lighted chilled beam. In one exemplary embodiment, a motion sensor, a timer or other suitable devices can be used to determine whether indirect lighting should be provided in a space, such as during normal working hours or when persons are present, and indirect light control  408  can activate indirect lighting of the lighted chilled beam if the motion sensor data, timer data or other suitable data indicates that indirect lighting should be activated. In addition or alternatively, a switch, touch screen interface or suitable user control can be used to allow a user to manually turn direct lighting on or off, as needed. 
         [0025]    Temperature control  410  receives temperature data from a room temperature sensor, temperature data from a chilled water source, timer data from a clock and other suitable data, and determines whether chilled water should be provided to a cooling coil of a chilled beam, whether heated water or other suitable heat sources should be used to heat pipes or other suitable radiant heaters, or if other suitable temperature controls should be implemented. In this exemplary embodiment, room temperature measurement data and settings or other suitable data can be used to determine if the room temperature should be reduced by providing chilled water to a cooling coil of a heat exchanger or if the room temperature should be increased by providing heated water to a radiant heater. If it is determined that chilled or heated water should be provided, temperature control  410  can actuate one or more control valves to allow the chilled or heated water to flow as needed. Likewise, a user-controllable thermostat, a touch screen interface or other suitable devices can be used to allow a user to control the temperature of the room. 
         [0026]      FIG. 5  is a diagram of an algorithm  500  for controlling a chilled beam, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Algorithm  500  can be implemented in hardware or a suitable combination of hardware and software, and can be one or more algorithms operating on a programmable controller or other suitable devices. 
         [0027]    Algorithm  500  begins at  502 , where the humidity content of room air, outside air provided by ductwork or other suitable air is measured. In one exemplary embodiment, the humidity can be measured based on the source that is the major contributor to condensation, such as when the humidity content of air within the controlled space is significantly greater or lesser than the humidity content of external air that is being provided to the controlled space. In addition, the air temperature within the controlled space, the air temperature of the external air, the temperature of the chilled water or other suitable temperature data that is needed to determine whether condensation will form can be obtained. The algorithm then proceeds to  504 . 
         [0028]    At  504 , it is determined whether the measured humidity is greater than a predetermined level at which condensation will form, such as by comparing the measured humidity to a table as a function of the air temperature, the water temperature of chilled water that is being provided to the chilled beam, or other suitable data. If the humidity does not exceed the predetermined level, the algorithm proceeds to  508 , otherwise the algorithm proceeds to  506  where heat is provided to a grill that is adjacent to cooling coils where condensation would otherwise form. In one exemplary embodiment, the heat can be provided by heated water, steam, electrical heating or other suitable heating, the amount of heat can be varied as a function of the measured humidity, or other suitable processes can also or alternatively be used. The algorithm then proceeds to  508 . 
         [0029]    At  508 , the room temperature is measured, such as for room temperature control or other suitable purposes. In one exemplary embodiment, a thermostat or other suitable device can be used to measure the temperature. The algorithm then proceeds to  510 , where it is determined whether the temperature needs to be modified. In one exemplary embodiment, temperature set points as a function of time can be used to determine whether the temperature in a space needs to be increased or lowered, a user control can be provided to allow a user to increase or decrease the temperature as desired, or other suitable processes can also or alternatively be used. If it is determined that no modification is required, the algorithm proceeds to  514 , otherwise the algorithm proceeds to  512 , where a flow of heated or chilled water is adjusted as required in response to the temperature data and settings, such as by opening or closing one or more control valves. The algorithm then proceeds to  514 . 
         [0030]    At  514 , light control data is read, such as by determining a state of a touch screen controller, a switch or other suitable light controls. The algorithm then proceeds to  516 , where it is determined whether an adjustment is required to a direct lighting control, such as in response to a user selection, motion sensor data or other suitable data. If it is determined that no adjustment is required, the algorithm proceeds to  520 , otherwise the algorithm proceeds to  518 , where the direct lighting is increased or decreased in response to the control data. The algorithm then proceeds to  520 . 
         [0031]    At  520 , it is determined whether an adjustment is required to an indirect lighting control, such as in response to a user selection, time of day data or other suitable data. If it is determined that no adjustment is required, the algorithm returns to  502 , otherwise the algorithm proceeds to  522 , where the indirect lighting is increased or decreased in response to the control data. The algorithm then returns to  502 . 
         [0032]    Although algorithm  500  is shown as a flow chart, other suitable programming paradigms can also or alternatively be used to implement algorithm  500 , such as a state diagram, two or more dedicated control algorithms of separate control devices, or other suitable configurations. 
         [0033]    It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely examples of possible implementations. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the principles of the present disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.