Patent Publication Number: US-2018027761-A1

Title: Self-identifying sensing device for climate control system

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/121,238 filed Feb. 26, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of Invention 
     This invention relates to climate control systems for buildings used to house animals, and more particularly to a self-identifying sensing device used in such climate control systems. 
     Description of Related Art 
     In buildings that are used to house animals such as poultry, swine or livestock, it is important to maintain a desired building climate. A well-controlled environment involves monitoring and regulating the temperature, relative humidity and air quality in the building. For example, properly controlled temperatures enable animals to use feed for growth rather than for body heat. A properly heated animal house results in lower feed costs and increased animal productivity. Additionally, control over the level of humidity in the building is necessary because excess humidity contributes to animal discomfort and promotes the growth of harmful air born bacteria that can cause respiration diseases. Having an elevated humidity level in the animal house may also lead to more frequent changes of bedding and litter which increases production costs. 
     To maintain the proper climate in the animal building, various heaters and ventilation fans are used as necessary to maintain the desired temperature, humidity. It is known to use a control unit to automatically control operation of the heaters and ventilation fans located within the building. Sensing devices, such as temperature sensing devices, are used to provide the necessary information to the control unit to enable such automatic control. 
     In some buildings, many sensing devices are installed into the growing space to collect the data required by the control unit to enable proper climate control. The control unit is typically installed in a remote location away from the growing space of the animals in the building, whereas the sensing devices are strategically placed within the growing space around the building. In order for the control unit to automatically operate the heaters and fans based on the received data, the location of each sensing device must be provided to the control unit. As the sensing devices are strategically placed throughout the building, it is key that each sensing device be connected to the proper input terminal of the control unit so the incoming climate data is attributed to the proper location with the building. Thus, the installer has to clearly identify the physical location of each sensing device within the building and connect the corresponding connector ends into the proper terminals at the control unit in order to match the incoming data with location in the building. 
     One problem encountered when a building has a number of sensing devices is that it is not always readily apparent which connector wire belongs to which sensing device. For example, if the ends of the connector wires next to the control unit are not properly identified, the operator must physically trace each connector wire to its sensor, or to cause a change in the reading of an individual sensor. Typically this is done by stimulating the sensing device, such as by immersing the sensing unit in a cup of cold water, to create a signal change. This requires the operator to enter the growing space, possibly disturbing or stressing the animals. The operator must then go back to the control unit and recognize which input value has changed. These steps must then be repeated for each of the sensing devices in the building. This can be a time consuming task and also can be stressful for the animals. 
     It is the aim of the present invention to provide a sensing device that enables simplified identification and programing of the climate control system. 
     OVERVIEW OF THE INVENTION 
     In one embodiment, the invention relates to a climate control system for an animal house having a plurality of climate control outputs such as heaters or ventilation fans. The climate control system includes a control unit that regulates operation of climate control outputs, the control unit having a plurality of input terminals. The climate control system also includes a plurality of sensing devices, each of the plurality of sensing devices located in a different portion of the animal house and connected to one of the plurality of input terminals of the control unit with a connector to provide a signal to the control unit which is used to control the climate in the animal house. Each sensing device includes a circuit having first and second electrical leads, the first and second leads carried by the connector to one of the plurality of input terminals of the control unit. The sensing device has a thermal resistive sensor, wherein when reading the thermal resistive sensor the control unit supplies an electric current through the thermal resistive sensor with the first lead being positive and the second lead being negative. The sensing device also has an LED wired in parallel with the thermal resistive sensor, wherein when turning on the LED, the polarity of the first and second electrical leads is reversed such that the second electrical lead is positive and the first electrical lead is negative to provide a forward voltage drop across the LED. 
     In another embodiment, the invention is directed to a climate control system for an animal house having a plurality of climate control outputs such as heaters or ventilation fans. The climate control system includes a control unit that regulates operation of climate control outputs, the control unit having a plurality of input terminals. The climate control system also includes a plurality of sensing devices, each of the plurality of sensing devices located in a different portion of the animal house and connected to one of the plurality of input terminals of the control unit with a connector to provide a signal to the control unit which is used to control the climate in the animal house. Each sensing device includes a circuit having first and second electrical leads, the first and second leads carried by the connector to one of the plurality of input terminals of the control unit. The sensing device has a thermal resistive sensor, wherein when reading the thermal resistive sensor the control unit supplies an electric current through the thermal resistive sensor with the first lead being positive and the second lead being negative. The sensing device also has an LED wired in parallel. A pulse signal is applied to the electrical leads to provide a forward voltage drop across the LED to turn the LED on. 
     In another embodiment, the invention is directed to a climate control system for an animal house having a plurality of climate control outputs such as heaters or ventilation fans. The climate control system includes a control unit that regulates operation of climate control outputs, the control unit having a plurality of input terminals. The climate control system also includes a plurality of sensing devices, each of the plurality of sensing devices located in a different portion of the animal house and connected to one of the plurality of input terminals of the control unit with a connector to provide a signal to the control unit which is used to control the climate in the animal house. Each sensing device includes a thermal resistive sensor and an indicating LED configured to be selectively turned on by the control unit to indicate when the sensing unit is connected to the control unit. 
     These and other features and advantages of this invention are described in, or are apparent from, the following detailed description of various example embodiments of the systems and methods according to this invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above mentioned and other features of this invention will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagrammatical block illustration of a climate control system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective drawing of a self-identifying sensing unit of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an electrical circuit schematic of the sensing unit of  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is an electrical circuit schematic of an alternate embodiment of the sensing unit. 
         FIG. 5  is an electrical circuit schematic of an alternate embodiment of the sensing unit. 
     
    
    
     Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the views of the drawings. 
     DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS 
     The invention will now be described in the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, wherein preferred embodiments are described in detail to enable practice of the invention. Although the invention is described with reference to these specific preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to these preferred embodiments. But to the contrary, the invention includes numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents as will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a schematic of an animal house  10  of conventional design is shown. The animal house has a climate control system  20  having a plurality of climate control outputs, such as ventilation fans, indicated at  30 ,  31  and  32 , and heater units indicated at  33 ,  34  and  35 , mounted in the building  10 . Although three heaters and three ventilating fans are shown, it will be understood that this is for purposes of illustrations only, and that additional or fewer heaters and fans may be provided, as required. The climate control system  20  has a control unit  40 , which incorporates a suitable controller, such as a microprocessor main control unit  41 , which regulates the operation of the ventilating fans  30 ,  31  and  32  and the heater units  33 ,  34  and  35  by way of control cables  30 A- 35 A, respectively. The control unit receives its operating power from a suitable power supply  42 . 
     The control unit  40  receives input from a plurality of sensing devices  47 ,  48  and  49  by way of connectors  47 A,  48 A and  49 A, respectively. The sensing devices  47 ,  48  and  49  are located in different portions of the animal house  10  so that climate information, such as temperature, may be received for the different portions. Although only three sensing devices  47 ,  48  and  49  are shown, it will be understood that additional sensing devices, sometimes many more sensing devices, may be used as required to obtain the desired readings of the climate inside the animal house  10 . Each sensing device  47 ,  48  and  49  is connected to a respective input  54 ,  55  and  56  to the control unit  40 . As would be understood by one skilled in the art, the controller  41  in control unit  40  is adapted to regulate the operation of the fans  30 ,  31  and  32  and heaters  33 ,  34 ,  35  in response to specific data received from the sensing devices  47 ,  48  and  49 , and in accordance with a program relating to the physical characteristics of the animal house  10  and needs of animals in the house. In one embodiment, the sensing devices  47 ,  48  and  49  are temperature sensing devices. However, one skilled in the art will understand that the sensing devices may be used to sense other climate parameters. It may be understood that sensing devices  48  and  49  can be structurally and functionally identical to sensing device  47 . Therefore, while the following description is directed to sensing device  47 , it should be understood that the description also applies to other sensing devices  48  and  49 . As such, no further description will be given of sensing devices  48  and  49 . 
     Turning also now to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , in the illustrated embodiment sensing device  47  is a temperature sensing device having a circuit  60  containing a thermal resistive sensor  62 . The thermal resistive sensor  62  may be of any conventional design and will be understood by one skilled in the art. Therefore, a detailed description of the thermal resistive sensor  62  need not be provided herein. The circuit  60  of the sensing device  47  has first and second electrical leads  64 ,  66  that supply electrical power to the thermal resistive sensor  62 . The first and second leads  64 ,  66  are carried by the connector  47 A to the input  54  of the control unit  40  to connect the sensing unit  47  to the control unit  40 . When reading the thermal resistive sensor  62 , the control unit  40  supplies a small electric current (e.g., about 1 mA) through the sensor  62  with the first lead  64  being positive and the second lead  66  being negative. As is known in the art, the control unit  40  translates the resulting power into a temperature reading. 
     According to the invention, the sensing device  47  also contains an indicating device  70  in the form of at least one light source. Preferably, the indicating device  70  is an integrated LED. Electrical power is supplied to the LED  70  when the installer wants to identify the sensing device  47  connected to a particular input to the control unit  40 , such as input  54 . Desirably, the circuit  60  has the thermal resistive sensor  62  and LED  70  wired in parallel such that the same first and second electrical leads  64 ,  66  used to read the thermal resistive sensor  62  are used to power the identification LED  70 . Circuit  60  desirably has a suitable resistor  72  in series with the LED  70 . When the installer wants to turn on the LED  70  to identify the sensing device  47 , the polarity of the first and second electrical leads  64 ,  66  is reversed. This can be done by physically reversing the leads attached to the input terminal of the control unit, or the control unit  40  is used to switch the polarity. When the second electrical lead  66  is positive and the first electrical lead  64  is negative, the forward voltage drop across the LED  70  provides the LED current to light the LED  70 . 
     Accordingly, on the installer&#39;s request, the control unit  40  will light the LED  70  on the sensing device  47 , making it visible from a distance. Since it can be seen from distance, the installer can identify which sensing device  47  is being connected to which input  54  on the control unit  40  without having to access the sensing device  47  directly. Therefore, the sensing device  47  can be identified without having to move into the animal growing area to stimulate the sensing device  47  in order to track its signal into the control unit  40 . The installer then can quickly identify which sensing device  47 ,  48 ,  49  is connected to each input  54 ,  55 , and  56  of the control unit  40  by individually reversing the polarity of the leads  64 ,  66  of each sensing device to turn on its indicating LED  70 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 4 , an alternate embodiment of circuit  73  for the sensing device  47  is shown with like components having the same reference numbers for clarity. Desirably, circuit  73  has the thermal resistive sensor  62  and LED  70  wired in parallel such that the same first and second electrical leads  64 ,  66  used to read the thermal resistive sensor  62  are used to power the identification LED  70 . Circuit  73  desirably has resistor  72  in series with the LED  70 . A capacitor  76  is used to AC couple the LED  70  with the thermal resistive sensor  62 . When a reference DC voltage is applied (for example, 2.5 V DC ) to the electrical leads  64 ,  66 , the thermal resistive sensor  62  may be read. A pulsed DC voltage is use to pass through the capacitor  76  to light the LED  70 . In one embodiment, the control unit  40  generates a 0 to 5V DC  square wave pulse. However, one skilled in the art will understand that other pulsed voltages and even AC voltage may be used. A diode  74  is used to discharge the capacitor  76 , otherwise the capacitor  76  becomes fully charged and the pulse cannot pass through and the LED  70  will not be powered. In this design, it is the change from the reference voltage to the pulsed voltage, rather than the shift in polarity as explained with reference to  FIG. 3  above, that turns on the LED  70 . The diode acts like a rectifier if the assembly is connected in reverse on the circuit  60 . The magnitude of the voltage pulse is selected so as to not be large enough to damage the LED  70 . It has been found that when the pulsed voltage is applied to turn on the LED  70 , the thermal resistive sensor  62  cannot be accurately read because the pulsed voltage tends to heat up the thermal resistive sensor  62 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 5 , an alternate embodiment of the sensing device  47  is shown. In this embodiment, circuit  80  has three leads  82 ,  84 ,  86  connectable with the control unit  40 . In this embodiment, the LED  70  has its own positive lead  82  and the thermal resistive sensor  62  has its dedicated positive lead  84  which share negative lead  86 . The control unit  40  would select whether the thermal resistive sensor  62  is to be read or whether to turn on the LED  70  by selecting which positive lead is powered. 
     Accordingly, the climate control system  20  can be set up using the self-identifying sensing devices  47 ,  48  and  49 . The installer can identify the sensing devices  47 ,  48  and  49  and critical outputs (input dependent) (e.g., heaters, fans, etc.) into the animal house  10 . The installer can dress the list of input assignation relating critical outputs with the sensing devices  47 ,  48  and  49  they should be assigned to. The sensing devices  47 ,  48  and  49  are connected to input terminals  54 ,  55  and  56  of the control unit  40 . From the control unit  40 , the installer can activate the self-identifying indicator  70  for one sensing device  47 ,  48  or  49 . The installer can then look into the animal house  10 , with minimized effect on the animals therein, and identify which sensing device that is turned on. The installer can then identify the sensing device  47 ,  48  or  49  into the list and make any necessary corrections and program the control  41  to assign the input  54 ,  55  or  56  to proper output. The installer then repeats these steps for the other sensing devices  48  and  49 . 
     The self-identifying sensing device  47  may also be used in the climate control system  20  to track and fix a bad connection on an input  54  when the control unit  40  recognizes and warns that a connection to a sensing device  47  is open or shorted even if there is no information on the specific sensing device location. The operator can tell the control unit  40  to activate the LEDs  70  on all the sensing devices  47 ,  48  and  49 . The operator can walk into the animal house  10  and identify the sensing device without a lit LED  70 . 
     While this invention has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments described above, it is evident that many alternatives, combinations, modifications and variations are apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the preferred embodiments of this invention, as set forth above are intended to be illustrative only, and not in a limiting sense. Various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.