Patent ID: 8417482

Claim:
A multi-sensor component for an HVAC system operable to perform in a fail-safe manner, comprising: a sensor assembly, having one or more detectors, comprising: a plurality of temperature detectors operable to measure a temperature of an object or a medium; a presence detector operable to detect the presence of the object or medium in contact with the multi-sensor component; and a pressure detector operable to measure a pressure of the medium against the multi-sensor component; a sensor monitor operably coupled to the one or more detectors of the sensor assembly, the sensor monitor configured to use a detection algorithm operable to detect one or more of the temperature, pressure and presence of the object or medium in contact with the multi-sensor component, the sensor monitor configured to verify a health of the one or more detectors of the sensor assembly; and a sensor housing, thermo-well, or a combination thereof having the sensor assembly and the sensor monitor affixed therein, wherein the sensor monitor is configured to verify the health of the plurality of temperature detectors of the sensor assembly by: periodically selecting one of the plurality of temperature detectors for the health verification, the selected temperature detector comprising a temperature sensor and a respective heater affixed together on a substrate and having substantially close thermal union with one another, heating the selected temperature detector with a predetermined energy using the respective heater, or heat the selected temperature detector for a predetermined period of time using the respective heater, determining if the selected temperature detector has increased in temperature as measured by the temperature sensor to exceed one of an allowable temperature change, rate of change, and time constant of a thermal rise rate of the selected temperature detector, the determination thereof corresponding to a health verification of the selected temperature detector, and encoding the health verification into a formatted sensor signal, based on the health verification determination.