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US 10,767,882 B2Granted
Refrigerant pump down for an HVAC system
AssigneeLennox Industries Inc.
InventorsGlenn William Kowald, Eric Berg, Rakesh Goel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one embodiment, an HVAC system includes an indoor unit having an indoor blower, an outdoor unit having a compressor and a condenser, an isolation valve coupled to the outdoor unit, and a sensor to detect a refrigerant leak. The HVAC system further includes one or more controllers operable to generate an alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak, operate the indoor blower in response to generating the alarm, close the isolation valve in response to generating the alarm, and operate the compressor to pump down the refrigerant to the condenser in response to generating the alarm.
Claims23
A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
- an indoor unit comprising an indoor blower;
- an outdoor unit comprising a compressor and a condenser;
- an isolation valve coupled to the outdoor unit;
- a sensor operable to detect a leak of refrigerant;
- and
- one or more controllers operable to:
- generate an alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak;
- operate the indoor blower in response to generating the alarm;
- close the isolation valve in response to generating the alarm;
- operate the compressor to pump down the refrigerant to the condenser in response to generating the alarm;
- determine that the alarm has been deactivated;
- determine that a heating mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- generate a second alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak after determining that the heating mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- and
- shut down the heating mode in response to generating the second alarm.
12 more elements
A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
- an indoor unit comprising an indoor blower;
- an outdoor unit comprising a compressor and a condenser;
- an isolation valve coupled to the outdoor unit;
- a sensor operable to detect a leak of refrigerant;
- and
- one or more controllers operable to:
- generate an alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak;
- operate the indoor blower in response to generating the alarm;
- close the isolation valve in response to generating the alarm;
- operate the compressor to pump down the refrigerant to the condenser in response to generating the alarm;
- determine that the alarm has been deactivated;
- determine that a cooling mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- open the isolation valve in response to determining that the cooling mode has been initiated;
- determine that the cooling mode of the HVAC system has been deactivated;
- determine that one or more predetermined weather conditions have been satisfied in response to determining that the cooling mode has been deactivated;
- and
- run the compressor to pump down the refrigerant to the condenser in response to determining that the one or more predetermined weather conditions have been satisfied.
14 more elements
A method, comprising:
- detecting, by a sensor of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, a leak of refrigerant;
- generating an alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak;
- operating an indoor blower of an indoor unit of the HVAC system in response to generating the alarm;
- closing an isolation valve coupled to an outdoor unit of the HVAC system in response to generating the alarm;
- operating a compressor of the outdoor unit to pump down the refrigerant to a condenser of the outdoor unit in response to generating the alarm;
- determining that the alarm has been deactivated;
- determining that a heating mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- generating a second alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak after determining that the heating mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- and
- shutting down the heating mode in response to generating the second alarm.
7 more elements
A method, comprising:
- detecting, by a sensor of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, a leak of refrigerant;
- generating an alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak;
- operating an indoor blower of an indoor unit of the HVAC system in response to generating the alarm;
- closing an isolation valve coupled to an outdoor unit of the HVAC system in response to generating the alarm;
- operating a compressor of the outdoor unit to pump down the refrigerant to a condenser of the outdoor unit in response to generating the alarm;
- determining that the alarm has been deactivated;
- determining that a cooling mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- opening the isolation valve in response to determining that the cooling mode has been initiated;
- determining that the cooling mode of the HVAC system has been deactivated;
- determining that one or more predetermined weather conditions have been satisfied in response to determining that the cooling mode has been deactivated;
- and
- operating the compressor to pump down the refrigerant to the condenser in response to determining that the one or more predetermined weather conditions have been satisfied.
9 more elements
One or more computer-readable storage media embodying instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
- detecting, by a sensor of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, a leak of refrigerant;
- generating an alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak;
- operating an indoor blower of an indoor unit of the HVAC system in response to generating the alarm;
- closing an isolation valve coupled to an outdoor unit of the HVAC system in response to generating the alarm;
- operating a compressor of the outdoor unit to pump down the refrigerant to a condenser of the outdoor unit in response to generating the alarm;
- determining that the alarm has been deactivated;
- determining that a heating mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- generating a second alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak after determining that the heating mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- and
- shutting down the heating mode in response to generating the second alarm.
7 more elements
A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
- an indoor unit comprising an indoor blower;
- an outdoor unit comprising a compressor and a condenser;
- an isolation valve coupled to the outdoor unit;
- a sensor operable to detect a leak of refrigerant;
- and
- one or more controllers operable to:
- generate an alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak;
- operate the indoor blower in response to generating the alarm;
- close the isolation valve in response to generating the alarm;
- operate the compressor to pump down the refrigerant to the condenser in response to generating the alarm;
- determine that the alarm has been deactivated;
- determine that a cooling mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- open the isolation valve in response to determining that the cooling mode has been initiated;
- and
- generate a second alarm in the event the sensor detects the refrigerant leak after opening the isolation valve.
12 more elements
A method, comprising:
- detecting, by a sensor of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, a leak of refrigerant;
- generating an alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak;
- operating an indoor blower of an indoor unit of the HVAC system in response to generating the alarm;
- closing an isolation valve coupled to an outdoor unit of the HVAC system in response to generating the alarm;
- operating a compressor of the outdoor unit to pump down the refrigerant to a condenser of the outdoor unit in response to generating the alarm;
- determining that the alarm has been deactivated;
- determining that a cooling mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- opening the isolation valve in response to determining that the cooling mode has been initiated;
- and
- generating a second alarm in the event the sensor detects the refrigerant leak after opening the isolation valve.
7 more elements
One or more computer-readable storage media embodying instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
- detecting, by a sensor of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, a leak of refrigerant;
- generating an alarm in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant leak;
- operating an indoor blower of an indoor unit of the HVAC system in response to generating the alarm;
- closing an isolation valve coupled to an outdoor unit of the HVAC system in response to generating the alarm;
- operating a compressor of the outdoor unit to pump down the refrigerant to a condenser of the outdoor unit in response to generating the alarm;
- determining that the alarm has been deactivated;
- determining that a cooling mode of the HVAC system has been initiated;
- opening the isolation valve in response to determining that the cooling mode has been initiated;
- and
- generating a second alarm in the event the sensor detects the refrigerant leak after opening the isolation valve.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.