US 12,742,548 B2 · Systems and methods for automated furnace inducer sensor output verification

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for automated furnace inducer sensor output verification. A furnace may include a sensor, such as a transducer, that may be used to measure pressure within the furnace (for example, pressure resulting from the operation of a draft inducer blower and/or any other component of the furnace). It is possible that the data produced by the sensor may remain relatively fixed for a given period of time. However, this makes it difficult to determine if the data is valid or if the sensor is malfunctioning. Given this, an algorithm is used to change a motor speed of the inducer blower. The subsequent data that is produced by the sensor is then monitored to determine if an expected change in the data occurs. If the change does not occur, then it may be determined that the sensor is malfunctioning.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A furnace system comprising:

one or more processors;
and
memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive, from an inducer sensor, first data at a first time;
receive, from the inducer sensor, second data at a second time, wherein the second time is after the first time;
determine that a first difference between the first data and the second data is less than or equal to a threshold value;
cause a motor speed of an inducer blower in the furnace system to adjust from a first speed to a second speed;
receive, from the inducer sensor, third data;
determine that a second difference between the third data and the first data or the second data is less than or equal to the threshold value;
and
cause the furnace system to pause operation.

8 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from an inducer sensor of a furnace system, first data at a first time;
receiving, from the inducer sensor, second data at a second time, wherein the second time is after the first time;
determining that a first difference between the first data and the second data is less than or equal to a threshold value;
causing a motor speed of an inducer blower in the furnace system to adjust from a first speed to a second speed;
receiving, from the inducer sensor, third data;
determining that a second difference between the third data and the first data or the second data is less than or equal to the threshold value;
and
causing the furnace system to pause operation.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Systems and methods for automated furnace inducer sensor output verification

Life of this patent

Systems and methods for automated furnace inducer sensor output verification

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20