Integrated zoning circulator
AssigneeTaco, Inc.
InventorRichard A. Genga
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An integrated wet-rotor zoning circulator for circulating fluid within a zone in a hydronic heating or cooling system. The zoning circulator has three primary components: a motor, an impeller casing, and a controller. The controller, which is integrated with the motor, houses a voltage transforming device (e.g., a transformer) and a switching device (e.g., a relay). When a thermostat in the zone being served by the zoning circulator closes, the switching device closes and the pump is activated.
Claims15
An integrated zoning circulator for circulating fluid within a hydronic heating or cooling system, the integrated zoning circulator comprising:
- a wet-rotor circulator motor, the circulator motor comprising
- a motor housing,
- a stator disposed within the motor housing and sealed from the circulating fluid,
- a rotor housing disposed within the motor housing within the stator, the rotor housing being unsealed from the circulating fluid so that the fluid enters the rotor housing,
- a rotor disposed within the rotor housing and in contact with the fluid, and
- an impeller affixed to one end of the rotor, the stator and rotor configured with respect to one another so that the rotor is caused to rotate when the stator is energized;
- an impeller casing fastened to the motor housing, the impeller casing comprising
- an inlet end for accepting the circulating fluid flowing into the impeller casing, the inlet end being configured for attachment to a pipe of the hydronic heating system,
- an impeller zone into which the impeller extends from the motor, the impeller zone being in fluid communication with the inlet of the impeller casing, and
- an outlet end for discharging the circulating fluid flowing from the impeller casing, the outlet end being configured for attachment to a pipe of the hydronic heating system;
- a zoning circulator controller, the zoning circulator controller comprising
- a controller housing integral with the motor housing,
- electrical inlet ports in the controller housing for accepting low voltage thermostat leads and high voltage supply leads,
- a voltage transforming device disposed within the controller housing, the voltage transforming device being configured for transforming a high voltage delivered on the high voltage supply leads to a low voltage,
- an electrical switching device disposed within the controller housing, the electrical switching device having low voltage activation input terminals and at least one pair of high voltage switched output terminals, the switching device being configured to switch the output terminals when low voltage is supplied to the activation input terminals,
- low voltage conductors within the housing for connecting the low voltage thermostat leads to the low voltage output of the voltage transforming device and to the low voltage activation terminals of the electrical switching device,
- high voltage conductors within the housing for supplying the high voltage from the high voltage supply leads to at least one of the high voltage switched output terminals of the electrical switching device, and for connecting at least one other of the high voltage switched output terminals to the stator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.