Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning design apparatus and method

Abstract

A system and method for designing an HVAC system using a database to manage values of properties corresponding to design elements. Elements include substantially all physical components and connections available for creating an HVAC system design. A user interface represents design elements arbitrarily selectable by a user and connectable to one another in a schematic to establish the HVAC system design. The system may provide, automatically, default values corresponding to the properties corresponding to the design elements. A user may select arbitrarily, from the design elements, an arbitrary number of selected design elements to be interconnected in the HVAC system design. A user may place and interconnect each arbitrary design element, while the system calculates, automatically, values of properties characterizing the arbitrary design elements; validating correctness of the interconnections and properties, calculating performance parameters, and providing drawings.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 976,187 filed Oct. 12, 2001, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 240,197 filed Oct. 12, 2000.BACKGROUND [0002] 1. The Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates to software and computer systems and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods for design modeling of fluid and energy handling systems. [0004] 2. The Background Art [0005] The need to condition the environment in which people live has existed as long as sun, rain, and winter storms. The solutions have been many and varied, depending on the availability of shelter, fuels, cooling materials, insulation, fans, and so forth. In more recent history, refrigeration systems, heating systems, and their various combinations have taken advantage of new thermodynamic cycles and a wide variety of working fluids. [0006] Nevertheless, much of the process of designing syst...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides an apparatus and method to design, analyze, and document HVAC systems using an intuitive, graphical system relying on object-oriented programming and intuitive icons. The system allows a designer to easily create many different, yet consistently schematic representations of various aspects of the same design. The system also integrates steps of the design process into a single system, allowing each step to automatically use the output of a preceding step. The system allows access to the descriptions of actual HVAC system equipment and use them in the design and analysis processes. The system automatically determines design parameters, reduces the level of skill required to design an HVAC system, and creates a design for an HVAC system and a plan or design of a corresponding control system for controlling an implementation of the HVAC design. The system also allows a user to contact businesses supplying or manufacturing HVAC system equipment components and allows a business to be credited financially for providing software to a user."

Problems solved by technology

Moreover, a change in a parameter may affect the performance of many other parameters, or limit the applicability of other equipment, configurations, or analyses.

Also, the methods used for design and analysis will often require considerable familiarity with both engineering principles and available manufactured equipment.

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