A household heat pump identifiable expansion board platform control system and configuration method

Abstract

This invention discloses a platform-based control system and configuration method for a residential heat pump with identifiable expansion boards, belonging to the field of heat pump electronic control. The system consists of a standardized outdoor main control board, an indoor hydraulic expansion board, a human-machine interface module, a side-mounted terminal box, and a communication link. The outdoor main control board uniformly manages common refrigerant functions such as compressors, valves, and defrosting / antifreeze functions; the indoor hydraulic expansion board handles differentiated hydraulic loads such as electric auxiliary heating, boiler / solar coupling, dual water tanks, and multi-zone mixing, and carries readable board identification information. After power-on, the system automatically reads the board ID, matches the hydraulic topology, and generates a matching parameter template. The HMI automatically opens the corresponding function menu and disables any uninstalled expansion functions. The system performs real-time self-checks of wiring, sensor, and board matching status. When topology mismatch, communication failure, or sensor malfunction occurs, it issues tiered alarms, limiting the corresponding load or degrading the entire unit for safe operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of heat pump electronic control, and in particular to a residential heat pump with a platform-based control system and configuration method that can identify expansion boards. Background Technology

[0002] The existing electrical control architecture of European residential monoblock heat pumps typically employs a stacked approach with multiple function boards and numerous terminals to achieve functional coverage. The outdoor unit control box may simultaneously contain a compressor drive board, a fan drive board, an outdoor main control board, a hydraulic main control board, a filter board, a relay board, contactors, transformers, and multiple terminal blocks. While this approach facilitates the addition of functions in the short term, it introduces problems such as a large number of PCBs, numerous connectors, long wiring harness paths, multiple assembly steps, complex field wiring, numerous EMC coupling paths, and difficulties in after-sales troubleshooting.

[0003] Meanwhile, the requirements for indoor hydraulic side functions vary significantly across different European projects: some projects only require a DHW three-way valve and a basic water temperature sensor, while others require IBH / TBH, electric or gas boiler linkage, solar water heating coupling, buffer tanks, dual DHW water tanks, mixing valves, secondary circulation pumps, indoor thermostats, flow meters, water pressure sensors, or multi-zone control. If all optional functions were pre-installed on the outdoor main control board, many projects would incur additional BOM, assembly, and after-sales costs for infrequently used or unused interfaces and components.

[0004] Therefore, a residential heat pump platform-based control system and configuration method that can identify expansion boards is needed to address the aforementioned deficiencies. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Purpose of the invention: The invention provides a platform-based control system and configuration method for residential heat pumps with identifiable expansion boards. This allows the outdoor main control board to focus on the standard functions used by most residential monoblock heat pumps, while the indoor hydraulic expansion board undertakes project-specific functions. Through expansion board identification, automatic HMI topology generation, parameter template calling, terminal error prevention, and load permission logic, the complexity of the outdoor platform BOM and wiring harness is reduced, while maintaining compatibility with complex European residential hydraulic systems.

[0006] Technical solution: To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, more specifically, a residential heat pump platform control system, which includes at least a standardized outdoor main control board, an identifiable indoor hydraulic expansion board, a human-machine interaction module, a field terminal connection module, and a system communication link connecting the standardized outdoor main control board and the indoor hydraulic expansion board.

[0007] Standardized outdoor main control board: integrates the general standard functional domains of heat pumps, responsible for controlling the compressor drive, outdoor fan drive, PFC / IPM power stage, electronic expansion valve control, four-way valve control, basic sensor acquisition, and executing defrosting, oil return, antifreeze, and DHW basic control logic. It is equipped with SG 2.0, Modbus communication, OTA upgrade, and PC debugging interface.

[0008] Indoor hydraulic expansion board: Integrates the project's differentiated hydraulic functional domains, independently managing IBH / TBH electric auxiliary heating, electric boiler / gas boiler linkage, solar water heating coupling, mixing valve, second circulation pump, buffer tank, dual DHW water tank, indoor thermostat, flow meter, water pressure sensor, multi-zone control and other differentiated hydraulic loads; the board is equipped with board identification information that can be read by the outdoor main control board or human-machine interaction module.

[0009] Human-Machine Interface (HMI): Reads the identification information of the indoor hydraulic expansion board, automatically matches and generates the corresponding hydraulic topology diagram, opens the adaptation function menu, hides unassembled functions, and loads matching parameter templates; verifies the matching relationship between the board model, terminal wiring, sensors, loads and hydraulic topology, outputs fault alarms when mismatches occur, restricts the start of the corresponding load, and achieves safe degraded operation.

[0010] System communication link: At least one of RS485, CAN, and Modbus buses is used to complete data interaction between the outdoor main control board, indoor hydraulic expansion board, and HMI, and to transmit board ID, load request, protection feedback, parameters, and fault signals.

[0011] Side-mounted terminal box: The interfaces of HMI communication, cascaded CASCADE, BMS, SG dry contact, ON-OFF, DHWV, and T5 / TW water temperature sensor are centrally arranged according to their functions, realizing visualized grouping of wiring.

[0012] Furthermore, the implementation method of board identification information The board identification information is stored / generated using at least one of the following methods: EEPROM storage encoding, hardware DIP switch, voltage divider resistor encoding, line shorting encoding, independent communication address, firmware unique ID, NFC electronic tag, and multiple methods can be used in combination.

[0013] Furthermore, hydraulic topology and parameter templates The HMI has multiple built-in preset parameter templates, including underfloor heating template, radiator template, fan coil unit template, single DHW water tank template, dual DHW water tank template, boiler mixed heat source template, solar coupling template, and multi-zone hydraulic template; it automatically retrieves the corresponding template based on the expansion board ID and fills in the default operating parameters, protection thresholds, and start / stop logic.

[0014] Furthermore, mismatch protection and degradation control logic The system detects three types of abnormal mismatch scenarios in real time: ① The hydraulic topology manually selected by the HMI does not match the expansion board ID; ② Terminal sensors have open circuits, short circuits, or abnormal signals; ③ Load current exceeds the limit and communication link is interrupted.

[0015] Minor mismatch: A pop-up window displays an installation fault message, only disabling incompatible hydraulic loads; Severe mismatch: Locking all high-power loads of the compressor and electric auxiliary heating, only retaining the water pump exhaust and antifreeze safety modes; Expansion board communication failure: The outdoor main control board independently maintains the basic refrigerant side safety protection and antifreeze logic, and the HMI and remote background synchronously record fault codes and retain after-sales diagnostic logs.

[0016] Furthermore, the platform's standardized outdoor main control board maintains cross-generational compatibility with the hardware interfaces and communication protocols of various models of indoor hydraulic expansion boards, supporting mixed installation and upgrades of new and old hardware. It can adapt to the new hydraulic function requirements without redesigning the outdoor main control board, and is compatible with residential air source heat pump platforms with a full power range of 4-16kW.

[0017] According to one aspect of the present invention, and more specifically a method for platform-based configuration of a residential heat pump, applied to the aforementioned platform-based control system, the method comprises the following steps: When the S1 device is powered on and initialized, the main controller synchronously reads the firmware version of the outdoor main control board, the unique identification ID of the indoor hydraulic expansion board, and the basic configuration parameters of the HMI. S2 parses the board identification information and matches it with the preset hydraulic topology in the database; S3 automatically generates an HMI visual topology interface based on the matching topology, opens the corresponding function menu, hides the operation entry related to the unassembled hydraulic load, and automatically loads the matching parameter template into the control unit. The S4 system performs a self-test to verify whether the terminal wiring, sensor signals, external loads, and current hydraulic topology are compatible. S5 matching verification passes, all loads are normal and can be started and run; if mismatch is found in the verification, fault codes and text alarms are output, the start and stop of the corresponding load are restricted, and the system enters partial disabling or whole-machine safety degradation mode according to the fault level. The S6 continuously collects the online status of the expansion board, sensor data, and load operating current throughout the entire operation, updates the topology status in real time, and stores fault data synchronously for after-sales diagnosis.

[0018] Beneficial effects: (1) The present invention splits the heat pump control into a standardized outdoor main control board and a differentiated indoor hydraulic extension board. The outdoor main control board retains only the basic functions of general refrigerant, while the complex hydraulic load is borne by the extension board, which greatly reduces the amount of outdoor unit PCB, connectors and wire harnesses, reduces the overall BOM, assembly and after-sales costs, and solves the problems of complicated assembly and serious EMC interference in the traditional multi-board stacked structure.

[0019] (2) The present invention automatically adapts without manual configuration: the expansion board carries the board identification information, automatically identifies the hardware configuration upon power-up, the HMI matches the corresponding hydraulic topology, loads the exclusive parameter template, automatically hides the menu of unselected functions, saves the step of manually matching parameters, and adapts to various European residential hydraulic solutions such as underfloor heating, dual water tanks, solar energy, and boiler coupling.

[0020] (3) The main control of this invention is compatible with the hardware interfaces and communication protocols of various expansion boards, covering 4-16kW full power residential air source heat pumps. The addition of hydraulic functions does not require modification of the outdoor main control board, and can quickly adapt to diverse project needs.

[0021] (4) This invention can detect problems such as board disconnection, sensor failure, topology mismatch, and load abnormality in real time, and perform local load disabling or whole machine security degradation in a graded manner. Fault logs are retained for after-sales maintenance, avoiding equipment damage caused by hardware mismatch.

[0022] (5) The present invention is equipped with a side terminal box, which centrally arranges communication, sensor and dry contact interfaces according to function group, making the wiring visible and reducing the difficulty of on-site installation and wiring. It is also equipped with Modbus / OTA / PC debugging tools to facilitate debugging, parameter calibration and remote version management. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 A platform-based control architecture diagram for a standardized outdoor main control board + indoor hydraulic expansion board; Figure 2 Flowchart for board identification - topology generation - load balancing control; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the boundary between standard and extended functions. Detailed Implementation

[0024] To make the technical solution of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0025] Example 1: Basic DHW single-tank residential heat pump (4-6kW / 8-16kW universal) The system includes a single-phase residential air source heat pump outdoor unit, a standardized outdoor main control board, an HMI human-machine interface panel, and side-mounted group terminal boxes, but no indoor hydraulic expansion board.

[0026] The outdoor main control board independently drives the compressor, outdoor fan, PFC / IPM power module, electronic expansion valve, and four-way valve; it collects the temperature data from the T5 water tank and TW outlet water temperature sensors; and performs defrosting, oil return, antifreeze, and single DHW three-way valve control. It supports SG dry contacts, HMI, BMS, and cascade communication.

[0027] After the device is powered on, the HMI detects no expansion board recognition signal, automatically loads the basic hot water, cooling, and heating simplified menus, hides the electric auxiliary heating, mixed heat source, dual water tank and other extended functions, and only opens the basic water temperature, start / stop, and antifreeze parameter settings.

[0028] Example 2: Electric Auxiliary Hot Water Expansion Solution Equipped with IBH / TBH The system adds an indoor hydraulic expansion board to the basic model. The board integrates an IBH / TBH electric auxiliary heating relay drive module and uploads the board card EEPROM identification ID to the outdoor main control board and HMI via Modbus bus.

[0029] After the HMI recognizes the electric auxiliary heating board ID, it automatically adds the following menu: electric auxiliary heating rated capacity, water tank heating target temperature, auxiliary heating start / stop threshold, antifreeze auxiliary heating logic, and DHW operation priority. If the expansion board is disconnected or removed, the corresponding menu will be automatically grayed out and hidden, and the outdoor main control board will no longer output electric auxiliary heating drive commands to prevent accidental activation.

[0030] Example 3: Complex Hydraulic Topology System with Hybrid Heat Source The indoor hydraulic expansion board integrates a gas boiler linkage interface, a solar water heating coupling module, a multi-way mixing valve, a dual circulation pump, a buffer tank, dual DHW water tanks, a multi-zone indoor thermostat, and a flow / water pressure sensor.

[0031] After the HMI reads the expansion board ID, it automatically renders a visual hydraulic topology diagram and calls the corresponding parameter templates as needed: underfloor heating mixing system template, radiator boiler supplementary heating template, solar preheating heat pump auxiliary heating template, and dual-tank time-sharing water supply template; the operation logic is controlled in layers: the outdoor main control board uniformly manages the refrigerant side output capacity, and the indoor hydraulic expansion board automatically adjusts the water pump, mixing valve, auxiliary heating, and external boiler start-up and shutdown according to the indoor load, water tank temperature, and solar heat.

[0032] Example 4: Mismatch Protection and Degraded Safety Operation Scenario 1: The installer manually selects the "dual water tank + gas boiler" topology in the HMI, but fails to install the corresponding hydraulic expansion board; the system pops up a message indicating that the topology hardware is incompatible, disabling the dual water tank circulating pump and boiler linkage output, and the heat pump only supports single water tank basic mode operation.

[0033] Scenario 2: The flow sensor wiring on the hydraulic expansion board is detached. The system detects an open circuit fault in the sensor, locks all hydraulic circulation pumps, reduces the compressor frequency, limits the hot water heating power, displays the sensor fault code on the screen, and records the fault log in the background.

[0034] Scenario 3: The communication bus of the indoor hydraulic expansion board is disconnected. The outdoor main control board independently maintains the high and low pressure of refrigerant, exhaust temperature, and basic antifreeze protection. All hydraulic expansion loads are shut down, and only the basic domestic hot water antifreeze circulation is retained. The communication fault needs to be investigated and repaired.

[0035] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementations of the present invention, and while the descriptions are specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of the present invention, and these modifications and improvements all fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of this patent should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A platform-based control system for a residential heat pump with a recognizable expansion board, characterized in that, It includes a standardized outdoor main control board, an indoor hydraulic expansion board, a human-machine interaction module, and a system communication link connecting the standardized outdoor main control board and the indoor hydraulic expansion board; The standardized outdoor main control board is used to control the compressor, outdoor fan, power conversion module, electronic expansion valve, reversing valve, and basic sensors, and to perform basic functions such as defrosting, oil return, antifreeze, and domestic hot water. The indoor hydraulic expansion plate is used to control at least one indoor differential hydraulic load, which includes electric auxiliary heating, water tank electric heating, mixing valve, circulating pump, boiler interface, solar interface, buffer tank, second water tank or indoor thermostat; The indoor hydraulic expansion board has board identification information that can be read by the standardized outdoor main control board or the human-machine interaction module; The human-computer interaction module generates a corresponding hydraulic topology, function menu and parameter template based on the board identification information, and restricts the start of the corresponding load when the board identification information is inconsistent with the preset hydraulic topology.

2. The platform-based control system for residential heat pumps according to claim 1, characterized in that, The board identification information includes EEPROM storage information, DIP switch status, resistor encoding, shorting encoding, communication address, firmware version number, or any combination thereof.

3. The platform-based control system for residential heat pumps according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the human-computer interaction module does not recognize the corresponding indoor hydraulic expansion board, it hides or disables the expansion function menu that matches the indoor hydraulic expansion board.

4. The platform-based control system for residential heat pumps according to claim 1, characterized in that, The parameter templates include at least one or more of the following: floor heating template, radiator template, fan coil template, single DHW water tank template, double water tank template, boiler mixed heat source template, and solar energy coupling template.

5. The platform-based control system for residential heat pumps according to claim 1, characterized in that, The standardized outdoor main control board and the indoor hydraulic expansion board communicate with each other via RS485, CAN, Modbus bus or a combination thereof.

6. The platform-based control system for residential heat pumps according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a side terminal box, which centrally arranges at least one of the following interfaces in a functional group: HMI communication, cascade communication, BMS communication, SG dry contact, remote ON / OFF input, DHW three-way valve, T5 water tank sensor, and parallel system outlet water sensor interface.

7. The platform-based control system for residential heat pumps according to claim 1, characterized in that, The system detects expansion board disconnection, sensor open circuit, sensor short circuit, abnormal load current, and terminal topology mismatch faults in real time; when a fault is detected, it outputs a fault prompt and disables the corresponding load or puts the whole machine into a safe degraded operation mode.

8. The platform-based control system for residential heat pumps according to claim 1, characterized in that, The standardized outdoor main control board is compatible across generations with the hardware interfaces and communication protocols of various models of indoor hydraulic expansion boards, and is suitable for residential air source heat pump platforms with a full power range of 4-16kW.

9. A method for platform-based configuration of a residential heat pump, characterized in that, The platform-based control system for residential heat pumps, as described in any one of claims 1-8, comprises the following steps: S1. Power on the device and initialize it, then read the board identification information of the indoor hydraulic expansion board; S2. Match the corresponding hydraulic topology based on the board identification information; S3. Generate HMI-specific function menus based on the matched hydraulic topology and load the corresponding default parameter templates; S4. Self-test to verify whether the terminal wiring, sensors, external loads, and current hydraulic topology are compatible; S5. If the verification match is normal, all loads are allowed to run; if a mismatch is found, a fault message is output and the corresponding load is restricted from starting. Depending on the fault level, partial disabling or system-wide security degradation is performed.

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