Heating, ventilating and air conditioning HVAC device block
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity and cost of manufacturing a wide range of HVAC field devices with varying functions and environmental requirements lead to a high number of devices needing to be manufactured, serviced, and maintained, with existing solutions lacking flexibility in reusing base and add-on device blocks.
Innovation Solution
The development of a base HVAC device block with a housing, extension interface, external electrical interface, and electronic circuit that can be configured to provide HVAC functionalities and accommodate add-on blocks, allowing for flexible reuse and extension of functionalities by stacking or connecting additional blocks, enabling the combination of multiple blocks to form a robust HVAC field device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a wide range of HVAC field devices with varying functions are manufactured, then the system can cover various use cases and environmental requirements, but the complexity and cost of manufacturing increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The HVAC field device is divided into a base device block and separate add-on device blocks. The base block contains common functionality, while add-on blocks provide specialized functions. This segmentation allows the system to cover various use cases by combining blocks, without manufacturing completely different devices for each application.
Solution Approach 2:
The base device block is designed with universal interfaces and common functionality that can work with multiple types of add-on blocks. This multi-functionality approach allows a single base block to serve various purposes when combined with different add-on blocks, reducing the need to manufacture specialized devices for each use case.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple variants of HVAC field devices are manufactured to cover different functions and parameters, then the system can meet diverse requirements, but the number of devices needing manufacturing, servicing, and maintenance increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the device into modular base and add-on blocks, the manufacturing process can focus on producing a limited number of base block variants and a library of add-on blocks. This reduces the total number of complete device variants that need to be manufactured, assembled, serviced, and maintained compared to creating entirely different devices for each requirement combination.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges common functionality into the base device block that can be shared across multiple device configurations. Instead of manufacturing separate complete devices for each function combination, the system merges the common base with different add-on blocks as needed, reducing manufacturing complexity and inventory requirements.
3Reliability
If specialized HVAC field devices are manufactured for each specific function, then the device can be optimized for that function, but the flexibility to reuse base and add-on blocks is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into specialized add-on blocks that can be attached to a universal base block. Each add-on block can be optimized for its specific function while the base block provides standardized interfaces and common functionality. This allows functional optimization at the add-on level while maintaining flexibility through the modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The base device block is designed with universal mounting interfaces and standardized connections that allow it to work with multiple types of add-on blocks. This universality enables the same base block to support various optimized add-on blocks for different functions, maintaining both functional optimization and flexibility of reuse.
Data Source
AI summary
A base HVAC device block (10) comprising a housing (11); an HVAC functional device (M/S); an extension interface (16A); an external electrical interface (18) for the transmission of electrical power and data signal(s); and an electronic circuit (12) connected with the HVAC functional device (M/S). In a first configuration, the base HVAC device block (10) is configured to connect the external electrical interface (18) with the electronic circuit (12) for transmission of data signal(s) and thereby provide HVAC functionality(s) of a first category. In a second configuration, the base HVAC device block (10) is configured to route the transmission of data signal(s) through an add-on electronic circuit (22) of an add-on HVAC device block (20) attached to the base HVAC device block (10) via an add-on interface (26B) of the add-on HVAC device block (20) to thereby provide HVAC functionality(s) of a second category.