Patents Assigned to Johnson Controls Technology
  • Patent number: 11022947
    Abstract: An energy optimization system for a building includes a processing circuit configured to generate a user interface including an indication of one or more economic load demand response (ELDR) operation parameters, one or more first participation hours, and a first load reduction amount for each of the one or more first participation hours. The processing circuit is configured to receive one or more overrides of the one or more first participation hours from the user interface, generate one or more second participation hours, a second load reduction amount for each of the one or more second participation hours, and one or more second equipment loads for the one or more pieces of building equipment based on the received one or more overrides, and operate the one or more pieces of building equipment to affect an environmental condition of the building based on the one or more second equipment loads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Mohammad N. ElBsat, Michael J. Wenzel, Nicole A. Madison, Tricia J. Valentine, Collin W. Eggert, Matthew J. Asmus, James P. Kummer, Carol T. Tumey, Peter A. Craig
  • Patent number: 11024292
    Abstract: One or more non-transitory computer readable media contain program instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to: receive first raw data including one or more first data points generated by a first object of a plurality of objects associated with one or more buildings; generate first input timeseries according to the one or more data points; access a database of interconnected smart entities, the smart entities including object entities representing each of the plurality of objects and data entities representing stored data, the smart entities being interconnected by relational objects indicating relationships between the smart entities; identify a first object entity representing the first object from a first identifier in the first input timeseries; identify a first data entity from a first relational object indicating a relationship between the first object entity and the first data entity; and store the first input timeseries in the first data entity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Youngchoon Park, Sudhi R. Sinha, Vaidhyanathan Venkiteswaran, Vijaya S. Chennupati, Erik S. Paulson
  • Patent number: 11022140
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a flow generating device for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system. The flow generating device includes a housing having a channel defining a flow path of a fluid and a fan blade having a rotational axis extending through the channel, where the fan blade is configured to rotate to force the fluid along the flow path. A portion of the fan blade axially protrudes beyond the channel in a direction generally aligned with the flow path and a winglet extends from the portion of the fan blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Jordan R. Jensen, Tyler P. McCune, Drew H. Carlton, Bennie D. Hoyt
  • Patent number: 11022340
    Abstract: A furnace system includes a burner assembly that includes a burner configured to produce a flame and a heat exchanger that includes a plurality of tube passes. The plurality of tube passes cooperatively forms a conduit for flowing combustion products generated by the burner assembly. Each tube pass of the plurality of tube passes overlaps with other tube passes of the plurality of tube passes. A first tube pass of the plurality of tube passes is configured to receive the flame, and the first tube pass includes a first plurality of surface enhancements extending radially outward from an outer surface of the first tube pass relative to a central axis of the first tube pass. The furnace system also includes a baffle that is coupled to the burner assembly, extends toward the first tube pass, and is configured to contact the flame and the first tube pass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Stephen C. Wilson, David C. Rimmer, Raul G. Guajardo
  • Patent number: 11024148
    Abstract: An actuator in an HVAC system is provided. The actuator includes a motor and a drive device. The drive device is driven by the motor and coupled to an HVAC component for driving the HVAC component between multiple positions. The actuator further includes a processing circuit. The processing circuit is coupled to the motor and configured to transmit control signals to operate the motor to drive the HVAC component between a first position and a second position, monitor temperature data received from one or more temperature sensors, determine that the temperature data does not meet an expected performance criterion and transmit an alarm signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: John T. Pierson, John K. Krenzer, Aaron D. Wagner
  • Patent number: 11022355
    Abstract: A compressor includes an inlet and the inlet includes a flange and an impeller eye. The flange is connected to a suction line that transfers a refrigerant into the compressor via the impeller eye. The refrigerant flows into the compressor with an amount of swirl and a pressure loss. The suction line includes a geometry that includes a constantly decreasing cross-sectional area in a direction towards the compressor. The geometry of the suction line is configured to reduce the amount of swirl and the pressure loss.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Florin V. Iancu, Justin P. Kauffman, Jeb W. Schreiber, Chenggang Wu, Steven Wang, John Trevino, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11022332
    Abstract: An actuator in a HVAC system includes a mechanical transducer, a processing circuit, a wireless transceiver, and a power circuit. The processing circuit includes a processor and memory and is configured to operate the mechanical transducer according to a control program stored in the memory. The wireless transceiver is configured to facilitate bidirectional wireless data communications between the processing circuit and an external device. The power circuit is configured to draw power from a wireless signal received via the wireless transceiver and power the processing circuit and the wireless transceiver using the drawn power. The processing circuit is configured to use the power drawn from the wireless signal to wirelessly transmit data stored in the memory of the actuator to the external device via the wireless transceiver, wirelessly receive data from the external device via the wireless transceiver, and store the data received from the external device in the memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Robert K. Alexander, Christopher Merkl, Gary A. Romanowich, Bernard Clement, Kevin Weiss
  • Patent number: 11022334
    Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system includes a compressor having a discharge port and a suction port, a first sensor configured to provide feedback corresponding to a first temperature of the working fluid exiting the compressor proximate the discharge port, a second sensor configured to provide feedback corresponding to a second temperature of the working fluid entering the compressor proximate the suction port, and an automation controller storing data indicative of an operational envelope. The operational envelope defines compressor operation coordinates corresponding to a range of suction temperatures and a range of discharge temperatures inside and outside of a target region of the operational envelope, and the automation controller is configured to control a target range of compressor speeds based on a comparison of the target region to an operation coordinate defined by the feedback from the first sensor and the feedback from the second sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Aron M. Seiler, Nicholas P. Mislak, Chandra S. Yelamanchili, Rajiv K. Karkhanis, Nathan T. Ostrye
  • Publication number: 20210158975
    Abstract: A smart edge controller for building equipment that operates to affect a variable state or condition within a building. The controller includes processors and non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the processors to perform operations including obtaining sensor data indicating environmental conditions of the building and include determining an amount of available processing resources at the smart edge controller or at the building equipment. The operations include automatically scaling a level of complexity of an optimization of a cost function based on the available processing resources and include performing the optimization of the cost function at the automatically scaled level of complexity to generate a first setpoint trajectory. The first setpoint trajectory includes operating setpoints for the building equipment at time steps within an optimization period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2019
    Publication date: May 27, 2021
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Robert D. Turney, Serdar Suindykov, Mohammad N. ELBSAT, Michael J. Wenzel
  • Publication number: 20210157284
    Abstract: A system to replicate user interaction with a building management system (BMS), the system including a processing circuit including a processor and memory, the memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processing circuit to receive first BMS data describing a BMS event having a first category, receive second BMS data describing a user response to the BMS event, generate a model, based on the first and second BMS data, describing response patterns associated with the user response, wherein the response patterns include actions to replicate the user response, and generate, in response to receiving third BMS data having the first category, one or more control signals based the actions in the model to control the BMS to replicate the user response.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2019
    Publication date: May 27, 2021
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Daniel C. Mahoney, Suvidha Raina, Dana A. Guthrie
  • Patent number: 11014466
    Abstract: A building optimization system includes charging and discharging a battery of a battery power vehicle. The building optimization system includes a charging system configured to cause the battery of the battery powered vehicle to charge or discharge. The building optimization system also includes an optimization controller including a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive charging constraints for the battery powered vehicle, determine whether to charge discharge the battery of the battery powered vehicle based on the charging constraints, and cause the charging system to charge or discharge the battery of the battery powered vehicle based on the optimization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Sudhi R. Sinha, Youngchoon Park, Robert D. Turney
  • Patent number: 11018890
    Abstract: A building system including one or more memory devices configured to store instructions thereon, the instructions causing one or more processors to generate a temporary relationship between a first entity and a second entity of a space graph, cause the space graph to include the temporary relationship, perform one or more control operations based on the space graph including the temporary edge, receive new building data from the one or more building data sources, determine whether to generate a permanent relationship to replace the temporary relationship based on the new building data, and update the space graph by causing the permanent relationship to replace the temporary relationship of the space graph in response to a determination to generate the permanent relationship to replace the temporary relationship by causing a permanent edge to replace the temporary edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Youngchoon Park, Sudhi Sinha
  • Patent number: 11018891
    Abstract: A building system including one or more memory devices configured to store instructions thereon, the instructions causing one or more processors to receive building data from one or more building data sources, identify, based on the building data, an indirect relationship between a first entity and a second entity of a space graph, the indirect relationship caused by a control algorithm of the space graph, update the space graph with the indirect relationship by causing the space graph to include an indirect relationship edge between a first node of nodes representing the first entity and a second node of the nodes representing the second entity, update the control algorithm of the space graph based on the indirect relationship edge, and operate one or more pieces of building equipment based on the updated control algorithm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Youngchoon Park, Sudhi Sinha
  • Patent number: 11015830
    Abstract: A controller configured to provision on a surface of an environment includes a projector configured to project light for a user interface through an opening in the surface, wherein the projector is located on a first side of the surface. The controller includes a waveguide located within the opening of the surface, wherein the waveguide is configured to transmit the light from the projector through the opening in the surface. The controller further includes a direction element located on a second side of the surface, wherein the direction element is configured to direct the light from the projector to a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventor: Joseph Mann
  • Patent number: 11016648
    Abstract: A method for visualizing and managing entities and connections between entities based on a graphical user interface (GUI) node editor includes constructing an entity datablock, wherein the entity datablock is a data structure describing an entity and comprises entity descriptive information, an entity category, an entity name, entity relationships, and an entity identifier. The method includes establishing the entity relationships as bi-directional relationships, wherein the bi-directional relationships link two disparate entities. The method further includes representing the entity datablock as a node and the bi-directional relationships as lines connecting two nodes, wherein the node comprises at least one of the entity descriptive information, the entity category, or the entity name.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Federico Fala, Nicolae Bogdan Pavel
  • Patent number: 11016998
    Abstract: One or more non-transitory computer readable media contain program instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to: receive first raw data including one or more first data points generated by a first object of a plurality of objects associated with one or more buildings; generate first input timeseries according to the one or more data points; access a database of interconnected smart entities, the smart entities including object entities representing each of the plurality of objects and data entities representing stored data, the smart entities being interconnected by relational objects indicating relationships between the smart entities; identify a first object entity representing the first object from a first identifier in the first input timeseries; identify a first data entity from a first relational object indicating a relationship between the first object entity and the first data entity; and store the first input timeseries in the first data entity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Youngchoon Park, Sudhi R. Sinha, Vaidhyanathan Venkiteswaran, Erik S. Paulson, Vijaya S. Chennupati
  • Patent number: 11018889
    Abstract: A building system including one or more memory devices configured to store instructions thereon, the instructions causing one or more processors to generate a space graph based on building data, generate a control algorithm based on the space graph and operate one or more pieces of building equipment based on the control algorithm, and receive new building data from one or more building data sources. The instructions cause the one or more processors to generate one or more new relationships between a first entity of entities and a second entity of the entities, update the space graph with the new relationship by causing the space graph to store a new edge between a first node of nodes representing the first entity and a second node of the nodes representing the second entity, and update the control algorithm based on the new edge of the updated space graph.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Youngchoon Park, Sudhi Sinha
  • Patent number: 11018720
    Abstract: A sensor in a building HVAC system includes a transducer configured to measure a variable in the building HVAC system and to generate a sensor reading indicating a value of the measured variable. The sensor includes a communications interface configured to provide the sensor reading to a control device in the building HVAC system and a near field communication (NFC) circuit separate from the communications interface. The NFC circuit is configured to facilitate bidirectional NFC data communications between the sensor and a mobile device. The sensor includes a processing circuit having a processor and memory. The processing circuit is configured to wirelessly transmit data stored in the memory of the sensor to the mobile device via the NFC circuit, wirelessly receive data from the mobile device via the NFC circuit, and store the data received from the mobile device in the memory of the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Daniel R. Rumler, Steven L. Whitsitt, Robert K. Alexander, Christopher Merkl, Gary A. Romanowich, Bernard Clement, Kevin A. Weiss
  • Publication number: 20210149429
    Abstract: A building manager includes a communications interface configured to receive information from a smart energy grid. The building manager further includes an integrated control layer configured to receive inputs from and to provide outputs to a plurality of building subsystems. The integrated control layer includes a plurality of control algorithm modules configured to process the inputs and to determine the outputs. The building manager further includes a fault detection and diagnostics layer configured to use statistical analysis on the inputs received from the integrated control layer to detect and diagnose faults. The building manager yet further includes a demand response layer configured to process the information received from the smart energy grid to determine adjustments to the plurality of control algorithms of the integrated control layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2021
    Publication date: May 20, 2021
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Clay G. Nesler, Kirk H. Drees, James P. Kummer, Derek Supple, Marc D. Andraca, John I. Ruiz, Paul Harrison Rode
  • Patent number: RE48574
    Abstract: Systems and methods for estimating a time to cool down or warm up a building zone from a temperature setback condition are provided. A described method includes determining, by a controller for the building zone, at least one of a cooling demand for the building zone and a heating demand for the building zone for a time period corresponding to the temperature setback condition. The method further includes estimating a return time using at least one of the cooling demand and the heating demand. The return time is the time to cool down or warm up the building zone from the temperature setback condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: John E. Seem, John M. House