Lennox Industries Inc.

Wenqian Liu

Eric Berg

Umesh Gokhale

Rakesh Goel

Jeff Mangum

Srini Natarajan

Marcus Troxell

William Toombs, Jr

Zer Kai Yap

William Clay Toombs

A method of minimizing components of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system from malfunctioning, the method includes measuring, by an accelerometer associated with at least one component of the HVAC system, vibration of the at least one component and receiving, by a controller, actual vibration data reflective of the measured vibration. The method further includes determining, using the controller, whether the actual vibration data is greater than pre-defined acceptable baseline vibration data by more than a pre-defined acceptable amount and responsive to a positive determination in the determining step, adding, by the controller, as a deadband frequency, an operational frequency of the at least one component corresponding to the actual vibration data.

Method and apparatus for preventing component malfunction using accelerometers

A method of mitigating liquid-refrigerant migration includes comparing a requested compressor speed of a variable-speed compressor to a pre-defined threshold and, responsive to a determination that the requested compressor speed is greater than the pre-defined threshold, operating the variable-speed compressor at a first compressor speed that is less than the requested compressor speed.

Method and system for the heat-pump control to reduce liquid refrigerant migration

A metering device is fluidly coupled to the condenser coil. A distributor is fluidly coupled to the metering device. An evaporator coil is fluidly coupled to the distributor via a plurality of evaporator circuit lines. A re-heat coil is disposed adjacent to the evaporator coil. The re-heat coil includes a first fluid connection to the metering device via a re-heat return line and a second re-heat feed line. The re-heat coil includes a second fluid connection to the condenser coil via a connecting line and a condenser intake line. A first check valve is disposed between the connecting line and the condenser intake line. A second check valve is disposed between the re-heat return line and the second re-heat feed line.

Method and apparatus for re-heat circuit operation

A method for cooling air in an HVAC system includes moving refrigerant through a closed refrigeration circuit having, inter alia, an expansion device subsystem, which includes a full-load pathway and at least one partial-load pathway and a flow selector for directing refrigerant flow from the condenser to either the partial-load pathway or the full-load pathway. The method also involves directing refrigerant flow from the condenser to the full-load pathway when the refrigerant pressure is greater than or equal to a first preselected activation pressure and stepping down a refrigerant pressure with a set orifice and directing refrigerant flow from the condenser to the partial-load pathway when the refrigerant pressure is less than a second preselected activation pressure and stepping down a refrigerant pressure with a variable expansion device configured for partial loads. Refrigerant is delivered from the full-load pathway or partial-load pathway to the evaporator.

HVAC systems and methods with multiple-path expansion device subsystems

According to certain embodiments, a system comprises a controller and an HVAC system with components comprising an evaporator unit comprising an evaporator coil, an indoor fan, and a discharge air duct and a condenser unit comprising a compressor, a condenser coil, and an outdoor fan. The system is configured to determine that a first or a second level of evaporator coil freeze risk is present and to communicate an instruction to the HVAC system with a first or a second action to counteract the freeze risk. For example, in certain embodiments, the actions comprise changing the indoor fan speed, changing the compressor speed, and changing the outdoor fan speed.

Evaporator coil protection for HVAC systems

A heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) system includes a multi-path expansion device subsystem positioned between a condenser and an evaporator. The multi-path expansion device subsystem includes a flow selector operative to receive a refrigerant from the condenser and selectively deliver the same to a full-load pathway or to a partial-load pathway. The full-load pathway has a modulating valve and a fixed orifice sized for a full-load situation, and the partial-load pathway has a thermal expansion valve (TXV) sized for partial load operation. A controller uses an actuator of the flow selector to choose which pathway is authorized according to certain process logic.

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Plano, TX, United States of America

Wenqian Liu