HVAC Systems Fault Detection Landscape Analysis

Transcription

1 HVAC Systems Fault Detection Landscape Analysis March, 2014

2 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 2 Contents Introduction... 3 Methodology... 4 Patent search... 4 Assignment search... 6 Patent Landscape Analysis... 7 Patent filing trends... 7 Top patent holders... 7 Top Assignee vs. Filing Year... 8 Geographical distribution of patents... 8 Top CPC codes... 9 Top Assignee vs. CPC Top forward citing assignee Topic Map Concepts Topic Map IPC codes Assignment landscape analysis Patent transaction trends Top transacted assignors (Sellers) Top transacted assignees (Acquirers) Transaction Assignor vs. Assignee Top transaction assignee by executed year Top transaction assignor by executed year Summary Disclaimer... 18

3 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 3 Introduction HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning) controls the temperature, humidity, and quality of the air in buildings to a set of chosen conditions. To achieve this, the system needs to transfer heat and moisture into and out of the air, as well as control the level of air pollutants. Heating systems increase the temperature in a space to compensate for heat losses between the internal space and the outside. Ventilation systems supply fresh air to the space and extract polluted air from it. Cooling is needed to bring down the temperature in the spaces where heat gains have arisen from people, equipment, or the sun, and are causing discomfort. HVAC systems vary widely in terms of size and the function that they perform. A significant amount of energy is wasted by malfunctioning or ill-maintained building systems. Faults relating to HVAC systems represent between 1% and 2.5% of total commercial building consumption. Owners/operators are often unaware when units are malfunctioning and wasting energy. Around 35% of commercial rooftop HVAC unit dampers fail within several years of installation, and 50% to 67% of air conditioners (residential and commercial) are either improperly charged or have airflow issues. Even though scheduled maintenance is performed to maintain a system at its peak performance level, the typical maintenance expert cannot carry out in-depth tests required to deliver optimum performance. In addition, these tests are often prohibitively expensive. So, different fault detection and diagnosis techniques (FDD) have been developed over time to address this issue. This report aims to map out the patent landscape associated with HVAC system fault detection. This includes finding the major patent holders, geographical distribution of patents, top sub-technologies based on classification codes, sub-technology visualization using topic maps; as well as determining the patent transactions to obtain the key buyers and sellers in this technology area. Relecura has been used to generate the data utilized in the various analyses and visualizations presented in this report.

4 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 4 Methodology Patent search 1. The generation of the HVAC system fault detection patent landscape is initiated using the URL based raw text search of Relecura. The links given below are used for this purpose We then use Seed Data to look for the top representative classification codes, keywords and concepts. 3. We similarly use Explore to look for additional keywords, concepts and classification codes. 4. After identifying the relevant class codes from the above search, we use the Class code Finder and Landscape options of Relecura to retrieve any classification codes we may have missed. 5. We add the keywords and classification codes relevant to HVAC from the Steps 2 through 4, to refine the results from Step Given below are the classification codes used to refine the search results from step 1 and this gives us 159,751 equivalents (215,382 documents) IPC s: F24F 1/00, F24F 3/00, F24F 5/00, B63J 2/00, F24F 11/00, F24F 13/00, B63G 8/36, B60H 1/00, G05D 23/00, A47C 7/74, A47B 31/02, F25D 23/00, B61D 27/00, F25D 19/00, F25D 1/00, F25B 1/00 CPC codes: B60N 2/56, A47C 7/74, B63G 8/36, B63J 2/00, B63J 2002/00, B60H1/00, G05D23/00, F24F 1/00, Y02B 30/00, F24F 2221/40, F24F 2221/48, F24F 2221/50, F24F 2203/00, F24F 2013/00, F24F 2012/00, F24F 13/00, F24F 5/00, F24F 11/00, F24F 3/00 7. We separately conduct a keyword search in the title, abstract, and claims along with relevant IPC and CPC codes using the Advanced Search interface of Relecura with the search string given below.

5 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 5 (HVAC OR "HVAC&R" OR HVACR OR HACR OR ((heating AND ventilation) AND ("air conditioning" OR AC OR cooling OR refrigeration)) OR (heating AND ("air conditioning" OR cooling OR refrigeration))) IPC s: F24F 1/00, F24F 3/00, F24F 5/00, F24F, B63J 2/00, F24F 11/00, F24F 13/00, B63G 8/36, B60H 1/00, G05D 23/00, A47C 7/74, A47B 31/02, F25D 23/00, B61D 27/00, F25D 19/00, F25D 1/00, F25B 1/00 CPC codes: B60N 2/56, A47C 7/74, B63G 8/36, B63J 2/00, B63J 2002/00, B60H1/00, G05D23/00, F24F 1/00, Y02B 30/00, F24F 2221/40, F24F 2221/48, F24F 2221/50, F24F 2203/00, F24F 2013/00, F24F 2012/00, F24F 13/00, F24F 5/00, F24F 11/00, F24F 3/00 This step gives us 47,872 equivalents (76,029 documents) 8. We separately conduct another keyword search in the full text along with relevant IPC and CPC codes using the Advanced Search interface of Relecura with the search string given below. ((Hvac "HVAC R" HVACR HACR)("heating ventilation [air conditioning] ac cooling refrigeration"~7)) IPC s: F24F 1/00, F24F 3/00, F24F 5/00, F24F 11/00, F24F 13/00, F24F 3/044, B63J 2/00, F24F 7/00, B63G 8/36, F25D 17/00, F25D 1/00, F25B 1/00, F25D 19/00, B60H 1/00, G05D 23/00, F25D 23/00, B61D 27/00, B64B 1/62, F25D 23/00, F25D1/00, A47B31/02, A47C 7/74 CPC codes: B60N 2/56, B60H1/00, A47C 7/74, G05D23/00, B63G 8/36, B63J 2/00, B63J 2002/00, F24F 1/00, F24F 3/00, F24F3/044, F24F11/08, F24F 2203/00, F24F 2013/00, F24F 2012/00, F24F 2005/00, F24F1/00, F24F3/00, F24F 2003/00, F24F3/044, F24F11/08, F24F 2001/00, F24F5/00, F24F 13/00, F24F 3/06, F24F11/06, F24F 5/00, F24F 11/00 This step gives us 5,872 equivalents (11,477 documents) 9. We also conduct search for Relecura Concepts using the Advanced Search interface, with concepts of HVAC and HVAC control systems. This gives us 49,371 equivalents (73,069 documents). 10. All the results from step 6 through to step 9 are saved individually and are combined to get the super set of HVAC related patents and this gives us 212,857 equivalents (302,755 documents). 11. After saving the super set of HVAC, we conduct a keyword search for fault detection in the full text of the set obtained from Step 10 using the Advanced Search interface of Relecura with the search

6 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 6 strategy mentioned below and intersected with the HVAC results superset to get the result set relevant to fault detection in HVAC, which consists of 4,707 applications (6,288 documents). "(fault failure defect malfunction error)(detection correction diagnosis control sensor management identification troubleshooting [trouble shooting] tolerant)"~3 Assignment search The USPTO s assignment database is searched to understand the transactions that have been recorded for patents addressing HVAC system fault detection. 1. The final set generated from the patent search is migrated to the assignment search section of Relecura to retrieve transactions in the technology area of HVAC system fault detection. We thus obtain 2,277 transaction records. 2. The raw data from the above step is scrubbed within Relecura to get a relatively clean set of assignment transfers arising out of genuine patent transactions. For the clean-up of raw data pertaining to recorded assignment transfers, please note the following points: a) The assignment transfers arising from a "change of name" have been removed. b) The assignment transfers from companies to banks, as collateral or security for financing, have not been considered. c) Inter-subsidiary transactions and transactions between parent companies and their subsidiaries have not been considered. d) Inventor assignments (to the parent company) have not been considered for this analysis. 3. After cleaning the transaction records using the above procedure, we are left with 557 assignment transfers that denote actual transactions. The results from the patent search and assignment search are used in the following analyses. Important notes: a) The analysis of this report is based on the patent assets of various geographies, assignment transfer data provided by the USPTO, and related corporate information available in the public domain. All patent counts mentioned should only be considered indicative. b) The graphs are based on a preliminary analysis as outlined above. The patent set may need to be refined, and the search strategy tweaked, to make the analysis more comprehensive.

7 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 7 Patent Landscape Analysis Patent filing trends Figure 1. Filing trends for patents in HVAC system fault detection. The decline post 2011 is most likely due to the fact that filings in this period are yet to be published. Top patent holders Figure 2. Top asset holders in HVAC system fault detection patents. Note: The normalization of assignee names in Relecura is ongoing. There may hence be some duplication of the assignee names in the various graphs.

8 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 8 Top Assignee vs. Filing Year Figure 3. Filing trends for patents in HVAC system fault detection by Top Patent Asset Holder. The above graph indicates that the filings in this technology area have consistently increased during last decade. LG tops the list of patent holders although its earliest filing is relatively recent (1996). Filings of some of the assignees like General Motors have tapered off in recent years, while others have been consistently active in the area. Geographical distribution of patents The chart given below provides the distribution of patents and applications by geography. The graph indicates that U.S. and China are the top patent filing countries in HVAC system fault detection.

9 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 9 Figure 4. Geographical split of patent applications in HVAC system Fault detection. Figure 5. Geographical split of patent applications by top assignees in HVAC system fault detection. Top CPC codes Figure 6. Top CPC codes of HVAC system fault detection patents.

10 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 10 Table 1. of CPC codes mentioned in Figure 6. CPC Class F24F 11/0086 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, airhumidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus > control systems or circuits characterized by other control features, e.g. Display or monitoring devices CPC Class F24F 11/0009 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, airhumidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus F25B 49/005 liquefaction solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat-pump systems > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices > of safety devices G05D 23/1917 Controlling; regulating > systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables > control of temperature > characterized by the use of electric means; g05d23/1393 takes precedence > using digital means F24F 11/0012 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, airhumidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus > control systems or circuits characterized by their inputs, e.g. Using sensors > air temperature Y02B 30/741 Energy efficient heating, ventilation or air conditioning [hvac] > efficient control or regulation technologies > technologies based on motor control > speed regulation of the compressor F24F 11/006 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, airhumidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus > control systems or circuits characterized by type of control, internal processing or calculations, e.g. Using fuzzy logic adaptative control or estimating values F25B 13/00 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heatpump systems > compression machines, plant, or systems with reversible cycle F25B 49/02 liquefaction solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat-pump systems > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices > for compression type machines, plant or systems F24F 2011/0067 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, airhumidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus > control systems or circuits characterized by type of control, internal processing or calculations, e.g. Using fuzzy logic adaptative control or estimating values > using one central controller connected to several subcontrollers

11 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 11 Top Assignee vs. CPC Figure 7. Top Patent Holders in the relevant CPC codes for HVAC system fault detection. Table 2. of CPC codes mentioned in Figure 7. CPC Class F24F 11/0086 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, air-humidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus > control systems or circuits characterized by other control features, e.g. Display or monitoring devices CPC Class F24F 2011/0067 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, airhumidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus > control systems or circuits characterized by type of control, internal processing or calculations, e.g. Using fuzzy logic adaptative control or estimating values > using one central controller connected to several sub-controllers F25B 49/005 liquefaction solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat-pump systems > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices > of safety devices F25B 2700/21152 liquefaction solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat-pump systems > sensing or detecting of parameters; sensors therefor > temperatures > of a compressor or the drive means therefor > at the discharge side of the compressor F25B 13/00 liquefaction solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat-pump systems > compression machines, plant, or systems with reversible cycle F25B 2700/1933 liquefaction solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat-pump systems > sensing or detecting of parameters; sensors therefor > pressures > of the compressor > suction pressures F25B 49/02 liquefaction solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat-pump systems > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices > for compression type machines, plant or systems F25B 49/022 liquefaction solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat-pump systems > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices > for compression type machines, plant or systems > compressor control arrangements F24F 11/0009 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, air-humidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety F24F 11/0012 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, airhumidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus > control systems or circuits

12 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 12 CPC Class systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus CPC Class characterized by their inputs, e.g. Using sensors > air temperature Y02B 30/741 Energy efficient heating, ventilation or air conditioning [hvac] > efficient control or regulation technologies > technologies based on motor control > speed regulation of the compressor F24F 2011/0091 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, airhumidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus > control systems or circuits characterized by other control features, e.g. Display or monitoring devices > display or monitoring devices F24F 11/006 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning, air-humidification, ventilation, use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or apparatus > control systems or circuits characterized by type of control, internal processing or calculations, e.g. Using fuzzy logic adaptative control or estimating values G05D 23/1917 Controlling; regulating > systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables > control of temperature > characterized by the use of electric means; g05d23/1393 takes precedence > using digital means F25B 2600/021 liquefaction solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat-pump systems > control issues > compressor control > inverters therefor Top forward citing assignee Figure 8. Top asset holders citing HVAC system fault detection related patents.

13 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 13 Topic Map Concepts Topic Map IPC codes Figure 9. Topic Map based on concepts. Figure 10. Topic Map based on IPC s.

14 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 14 Table 3. of IPC codes mentioned in Figure 10. IPC Class IPC Class F24F 11/00 F24F 11/02 G05D 23/19 F25B 49/02 B60H 1/00 F25B 1/00 G05D 23/00 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning; air-humidification; ventilation; use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning; air-humidification; ventilation; use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices Controlling; regulating > systems for controlling or regulating nonelectric variables > control of temperature > characterized by the use of electric means heat pump systems > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices > for compression type machines, plant or systems Vehicles in general > arrangements or adaptations of heating, cooling, ventilating, or other air-treating devices specially for passenger or goods spaces of vehicles > heating, cooling or ventilating devices heat pump systems > compression machines, plant or systems with non-reversible cycle Controlling; regulating > systems for controlling or regulating nonelectric variables > control of temperature F25B 29/00 G05D 23/20 F24D 19/10 G05B 23/02 F25B 41/06 H05K 7/20 F24F 7/00 heat pump systems > combined heating and refrigeration systems, e.g. Operating alternately or simultaneously Controlling; regulating > systems for controlling or regulating nonelectric variables > control of temperature > characterized by the use of electric means > with sensing elements having variation of electric or magnetic properties with change of temperature Heating; ranges; ventilating > domestic- or space-heating systems, e.g. Central heating systems; domestic hot-water supply systems; elements or components therefor > details > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices Controlling; regulating > control or regulating systems in general; functional elements of such systems; monitoring or testing arrangements for such systems or elements > testing or monitoring of control systems or parts thereof > electric testing or monitoring heat pump systems > fluid-circulation arrangements, e.g. For transferring liquid from evaporator to boiler > flow restrictors, e.g. Capillary tubes; disposition thereof Printed circuits; casings or constructional details of electric apparatus; manufacture of assemblages of electrical components > constructional details common to different types of electric apparatus > modifications to facilitate cooling, ventilating, or heating Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning; air-humidification; ventilation; use of air currents for screening > ventilation F25B 49/00 B60H 1/32 F24F 1/00 F25B 41/04 heat pump systems > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices Vehicles in general > arrangements or adaptations of heating, cooling, ventilating, or other air-treating devices specially for passenger or goods spaces of vehicles > heating, cooling or ventilating devices > cooling devices Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning; air-humidification; ventilation; use of air currents for screening > room units, e.g. Separate or self-contained units or units receiving primary air from a central station F25D 23/12 liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigerators; cold rooms; ice-boxes; cooling or freezing apparatus not covered by any other subclass > general constructional features > arrangements of compartments additional to cooling compartments; combinations of refrigerators with other equipment, e.g. Stove F25D 11/00 liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigerators; cold rooms; ice-boxes; cooling or freezing apparatus not covered by any other subclass > self-contained movable devices associated with refrigerating machinery, e.g. Domestic refrigerators H05B 1/02 Electric heating; electric lighting not otherwise provided for > details of electric heating devices > automatic switching arrangements specially adapted to heating apparatus F25B 41/00

15 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 15 IPC Class IPC Class heat pump systems > fluid-circulation arrangements, e.g. For transferring liquid from evaporator to boiler > disposition of valves heat pump systems > fluid-circulation arrangements, e.g. For transferring liquid from evaporator to boiler F25D 29/00 G05D 23/24 F25B 13/00 F24F 5/00 liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigerators; cold rooms; ice-boxes; cooling or freezing apparatus not covered by any other subclass > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices Controlling; regulating > systems for controlling or regulating nonelectric variables > control of temperature > characterised by the use of electric means > with sensing elements having variation of electric or magnetic properties with change of temperature > the sensing element having a resistance varying with temperature, e.g. Thermistor heat pump systems > compression machines, plant, or systems, with reversible cycle Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning; air-humidification; ventilation; use of air currents for screening > air-conditioning systems or apparatus not covered by group F25D 17/06 G05B 15/00 F25B 27/00 F25B 5/02 liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigerators; cold rooms; ice-boxes; cooling or freezing apparatus not covered by any other subclass > arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. Air, within refrigerated spaces > for circulating gas, e.g. By natural convection > by forced circulation Controlling; regulating > control or regulating systems in general; functional elements of such systems; monitoring or testing arrangements for such systems or elements > systems controlled by a computer heat pump systems > machines, plant, or systems, using particular sources of energy heat pump systems > compression machines, plant, or systems, with several evaporator circuits, e.g. For varying refrigerating capacity > arranged in parallel Assignment landscape analysis USPTO s assignment dataset was searched for various transactions carried out on patents addressing HVAC system fault detection and the results of the search are used to create a transaction landscape. Patent transaction trends Figure 11. Overall transaction trend for patents in HVAC system fault detection.

16 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 16 Top transacted assignors (Sellers) Figure 12. Top transaction assignors (Sellers) in HVAC system fault detection. Top transacted assignees (Acquirers) Figure 13. Top transaction assignees (acquirers) in HVAC system fault detection. Transaction Assignor vs. Assignee

17 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 17 Figure 14. Assignment transfer matrix Assignor vs. Assignee for HVAC system fault detection patents. Top transaction assignee by executed year Figure 15. Buyers for patents in HVAC system fault detection with trends. Top transaction assignor by executed year Figure 16. Sellers for patents in HVAC system fault detection with trends.

18 HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 18 Summary Patent filings in HVAC fault detection technology witnessed a gradual growth till 2000 after which the published patents began growing sharply. The filings have consistently increased in the last decade, with LG topping the list of patent asset holders. Geographically, the US and China are the top filing countries, with the US ahead by a large margin. EP filings follow close behind China. In addition, there are a significant number of PCT filings, indicating the global nature of this market. Among the top patents asset holders citing these patents, Honeywell, Carrier, and Emerson dominate. Understandably, the concepts that appear most frequently in these patents are Air Conditioning, HVAC, Refrigeration, and Heat exchanger. There have also been plenty of patent transactions between several players in the industry. American Standard, Chrysler, and GE appear as the top sellers of patents, whereas US Energy and Chemical bank appear as the top patent acquirers. To understand how we can help take your business forward, visit Relecura.com About Relecura Relecura is the flagship product of INDUS TechInnovations. It is a web-based patent and portfolio analysis platform that uses a knowledge discovery framework to simplify IP analysis for prior art searches and IP commercialization activities. For more details visit or write to us at info@relecura.com. Disclaimer This document is provided for information purposes only and the contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This document, including the information and analysis and any opinion or recommendation, is neither legal advice nor intended for investment purposes. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. INDUS TechInnovations specifically disclaims any liability with respect to this document and no contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document.