WO2020093114A1 - Automatic method and system for saving energy in accordance with ambient conditions and other technical parameters for use in systems with glass-heating resistors for commercial display refrigerators or freezers - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention patent application relates to a system that adjusts automatically to save energy consumed by the resistors used to heat glass used in commercial display refrigerators or freezers, in which the user can program the saving percentage, with an optional display for showing the percentage saved, the relative humidity of the ambient air and the internal and external temperature, in particular in commercial display refrigerators or freezers with glass that has heating resistors that are used to prevent the glass from misting, using electronic engineering. The system includes a humidity sensor (2), an (internal or external) power source (3), a circuit control board with a duly programmed microcontroller (4) and a PWM dimmer driver (5) to be used to dim resistors (1) powered with AC voltage or DC voltage, and also a "fine tuning" button. The microcontroller (10) is optionally connected to temperature sensors (internal, external or glass surface) (7).

Description

 AUTOMATIC SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENERGY SAVING ACCORDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND OTHER TECHNICAL PARAMETERS TO BE USED IN SYSTEMS WITH RESISTANCE FOR GLASS HEATING OF REFRIGERATED OR FROZEN COMMERCIAL DISPLAYS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

 [001] This patent application addresses a system that adjusts automatically to save energy consumed by the resistances used to heat glass used in refrigerated or frozen commercial displays, with the possibility of user programming regarding the percentage of savings margin It may also contain an optional display for viewing the saved percentage, particularly in refrigerated or frozen commercial displays with glass that have heating elements, which are responsible for the non-fogging of the glasses, using electronic engineering.

 TECHNICAL STATUS

 [002] Currently, the so-called commercial refrigerated or naturally frozen exhibitors have fogging effects on the glass if they do not use devices that heat the glass surface, such as the resistances for this purpose, fogging caused particularly by the effect of the lower temperature employed in food preservation or the like, inside the exhibitors.

[003] Document CN20400691 -4, published on 06/30/2014, describes a glass defogging device for a freezing cabinet. The glass defogging device comprises the freezing compartment, a base and a glass, in which a cooling unit is arranged on the base; the glass defogging device for the freezing cabinet is characterized by a fan being arranged at the bottom of one end of the freezing cabinet; an air chimney is formed on the outer wall of the freezing cabinet; the fan absorbs the heat generated by the cooling unit at the base; the hot air expelled from an air outlet in the air stack is blown into the glass for defogging. The device defogging glass for the freezing cabinet has the advantage that a single layer of glass is used, the glass is directly blown using a hot air principle so that the glass does not have fog, in addition, energy is saved, the cost is reduced and the transparency of the glass is also improved.

 [004] Document US3832527, published on 12/18/1970, describes a defogging glass plate that includes an electrical heating element, made of conductive films or electrical resistance strips to electrically heat the glass plate, and a sensor which has a pair of electrodes arranged in parallel with adequate clearance and which are mounted on the surface of the glass plate, to automatically control the application of heat to the glass plate, depending on its cloudiness or visibility.

 [005] The document US20140302329A1, published on 09/10/2014, describes articles whose embodiments can be, for example, skylights, vehicle windows or windshields, IG units, VIG units, refrigerator / freezer doors and / or the like. More particularly, it comprises: a coating supported by a glass substrate, wherein the coating comprises the following layers of thin films departing from the glass substrate, with the following arrangement: a layer comprising silicon oxinitride; a transparent conductive layer comprising indium tin oxide; an inclusive contact layer of silicon; wherein the coating is arranged on an outer surface of the glass substrate, such that the coating is to be exposed to an external environment, and the coating has a hemispheric emissivity of less than 0.23 and a sheet resistance of less than 30 ohms /square.

[006] Therefore, many solutions have been sought in order to eliminate the fogging caused by low temperatures; however, the solutions are usually exotic and impractical, such as using a fan and chimney in document CN20400691 -4. In US3832527 electrical resistors are used, with the unique function of keeping the glass warm, which differs from the invention, which has as its main control element the relative humidity of the air, and, optionally, the temperature, through the controlled dimerization process. . In US20140302329A1, the films seated on the glass substrate have their own composition characteristics highlighted in the order, differing from the present invention that proposes an innovative means of temperature control based on different parameters. In this order, not anticipated in any of the documents of the state of the art, where resistances applied to the glass keep the glass warm and do not let it fog up, however these resistances have relatively high consumption (being able to turn around 250W for a single refrigerator door). The present invention aims to reduce the consumption of this system, according to the relative humidity of the air and optionally, also with the temperature, employing an innovative system, via electronic engineering solution, where, it still collaborates in a substantial way with the electricity saving , fundamental nowadays.

 OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

 [007] It is, therefore, objective of the invention to propose a system that adjusts automatically, aiming to save the energy consumed by the electric resistances, applied in the glass of commercial refrigerated or frozen displays.

 [008] Another objective of the invention is to allow the user to program the percentage of savings margin.

 [009] Another possibility, which can be considered as an objective of the invention, consists of placing a display to visualize the saved percentage.

 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[010] The system, according to the present invention, has as a differential, in relation to the state of the art, to enable energy consumption savings automatically, and may include a display or other visual devices to notify the user of the percentage saved, relative humidity of the air and also the temperature, particularly this system aimed at use in refrigerated or frozen displays that use resistances to heat the glass, in order to avoid the condensation of humidity of the ambient air on the external surface of the display glass, with “fine adjustment” that can be configured by the user himself, in order to maintain the maximum efficiency of the system, taking into account several factors that could possibly interfere with the efficiency of the system, such as, for example, the internal temperature that a certain exhibitor needs to maintain, the thickness and dimension glass, the strength of the resistance, the ambient temperature, the circulation air / ventilation, among others. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

 [01 1] The invention will be described below in its preferred realization, and for better understanding, references will be made to the attached drawings, in which they are represented:

 FIGURE 1: Shows the flowchart of realization of the present invention, with its essential components;

 FIGURE 2: Shows the flowchart of realization of the present invention, generating greater detail of the circuit with microcontroller;

 FIGURE 3: Shows the flowchart of realization of the present invention, generating greater detail of the programmed microcontroller;

 FIGURE 4: Shows the software routine according to the invention.

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

 [012] THE AUTOMATIC SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENERGY SAVING ACCORDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND OTHER TECHNICAL PARAMETERS TO BE USED IN RESISTANT SYSTEMS FOR HEATING GLASSES FROM COMMERCIAL DISPLAYS REFRIGERATED OR ANY REQUIRED SYSTEM OF AN INVENTED, UNDERSTOOD, OR ANY REQUIRED SYSTEM, AN OBJECT OF THIS REFRIGERATED OR OBJECT OF THIS SYSTEM. which self-adjusts (automatically), according to the ambient conditions, particularly to save energy consumed by the heating elements (1) that heat the windows of frozen or refrigerated commercial displays, resistances (1) which have the purpose of not letting them fog up the glass of such displays, as it keeps the glass heated at appropriate temperatures to avoid reaching the “dew point” (condensation of moisture present in the air) on the outer surface of the glass, since, without such resistance (1), the glass would be at colder temperatures than the environment, causing condensation and, consequently, blurring "the glass and disturbing the display of products for sale within the exhibitors.

[013] The system consists of a humidity sensor (2), a power supply (3) (internal or external), a circuit with microcontroller (4) properly programmed and a PWM driver (5) to be dimmed. used to dim resistors (1) supplied with AC voltage or DC voltages, in addition to a “fine adjustment” button (6). Temperature sensors (7) (internal, external or glass surface) are optionally connected to the microcontroller (10). [014] The microcontroller circuit control board (4) contains a voltage regulator and filter (9), a programmed microcontroller (10) and an optical coupler (1 1), this coupled to the dimming PWM driver (5) .

 [015] The programmed microcontroller (10) includes one or more pins programmed to receive data, which are read by the data reading block (12), receiving information from the humidity sensor (2) and / or temperature sensors ( 7), said data reading block (12) sends information to the data processing and calculations block (13) for output percentage conversion (PWM), according to the data received from the mentioned sensors. The data processing and calculation block (13) also receives input from the calculation variable change block for PWM conversion (14), which is triggered by an interruption generated by the “fine-tuning” button (6) , changing the calculation variables. From the data processing and calculation block (13), the output to the data output block (15) (PWM output status information and data obtained by the sensors) is provided, which goes to the digital display (8). The PWM signal follows from the data processing and calculation block (13) to the optical coupler (11).

 [016] The temperature sensor (7) sends the information to the circuit with microcontroller (4) that is present on the control board, which, in turn, reads this information and sends the most appropriate dimming percentage to the output PWM, in order to properly dim the resistance load (1), saving energy.

 [017] Parameters such as: design, glass dimension, thickness and others, can determine the need, or recommendation, of more than one temperature sensor (7) per exhibitor.

 [018] According to the system of the invention, the power supply (3) (internal or external) supplies all integrated devices. The relative humidity sensor (2) of the air sends the humidity information present in the ambient air, where the exhibitor is, to the microcontroller (10) that is on the control board.

[019] The programmed microcontroller (10), according to its programming, sends a PWM output signal (pulse width modulation) to the dimming PWM driver (5), thus dimming the load on the resistor (1), or that is, reducing percentage of the resistance consumption (1), according to the humidity sensor reading (2).

 [020] The higher the humidity of the air in the environment, the lower the energy savings, as the more easily condensation will occur. The lower the relative humidity of the air, the greater the energy savings, because the less moisture in the air, the lower the level of condensation, consequently not requiring as much consumption to avoid fogging the glass, so that the system performs the percentage dimerization. of the outlet, not allowing the consumption of the resistance (1), to avoid fogging when the relative humidity of the air is above 90%, for example, be the same for when the relative humidity of the air is below 40%, ranges these are technically considered extreme.

 [021] As previously mentioned, two temperature sensors (7) can optionally be connected to the microcontroller (10), in addition to having a digital display (8) or other luminous / visual indication device, to inform the user of the percentage saved, as well as the relative humidity of the air and the temperature (s).

 [022] In this way, the system also allows the use of two temperature sensors (7) in addition to the humidity sensor (2), where one temperature sensor (7) is installed inside the exhibitor and the other is installed outside the said one. exhibitor. In this constructive variation, the temperature sensors (7) also communicate with the microcontroller (10), sending the internal and external temperature data. These data will be compared and processed by the programmed microcontroller (10), together with data from the relative humidity sensor (2) of the air, to send the appropriate percentage of dimerization to the PWM output, taking into account, in addition to the relative humidity of air, the fact that the closer the external and internal temperatures of the exhibitor are, the less the need to heat the glass (less the necessary consumption of the resistance (1)) to avoid fogging, which may present in real time on the display digital (8), or another option, the internal temperature, external temperature, relative humidity and percentage saved at that time.

[023] In a constructive variant, the system allows to use, instead of two temperature sensors (7), only one temperature sensor (7) attached to the glass on the outside of the exhibitor, in order to measure the temperature on the external surface of the glass. This temperature sensor (7) has one side with thermal insulation to prevent the measurement of the external temperature (of the environment) and the other side without thermal insulation, which side is leaning against the glass, so that only the temperature of the glass surface is measure.

 [024] The temperature sensor (7) sends information to the programmed microcontroller (10) that is present on the control board, which, in turn, reads this information and sends the most appropriate dimming percentage to the PWM output, in order to properly dim the load on the resistor (1), saving energy.

 [025] The system also allows the user to make an adjustment of the percentage of saving margin, that is, a “fine adjustment” (6), with the maximum possible energy savings according to the parameters of the exhibitor itself (internal temperature of the exhibitor, glass thickness, glass size, power of the resistance installed in it, etc.) and the place where the exhibitor will be installed (ventilation / air circulation, temperature, etc.). In this way, the system makes it possible for this adjustment to be made by the user himself, using a pulsating or even rotary type button.

 [026] Figure 4 shows the software according to the invention, where the main program (16) and interruption routine (17) can be verified, which communicate in two ways. The main program (16) includes a module (18) for reading data from the sensor (s), assigning that data (s) to its respective variable (s) , sending command to the module (19) that reads the variable “adjustment” in the EPROM memory, passing to the module (20) that performs the calculations according to formulas already programmed, based on all variables, with the module (20) succeeding the module (21) that sends the result in PWM percentage to the PWM output, whereas the module (22) sends the information to the digital display (8) or other visual signaling devices (leds, for example); module (22) returns to module (18).

[027] The interruption routine (17) has a module (23) of “interruption in the detected adjustment button” (interruption signal detected), which connects to the module (24) that changes the variable “adjustment” for the PWM conversion calculation, followed by the module (25) that writes the “adjustment” variable to the EEPROM memory, while the module (26) returns to the main program (16). [028] It is also worth mentioning that the consumption of such resistances (1) is considerably high, and can, for example, reach close to 1,000 W in a refrigerated / frozen display with only four doors. The proposed system aims to save automatically, which can normally vary between 15% and 85% of energy savings.

 [029] Thus, the invention refers to a very simple, low-cost system that eliminates the need to use computers or other more complex and high-cost systems. Also, due to its low cost, it makes it possible to apply it in exhibitors from the simplest to the most robust and expensive, always saving energy.

Claims

1) AUTOMATIC SYSTEM FOR ENERGY SAVING ACCORDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND OTHER TECHNICAL PARAMETERS TO BE USED IN SYSTEMS WITH RESISTANCE TO GLASS HEATING OF COMMERCIAL DISPLAYS COOLED OR FROZEN, particularly to save energy consumed by the resistances (1) frozen or refrigerated commercial displays, characterized by the fact that the system consists of a humidity sensor (2), a power supply (3) - internal or external -, a circuit control board with microcontroller (4) properly programmed and a dimming PWM driver (5), to be used to dim resistors (1) supplied with AC voltage or DC voltages, in addition to a “fine adjustment” button (6).  2) AUTOMATIC SYSTEM FOR ENERGY SAVING ACCORDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND OTHER TECHNICAL PARAMETERS TO BE USED IN SYSTEMS WITH RESISTANCE TO GLASS HEATING OF COMMERCIAL EXHIBITORS REFRIGERATED OR FROZEN, in accordance with claim 1, characterized by the circuit board according to claim 1, The microcontroller (4) contains a voltage regulator and filter (9), a programmed microcontroller (10) and an optical coupler (11), this coupled to the dimming PWM driver (5). 3) AUTOMATIC SYSTEM FOR ENERGY SAVING ACCORDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND OTHER TECHNICAL PARAMETERS TO BE USED IN SYSTEMS WITH RESISTANCE TO GLASS HEATING OF COMMERCIAL EXHIBITORS REFRIGERATED OR FROZEN, in accordance with claim 2, which is characterized by the microcontroller (characterized by the microcontroller). 10) contemplate a data reading block (12) that receives information from the humidity sensor (2) and / or temperature sensors (7), said data reading block (12) sends information to the data processing block and calculations (13) for percentage conversion of output (PWM), according to data from the sensors; the data processing and calculation block (13) also receives input from the block (14) for changing calculation variables for PWM conversion, which, in turn, receives the button input for “fine tuning” (6); the data processing and calculation block (13) communicates with the data output block (15), which goes to the digital display (8).  4) AUTOMATIC SYSTEM FOR ENERGY SAVING ACCORDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND OTHER TECHNICAL PARAMETERS TO BE USED IN SYSTEMS WITH RESISTANCE TO GLASS HEATING OF COMMERCIAL EXHIBITORS REFRIGERATED OR FROZEN, in accordance with claim 3, characterized by, temperature, (7) - internal, external or glass surface - and a digital display (8) are connected to the programmed microcontroller (10).  5) AUTOMATIC SYSTEM FOR ENERGY SAVING ACCORDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND OTHER TECHNICAL PARAMETERS TO BE USED IN SYSTEMS WITH RESISTANCE TO GLASS HEATING OF COMMERCIAL DISPLAYS REFRIGERATED OR FROZEN, in accordance with claim 3, characterized by the fact of humidity 3 (2) air relative send the information of the humidity present in the air of the environment where the display is to the microcontroller (10) that is on the control board; the programmed microcontroller (10), according to its programming, sends a PWM output signal to the dimming PWM driver (5), thus dimming the load on the resistor (1), that is, reducing the resistance consumption by 1 (1) ), according to the humidity sensor reading (2).  6) AUTOMATIC SYSTEM FOR ENERGY SAVING ACCORDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND OTHER TECHNICAL PARAMETERS TO BE USED IN SYSTEMS WITH RESISTANCE TO GLASS HEATING OF COMMERCIAL EXHIBITORS REFRIGERATED OR FROZEN, in accordance with claim 3, characterized by only one option, characterized by, temperature (7) be fixed to the glass on the outside of the display; this temperature sensor (7) has one side with thermal insulation to prevent the measurement of the external temperature - of the environment - and the other side without thermal insulation, which side is leaning against the glass, so that only the temperature of the glass surface is measure. 7) METHOD, developed according to the system of claims 1 to 6, characterized by the fact that it includes a main program (16) and the interruption routine (17), which communicate in two ways, where the main program (16) includes a module (18) for reading data from the sensor (s) and assigning the data (s) to its respective variable (s), which send command to the module (19) that reads the “adjustment” variable in the EPROM memory, passing to the module (20) which performs the calculations according to formulas already programmed, based on all variables, with the module (20) followed by the module (21) which sends the result in PWM percentage to the PWM output, whereas the module (22) sends information for the digital display (8) or other visual signaling devices; module (22) returns to module (18).  8) METHOD, according to claim 7, characterized by the fact that the interruption routine (17) has an interruption module (23) in the detected adjustment button, which connects to the module (24) that changes the variable “ adjustment "for the PWM conversion calculation, followed by the module (25) that writes the variable" adjustment "in the EPROM memory, while the module (26) returns to the main program (16).