hvac systems fault detection landscape analysis · hva systems - fault detection landscape analysis...
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Copyright © 2013, INDUS TechInnovations, All rights reserved.
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 Code .................................................................................................................. 11
Top forward citing assignee................................................................................................................. 12
Topic Map – Concepts ......................................................................................................................... 13
Topic Map – IPC codes......................................................................................................................... 13
Assignment landscape analysis ............................................................................................................... 15
Patent transaction trends .................................................................................................................... 15
Top transacted assignors (Sellers) ....................................................................................................... 16
Top transacted assignees (Acquirers) .................................................................................................. 16
Transaction Assignor vs. Assignee ....................................................................................................... 16
Top transaction assignee by executed year ........................................................................................ 17
Top transaction assignor by executed year ......................................................................................... 17
Summary ..................................................................................................................................................... 18
Disclaimer.................................................................................................................................................... 18
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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.
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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.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HVAC
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schooldesign/hvac.html
http://www.edcmag.com/articles/hvac-systems-how-they-work
2. 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 1.
6. 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 Codes: 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.
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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 Codes: 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 Codes: 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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 10
Table 1. Description of CPC codes mentioned in Figure 6.
CPC Class Code
Description CPC Class Code
Description
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
F24F 11/0009 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
F25B 49/005 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; 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, 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 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, 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
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; heat-pump systems > compression machines, plant, or systems with reversible cycle
F25B 49/02 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; 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, 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 >
using one central controller connected to several sub-
controllers
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HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 11
Top Assignee vs. CPC Code
Figure 7. Top Patent Holders in the relevant CPC codes for HVAC system fault detection.
Table 2. Description of CPC codes mentioned in Figure 7.
CPC Class Code
Description CPC Class Code
Description
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
F24F 2011/0067
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 > using one central controller connected to
several sub-controllers
F25B 49/005
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; heat-pump
systems > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices >
of safety devices
F25B 2700/21152
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;
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 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; heat-pump
systems > compression machines, plant, or systems with reversible
cycle
F25B 2700/1933
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;
heat-pump systems > sensing or detecting of parameters;
sensors therefor > pressures > of the compressor > suction
pressures
F25B 49/02 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; heat-pump
systems > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices >
for compression type machines, plant or systems
F25B 49/022 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;
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, 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
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HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 12
CPC Class Code
Description CPC Class Code
Description
systems or apparatus > electrical control or safety systems or
apparatus
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, 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 > 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
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; 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.
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HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 13
Topic Map – Concepts
Figure 9. Topic Map based on concepts.
Topic Map – IPC codes
Figure 10. Topic Map based on IPC Codes.
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HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 14
Table 3. Description of IPC codes mentioned in Figure 10.
IPC Class Code
Description
IPC Class
Code Description
F24F 11/00 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning; air-humidification; ventilation; use of air currents for screening > control or safety systems or apparatus
F25B 29/00 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants, or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems > combined heating and refrigeration systems, e.g. Operating alternately or simultaneously
F24F 11/02 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
G05D 23/20 Controlling; regulating > systems for controlling or regulating non-electric 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
G05D 23/19
Controlling; regulating > systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables > control of temperature > characterized by the use of electric means
F24D 19/10 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
F25B 49/02 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or 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
G05B 23/02 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
B60H 1/00 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
F25B 41/06 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants, or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems > fluid-circulation arrangements, e.g. For transferring liquid from evaporator to boiler > flow restrictors, e.g. Capillary tubes; disposition thereof
F25B 1/00 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants, or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems > compression machines, plant or systems with non-reversible cycle
H05K 7/20 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
G05D 23/00
Controlling; regulating > systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables > control of temperature
F24F 7/00 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning; air-humidification; ventilation; use of air currents for screening > ventilation
F25B 49/00 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants, or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems > arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
F25D 23/12 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; 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
B60H 1/32 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
F25D 11/00 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; 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
F24F 1/00 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
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 41/04 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants, or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems;
F25B 41/00 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants, or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems;
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HVAC Systems - Fault Detection Landscape Analysis 15
IPC Class Code
Description
IPC Class
Code Description
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 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; 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
F25D 17/06 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; 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
G05D 23/24
Controlling; regulating > systems for controlling or regulating non-electric 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
G05B 15/00 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
F25B 13/00 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or 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 27/00 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants, or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems > machines, plant, or systems, using particular sources of energy
F24F 5/00 Heating; ranges; ventilating > air-conditioning; air-humidification; ventilation; use of air currents for screening > air-conditioning systems or apparatus not covered by group
F25B 5/02 Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or solidification of gases > refrigeration machines, plants, or systems; combined heating and refrigeration systems; 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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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