NL2004538C2

NL2004538C2 - Building management system comprising one or more controllers or flexible configurable modules for several facilities of a building.

Info

Publication number: NL2004538C2
Application number: NL2004538A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Rene Petrus Adrianus Balvers
Original assignee: Ingenieursburo Balvers B V
Priority date: 2010-04-13
Filing date: 2010-04-13
Publication date: 2011-10-17

Description

Building management system comprising one or more controllers or flexible configurable modules for several facilities of a building .

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of managing multiple facilities in buildings by a building management system comprising one or more controllers or flexible configurable mod-5 ules for controlling several facilities of a building.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Management systems for building facilities, such as light systems, lock systems, intercom, heating, air conditioning, 10 etc, are known. EP 1292175 discloses, for example, a light management system with a central control system and distributed adapters for each individual facility.

Generally speaking management systems for building facilities according to the prior art are rather complicated and 15 specific to the purpose they are developed for. When changes to the system are required to control other facilities a total redesign is necessary. Even minor changes to system components, for example the use of a different type of sensor, can already result in costly redesigns. Furthermore changes to the design will re-20 quire new CE approval tests increasing the development throughput time and cost.

In the field of management systems for facilities in buildings, it is therefore desired to provide a management system which is versatile and entirely adaptable to the specific facili-25 ties of the building with a minimum amount of development effort and (additional) cost.

DE 10 2008 028 909 discloses a control system which wirelessly manages multiple facilities of a building, notably lights, door locks and windows with a view to improve the manage-30 ment of these facilities. This document illustrates the demand in the market to optimize efficiency and functionality by managing multiple facilities with a centralized control system.

DE 10 2008 028 909 is a typical example of prior art management systems which have all facility specific control cir-35 cuitry integrated in a single management system. This makes the control system over-complicated and costly. When new facilities 2 become available after the launch of the management system, this necessitates the management system to be redesigned.

JP 2008017494 discloses a building management system having a control device which controls various distal and facil-5 ity specific controllers. The purpose is to avoid the necessity of double development on both the building management system and the facility controllers. However, the lay-out with a control device managing numerous distal and facility specific controllers is complicated and costly.

10 JP 2008017494 is a typical example of prior art manage ment systems that are based on multiple control units linked together to allow for the control of the various facilities. This makes this type of management system expensive and does not allow for easy adaption to last minute facility changes which can occur 15 due to limited availability of parts or sub-systems during the construction phase.

All in all an improved management system is desired which is flexible and easy to adapt to different facilities, which offers only the necessary facility circuits and allows for 20 easy adaption to possible new facilities which may be launched after the completion of the management system, without costly and time consuming development and CE approval tests.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

25 According to the invention a building management system comprising one or more controllers or flexible configurable modules for several facilities of a building, such as lights, heating, controlled access and the like, is proposed wherein for each individual facility there is an individual controller or flexible 30 configurable module, and which management system has the features of one or more of the appended claims 1-4.

In a first aspect of the invention the controllers or flexible configurable modules are collectively and removably mounted on a motherboard or main module so as to allow that each 35 controller or flexible configurable module is replaceable and tailored to the facility it is intended to control.

The motherboard or main module is equipped with universal, that means invariable circuitry and components that do not have to change when different controllers or flexible configur-40 able modules are applied, whereas the controllers or flexible configurable modules are embodied with facility specific cir- 3 cuitry and components. This allows the motherboard or main module to be standard for any situation whereas the controllers or flexible configurable modules determine the specific purpose of the management system.

5 It is preferred that each controller or flexible config urable module is mountable on the motherboard or main module with a plug-in connector, preferably a docking block. The controllers or flexible configurable modules that are specific to one specific facility, thus are easy interchangeable on the motherboard 10 or main module.

The controllers or flexible configurable modules are preferably embodied as separate printed circuit boards which directly can slide into and can slide out of the docking blocks on the motherboard or main module.

15 Desirably the motherboard or main module is equipped with communication means for exchanging information with the controllers or flexible configurable modules that are mounted on the motherboard or main module.

The controllers or flexible configurable modules are 20 equipped with standard, low cost components. One of the benefits of the invention is that the specific printed circuit boards of the controllers or flexible configurable modules are easy to develop and to produce, which enables a quick and low cost development to match the controllers or flexible configurable modules to 25 different facilities or changes to the hardware of such facilities .

The invention is also embodied in the separate motherboard or main module and the separate controller or flexible configurable module.

30 The motherboard or main module of the invention has the feature that it is equipped with one or more plug-in docking blocks for receiving therein one or more controller or flexible configurable modules provided with functionality tailored to the control of a specific facility or facilities of the building.

35 The controller or flexible configurable module of the invention has the feature that it is arranged to be plugged-in in a motherboard or main module of the building management system, and that it is provided with functionality tailored to the control of a specific facility or facilities of the building.

4

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to an exemplary embodiment of the main module and flexible configurable modules forming part of the building management sys-5 tern of the invention, and the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a main module with flexble configurable modules mounted on the main module;

Fig. 2 shows a schematic lay-out of a main module and 10 flexible configurable modules that are mounted on the main module;

Fig. 3 shows a basic schematic layout of a controller or flexible configurable module;

Fig. 4 show a schematic lay-out of a flexible con-15 figurable module.

Fig. 4 a-c show various circuitry for the flexible configurable modules .

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERED EMBODIMENT

20 Referring to FIG. 1 the heart of the building management system 1 is illustrated. The assembly includes a main module printed circuit board 2. On the main module printed circuit board 2 various components are mounted to provide the requested functionality. The main components to achieve the demanded flexibil-25 ity are a micro-controller 3 which can be programmed for the desired functionality, a flexible configurable module 5 which can be mounted interchangeable onto an edge connector 6 which is mounted on the main module printed circuit board 2, and in-put/output connectors 4 which can be connected to the various fa-30 cilities. Furthermore the main module printed circuit board 2 is equipped with universal circuitry and components whereas the flexible configurable module 5 contains the facility input and output circuitry specific to the application.

FIG. 2 shows schematically the functional interrelation 35 of the components of the building management system 1. The microcontroller 3, which by itself is very flexible, is surrounded by the interchangeable application specific flexible configurable modules 5. Since the interchangeable flexible configurable modules are embodied with the application specific input and output 40 circuitries, the flexibility of the micro-controller 3 is no longer restricted by fixed application specific input and output 5 circuitries .

Fig. 3 shows schematically the circuitry of a flexible configurable module 5. It comprises main connections 10 to the micro-controller, connections 8 to the input/output connector 4 5 and secondary communication means 9. The additional circuitry on the flexible configurable module is free to be designed according to the requirements of the input/output circuits for a particular application. Also shown are devices 11 and 12 with which the micro-controller can exchange information about identity, status 10 and configuration.

Fig. 4A - 4D are some examples of the flexible configurable module circuitry based on the schematic layout shown in figure 3. Figure 4A shows a flexible configurable module circuitry which implements 2 digital inputs used for switches, figure 4B 15 shows a circuitry of a serial port for communications with intelligent subsystems such as key pads to enter access codes for secured entry, figure 4C implements a transceiver for wireless communications with e.g. sensors and figure 4D implements a multifunction interface that can be configured by the micro-controller 20 to serve as: • 0..10 V sensor interface • 0.. 5 V sensor interface • 0..20 mA sensor interface

In summary characteristics of the invention are: 25 • The main module is equipped with flexible configurable modules which are facility specific and which are interchangeable .

• The main module is equipped with the universal circuitry and components whereas the flexible configurable modules 30 contain the facility specific circuitry and components.

• The motherboard or main module is equipped with communication means for exchanging information with the controllers or flexible configurable modules that are mounted on the motherboard or main module.

35 • The flexible configurable module is based on standard, low cost components .

Claims

1. Management system for a building comprising one or more controllers or flexible configurable modules for various facilities of a building, such as lighting, heating, controlled access and the like in which for each individual facility there is an individual controller or flexible configurable module, with characterized in that the controllers or flexible configurable modules are mounted together and removably on a motherboard or main module to enable each controller or flexible configurable module to be replaceable and designed and tuned to the facility that it is intended to control.

2. Management system for a building according to claim 1, characterized in that the motherboard or main module is equipped with a universal, that is, an invariable circuit and components, while the controllers or flexible configurable modules are provided with a specific circuit and components that focused on the facility in question.

3. Management system for a building according to any of claims 1-2, characterized in that each controller or flexible configurable module can be mounted on the motherboard or main module with a plug-in connector, preferably a docking block.

4. Management system for a building according to any of claims 1-3, characterized in that the motherboard or main module is equipped with communication means for exchanging information with the controllers or flexible configurable modules mounted on the motherboard or main module .

5. Motherboard or main module for a building's management system, characterized in that it is provided with one or more plug-in docking blocks for accommodating therein one or more controllers or flexible configurable modules with functionality designed for arranging a specific facility or facilities of the building.

6. Motherboard or main module according to claim 5, characterized in that it is provided with communication means for exchanging information with a controller or flexible or configurable modules that can be mounted on the motherboard or main module. - 7 -

7. Controller or flexible configurable module for a management system of a building, characterized in that it is arranged to be plugged into a motherboard or main module of the management system of the building and that it is provided with functionality designed for the control of a specific facility or facilities of the building.