Multipurpose controller for multistate windows
View Patent ↗“Smart” controllers for windows having controllable optical transitions are described. Controllers with multiple features can sense and adapt to local environmental conditions. Controllers described herein can be integrated with a building management system (BMS) to greatly enhance the BMS's effectiveness at managing local environments in a building. The controllers may have one, two, three or more functions such as powering a smart window, determining the percent transmittance, size, and/or temperature of a smart window, providing wireless communication between the controller and a separate communication node, etc.
1. An insulated glass unit comprising:
an electrochromic window pane comprising a transparent substrate with an electrochromic device thereon and a bus bar in electrical connection with a conductive layer of the electrochromic device;
a second pane;
a secondary seal between the panes; and
a memory storing information about the electrochromic window, wherein the memory is part of a wiring harness of the insulated glass unit, the wiring harness in electrical connection to the bus bar via a wire connected to the bus bar and passing through the secondary seal in the insulated glass unit, and
wherein the memory is physically separate from a controller configured to read data from the memory and configured to provide a communications interface for communicating over a network with a plurality of electrochromic window panes including the electrochromic window pane of the insulated glass unit by delivering power to the bus bar via the wiring harness.
2. The insulated glass unit of claim 1 , wherein the memory is an RFID tag, an EEPROM or a FLASH memory chip.
3. The insulated glass unit of claim 1 , wherein the memory stores data including one or more of warranty information, installation information, vendor information, batch information, inventory information, electrochromic device information, insulated glass unit characteristics, customer information, manufacturing date, window size, window temperature and electrochromic device cycle count.
4. The insulated glass unit of claim 1 , wherein the electrochromic device is solid-state and inorganic.
5. The insulated glass unit of claim 1 , wherein the controller is part of a distributed network of window controllers configured to communicate with and control the plurality of electrochromic window panes.
6. The insulated glass unit of claim 1 , wherein the memory stores data used as input to adjust power delivered to the bus bar of the electrochromic window pane to drive optical transitions.
7. A smart window controller configured to read data from a memory that is part of a wiring harness of an insulated glass unit comprising an electrochromic window pane, a second pane, and a secondary seal between the panes, the wiring harness in electrical connection with a bus bar of the electrochromic window pane via a wire connected to the bus bar and passing through the secondary seal in the insulated glass unit, wherein the memory is physically separate from the smart window controller, the smart window controller further configured to power optical transitions of the electrochromic window pane of the insulated glass unit by delivering power to the bus bar via the wiring harness, the smart window controller further configured to provide a communications interface for communicating over a network with a plurality of electrochromic window panes.
8. The smart window controller of claim 7 , wherein the memory is an RFID tag, an EEPROM or a FLASH memory chip.
9. The smart window controller of claim 7 , wherein the memory stores data including one or more of warranty information, installation information, vendor information, batch information, inventory information, electrochromic device information, insulated glass unit characteristics, customer information, manufacturing date, window size, window temperature and electrochromic device cycle count.
10. The smart window controller of claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of electrochromic window panes comprises an electrochromic device that is solid-state and inorganic.
11. The smart window controller of claim 7 , wherein the smart window controller is configured to read information from the memory and program itself based on the information read from the memory upon wiring to the insulated glass unit.
12. The smart window controller of claim 7 , comprising a microprocessor in electrical communication with the memory, the microprocessor configured to control the electrochromic window.
13. The smart window controller of claim 7 , further comprising a pulse width modulation amplifier rendered as an H-bridge or a buck converter.
14. The smart window controller of claim 7 , wherein the smart window controller is part of a distributed network of window controllers configured to communicate with and control the plurality of electrochromic window panes.
15. The smart window controller of claim 7 , wherein the memory stores data used as input to adjust power delivered to the bus bar of the electrochromic window pane to drive optical transitions.
16. A system comprising:
a) an insulated glass unit comprising an electrochromic window pane, a second pane, a secondary seal between the panes, and a memory storing information about the electrochromic window, wherein the electrochromic window pane comprises a transparent substrate with an electrochromic device thereon and a bus bar in electrical connection with a conductive layer of the electrochromic device, wherein the memory is part of a wiring harness of the insulated glass unit; and
b) a window controller that is physically separate from the memory and in electrical connection with the bus bar of the electrochromic window pane via a wire connected to the bus bar and passing through the secondary seal in the insulated glass unit via the wiring harness, and wherein the window controller is configured to power reversible optical transitions of the electrochromic window pane by delivering power to the bus bar, the window controller further configured to read data from the physically separate memory and provide a communications interface for communicating over a network with a plurality of electrochromic window panes including the electrochromic window pane of the insulated glass unit.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the memory is an RFID tag, an EEPROM or a FLASH memory chip.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the memory stores data including one or more of warranty information, installation information, vendor information, batch information, inventory information, electrochromic device information, insulated glass unit characteristics, customer information, manufacturing date, window size, window temperature and electrochromic device cycle count.
19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the window controller is configured to read information from the memory and program itself based on the information read from the memory upon wiring to the insulated glass unit.
20. The system of claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of electrochromic window panes comprises an electrochromic device that is solid-state and inorganic.
21. The system of claim 16 , wherein the window controller further comprises a pulse width modulation amplifier rendered as an H-bridge or a buck converter.
22. The system of claim 16 , wherein the window controller comprises a distributed network of window controllers configured to communicate with and control the plurality of electrochromic window panes.
23. The system of claim 16 , wherein the memory stores data used as input to adjust power delivered to the bus bar of the electrochromic window pane to drive optical transitions.