IP Library Granted Patent US 11,221,601
Granted Patent B1
US 11,221,601 · App. 17/328,654 · Granted Jan 11, 2022

Various IoT sensory products and cloud-purge for commercial building solutions utilizing LoRa to BACnet conversion for efficient data management and monitoring

Inventors: Arindam Chakraborty (Milwaukee, WI); Warren Anderson (Milwaukee, WI); Glen Trickle (Milwaukee, WI)
Assignee: ZURN INDUSTRIES, LLC
G05B15/02F24F11/63G06F3/0481G06F3/0484G06F3/14H04L12/66H04L67/12
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,221,601
App. No.
17/328,654
Granted
Jan 11, 2022
Kind
B1
Abstract

Methods and systems of monitoring and managing a facility including a plurality of end point devices. One system includes a first gateway device. The first gateway device includes a first electronic processor configured to receive fixture data from at least one electro-mechanical element of a fixture associated with the facility, the fixture data related to an operation of the fixture, and enable transmission of the fixture data to a remote device for virtual processing. The system also includes a second gateway device communicatively coupled with the first gateway device. The second gateway device includes a second electronic processor configured to receive, from the first gateway device, the processed fixture data. The second electronic processor configured to convert the processed fixture data pursuant to a networking protocol associated with a building management system and transmit the converted fixture data for display via a visual dashboard associated with the building management system.

Claims (39)

1. A system for converting fixture data for building management solutions, the system comprising:

a fixture associated with a facility and comprising at least one electro-mechanical (EM) element;

a remote server;

a facility gateway device communicably coupled to the at least one EM element and the remote server;

a Building Automation and Control Network (BACnet) gateway device communicably coupled to the remote server; and

an end-point device communicably coupled to the at least one EM element and the facility gateway device, the end-point device configured to:

remain in a sleep mode until an action or an operation of the fixture is detected via the at least one EM element;

receive, from the EM element when the action or the operation is detected, fixture data related to the action or the operation of the fixture;

convert the fixture data for transmission to the facility gateway device pursuant to a first networking protocol consistent with a network connection between the end-point device and the facility gateway; and

provide the fixture data to the facility gateway device;

wherein the facility gateway device is configured to:

receive the fixture data from the end-point device; and

enable transmission of the fixture data to the remote server;

wherein the remote server is configured to:

receive the fixture data from the facility gateway device;

determine an environmental condition of the facility based on the fixture data;

generate an alert based on the determined environmental condition exceeding a threshold; and

provide the alert and fixture data to the BACnet gateway device; and

wherein the BACnet gateway device is configured to:

receive, from the remote server, the fixture data and the alert generated based on the fixture data;

convert the fixture data and alert pursuant to a second networking protocol associated with a building management system; and

provide the converted fixture data and the alert for display via a visual dashboard associated with the building management system.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the networking protocol associated with the building management system is a BACnet protocol.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the alert and the processed fixture data is transmitted to the BACnet gateway device via a Long Range (LoRa) protocol.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the BACnet gateway device is associated with the building management system.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the virtual dashboard integrates, as building data, the converted fixture data with additional data associated with at least one building subsystem included in the building management solution.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the at least one building subsystem includes at least one selected from a group consisting of a ventilation system, a lighting system, a power system, a fire system, and a security system.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the converted fixture data and the additional data are associated with the same building.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the BACnet gateway device is further configured to transmit the converted fixture data to a computing device associated with the building management system.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computing device is configured to display the building data via the visual dashboard associated with the building management system.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the computing device is configured to:

receive, via the visual dashboard, a user interaction associated with the building data, and

generate and transmit, based on the user interaction, a control signal associated with at least one selected from a group consisting of the at least one building subsystem and the fixture.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fixture is at least one selected from a group consisting of a thermal mixing valve, a fire protection device, a drain, a contamination monitor, an air quality monitor, a door handle, and a waste receptacle.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the alert includes at least one selected from a group consisting of a contamination alert, a temperature alert, an indoor air pollutant alert, a fire alert, a waste alert, a maintenance alert, a water alert, and a low energy alert.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the environmental condition comprises a scalding condition.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the environmental condition comprises a contamination condition.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the environmental condition comprises a fire condition.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the end point device is further configured to maintain a backlog of data packets comprising the fixture data until a connection of the facility gateway device is available.

Assignments (5)
NOTICE OF SUCCESSION OF AGENCY OF REEL/FRAME 066293/0879 Recorded Feb 20, 2026
From: UBS AG, STAMFORD BRANCH, AS PRIOR AGENT (F/K/A CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH)
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS SUCCESSOR AGENT
Reel/Frame 074947/0479 →
CONVERSION Recorded Jan 16, 2024
From: ZURN INDUSTRIES, LLC
To: ZURN INDUSTRIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 066336/0603 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 16, 2024
From: ZURN INDUSTRIES, LLC
To: ZURN WATER, LLC
Reel/Frame 066337/0918 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Dec 18, 2023
From: ZURN WATER, LLC
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT AND COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 066293/0879 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 10, 2021
From: CHAKRABORTY, ARINDAM; ANDERSON, WARREN; TRICKLE, GLEN
To: ZURN INDUSTRIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 058071/0123 →