ENERGY MANAGEMENT OF CLOTHES DRYER APPLIANCE
First Claim
1. A clothes dryer comprising:
- one or more power consuming features/functions including at least one of a cabinet for receiving articles to be dried, a fan for drawing air into the cabinet and circulating air, and a heater for heating air drawn into the cabinet; and
,a controller configured to receive and process a signal indicative of current state of an associated utility, the controller operating the clothes dryer in one of a plurality of operating modes, including at least a normal operating mode and an energy savings mode, in response to the received signal, the controller being configured to change the power consuming features/functions by adjusting one or more of an operation schedule, an operation delay, an operation adjustment, and a selective deactivation of at least one of the one or more power consuming features/functions to reduce power consumption of the clothes dryer in the energy savings mode.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A clothes dryer is provided comprising one or more power consuming functions and a controller in signal communication with an associated utility. The controller can receive and process a signal from the associated utility indicative of current cost of supplied energy. The controller operates the clothes dryer in one of a normal operating mode and an energy savings mode based on the received signal. The controller is configured to change the power consuming functions by adjusting one or more of an operation schedule, an operation delay, an operation adjustment, and a selective deactivation of at least one of the one or more power consuming functions to reduce power consumption of the clothes dryer in the energy savings mode.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A clothes dryer comprising:
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one or more power consuming features/functions including at least one of a cabinet for receiving articles to be dried, a fan for drawing air into the cabinet and circulating air, and a heater for heating air drawn into the cabinet; and
,a controller configured to receive and process a signal indicative of current state of an associated utility, the controller operating the clothes dryer in one of a plurality of operating modes, including at least a normal operating mode and an energy savings mode, in response to the received signal, the controller being configured to change the power consuming features/functions by adjusting one or more of an operation schedule, an operation delay, an operation adjustment, and a selective deactivation of at least one of the one or more power consuming features/functions to reduce power consumption of the clothes dryer in the energy savings mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A clothes dryer control method, comprising:
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a) determining a state for an associated energy supplying utility, the utility state being indicative of at least a peak demand period or an off-peak demand period; b) operating the clothes dryer in a normal mode during the off-peak demand period; c) operating the clothes dryer in an energy savings mode during the peak demand period; d) scheduling, delaying, adjusting and/or selectively deactivating any number of one or more power consuming features/functions of the clothes dryer to reduce power consumption of the clothes dryer in the energy savings mode; and
,e) returning to the normal mode after the peak demand period is over. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A clothes dryer comprising:
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a cabinet for receiving articles to be dried; a fan for drawing air into the cabinet and circulating air through the cabinet; a heater for heating air drawn into the cabinet; and
,a controller configured to control energization of the drive system, fan and heater to selectively implement a plurality of power consuming cycles, and to receive and process an energy signal, the signal having a first state indicative of a utility peak demand period and a second state indicative of a utility off-peak demand period, the controller operating the clothes dryer in one of an energy savings mode and a normal operating mode based on the received signal being in the first and second states respectively, the controller being configured to at least one of selectively delay or alter one or more of the power consuming cycles to reduce power consumption of the clothes dryer in the energy savings mode. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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Specification