Electrical appliance, in particular an electrical household appliance, a corresponding optional auxiliary device, and a system comprising said appliance and device

• US 8,319,599 B2
• Filed: 01/10/2008
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool EMEA SpA (Whirlpool Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Indesit Company SPA (Whirlpool Corporation)
• Inventors: Aisa, Valerio, Santonicola, Paolo, Cascio, Valerio
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Benjamin C
• Assistant Examiner(s): BURGDORF, STEPHEN R
• Application Number:
  US12/524,270
• Publication Number:
  US 20100085144A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,783 Days
• Field of Search: 307 30- 42, 307139-140, 702 57- 62, 702 64- 65, 340/3.1, 340 33- 332, 340 1232- 1239, 340538-53817, 340/635, 340/637, 340657-664, 340/679, 340/870.02, 340/870.18, 340/870.39, 709223-225, 710 15- 17, 710300-304
• US Class Current: 340/3.1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0423 Input/output
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/21076 Plug, connector with build in decoding, encoding for module
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25012 Two different bus systems
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25022 LAN local area network for controllers
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25188 Superposition high frequency data signal on power lines, current carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25448 Control module is pluggable into wall connector
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2613 Household appliance in general
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2633 Washing, laundry
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2639 Energy management, use maximum of cheap power, keep peak load low
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2654 Fridge, refrigerator
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00004 characterised by the power network being locally controlled
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00009 using pulsed signals
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/12 The local stationary network supplying a household or a building
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/00 Management or operation of end-user stationary applications or the last stages of power distribution; Controlling, monitoring or operating thereof
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/20 End-user application control systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/242 : Home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/121 : using the power network as support for the transmission

Abstract

An electrical appliance (100) comprises a digital control system (SC), configured for enabling the performance of a plurality of pre-determined basic functions, and an auxiliary device (200) comprises means (PM, 230-231) for acquiring and/or processing auxiliary information. The electrical appliance (100) and the auxiliary device (200) moreover comprise respective communication means (270), for setting up between them a bi-directional communication of data. The control system (SC) of the electrical appliance (100) is provided for enabling execution of additional functions with respect to the basic functions and for sending to the auxiliary device (200), via the communication means (270), requests for auxiliary information, necessary for the performance of said additional functions. The auxiliary device (200) is pre-arranged for communicating to the control system (SC) of the electrical appliance (100), via the communication means (270), the auxiliary piece or pieces of information requested, as processed and/or acquired by the device itself.

Claims

1. A system comprising

an electrical household appliance connected to a source of electrical energy and including a digital control system that is configured for enabling performance of a plurality of pre-determined basic functionalities by the electrical household appliance;

and

an auxiliary device configured to acquire and/or process auxiliary information, the auxiliary device further configured to communicate data in a point-to-point mode with the electrical household appliance;

the control system of the electrical household appliance configured to;

verify autonomously the presence of the auxiliary device by sending a request for presence of the auxiliary device,

recognize, in response to the request for presence, the presence of the auxiliary device if within a given time interval the control system receives from the auxiliary device a list of types of auxiliary information the auxiliary device is able to provide to the control system,

enable execution of one or more functionalities that are additional with respect to said basic functionalities,

send to the auxiliary device, at least one request regarding at least one piece of auxiliary information necessary for execution of one or more of said additional functionalities; and

receive from the auxiliary device, following said at least one request, said at least one auxiliary piece of information to execute the one or more additional functionalities, said at least one auxiliary piece of information being a value of an electrical quantity associated with said source of electrical energy and/or with the operation of the electrical household appliance,

said electrical quantity being in particular selected from among;

supply voltage, mains frequency, electric power and/or electric current absorbed by the electrical household appliance, angle of phase displacement between the supply voltage applied to the electrical household appliance and the electric current absorbed thereby, and electrical energy consumed by the electrical household appliance in a time interval.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein the auxiliary device is electrically connected between an electrical supply of the electrical household appliance and an electric power socket, and

the auxiliary device is configured to communicate with the electrical household appliance over a power supply cable.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the auxiliary device is configured to supply on said power-supply cable an a.c. voltage drawn from said electric-power socket, and the auxiliary device is configured to:

associate to a time value, t_i, a piece of information to be transmitted, where said time value t_i is comprised in a set of pre-determined time values t₁, . . . ,t_N and where said pre-determined time values t₁, . . . ,t_N are measured starting from the occurrence of a pre-determined condition regarding the a.c. voltage, in particular zero-crossing by the a.c. voltage; and

generate at least one variation, Δ

V, of the a.c. voltage that can be supplied via the auxiliary device to the electrical appliance, substantially at said time value t_i.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the auxiliary device is configured to associate and generate by causing a reduction in the a.c. voltage that can be supplied by the auxiliary device and for interrupting said reduction in the a.c. voltage substantially at said time value t_i, said reduction in the a.c. voltage being in particular maintained for a pre-determined period of time Δ

t and having a pre-determined amplitude.

5. The system according to claim 1 wherein the auxiliary device is further configured to receive and/or transmit data, in peer-to-peer mode with an external communication network.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the auxiliary device is pre-arranged for acquiring at least one further piece of auxiliary information from said external network, where said at least one further piece of auxiliary information acquired from said external network is selected from among:

current time, current date, contractual value of the electrical power, cost of the electrical energy, information coming from a service provider, warnings of conditions of excessive absorption of electrical power, warnings of variations of the mains frequency, alarm warnings, and information available on the Internet and/or coming from devices and/or apparatuses and/or systems connected directly or indirectly to said local network.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein said additional functionality or functionalities include one or more of the following:

execution of commands and/or satisfaction of requests coming from said local network by the control system of the electrical household appliance;

interaction of the electrical household appliance with a user-interface device connected to said local network; and

interaction of the electrical household appliance with a supervision system connected to said local network.

8. The system according to claim 1 wherein said additional functionality or functionalities include one or more of the following:

activity of self-diagnosis by the electrical household appliance, in particular with verification of operation of individual electrical parts of the electrical household appliance itself;

increase in energy efficiency of the electrical household appliance;

increase in effectiveness of a result of operations performed by the electrical household appliance;

increase in a number of functions, operating cycles or programs that the electrical household appliance can carry out;

increase in the number and/or type of information made available through interface means of the electrical household appliance;

increase in safety in operation of the electrical household appliance; and

execution, by the electrical household appliance, of dynamic demand control functions.

9. The system according to claim 1 wherein the electrical household appliance is further configured to interact with a display, on which said at least one piece of auxiliary information can be displayed.

10. An electrical household appliance, prearranged for use with an auxiliary device that communicates auxiliary information over a power supply cable of the electrical household appliance, the electrical household appliance being configured to:

communicate with said auxiliary device and including a control system pre-arranged for;

verifying autonomously the presence or otherwise of the auxiliary device;

verifying the presence or otherwise of the auxiliary device before carrying out any cycle or program of operation of the electrical household appliance; and

verifying the presence or otherwise of the auxiliary device by means of sending a request for declaration of the presence and recognizing as effective the presence of the auxiliary device if said auxiliary device sends properly to the control system within a given time interval a list of the type of auxiliary information that the auxiliary device is able to provide to the control system subsequent to an instant of sending of said request for declaration of presence;

using at least one piece of auxiliary information, necessary for the execution of one or more of the additional functionalities that are additional with respect to the basic functionality of the electrical household appliance, provided by the auxiliary device if and only if the auxiliary device supplies correctly to the control system said at least one piece of auxiliary information within a given maximum time from a corresponding request by said control system; and

selectively sending to the auxiliary device at least one piece of information regarding operation of the electrical household appliance, in order to make available the information itself on an external communication network,

wherein said at least one piece of auxiliary information being a value of an electrical quantity associated with a source of electrical energy for the electrical household appliance.

11. The electrical household appliance according to claim 10, wherein said control system is pre-arranged for using said at least one piece of information for the purpose of executing the one or more additional functionalities that are at least one of:

modifying at least one phase of a cycle of current operation of the electrical household appliance so as to improve energy efficiency of said operating cycle and/or improve global energy efficiency of an environment in which said electrical household appliance is installed and/or improve effectiveness of a result of said operating cycle in relation to working conditions of said electrical household appliance and/or guarantee performance of said operating cycle in a condition of safety in regard to an user;

verifying, during execution of an operating cycle of the electrical household appliance, proper operation of at least one actuator device of the electrical household appliance used for execution of a same operating cycle; and

making available to the user, through interaction means of the electrical household appliance, at least one additional piece of information and/or one additional functionality and/or one additional operating cycle beyond the ones that the electrical household appliance itself is able to provide in absence of the auxiliary device.

12. The electrical household appliance according to claim 11 wherein said additional functionality or functionalities include one or more of the following:

activity of self-diagnosis by the electrical household appliance, in particular with verification of operation of individual electrical parts of the electrical household appliance itself;

increase in the energy efficiency of the electrical household appliance;

increase in the effectiveness of the result of operations performed by the electrical household appliance;

increase in a number of functions, operating cycles or programs that the electrical household appliance can carry out;

increase in the number and/or type of information made available through interface means of the electrical household appliance;

increase in the safety in the operation of the electrical household appliance; and

execution, by the electrical household appliance, of dynamic demand control functions.

13. The electrical household appliance according to claim 11, wherein said additional functionality or functionalities include one or more of the following:

execution of commands and/or satisfaction of requests coming from said local network by the control system of the electrical household appliance;

interaction of the electrical household appliance with a user-interface device connected to said local network; and

interaction of the electrical household appliance with a supervision system connected to said local network.

14. The electrical household appliance according to claim 10 further configured to interact with a display, on which said at least one piece of auxiliary information can be displayed.

15. An auxiliary device pre-arranged for communication with an electrical household appliance over a power supply cable of the electrical household appliance, the auxiliary device further configured to:

communicate presence of the auxiliary device to the electrical household appliance by sending to the electrical household appliance within a given time interval from receipt of a request of presence from the electrical household appliance a list of the types of auxiliary information that the auxiliary device is able to provide;

acquire and/or process the auxiliary information, by measuring one or more electrical quantities that constitute at least one piece of auxiliary information associated with one or more additional functionalities of the electrical household appliance that are additional with respect to a basic functionality of the electrical household appliance;

wherein the acquiring and/or processing is responsive to receiving of at least one request regarding the at least one piece of auxiliary information from the electrical household appliance, said at least one piece of auxiliary information being a value of an electrical quantity associated with a source of electrical energy for the electrical household appliance; and

communicate said at least one piece of auxiliary information to said electrical household appliance to execute said one or more additional functionalities.

16. The device according to claim 15 wherein the auxiliary device is pre-arranged for communicating the presence spontaneously and/or upon request, via a communication means.

17. The device according to claim 16 wherein the auxiliary device is pre-arranged for communicating spontaneously and/or upon request, via the communication means, the list of types of auxiliary information.

18. The auxiliary device according to claim 15 further configured to receive and/or transmit data, in peer-to-peer mode with an external communication network.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein the auxiliary device is pre-arranged for acquiring at least one further piece of auxiliary information from said external network, where said at least one further piece of auxiliary information acquired from said external network is selected from among:

current time, current date, contractual value of the electrical power, cost of the electrical energy, information coming from a service provider, warnings of conditions of excessive absorption of electrical power, warnings of variations of the mains frequency, alarm warnings, and information available on the Internet and/or coming from devices and/or apparatuses and/or systems connected directly or indirectly to said local network.

20. The device according to claim 15, wherein the auxiliary device is configured to supply on said power-supply cable an a.c. voltage drawn from said electric-power socket, the auxiliary device further configured to:

associate to a time value, t_i, a piece of information to be transmitted, where said time value t_i, is comprised in a set of pre-determined time values t₁, . . . , t_N and where said pre-determined time values t₁, . . . , t_N are measured starting from the occurrence of a pre-determined condition regarding the a.c. voltage, in particular zero-crossing by the a.c. voltage; and

generate at least one variation, Δ

V, of the a.c. voltage that can be supplied via the auxiliary device to the electrical household appliance, substantially at said time value t_i.

21. The device according to claim 20, wherein the auxiliary device configured to associate and generate is pre-arranged for causing a reduction in the a.c. voltage that can be supplied by the auxiliary device and for interrupting said reduction in voltage substantially at said time value t_isaid reduction in voltage being in particular maintained for a pre-determined period of time Δ

t and having a pre-determined amplitude.