Household appliance having a controller for an electrical energy supply network having an associated data network and method for operating a controller of a household appliance on said energy supply network

• US 9,785,210 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2011
• Issued: 10/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH (Robert Bosch GmbH)
• Original Assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH (Robert Bosch GmbH)
• Inventors: Grimminger, Jochen, Haberlander, Tanja, Hpp, Claudia
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rao, Sheela S
• Application Number:
  US13/877,336
• Publication Number:
  US 20130197709A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,210 Days
• Field of Search: 327548, 703 18, 713300, 713330
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 15/46 Devices for the automatic control of the different phases of cleaning ; Controlling devices A47L15/449 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/08 Control circuits or arrangements thereof
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/10 Power supply arrangements, e.g. stand-by circuits
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 7/08 Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00004 characterised by the power network being locally controlled
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00007 using the power network as support for the transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/64 The condition being economic, e.g. tariff based load management
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5458 Monitor sensor; Alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/54 Systems for transmission via power distribution lines
• 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 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 20/20 End-user application control systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/121 using the power network as support for the transmission

Abstract

A household appliance includes a controller operating on an energy supply network having a data network for exchanging data via the energy supply network, wherein the network may include smart metering. The controller has a first control component embodies as a computer, a second control component for settings data, a third control component for operating data, and a fourth control component connected with the first control component and including a graph algorithm. The first control component determines data for controlling actuators from the settings data and the operating data. Through cooperation of the first control component, the fourth control component and the graph algorithm, the data from the data network for the household appliance are taken into account so as to allow operation of the household appliance always to continue. A corresponding method for operating such household appliance is also described.

Claims

1. A household appliance having a controller, the controller comprising:

a first control component embodied as a computer,

a second control component for settings data,

a third control component for operating data,

actuators controlled by amplifiers, wherein first control component determines data for controlling the actuators from the settings data and the operating data, wherein the controller operates on an energy supply network having a data network for exchanging data via the energy supply network, and

a fourth control component connected with the first control component and comprising a graph algorithm, wherein through cooperation of the first control component, the fourth control component and the graph algorithm, the data from the data network for the household appliance are taken into account so as to allow operation of the household appliance always to continue;

wherein the graph algorithm controls a process sequence of the household appliance by selecting a succession of individual, incomplete or partial program segments for execution in an optimum manner based on the data from the data network for the household appliance.

2. The household appliance of claim 1, wherein the graph algorithm comprises an algorithm from a class of greedy algorithms.

3. The household appliance of claim 2, wherein the graph algorithm comprises a Dijkstra algorithm.

4. The household appliance of claim 1, wherein the actuators are controlled by the amplifiers by way of parameterization.

5. The household appliance of claim 4, wherein a parameter for a respective actuator is determined by the first control component and is supplied to an input of the amplifier of the respective actuator.

6. The household appliance of claim 4, wherein a specified parameter initiates a recovery of an actuator embodies as an electric motor drive.

7. The household appliance of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises an interface for exchanging data with the energy supply network.

8. The household appliance of claim 7, wherein the interface is assigned to a smart meter.

9. The household appliance of claim 7, wherein the data provided to the controller as data originating from the energy supply network also include data comprising information about a current tariff for consumed energy.

10. The household appliance of claim 7, wherein data present during the exchange of the data also include data that enable energy management of at least one additional household appliance.

11. The household appliance of claim 1, wherein the data network for exchanging data comprises at least one of an energy-transmitting line of the energy supply network, the Internet and a radio transmission link.

12. The household appliance of claim 1, wherein the controller safeguards data of a last-executed process segment when the energy supply network is switched off.

13. A method for operating a controller of a household appliance on an energy supply network providing data transmission of data via the energy supply network, the method comprising:

processing with a computer settings data of a controller, operating data from a process of the household appliance and data from the energy supply network for determining control variables for actuators of the household appliance, wherein the computer takes into account a graph algorithm when executing process steps, so that modified process sequences of the household appliance that are modified based on data from the data network can be linked to one another so as to allow operation of the household appliance to always continue; and

wherein the graph algorithm controls a process sequence of the household appliance by selecting a succession of individual, incomplete or partial program segments for execution in an optimum manner based on the data from the data network for the household appliance.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the graph algorithm comprises an algorithm from a class of greedy algorithms.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the graph algorithm comprises a Dijkstra'"'"'s algorithm.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the actuators are controlled by parameterization using a plurality of discrete values.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein data from the energy supply network are processed, with the data having information about a currently available tariff for the consumed energy or for a restrictive target value for reducing energy consumption of the household appliance operated by the controller.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the data are exchanged via the energy supply network with at least one additional household appliance for distributing available energy between the household appliance and the at least one additional household appliance.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein data representing a process step that was executed last are safeguarded when supply of energy from the energy supply network is prevented.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein data are transmitted via the energy supply network by way of Powerline, Z-Wave or ZigBee.