CN111316520A - Method for dividing the energy consumed by a shared utility shared by a plurality of users and device for carrying out said method - Google Patents
Method for dividing the energy consumed by a shared utility shared by a plurality of users and device for carrying out said method Download PDFInfo
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- CN111316520A CN111316520A CN201880055017.3A CN201880055017A CN111316520A CN 111316520 A CN111316520 A CN 111316520A CN 201880055017 A CN201880055017 A CN 201880055017A CN 111316520 A CN111316520 A CN 111316520A
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- shared
- switch
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- shared utility
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- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 25
- 230000004913 activation Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 238000000638 solvent extraction Methods 0.000 claims description 3
- 230000005611 electricity Effects 0.000 description 8
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000010521 absorption reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003213 activating effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000013475 authorization Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000001419 dependent effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005265 energy consumption Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
- G06Q10/06—Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02J3/00—Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
- H02J3/007—Arrangements for selectively connecting the load or loads to one or several among a plurality of power lines or power sources
Abstract
A method for dividing the energy consumed by a shared utility shared by a plurality of users according to their relative share of ownership rates; the method comprises the following steps: a) providing: providing each user with a power line of a respective electric meter, at least one shared utility that can be activated automatically in response to the request of a particular user; at least one switch connected on one side to the shared utility and configured on another side to be selectively connected to one or another of the user power sources for distributing the current consumption of the shared utility on the respective user power meters; a control unit configured to control the switch; b) alternately controlling the switches in the following pattern: when the shared utility is automatically activated, the control unit commands the switch to progressively connect to one or another of the user power sources according to the ownership share ratio subdivisions; when the shared utility is activated at the request of a specific user, the control unit commands the switch to connect to the user power line of the specific user requesting activation of the shared utility.
Description
Cross Reference to Related Applications
The present application claims priority from italian patent application No. 102017000088560 filed on 8/1 of 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Technical Field
The invention relates to a method for dividing the energy consumed by a shared utility shared by a plurality of users according to relative ownership share rates (ownershire share rates).
In particular, by way of non-exhaustive illustrative example, the present invention relates to the division of energy consumed by a shared service utility shared by multiple apartment owners in an individual-owned apartment building.
The invention also relates to a device for carrying out said method.
As already mentioned above, the invention finds its main application in the field of electric energy absorption management of shared utilities that can be activated by different users according to their needs. Examples of such shared service utilities in an apartment building may be stairwell lights, yard lights, intercom power, power for power doors, elevators, etc. The overhead of these shared utilities must be divided appropriately among the users who share them.
Background
The most widely used solution currently used for dividing the energy consumed by the shared utilities involves providing a relative meter for each shared utility or a series of shared utilities, the only purpose of which is to record the total energy consumption that can be allocated to that shared utility. The consumption data must then be divided, and this division is usually made by the administrator of the apartment building, allocating a single consumption share rate to different users.
This prior art solution suffers from different drawbacks. Indeed, according to the prior art, the shared utility must be provided with suitable electricity meters, with consequent problems due to its management. Obviously, without this meter, the number of components present in the device will be reduced. A second drawback is related to the fact that the consumption division later used for assigning consumption share rates to users may be affected by computational errors, since it is an operation itself, although simple, performed by manual control. Finally, the last but not least of the disadvantages is that the single consumption cost is not currently distributed based on the actual users using the shared utility. As a result, users who do not use the shared utility are forced to pay for their partial consumption anyway. Thus, today, there is a great need for partitioning based on the actual consumption of a single user.
Disclosure of Invention
Starting from this prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide an alternative method for dividing the energy consumed by a shared utility shared by a plurality of users, which is able to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art in a simple and economical manner, both from a functional point of view and from a constructive point of view.
In accordance with this object, the invention relates to a method for dividing the energy consumed by a shared utility shared by a plurality of users according to a relative ownership share rate. The method comprises at least the following steps:
a) providing:
-equipping each user with the power line of a respective electric meter;
-a plurality of shared utilities that can be activated automatically and/or at the request of a user;
-at least one switch connected on one side to said shared utility and configured on the other side to be selectively connected to one or another of the consumer power sources in order to distribute the current consumption of said shared utility on the respective consumer meter;
-a control unit configured for controlling the switch.
The term "equipping each customer with the power line of a respective electricity meter" means that the energy required to operate a shared utility can be drawn by a single customer through the power line in an independent manner. These power lines are currently already present in the system of different apartment blocks and the related electricity meters may be those currently installed.
For example, in an apartment building, the term "shared utility" may be identified as a staircase light, a courtyard light, a power supply for an intercom, a power door, an elevator, and the like. It is well known that some of these utilities are activated in an automatic and scheduled manner without a specific request, while others are activated at the request of a specific user (when they need it).
The term switch denotes a movable switch or "switcher" adapted to be selectively connected to one or another shared utility under the control of a control unit or electronic control unit.
The general aspect of the present invention relates to the control of switches during automatic activation of shared utilities and their activation at specific requests by specific users. In particular, the general aspects of the present invention relate to the selection of a power cord for a first contact, and the selection and time range of movement towards another cord during use of a shared utility when activated by a particular user.
Starting from the above, according to the invention, the control unit is configured to control the switch in the following mode:
-when the shared utility is automatically activated, the control unit commands the switch to progressively connect to one or another user power source according to the ownership share ratio subdivision;
-when the shared utility is activated at the request of a specific user, the control unit commands the switch to connect to the user power line of the specific user requesting activation of the shared utility.
To perform this final phase, the system needs to be able to identify the user that activated the shared utility.
Advantageously, according to the invention, the shared utility no longer needs to be equipped with associated electricity meters. In fact, the respective consumption will be directly distributed to the electricity meters connected to the power lines from which the energy using the shared utilities is drawn. Therefore, the associated consumption partitioning need not be calculated later, thereby eliminating the risk of calculation errors.
During automatic activation of the shared utility, the consumption split logic (i.e., the logic that controls energy draw) depends on the ownership share rate subdivision among users, and thus, the control unit controls the switches based on the shared utility usage time units (which are split in a proportional manner with respect to the ownership share rate). Thus, in this way, the control unit will command the switch to connect to a particular power line according to the share of ownership rate owned by the user of that power line. In other words, the power line owned by the user having the larger ownership share rate will be connected to the switch for a longer time than the power line owned by the user having the smaller ownership share rate. The control unit is naturally configured to store a time record of the switch position in the memory, so that on a subsequent restart of the shared utility, the control unit forces the switch to start from a point at the moment of the previous interruption. Thus, within a reasonable time frame, for example, a time frame determined by an expiration date for paying a common fee in an apartment building, it is possible to complete a plurality of cycles sufficient to represent a correct division of shared consumptions (shared consumptions) for each ownership share rate.
The conversion control logic is dependent upon identification of the user that activated the shared utility during the time the application user requests activation of the shared utility. The method includes a preliminary step of identifying users who are active sharing a utility. This identification can be done in a very simple way, providing personalized use keys, different key codes between users, remote controls with different frequencies, etc.
Advantageously, in this last configuration, not only does the device not need to share electric meters, the division of the fees is not affected by the calculation error, but also, the fees for using the utility at the request of the user are distributed to the user who actually requested the execution, and therefore no burden is imposed on other users.
Identifying the presence of a device does not by itself preclude the possibility of allocating fees based on ownership share rates. Indeed, there may be a key or password to activate the switch based on different ownership share rates, or the power line that activates the user sharing the utility may simply be the first power line to be powered for the selected period. In the latter case, the user who activates the shared utility will incur a higher fee, although not necessarily the total consumption alone. In the event that energy is drawn from the shared utility too much relative to the respective ownership share rates, the system is equipped with memory that can make up for the draw in subsequent cycles.
The device may naturally include a plurality of shared utilities, each with its own switch. In this case, it is possible to connect more than one shared utility to the same power line at the same time.
Alternatively, to face the large energy demand from a particular shared utility, the apparatus may include multiple switches arranged in parallel and connected to the same shared utility so as to draw energy requested simultaneously by two or more users. Also in this case, the excess energy drawn by users with a smaller share of ownership rate or users not requesting activation of the shared utility will be compensated for in subsequent cycles.
The present invention has been described so far in terms of a method for controlling a switch. However, the invention also relates to a related device for performing the method.
The apparatus nominally comprises:
-equipping each user with the power line of a respective electric meter;
-at least one shared utility which can be activated in an independent manner by a user;
-at least one switch connected on one side to the shared utility and configured on the other side to be selectively connected to one or another of the consumer power sources in order to distribute the current consumption of the shared utility on the respective consumer meter;
-a control unit configured for controlling the switch.
The control unit is configured to control the switches in such a way that: the switch is selectively connected to one or the other power supply line according to the above-described pattern.
As already mentioned above, the apparatus may comprise a plurality of shared utilities, each provided with an associated switch; each shared utility may be associated with multiple switches in parallel to face high power requests that cannot be achieved using a single line.
Drawings
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will be better understood by reading the following description of a non-limiting embodiment thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
figure 1 shows a diagram of a first application example of the invention;
figure 2 shows a diagram of a second application example of the invention; and
fig. 3 shows a diagram of a third application example of the invention.
Detailed Description
Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment example of the present invention. There is shown a schematic view of an apparatus 1 for carrying out the method according to the invention. This example includes four power cords 2 owned by four different users. Each power line has its own electricity meter 3 for calculating the power consumption relative to the power line 2. Naturally, the location and representation of the power supply line and the electricity meter are schematic for the purpose of describing the invention. Numeral 4 schematically represents a shared utility which can be activated after establishing communication with one of the four power lines 2. For this purpose, a switch 5 is provided, which is connected on one side to the shared utility 4 and on the other side is provided with a switch that can be selectively connected to all four power lines 2. However, according to the invention, although not mentioned above, the switch is preferably temporarily in the unloaded state 6 before switching from one supply line to the other.
The possible movements of the switches are schematically indicated in fig. 1 by arrows F and are controlled by a suitable control unit 7 or electronic control unit. The control unit 7 is further connected to a database 8, the database 8 containing information about dividing the shared utility into ownership share rates owned by four users.
The database 8 may be used and/or changed remotely after authorization. In particular, there may be at least two user profiles authorized to access the remotely processed data. The first profile may belong to a manager of a shared utility according to the present invention. The second profile may be one of the electrical energy providers that powers the device, that has the correct consumption available, that may invoice individual users that have included shared utility consumption shares.
In this example, during use of the shared utility, the control unit 4 controls the switch such that it switches from one power supply unit to another power supply unit according to the above-described ownership share rate. The greater the share of ownership rate owned by a user of a power line, the longer it is specified that energy be drawn from that power line. At the end of the time when the authorized user draws energy from the power line, the control unit 4 controls the switch 5 to switch it to the other power line 2. This process continues until the switch 5 has been coupled to all power lines. If the utility continues to be used, the cycle is repeated.
In case of an interruption, the control unit 4 stores in memory which power line was last connected to the switch, so that, when the shared utility is subsequently used, the switch can be coupled to that power line until a predetermined draw time is reached.
Fig. 2 shows a second application example of the present invention. The only difference with respect to fig. 1 is that there are two shared utilities 4, each provided with a switch 5. In the example of fig. 2, two shared utilities draw energy from two different power lines. However, the apparatus is configured such that the same power cord can simultaneously supply power to two shared utilities.
Fig. 3 shows a third application example of the present invention.
This example includes an apparatus as shown in fig. 1, in which a further series of devices are integrated. In particular, the control unit 7 communicates with a series of devices 9 able to identify which user wants to use the shared utility. These identification devices may be, for example, passwords, keys or remote controls, or any other device personalized for each individual user. Once the control unit 7 receives an indication of which user wants to activate the shared utility, it controls the switch 5 to be coupled to the power line 2 owned by that user. The interested user may obtain feedback on the operation through a suitable display, which may also provide an indication of the consumption in real time. In this way, the user can control the actual consumption of the electricity meter 3 divided to him/her. However, the control unit 7 of fig. 3 is also able to control the switches in the above-described mode, i.e. based on the ownership share rate and not only on the users who activate the shared utility. For switching from one control logic to another and for activating only that the user sharing the utility is a hybrid of the first energy draw point, the control unit 7 is connected to a display 11, which display 11 instructs to set the control logic and a series of commands 12 for switching from one control logic to another.
Finally, the shared utility 4 is coupled with a timer device 13, which timer device 13 is capable of deactivating the shared utility after a predetermined amount of time, thus avoiding excessive consumption, e.g. due to the shared utility being accidentally active.
Finally, according to examples not shown herein, the switch may be physically coupled with all power lines at the same time and draw energy from different power lines, in accordance with the above-described logic based on ownership share rates. This configuration is particularly effective in situations where energy peaks are required for a shared utility, so that it can only be undertaken by supplying power from multiple power lines simultaneously. According to this example, all power lines are powered simultaneously. However, the draw is divided depending on the share of ownership rate of the shared utility, and the switch acts as a shutter.
Even though they are not shown here, the present invention envisages the presence of known safety devices and parallel structures, in which there are different switches connected to a shared utility and able to draw energy from different users to power them.
Finally, it is clear that the invention described herein can be subject to modifications and variations without thereby departing from the scope of protection of the appended claims.
Claims (10)
1. A method for partitioning the energy consumed by a shared utility shared by a plurality of users according to their relative share of ownership rates, the method comprising the steps of:
a) providing:
-equipping each user with the power line of a respective electric meter;
-at least one shared utility that can be activated automatically at the request of a respective subscriber;
-at least one switch connected on one side to the shared utility and configured on the other side to be selectively connected to one or another of the consumer power sources in order to distribute the current consumption of the shared utility on the respective consumer meter;
-a control unit configured for controlling the switch;
b) alternately controlling the switches in the following pattern:
-when the shared utility is automatically activated, the control unit commands the switch to progressively connect to one or another user power source according to the ownership share ratio subdivision;
-when the shared utility is activated at the request of a specific user, the control unit commands the switch to connect to the user power line of the specific user requesting activation of the shared utility.
2. The method of claim 1, when the switches are controlled according to ownership share rate subdivisions between users, wherein the step of controlling the switches comprises the steps of identifying time units of use, and dividing the time units among users in proportion to ownership share rate.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein, in the event of an interruption of the use of the shared utility within the time unit, on a subsequent restart, the control unit controls the restoration of the switch from the previous point of interruption.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the control unit commands a repetition of a control cycle from a starting point in the event that the common usage of the time units is exceeded.
5. The method of claim 1, when the switch is controlled by a request activation of a particular user, wherein the method includes the step of identifying the user who activated the shared utility.
6. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein step a) provides a plurality of shared utilities, each shared utility having at least one switch for drawing multi-line power for a single shared utility.
7. An apparatus for performing the method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus comprises:
-equipping each user with the power line of a respective electric meter;
-at least one shared utility that can be activated automatically at the request of a respective subscriber;
-at least one switch connected on one side to the shared utility and configured on the other side to be selectively connected to one or another of the consumer power sources in order to distribute the current consumption of the shared utility on the respective consumer meter;
-a control unit configured for controlling the switch;
wherein when the shared utility is automatically activated, the control unit commands the switch to progressively connect to one or another of the user power sources according to the ownership share ratio subdivisions; when the shared utility is activated at the request of a particular user, the control unit is configured to command the switch to connect to the user power line of the particular user requesting activation of the shared utility.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the control unit is connected to an ownership share rate database when controlling the switches according to ownership share rate subdivisions between users.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one user identification device for identifying a user who activates the shared utility when the switch is controlled by a request activation of a particular user.
10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus comprises a plurality of shared utilities, each shared utility having at least one switch for drawing multi-line power in parallel for a single shared utility.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| IT102017000088560A IT201700088560A1 (en) | 2017-08-01 | 2017-08-01 | METHOD FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY CONSUMED BY A COMMON USER SHARED BETWEEN A PLURALITY OF USERS AND PLANT FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS METHOD |
| IT102017000088560 | 2017-08-01 | ||
| PCT/IB2018/055782 WO2019026001A1 (en) | 2017-08-01 | 2018-08-01 | A method for dividing the energy consumed by a shared utility shared by a plurality of users and apparatus for carrying out the method |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CN111316520A true CN111316520A (en) | 2020-06-19 |
Family
ID=60991033
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN201880055017.3A Pending CN111316520A (en) | 2017-08-01 | 2018-08-01 | Method for dividing the energy consumed by a shared utility shared by a plurality of users and device for carrying out said method |
Country Status (4)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| EP (1) | EP3662556A1 (en) |
| CN (1) | CN111316520A (en) |
| IT (1) | IT201700088560A1 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO2019026001A1 (en) |
Citations (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US6459171B1 (en) * | 2000-07-21 | 2002-10-01 | Arraycomm, Inc. | Method and apparatus for sharing power |
| TWM324340U (en) * | 2007-05-29 | 2007-12-21 | Jian-Wen Huang | Automatic switching unit for power supply |
| CN101627518A (en) * | 2007-02-09 | 2010-01-13 | 九州电力株式会社 | Charger |
| WO2011030303A1 (en) * | 2009-09-10 | 2011-03-17 | Indesit Company S.P.A. | System and method for distributing a consumable resource |
| CN102201668A (en) * | 2010-03-23 | 2011-09-28 | 董爱华 | Power supply control device for network share equipment |
Family Cites Families (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US20140279712A1 (en) * | 2013-03-15 | 2014-09-18 | American Metering Services, Inc. | Utility monitoring and billing systems, and methods |
| US20150316945A1 (en) * | 2014-05-02 | 2015-11-05 | Aquicore, Inc. | Configurable web-based metering of building energy using wireless sensors |
-
2017
- 2017-08-01 IT IT102017000088560A patent/IT201700088560A1/en unknown
-
2018
- 2018-08-01 EP EP18759408.0A patent/EP3662556A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2018-08-01 CN CN201880055017.3A patent/CN111316520A/en active Pending
- 2018-08-01 WO PCT/IB2018/055782 patent/WO2019026001A1/en unknown
Patent Citations (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US6459171B1 (en) * | 2000-07-21 | 2002-10-01 | Arraycomm, Inc. | Method and apparatus for sharing power |
| CN101627518A (en) * | 2007-02-09 | 2010-01-13 | 九州电力株式会社 | Charger |
| TWM324340U (en) * | 2007-05-29 | 2007-12-21 | Jian-Wen Huang | Automatic switching unit for power supply |
| WO2011030303A1 (en) * | 2009-09-10 | 2011-03-17 | Indesit Company S.P.A. | System and method for distributing a consumable resource |
| CN102201668A (en) * | 2010-03-23 | 2011-09-28 | 董爱华 | Power supply control device for network share equipment |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| EP3662556A1 (en) | 2020-06-10 |
| WO2019026001A1 (en) | 2019-02-07 |
| IT201700088560A1 (en) | 2019-02-01 |
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