ITTO20120739A1 - "CONTROL DEVICE FOR A HOUSEHOLD SYSTEM" - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION of the industrial invention entitled:

â € œControl device for a household appliance systemâ €

TEXT OF THE DESCRIPTION

Field of invention

The present invention relates to the field of devices and systems for monitoring domestic consumption of electricity and has been developed with particular reference to the efficient management of such consumption.

State of the art

The strong evolution underway in electricity generation systems, characterized by a growing contribution from renewable energy sources, is making a global review of the energy distribution systems necessary and urgent, providing for an increasing use of ICT technologies. to monitor in real time the actual power available at any time on the network, so as to ensure, through appropriate corrective actions to be implemented as needed, the maintenance of a constant balance between the electrical power generated upstream and that absorbed downstream by the various users, since this balance is a guarantee of maximum efficiency and minimum environmental impact. These corrective actions, necessary when the electrical power available on the grid is lower than that required or, vice versa, when there is an excess of power caused for example by an unexpected contribution from renewable energy sources (photovoltaic systems, wind power plants, etc.) , can essentially be implemented in the following two main ways: (1) through direct negotiation between the electricity utility and the electrical users, who for this purpose must be equipped with appropriate means of communication and adequate "intelligence", or (2) through the use of appropriate control devices (smart plugs) equipped with an electromechanical relay (device for managing the flow of current delivered to an electrical load connected to the control device itself in ON-OFF mode) which, interposed between a user household electrical outlet and its socket and capable of being directly controlled by the electrical utility o by an energy management system connected to it, they allow, on command of the utility, to deactivate or activate said electric load in accordance with situations of shortage or excess of electric power available in the network, respectively.

With reference to the first case, it is necessary that domestic electrical users, in particular household appliances, are able to adapt their operation as much as possible to the needs of the network, trying to reduce or cancel their current consumption at peak times. and, vice versa, to make the most of situations of greater energy availability, all while safeguarding the quality of performance for the user. This can only be achieved if each electrical user is able to constantly know the situation of the network, so as to be able to adapt its operation to the needs of the latter, while at the same time guaranteeing the quality of its final performance towards the user: that is, in practice, only if said user is equipped with suitable means to communicate directly with the electricity grid management system and has an appropriate control system capable of modifying the work cycle of the same according to the needs of said network. Appliances of this type are not yet on the market, but the world's largest white goods producers have announced their intention to make them available soon.

With reference to the second case, the power supply of the domestic electrical users concerned would be managed through the aforementioned control device or smart plug, activating the user (for example a boiler) when the network has excess electrical power and deactivating it in times of shortage. of said power available in the network. Such management by the utility would obviously be governed by an appropriate contract stipulated directly with the user.

Both of the above-described methods of managing household electrical loads by the electrical utility have limitations.

In the first case, a big limitation is represented by the fact that, for the method to be effectively effective, it must soon presuppose a massive presence in the field of new generation appliances, which instead requires rather long technical times because the process of replacement of household appliances already present in homes, being linked to their useful life which generally exceeds ten years, is in fact slow and gradual. A further obstacle also derives from the fact that this approach, which is based on household appliances capable of communicating, strongly depends on the complex problems of communication standards which, unfortunately, are still far from a definitive solution. There is, in fact, the need to have well-defined communication rules shared by all the main manufacturers of household appliances (standard rules, ratified by international regulatory bodies), in order to guarantee the so-called â € œinteroperabilityâ € between products of different types. and of different brands, that is the possibility of establishing a common communication language that allows the user to freely choose among the "smart appliances" of different brands that will be progressively made available on the market in the near future. In fact, linking an appliance to a specific communication technology represents a very demanding decision, if not supported by certain rules and also shared by direct competitors. Finally, there is also the problem of the cost of communication technology which, being not negligible, causes an increase in the industrial cost of the household appliance making it less competitive and, consequently, tends to slow down the spread of "smart appliances".

In the second case there is a serious problem that makes the use of said external control devices as ON-OFF managers of household appliances inadequate and inadvisable in most cases: the fact that the ON-OFF management of the power supply of a ™ electrical consumer can severely affect its performance, cause inefficiencies and sometimes even cause damage to the product. For this reason, household appliance manufacturers and consumer organizations are strongly opposed to the use of external control devices which, in accordance with the needs of the electricity supplier, cut off the power supply of a domestic electrical user regardless of the operating phase in which it is operating at that moment.

Summary of the invention

In its general terms, the present invention essentially aims to solve the aforementioned drawbacks of the known art.

This and still other objects, which will become clearer hereinafter, are achieved, according to the present invention, by a control device for a household appliance system, by a method for controlling the consumption of electricity in a domestic environment and by a system household appliance having the characteristics indicated in the attached claims. The claims form an integral part of the technical teaching provided herein in relation to the invention.

In summary, the invention is based on the use of a control device characterized by the ability to adapt to the operating status of the relative electrical user, using information provided by the same. In a preferred embodiment, the electrical user supplies the above information by means of a method which, preferably using the same control electronics (110) already supplied with the electrical user (100), i.e. without adding any specific hardware component, allows the latter to periodically send initial information, relating to its â € œdeactivation degree â €, i.e. its degree of willingness to tolerate an interruption of its mains power supply, without altering the industrial cost of the product itself.

In a preferred embodiment, the above method is based on the fact that the digital control system (110) of a household appliance (100) is typically equipped with means (115, 120, 125) to manage the flows of the mains current that feeds its internal electrical loads (130) connected between line (140) and neutral (145) through relative controlled switches (125) - represented by solenoid valves, pumps, motors, lamps, fans and so on - and consists in exploiting this characteristic to transmit , through its own power cable (150), first information representative of its â € œdeactivability degree â € (105), being said information transmitted by means of controlled and appropriately coded variations of said current flows and being acquired, decoded and received possibly connected to the network with the aid of a suitable control device (160) placed between a power source of the appliance, such as a power socket (190) in the home environment, to which the appliance itself is connected by means of its own power supply line, such as its power cable (150) with its plug (151).

For this purpose, the control device (160) is preferably equipped with means (165, 166, 167) for measuring the variations in the mains current that feeds the household appliance, with means (170) for decoding the information encoded through the aforesaid variations of current and possibly of means (175) for making said information available on a local communication network (180) to which the control device (160) is connected.

According to the invention, the information relating to the â € œdeactivation degree â € represents a form of authorization by the appliance to be deactivated or not from the outside and are closely related to the operating status of the same. : they are preferably sent in correspondence with each change in the state of the appliance and, during the operating phase associated with a specific state, they can be updated periodically.

Further advantages of the present invention are represented by the fact that the control device, in addition to being able to receive periodic information on the acceptability or otherwise of a power cut by the household appliance, can also receive from it, with the same technique, other types of information, such as the type of appliance (refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, oven, hob, extractor hood, and so on), its operating status, the events of interaction with the user, the statistical data on the frequency and method of use, the diagnostic data generated by any self-diagnosis system present within the appliance control system itself, as described in greater detail below.

Similarly, the external control device or smart plug, being according to the invention capable of capturing and decoding the aforementioned different types of information sent by the appliance connected to it, plays the role of enabler towards the provision of new services based on the contents of these different types of information.

The communication system provided according to the preferred embodiment of the invention differs clearly from known communication systems on powerline, because it does not require any specific transmission device but uses the same means already present in a digitally controlled household appliance, and therefore does not involve additional costs for the product. Compared to a known communication system based on powerline, the one proposed in the context of the present invention is therefore characterized by a simpler and more elementary technology which, however, has the advantage of fully satisfying the needs of the applications to which it is addressed and of not burdening on the cost of the appliance.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached figures, provided purely by way of non-limiting example, in which:

- figure 1a represents the general architecture of the system according to an embodiment of the invention, in which a control device external to a household appliance (100) is a mobile device (160) interposed between the power cable ( 150) of the appliance itself and the relative power socket (190);

- figure 1b represents the general architecture of the system according to another embodiment of the invention, in which the function performed by the control device (160) of figure 1a is integrated inside the socket (191) which powers the appliance;

Figure 2 is a schematic view of the known control system of a household appliance (100) in which the management mode of a generic electrical load (130) is highlighted;

Figure 3a describes a block diagram of the control device (160) of Figure 1a;

Figure 3b describes the block diagram of the socket (191) of Figure 1b, incorporating the function performed by the control device (160) of Figure 1a;

Figure 4 represents a flow chart describing the process of managing domestic energy consumption according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 describes an example of data transmission by the household appliance according to an embodiment of the invention; And

Figure 6 represents a flow diagram of a possible reception routine, by the control device (160 or 191), of the data sent by the household appliance (100) in the form of current absorption according to an embodiment of the invention.

Description of preferred embodiments of the invention

The following description illustrates various specific details aimed at an in-depth understanding of the embodiments. The embodiments can be implemented without one or more of the specific details, or by other methods. In other cases, known structures or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring various aspects of the embodiments. Reference to â € œan embodimentâ € in the context of this description indicates that a particular configuration, structure or feature described in relation to the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, phrases such as â € œin one embodimentâ € and the like, present in different places of this description, do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, particular conformations, structures or characteristics can be combined in an adequate way in one or more embodiments, even different from those described. The references used here are for convenience only and therefore do not define the scope of protection or the scope of the forms of implementation.

Figure 1a schematically shows a household appliance system according to an embodiment of the invention, comprising an electrical user, represented here by a generic household appliance 100, equipped with a digital control system 110, and a control device 160 , hereinafter also referred to as â € œsmart plugâ €, interposed here between the power cable 150 of the appliance and the relative power socket 190. The control device 160 is equipped with a power socket 152 or similar, to which it must be connected the plug 151 of the power supply cable of the appliance, or in any case the cable itself, and also has a plug 153 to connect in turn to the socket 190. The control device 160 is also equipped with interfacing means, here represented by a communication node 175, through which it can connect to a communication network 180, particularly a local network. An â € œenergy managerâ € 185 device, of any known type, may also be connected to the local network 180, which acts as a domestic energy manager.

The same figure 1a shows the flow of information 105 which, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the household appliance 100 periodically sends to the control device 160. As will become clearer below, the aforementioned information - concerning or in any case including the possibility or not of external interruption of the power supply in the period following their sending - they are encoded in the form of impulsive current absorption that the control device 160 is able to measure and decode.

In a different embodiment of the invention, in which the functions performed by the device 160 of figure 1a are integrated inside a current socket 191 (which we will also call "intelligent socket"), it is represented in figure 1b. The socket 191 is connected to the power source, here represented by the electrical system of the environment in which it is located, through a connector 154 and is able, according to an embodiment of the invention, to measure the consumption of electrical power of the household appliance 100 connected to it, to detect the impulsive current absorption sent in coded form by the control system 110 of the same household appliance 100, to decode the relative information and possibly to share said information with other devices through the local network 180 to which it is connected, preferably through the same interface represented by the communication node 175.

The control system 110 of the household appliance, shown in Figure 2, sends information to the control device 160 or to the "intelligent socket" 191 by exploiting, according to the aforementioned preferred embodiment of the invention, the fact that the individual electrical loads of the household appliance 100 - one of which indicated with 130 - are managed through relative controllable switch means 125 which, on the basis of the command signal 120 managed by an actuator circuit 115 of the control system 110, receive or not the alternating mains power supply . In particular, and referring to the schematic example shown, the closure of the switch 125 causes the single-phase mains voltage associated with the cables 140 (Line) and 145 (Neutral) to be applied to the ends of the electrical load 130 and consequently, this electric load 130 absorbs current.

The coded transmission of information by the household appliance takes place, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, by acting in the ON-OFF mode on the switch 125, which can be represented by the contact of an electromechanical relay or by a triac (i.e. a solid state relay), so as to cause the passage or not of current on the electrical load 130 in correspondence with the closed or open state of the switch contact 125 respectively: these sequences of ON and OFF activations are acquired and decoded from an external device of type 160 or 191.

The devices 160 and 191, schematically described in figures 3a and 3b respectively, have the same means for measuring the current absorption of the relative household appliance, here comprising a power meter 165 (i.e. an electric power meter), assisted by a voltage sensor 166 and a current sensor 167. The devices 160 and 191 have the same control logic 170 to manage the closed or open state of the contact of a controllable switch 171, preferably a relay, have a analogous socket 152 or other connector to which the power cable 150-151 of the appliance is connected and interface in the same way (use of a communication node 175) to a local network 180. What differentiates the two devices is only the fact that the first, i.e. the control device 160, has means 153 (such as a three-pole power plug) for connecting to a st andard, while the second, namely the â € œintelligent socketâ € 191, is equipped with terminals or the like to connect to a standard or proprietary domestic electrical system, or the source of electrical voltage: in this perspective, the 191 device can be considered an advanced power outlet.

In both cases, the communication node 175 can be based on radio frequency (for example: WiFi, ZigBee, Z-Wave, ...) or on powerline (KNX, LonTalk, Homeplug, ...), while, only in the case of device 191, it can interface directly with a bus system on an electric cable, both of the standard type and of the proprietary type.

There are many possibilities of coding information through ON-OFF actions carried out on an electric load 130 belonging to a household appliance, without however departing from the scope of the present invention.

In a first non-limiting embodiment, the coding can be associated with a sequence of closing and opening actions of the circuit-breaker 125 associated with periods of fixed duration, to which a "logic zero" corresponds respectively (circuit-breaker open during the aforementioned period fixed) or a "logic one" (circuit-breaker closed during the aforementioned fixed period), as for example is the case in which the circuit-breaker 125 is represented by a triac and the fixed duration of the opening and closing times coincides with the network period, respectively equal to 20 or 16.67 milliseconds if the network frequency is 50 or 60 Hz. A known example of this type of transmission is described for example in the international patent application WO 02/21664, in whose teachings in this regard are incorporated herein.

In a second particularly advantageous embodiment, which also includes the case in which the switch 125 is represented by the contact of an electromechanical relay, the system for coding the information sent by the household appliance 100 is represented by a sequence of operations closing and opening of the contact 125 associated with periods of variable duration, the useful information being contained in the duration of said periods.

This coding method is suitable for all those cases in which the household appliance does not have an advanced control system, i.e. including means necessary to implement the communication technique described in the aforementioned international patent application WO 02/21664, which presuppose a ™ high measurement accuracy, for example of time (in terms of microseconds).

The modalities for coding the data sent by the household appliance 100, based precisely on the durations of the ON and OFF impulses applied to the electrical load 130, can be manifold. A possible implementation of the data coding referred to in the aforementioned second embodiment is shown in figure 5, where a sequence of pulses of variable duration (duration dependent on the value of the data associated with each period) associated with the passage of current is represented. on the load 130 (corresponding to the closing of the contact 125), interspersed with fixed pauses associated with the opening of the contact 125. In particular, the first transmission start data (header) is represented by a current pulse - deriving from the application of the mains voltage across the load 130 by closing the contact 125 - lasting 1 second, corresponding to 50 mains cycles with a period of 20 milliseconds (mains frequency of 50 Hz), followed by, after a fixed pause of 1 second, the Data1 which indicates the type of data that will follow and which has been assumed to correspond to the decimal number 62 ("3E" in hexadecimal and "00111110" in binary) and then i with duration equal to 62x20 * 10 <-3> = 1.24 seconds. After another pause of 1 second follows the Data2 which represents the useful data to be transmitted, which in the hypothesized example is equal to 88 decimal ("58" hexadecimal and "01011000" binary), i.e. with a duration of 88x20 * 10 <-3> = 1.76 seconds. Then follows, after a further pause of 1 second, the Data3 which replicates the Data2 and concludes the transmission.

In general terms, therefore, the variable duration of the pulses depends on the value of the data to be transmitted and is preferably a multiple - not necessarily integer - of the network period. Previously an implementation was exemplified in relation to a network frequency of 50 Hz, but it is evident that the same concept is also applicable to the case of another network frequency, typically 60 Hz.

The meaning of Data1, Data2 and Data3 can be obtained, according to the invention, by using their respective value as a pointer to an element of a corresponding table, common to both the household appliance 100 and the external control device 160 or 191, the content of which represents respectively for the household appliance the data sent to the external control device in coded form through suitable sequences of power absorption and, for the external control device, the decoding of the received value.

Data1 serves, as mentioned, to define the type of information or data that is sent; for example, in one form of implementation, Data1 may concern:

Case a. information relating to the authorization or not by the appliance to interrupt its power supply through the external device 160 or 191;

Case b. information relating to the current operating status (status) of the appliance, useful for example to inform the user about the progress of a specific program (washing program, if it is a washing machine or dishwasher, or cooking or other) through the communication means of a home automation system connected to the local network 180 which sees the appliance itself as a peripheral device associated with its system;

Case c. information relating to an interaction event (event) with the household appliance by the user, this information being useful for example in the case in which a telemedicine system is connected to the local network 180 which uses household appliances as a source of information on the daily behavior of a fragile user who needs assistance;

Case d. statistical data concerning the work cycles carried out by the appliance or other information deemed useful by the manufacturer of the appliance itself;

Case e. a diagnostic code elaborated by the appliance's self-diagnosis system, useful for remotely assisting the product;

Case f. the type of appliance (type) that is connected to the external device 160 or 191 (smart plug).

With reference to â € œCase aâ € (authorization), device 160 or 191 can interrupt the power supply of the appliance, in response to any request for a domestic or remote energy management system, if and only if authorized directly from the appliance itself through the variable authorization. For this purpose, this variable can define various situations such as the following, provided purely by way of non-limiting example (other criteria can be adopted by an expert in the field without departing from the teachings of the invention):

- authorization for possible deactivation, expressed with a pulse (Data2) of a certain duration D1: in this case the device 160 or 191 can freely disconnect the appliance from the power supply if requested by any energy manager 185;

- deactivation prohibition, expressed with a pulse (Data2) of a certain duration D2 greater than D1: in this case the device 160 or 191 will not be able to deactivate the appliance even if this is requested by the energy manager 185, but it will be limited to inform the energy manager himself about the impossibility of carrying out the requested operation;

- authorization conditioned by a delay, expressed with a pulse (Data2) of a certain duration D3 greater than D2: in this case the duration of D3 represents the delay to be considered before deactivating the appliance.

Therefore, the deactivation operation, carried out by the external device 160 or 191 by opening the contact of the switch 171 (figures 3a and 3b), is made operational if and only if the following two conditions are verified simultaneously:

- the device 160 or 191 has received a command to deactivate the household appliance 100 from an energy manager 185;

- the last information on the â € œdeactivation degreeâ €, sent by the appliance before the device 160 or 191 received the aforementioned deactivation command, provides the authorization to interrupt the power supply of the appliance itself .

On the basis of the criteria described above, the behavior of the household appliance 100 and of the relative device 160 or 191, in response to any requests for an energy management system, is represented by the flow chart in figure 4, where the starting block 200 transfers control to the test block 205 which verifies the presence or absence of a request, by the energy manager 185, to reduce the power absorbed by the appliance. If there is no request for a reduction in consumption, control passes to block 215, which confirms the supply of mains power to the appliance and returns to the initial block 200; otherwise, control passes to block 210, which confirms to the smart plug SP (device 160 or 191) the request for a reduction in current consumption by the house energy manager 185. The control then passes to test block 220, which verifies whether the HA (Home Appliance) has authorized its possible deactivation. If not, the smart plug does not interrupt the power supply of the appliance and the control returns to the initial block 200; otherwise (in case of full or delayed authorization), the control passes to the next test block 225, which verifies whether the HA appliance has authorized a possible delayed deactivation. If not, the smart plug cuts off the power supply of the appliance and the control returns to the initial block 200; otherwise (in case of delayed authorization), the control passes to test block 235, which verifies whether the deactivation delay required by the appliance has already elapsed. If not, the smart plug does not interrupt the power supply of the appliance and the control returns to the initial block 200; otherwise (if the delay required by the appliance has already elapsed), the smart plug cuts off the appliance power supply and the control returns to the initial block 200.

With reference to the â € œCase bâ € (status), the appliance announces the operating status, which can be for example the stage of progress of a washing or cooking program or other, depending on the type of appliance. This information is renewed, in a preferred implementation, in correspondence with each change of state by the appliance. Status information is very useful especially when the appliance is part of a home automation system, as it allows said system to keep the user informed, through the means of interaction available ( for example a display device interfaced to the network 180), regarding the progress of a specific program associated with the appliance itself (of particular interest, for example, is the `` end of program '' status, which warns the user that the cooking is finished and the lunch is ready, or that the washing is finished and it is possible to iron the freshly washed clothes). In this case, the duration of the impulse (Data2) represents the new status assumed by the appliance in coded form.

With reference to the â € œCase câ € (event), the appliance announces the occurrence of an interaction event with the user (for example the opening of the refrigerator door, the activation of a washing program, the activation of a cooking program, and so on). This type of information is particularly useful if the appliance is also used as a `` vitality sensor '' in a telemedicine system: in this case, in fact, it can provide information on daily behavior of a frail user (for example an elderly person with Alzheimer's disease), contributing to the study of his behavioral habits and to the identification of any abnormal behaviors that may highlight the aggravation of a disease or the symptom of an incipient disease. In this case the duration of the impulse (Data2) expresses the type of event that occurred.

With reference to the â € œCase dâ € (statistic), the appliance provides information for example on the type of program in execution, this can be used by the manufacturer as statistical data that informs about the frequency and method of use of the product, useful information to make any improvements to the product and also to improve its assistance: thanks to this information it is possible, in fact, to estimate the â € œstate of wearâ € of the appliance and, if necessary, to intervene with preventive maintenance operations. In this case, the duration of the impulse (Data2) identifies the type of the current program performed by the appliance.

With reference to the â € œCase eâ € (diagnostic), the appliance sends a possible fault or warning code, detected by its internal self-diagnosis system. The fault code identifies a specific fault that requires immediate assistance, while the warning code indicates a less serious problem, which does not cause the interruption of the service offered by the product but which can degrade its performance: the all resulting very useful to offer the user a good remote assistance service. In this case the duration of the impulse (Data2) is associated with the code that identifies the detected diagnostic event (fault or warning).

Finally, with reference to the â € œCase fâ € (type), the appliance communicates its identity (refrigerator, fridge-freezer, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, oven, hob, extractor hood, and so on), in so that the device 160 or 191 can correctly interpret all the information that it will send to it. This operation can be carried out, for example, at each power on operation of the appliance. In this case, the duration of the impulse (Data2) is associated with the code that identifies the type of appliance.

Returning again to the example of figure 5, the useful data expressed by Data2 is associated with a current pulse with a duration of 1.76 seconds, corresponding to 88 network cycles ("58" hexadecimal, "01011000" binary) , and expresses a certain value whose meaning depends on the coding rules adopted and on the meaning of Datai (type of information transmitted). Finally, the duration of the last impulse (Data3) intentionally coincides with that of the previous impulse (Data2) and represents a way to verify the correct reception of the latter and also to signal the end of the transmission.

The advantages of the invention compared to a traditional smart plug system are evident. Assume the case where

- The appliance is represented by a washing machine that is washing at 60 ° C,

- that the forced interruption of the power supply must take place near the end of a washing water heating phase, for example when the water temperature has reached 59 ° C, and

- that the aforementioned interruption must last for a time such that the same temperature drops to 40 ° C.

In a traditional system, the electrical power supply to the machine would simply be interrupted and, when the power supply is reactivated, the machine control system would recover the 19 ° C lost, returning to activate the heating resistance to reach the target value of 60 ° C. The result is an evident inefficiency, due to the need to reheat the washing water, as well as an extension of the washing duration caused by the time required by the reheating. The user will therefore be at a disadvantage, while the utility will have obtained, on the other hand, the double advantage of reducing consumption at a moment of peak and billing the user for a greater amount of electricity.

In the system according to the invention, on the contrary, the machine can oppose its shutdown and can complete the water heating phase, and then move on to the simple washing phase (alternating rotation of the drum) which involves a power absorption ten times lower than that required during the previous heating phase (and therefore substantially irrelevant for the management of domestic consumption peaks).

Figure 6 shows a flow diagram of a non-limiting example of the reception routine, by the device 160 or 191, of the data transmitted by the household appliance in the form of current absorption according to an embodiment of the invention. Said routine uses variables, here exemplified in A, B, C, D, E, F and G, called "phase variables" being associated with the various phases of a transmission indicated in figure 5, and assigns the value 1 (blocks 475 and 520 for the variable A, block 375 for the variable B, block 345 for the variable C, block 425 for the variable D, block 405 for the variable E, block 440 for the variable F and block 515 for the variable G) to variable corresponding to the current phase of the transmission according to the scheme of figure 5, all the other variables being set to zero.

The routine is called by the control system of the device 160 or 191 at fixed time intervals, for example coinciding with the network period (20 milliseconds in the case of a frequency of 50 Hz, as shown in figure 5), and the measurement of the duration of the single transmission phases is obtained by adding the period of network associated with each call of the routine. The first operation carried out by the device 160 or 191 on the occasion of each call of the reception routine consists in comparing the PABS power, absorbed by the appliance in that network period, with a certain power threshold PTH taken as a reference. Based on the result of the comparison, the variable BIT is set to 1 if PABS> PTH or to zero if not (blocks 305, 310, 315, 320) and then the current phase of the transmission is identified (test blocks 315 , 325, 380, 385, 455, 460 and 465), characterized by the value 1 of the phase variable, in correspondence with which operations consistent with the value assumed by the aforementioned BIT variable are performed (test blocks 335, 330, 415, 390 , 445, 495 and 470). In particular, the "header" synchronism signal for the start of transmission by the appliance (phase A) is recognized by blocks 355-365-370-375, the duration of the first fixed pause (phase B) is verified by the blocks 330-335-340-345, the duration of Data1 (phase C) is identified by blocks 415-420-425, the duration of the second fixed pause (phase D) is verified by blocks 390-395-400-405, the duration of Data2 (phase E) is identified by blocks 445-435-440, the duration of the third fixed pause (phase F) is verified by blocks 495-505-510-515 and finally the duration of Data3 (phase G ) Is identified by blocks 470-475. If the value of Data3 coincides with the value of Data2 (test block 480), the transmission ends positively and the data received are contained in the variables Data1 and Data2; in all other situations, no data is received from device 160 or 191 and the variables involved are reset (blocks 360, 350, 485, 410 and 500).

Ultimately, device 160 or 191 performs the following functions:

- constantly measures the power consumption of the household appliance 100; - identifies, acquires and decodes any information sent by the appliance through variations in power absorption carried out by means of ON / OFF operations on its electrical load 130 in any of the methods envisaged according to the invention;

- makes operational any request for deactivation of the relative household appliance 100 by an energy manager 185 present in the same domestic environment, if and only if the same appliance has previously authorized it to do so.

It is evident that numerous variants are possible for encoding information by acting on the switch 125 in the ON-OFF mode, for example by combining pulses of both fixed and variable duration, without however departing from the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the six different values associated with Data1 (authorization, status, event, statistic, diagnostic, type) are just some important examples of the possible types of information that an appliance can communicate externally using the method described above, obviously being It is possible to send other types of information deemed useful by the same method without thereby departing from the protection scope of the present invention.

In one embodiment, the control device 160 or 191 is designed to signal to the electrical user 100 connected to it the need to reduce consumption - a reduction possibly requested by the energy manager 185 - through at least a brief interruption of the power supply of said electrical user, particularly a sequence of short interruptions interspersed with constant pauses, and therefore using the same power supply line represented by the cable 150, 151 as a communication channel. For example, assuming that each of these power interruptions is of the order of a few tens of milliseconds (for example an interruption equal to three or four grid periods, i.e. 60 or 80 milliseconds when the grid frequency is equal to 50 Hz), it will not actually cause a power failure to the system control 110 of the electrical user 100, which is typically designed to withstand mains holes of this entity TO . The same control system 110, however, is set up to detect such network holes and act accordingly, sending the message 105 authorizing or not authorizing the interruption (or, as a variant, providing, if in conditions to do so on the basis of to the current operating state, to spontaneously reduce or reset its consumption without the need for external power to be disconnected). Ultimately, therefore, in this form of implementation:

- the external control device 160 or 191 is capable, when necessary, of requesting a reduction in power consumption from the electrical user 100 through a determined sequence of short mains gaps of fixed duration interspersed with fixed pauses (for example two holes with a duration equal to three or four network periods interspersed with a 1 second pause);

- the electrical user 100 is able to detect the aforementioned mains failures by monitoring the time interval between two zero crossings of the mains voltage (in fact, in the presence of a mains failure, this interval increases , from the typical 20 milliseconds, to 60 or 80 milliseconds in case the mains failure lasts for 3 or 4 mains periods being the mains frequency equal to 50 Hz);

- once the consumption reduction command has been recognized, user 100 can send its authorization or non-authorization to be temporarily switched off, or it can itself reduce or reset its own consumption (of which the control 160 or 191 will take note by measuring the power consumption of the user that it constantly carries out).

As a further variant, the control system 110 of the electrical user 100 can also be configured, as well as to reduce or reset its own power consumption, to also send a message 105 in which, for example, it specifies the duration of the reduction in consumption. outstanding.

Claims (12)

CLAIMS 1. A control device for a household appliance system, designed to be operationally interposed between an electric power supply line (150, 151) of an electric user (100) and a relative power supply source, the control device (160; 191) having a digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) with a first controllable switch (171) to manage in ON-OFF mode the electrical voltage from the power source to the electrical user ( 100); wherein the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) includes means for interfacing (175) to a communication network (180) and is configured to receive through said communication network (180) instructions for switching of the first controllable switch (171); in which the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) of the control device (160; 191) is also set up to receive information (105) transmitted by the electrical user (100), and in which the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) is configured to cause a commutation of the first controllable switch (171) in operation - of a said switching instruction, e - an initial information sent by the electric user (100), relating to the authorization or non-authorization of an interruption of its power supply. The device according to claim 1, wherein the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) includes means for receiving said information (105), including means (165, 166, 167) for measuring variations of the electric current absorbed by the electric user (100) and means (170) for decoding information encoded by a control system (110) of the electric user (100) in the form of impulsive current absorption. The device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said first information comprises one of: - an authorization to cut off the power supply to the electrical user, - a ban on the interruption of the power supply to the electrical user, - an authorization for the interruption of the electricity supply to the electric user conditioned by a delay, the first information preferably including the amount of said delay. 4. The device according to one of the preceding claims, in which said information (105) comprises one or more second information selected from: type of electrical user, operating status of the electrical user, interaction events of a user with the Electrical user, statistical data on the frequency and mode of use of the electrical user, diagnostic data generated by a self-diagnosis system of the electrical user. 5. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) is designed to signal to the electric user (100) a request to reduce its consumption of electrical power by means of one or more short interruptions of the supply voltage operated by switching of the first controllable switch (171), particularly a sequence of short interruptions interspersed with constant pauses. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) is arranged to make said information (105) available on said communication network (180) through said interfacing means (175). 7. The device according to claim 2, wherein the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) is configured to carry out the decoding of said information (105) by detecting a sequence of absorption pulses of electric power of variable duration by the electric user (100), interspersed with fixed breaks. 8. The device according to claim 2, wherein the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) is configured to carry out the decoding of said information (105) by detecting a sequence of absorption pulses of electric power of fixed duration by the electric user (100). 9. The device according to one of claims 1-3, comprising first connection means (152) for connection to said power supply line (105, 151) of the electrical user (100) and second connection means (153; 154) ) for connection to said power source. 10. The device according to claim 9, configured as a mobile device (160), connectable between a power supply cable (150, 151) of the electrical user (100) and a power socket (190), or integrated into a socket current (191). 11. Use of a control device in a method for controlling energy consumption in a domestic environment comprising - providing a control device according to one or more of claims 1-10; - provide an electric utility (100); - place the control device (160; 191) between an electric power supply line (150, 151) of the electric user (100) and a relative power supply source, the control device (160; 191) being capable of causing an interruption of the electrical voltage supply from said power source to said power line (150, 151) by means of a first controllable switch (171); - interfacing the control device (160; 191) to a communication network (180), to receive from it instructions for switching the first controllable switch (171); in which the electrical user (100) is capable of transmitting information (105) to the control device (160; 191); in which said information (105) includes initial information, relating to the authorization or non-authorization of an interruption of the power supply to the electrical user (100) by the control device (160; 191) , the electrical user (100) generating the first information according to its operating status; and in which the control device (160; 191) interrupts or does not interrupt the power supply to the electric user (100) according to a said switching instruction and said first information. 12. Use of a control device in a household appliance system which includes - an electric user (100), having at least one electric load (130) and a digital control system (110) which includes means (115, 120, 125) to manage flows of electric current supplying at least one electric load (130); - a control device according to one or more of claims 1-10; wherein the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) of the control device (160; 191) includes interfacing means (175) to a communication network (180) and is configured to receive through said communication network (180) instructions for switching the first controllable switch (171); in which the digital control system (110) of the electrical user (100) is set up to transmit information (105) and the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) of the control device (160 ; 191) includes means for receiving said information (105), in which said information (105) includes initial information, relating to the authorization or non-authorization of an interruption of the power supply to the electrical user (100) by the control device (160; 191) , the control system (110) of the electrical user (100) being configured to generate the first information according to its operating status; and wherein the digital control system (165-167, 170, 171, 175) of the control device (160; 191) is configured to cause a commutation of the first controllable switch (171) as a function of a said instruction for the switching and of said first information.