US 11,946,960 B2
Smart plug and method for determining operating information of a household appliance by a smart plug
Luca Della Schiava, Porcia (IT); Enrico Marson, Porcia (IT); Gilberto Pin, Porcia (IT); and Paolo Posa, Porcia (IT)
Assigned to Electrolux Appliances Aktiebolag, Stockholm (SE)
Appl. No. 17/265,375
Filed by Electrolux Appliances Aktiebolag, Stockholm (SE)
PCT Filed Aug. 27, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/072881
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 2, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/043737, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 5, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 18192089 (EP), filed on Aug. 31, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0293862 A1, Sep. 23, 2021
Int. Cl. G01R 21/06 (2006.01); G01R 21/133 (2006.01); H01R 13/66 (2006.01); H02J 13/00 (2006.01)
CPC G01R 21/06 (2013.01) [G01R 21/1331 (2013.01); H01R 13/6683 (2013.01); H01R 13/6691 (2013.01); H02J 13/00002 (2020.01); H02J 13/0005 (2020.01)] 28 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A smart plug configured to electrically connect a household appliance to electrical power lines, said smart plug comprising:
an electric measuring circuit configured to measure current and voltage of the electric power supplied to said household appliance, via said smart plug, and
an electronic controller configured to:
determine electric quantities indicative of at least current harmonics and/or voltage harmonics, based on said measured current and voltage,
recognize a plurality of electric loads of said household appliance being activated during an operating cycle performed by said household appliance, based on said determined electric quantities,
determine an operating cycle performed by the household appliance based on said recognized plurality of electric loads and a sequence of activation of said recognized plurality of electric loads during said operating cycle,
communicate said determined operating cycle to a network system,
store, in a storage of the smart plug, electric signatures of said plurality of electric loads, which contain information indicative of one or more of said electric quantities associated to activation of said electric loads of said household appliance,
when the household appliance is performing an operating cycle, determine electric signatures based on said electric quantities, and
recognize said electric loads and the sequence of activation of said plurality of electric loads based on said stored electric signatures and the electric signatures determined when the operating cycle was performed.