FR2854002A1 - Electric household appliance e.g. ironing apparatus, has electric iron and steam generator connected by electric cord that has wire to transmit information signal and assure supply of direct current of electronic circuits - Google Patents

Abstract

The appliance has an electric iron (1) and steam generator (2) connected with each other by an electric cord (3). The cord has a neutral wire (30) and a wire (31) reserved to the transmission of information signal and assures a supply of direct current of an electronic circuit (10,20). The electronic circuits are intended for reception and transmission of the information signals.

Description

The present invention relates to household appliances comprising a

  first element manipulated by the user, this element being connected by an electrical connection to a second element itself connected to the power supply sector 5. The electrical connection is usually formed by an electrical cord. Some vacuum cleaners with separate suction units and certain ironing devices comprising an iron and a steam generator or water distributor unit are representative of this. The electrical cord follows

  usually a water or steam or air line.

  In these devices, the element manipulated by the user comprises organs consuming electrical power such as a motorized brush in a vacuum cleaner brush or the heating element of an electric iron.

  The connecting electrical cord frequently includes four conductive strands. It is easy to supply, the electric wires with four strands 15 being common. Two strands are used to transmit the phase and the neutral, one strand is a ground wire, one strand is used to transmit commands. In an ironing appliance for example, a strand transmits from a mobile element such as an iron, the order to open a steam solenoid valve located on a fixed element which contains a steam generator.

  We tried to transmit several commands or information by the same strand. We know for example the patent FR2710477 which makes it possible to transmit several pieces of information on the same wire, but however in very limited number.

  Other patents such as US3818466 or JP57106292 or FR2649267 or EP576098 or W00221660 describe the transmission of information using the AC power line. However, these systems complicated by the need to separate the power wave from that of the signal do not take advantage of the presence of an available strand for the transmission of information from one element to another of a device. In addition, the transmission of power from one element to another can be interrupted.

  The object of the following invention is an apparatus comprising at least two elements communicating with each other a great deal of information by their electrical connection without using the power strands and by a single wire reserved for this transmission.

  The information can be transmitted in digital form by pulses modulated into slots of given width or bits, by a circuit located in one of the elements of the apparatus, to constitute words of several bits.

  Several words can be sent one after the other, constituting a message, to transmit several different pieces of information. A circuit located in the other element can interpret the information. But then the two circuits must be supplied with a direct voltage suitable for electronic circuits and different from the available power voltage which can be interrupted in one of the elements of the apparatus.

  The object of the invention is achieved by a household electrical appliance comprising two distinct elements connected by an electrical connection having a neutral wire and a wire reserved for the transmission of information signals, characterized in that the wire reserved for the transmission information signals also supplies DC power to at least one electronic circuit intended for receiving and / or transmitting information signals.

  According to a characteristic of the household appliance according to the invention, one of the two elements is connected to the electrical network and comprises an electrical supply 20 supplying, on the wire for the transmission of information signals, a DC voltage necessary for the power supply to the electronic circuits of the device and comprising an internal resistance.

  According to another characteristic of the apparatus according to the invention, the DC voltage of the supply is stabilized by a voltage regulator at a first high value.

  According to yet another characteristic of the apparatus according to the invention, the voltage regulator is constituted by a Zener diode connected at the output of the electrical supply between the neutral wire and the wire for transmitting information signals.

  According to yet another characteristic of the apparatus according to the invention, the electronic circuits each comprise a microprocessor scanning the supply voltage, the microprocessors being connected to means generating, on command, variations in the supply voltage of the wire reserved for the transmission of information signals corresponding to the signal to be transmitted.

  According to another characteristic of the apparatus according to the invention, the means generating, on command, a variation in the supply voltage of the wire comprise a regulator of the supply voltage at a second low value, sufficient to supply the electronic circuits.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the means generating, on command, a variation in the supply voltage of the wire consist of a Zener diode associated with a switching member.

  In this way, the transmission and reception circuits located in the various elements of the apparatus are supplied by the information transmission strand. They each include a microprocessor capable, in addition to their task of controlling the element, of emitting signals from sensors or commands from the user and of examining the supply voltage. These various operations are carried out on a timeshare basis.

  Each transmitter circuit includes a regulator of the supply voltage at a second low value, however sufficient to supply the circuits.

  The microprocessor may commission the low voltage regulator for short periods. When a low voltage regulator is in service, it is traversed by a current, the voltage in the transmission wire then drops to a low value due to the presence of the internal resistance in the power supply. The voltage drop is limited by the regulator which regulates its current consumption.

  According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the voluntary variations in the supply voltage are modulated into slots of given width, or bits, to constitute words of several bits, several words being emitted one after the other, to compose a message.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, a time is allocated cyclically to the reading of the digital information transmitted on the transmission strand, the duration of which is at least twice the time necessary to read all the words of the message, so that the message is surely read in full, regardless of when the circuit begins reading.

  According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the transmitted information signals are analog signals, the value of the transmitted signal being proportional to the width of the voltage supply slots generated by the electronic circuits.

  After reading the message, the circuit processes the information and triggers the corresponding actions.

  The invention will be better understood on the basis of the example below and the associated drawings.

  Figure 1 is a simplified electrical diagram of an apparatus according to the invention.

  In an embodiment of the invention visible in FIG. 1, an ironing apparatus comprises an iron 1 and a steam generator 2 connected to one another by a cord 3. The cord comprises four strands which are a strand of soil, a neutral strand 30, a power strand and an information transmission strand 31. Only the transmission strands 31 and neutral 30 are shown. The steam generator 2 is also electrically connected to the mains.

  The generator 2 comprises an electrical supply 21 supplying from the sector a direct current to the transmission strand 31, through an internal resistance 210. The voltage of the direct current is stabilized by a Zener diode 22 at a maximum fixed value of 24Volts.

  The strand 31 supplies an electronic circuit 20 of the generator 2, and an electronic circuit 25 of the iron 1. The two circuits are partly similar and include a microprocessor 200, 100, which scans the supply voltage via a resistance bridge 201 , 202 and 101, 102, and is capable of actuating a switching member 204, 104 activating a Zener diode 203, 103 stabilizing the supply voltage at a value of 12 Volts sufficient to supply the circuits.

  The generator comprises an electrovalve controlling the passage of steam to a flexible tube of the cord 3 and the iron 1, an element heating a vaporization tank, a switch supplying or not supplying electricity to the power strand of the cord 3 and the heating element of the iron, indicator lights and a temperature sensor of the vaporization tank 5. All these organs are read or controlled, possibly by power interfaces, by the microprocessor 200 in timeshare.

  The iron has a soleplate heating element, indicator lights, a temperature sensor, steam and soleplate temperature control buttons. Microprocessor 100 reads information from the sensor and commands.

  Each piece of information in the iron is transformed into a word of several bits, and the different words are assembled in a pre-established order to constitute a message. The message is transmitted on the strand 31 by the microprocessor 100 by the actuation of the switch 104. Each voltage drop on the strand 31 corresponds to one bit.

  The circuit 20 of the generator scanning the voltage of the strand 31 is able to read the message sent by the circuit 10 of the iron 1 and to react accordingly. He can then open or close the steam solenoid valve, adjust the boiling temperature and therefore the steam pressure as a function of the flow desired by the user, and control the power supplied to the iron as a function of the temperature read by the iron sensor.

  In return, the generator circuit 20 can send messages to the iron 1 so that the circuit 10 controls, for example, the lighting of the indicator lights located on the iron, in particular the lights authorizing or not the use of the iron in function. the boiler boiler temperatures and the soleplate temperature.

  It can be seen that the invention makes it possible to free the iron from a power control member, and to transmit from one element to the other of the apparatus numerous information or commands.

  Of course, the invention is in no way limited to the embodiment described and illustrated which has been given only by way of example. Thus, the invention can also be implemented on other household appliances comprising two elements interconnected by an electric cord such as a vacuum cleaner.

  Modifications remain possible, in particular from the point of view of the constitution of the various elements or by substitution of technical equivalents, without thereby departing from the scope of protection of the invention.

  Thus, in an alternative embodiment not shown, the electrical connection connecting the two elements of the household appliance can include a connection / disconnection pin making it possible to temporarily interrupt the electrical connection between the two elements of the appliance. Such an alternative embodiment is particularly suitable for devices, such as kettles, comprising a portable element normally resting on a base and which can be separated from the latter during use. The transmission of digital information according to the invention then takes place when the portable element rests on its base.

Claims (10)

  1. Household electrical appliance comprising two separate elements (1, 2) connected by an electrical connection (3) having at least one neutral wire (30) and one wire (31) 5 reserved for the transmission of information signals, characterized in that that the wire (31) reserved for the transmission of information also supplies DC power to at least one electronic circuit (10, 20) intended for the reception and / or the transmission of said information signals.   2. Household appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that one (2) of the two elements is connected to the electrical network and comprises an electrical supply (21) supplying, on the wire (31) for transmitting signals of information, the DC voltage necessary to supply the electronic circuits (10, 20) of the device and comprising an internal resistance.   3. Household appliance according to claim 2, characterized in that the DC voltage of the power supply (31) is stabilized by a voltage regulator (22) at a first high value.   4. Household appliance according to claim 3, characterized in that said voltage regulator is constituted by a Zener diode (22) connected at the outlet of the power supply (21) between the neutral wire (30) and the wire (31 ) transmission of information signals.   5. Household appliance according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the electronic circuits (10, 20) each comprise a microprocessor (100, 200) scanning the supply voltage, said microprocessors (100, 200 ) being connected to means (104, 204) generating, on command, variations in the supply voltage of the wire (31).   6. Household appliance according to claim 5, characterized in that said means generating, on command, a variation in the supply voltage of the wire (31) comprise a regulator of the supply voltage (103, 203) at a second value low, sufficient to supply the electronic circuits (10, 20).   7. Household appliance according to claim 6, characterized in that said means generating, on command, a variation in the supply voltage of the wire (31) consist of a Zener diode (103, 203) associated with a switching member ( 104, 204).   8. Household electrical appliance according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the information signals transmitted are digital signals and in that the voluntary variations in the supply voltage are modulated in slots of given width, or bits, to constitute words of several bits, several words being transmitted one after the other, to constitute a message.   9. Household appliance according to claim 8, characterized in that a time is allocated cyclically to the reading of the digital information transmitted on the transmission strand, the duration of which is at least twice the time necessary to read all the words of the message.   10. Household appliance according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the transmitted information signals are analog signals and in that the value of the transmitted signal is proportional to the width of the voltage slots. power supply 20 generated by the electronic circuits (10, 20).