WO2005050809A1

WO2005050809A1 - Power consumption control system for household appliances

Info

Publication number: WO2005050809A1
Application number: PCT/IB2004/003803
Authority: WO
Inventors: Silvia Marcolli
Original assignee: Silvia Marcolli
Priority date: 2003-11-20
Filing date: 2004-11-19
Publication date: 2005-06-02

Abstract

A control system (SC) of dissipated power for electrical equipment and, in particular, for household appliances (E1, E2, E3) comprises, in a first embodiment, a switch (I, I1, I2), suitable for suitably selecting the resistive loads (R1, R2, R3, R, RP) assembled in series in household appliances, so as to dissipate half or all of the power available during their functioning; in alternative embodiments, a control circuit (CC) is used, which controls the intervention of an electronic regulation device (T) for controlling the absorption of current on the load (R) of the household appliance, if a programmable threshold of dissipated current is exceeded. The control system (SC) described can be assembled in series in household appliances at the moment of assembly, it can be installed in the plug of the household appliance or it can be used as an accessory for household appliances already connected to an electrical consumption point (UT).

Description

POWER CONSUMPTION CONTROL SYSTEM FOR HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

The present invention relates to a dissipated power control system, which can be used for electrical equipment in general and, in particular, for household appliances connected to a common electrical consumption point. Electrical equipment for household or industrial use can be directly connected to electrical wall sockets or it can be further fed by means of extension wires. In order to avoid dangerous over-currents, however, each electrical consumption point, whether household or industrial, adopts one or more magneto-thermal switches (and possibly differential switches, known as "automatic circuit breakers"), situated downstream of the electric meter, which interrupts the supply of electric energy when the power dissipated by loads connected to the electrical consumption point exceeds, at a certain moment, a pre-established limit value. If therefore happens, mainly when, on a household scale, electrical appliances are used, which dissipate a great deal of power (as in the case of the most common household appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, irons or electric ovens), that it is necessary to wait for one of these appliances to finish its functioning (as in the case of washing cycles in washing machines or dishwashers) to be able to adopt another. Analogously, when, in a household-type electric con- sumption point (to which at least a refrigerator and/or freezer and other possible functioning appliances are connected, such as one or more televisions, light bulbs, watches and/or other electronic equipment, burglar alarms, boilers, battery-charges or Hi-Fi equipment), an electric oven or iron is functioning, they must be switched off, to allow the washing machine or dishwasher to function, as the loads of these household appliances normally envisage the dissipation of a much higher value of overall electric power with respect to the extreme calibration values of magneto-thermal switches (that are defined in the electrical supply contract, which, however, proves to be extremely costly with an increase in these limits) . This practical complication consequently causes a series of drawbacks which the user is compelled to toler- ate, of which the first and foremost is the necessity of having to wait (without being able to leave the house) until the programmed functioning of one of said household appliances finishes before other appliances can be acti- vated; the necessity, for example, of having to wait at home (without being able to leave before) for the end of the washing program of the washing machine before activating the dishwasher or electric oven or vice versa. An objective of the present invention is therefore to provide a dissipated power control system for electrical equipment, in particular for household appliances, which overcomes the disadvantages specified above, i.e. to provide a dissipated power control system for electrical equipment and, in particular, for household appli- ances, which allows the simultaneous functioning of several electrical appliances, without any interruption of the electric energy supply on the part of the magneto- thermal switch normally installed between the feeding line and household or industrial consumption point. A further objective of the present invention is to provide a dissipated power control system for electrical equipment, in particular for household appliances, which is capable of recognizing whether the power absorption is mainly caused by a resistive load (such as an electric heating resistance) or an inductive load such as that of an activation motor, so as to exclude a limitation and control intervention of the current in this latter case. Another objective of the present invention is to provide a dissipated power control system for electrical equipment, in particular for household appliances, which enables the user to program a pre-established intervention threshold. The last but not least important objective of the invention is to provide a dissipated power control system for electrical equipment, in particular for household appliances, without the use of raw materials and/or particularly complex or costly technologies. These and other objectives are achieved by a dissipated power control system for electrical equipment, in particular for household appliances, according to claim 1, to which reference should be made for the sake of brevity. The control system according to the invention can be advantageously installed in series in household appli- ances at the moment of assembly, in order to select a part or all of the dispellable power on the load, by the activation of a control switch of the heating resistances of the household appliance, or it can be in the form of an accessory, suitable for being assembled on each house- hold appliance already installed at an electric consump- tion point, whether it be of the civil or industrial type . A control circuit produced according to the invention can also be miniaturized, to enable it to be totally inserted inside a plug, equipped with the relative socket, associated with the plug of each household appliance to be controlled. Furthermore, it is possible to envisage the use of one or more protection thresholds, whereby when these are exceeded, the control system automatically provides for the interruption of the electric energy supply. Finally, thanks to the extreme versatility of the product, the user can adopt this system as desired, by applying it to one or more household appliances, electri- cally connected to his own household consumption point, according to his personal demands. It is possible, moreover, to effect the automatic deactivation of electric energy in correspondence with the sockets of the domestic consumption point not in use and consequently free from any type of dissipative load (resistive, inductive, etc.). Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will appear more evident from the following description and enclosed drawings, provided for purely il- lustrative and non-limiting purposes, wherein: - figure 1^' shows an illustrative block scheme of a first embodiment of a dissipated power control system for electrical equipment and, in particular, for household appliances, according to the present invention; - figure 2 shows an illustrative block scheme of a second embodiment of the control system according to the invention; figure 3 shows an illustrative block scheme of a third embodiment of the control system according to the invention; figure 4 shows an illustrative block scheme of a fourth embodiment of the control system according to the invention; figure 5 shows an illustrative block scheme of a fifth embodiment, alternative to that illustrated in figure 4, of the control system according to the invention; figure 6 shows an illustrative block scheme of a possible connection mode of dissipated power control systems, according to the invention, connected to a common consumption point; figures 7 and 8 show circuitry details of respective embodiment variants of the control system according to figure 5. It should firstly be considered that the control system according to the invention can comprise a simple switch I, which is situated downstream of the feeding system VR and is electrically connected to two resistive loads Rl, R2 , in turn connected in series to the programming logic means LP of the household appliance, as sche- matically illustrated in figure 1. The resistive loads Rl , R2 form two heating resistances, installed in series in the household appliance at the moment of assembly, which can be selected alternately or both together, by means of the switch I, in order to select half or all of the dispellable power of the appliance . Figure 2 shows an alternative circuitry embodiment with respect to the circuit of figure 1, which can still be used in series in household appliances; in this case, in order to control the wave form of the voltage and/or current circulating on the load R (in practice, the heating resistance of the household appliance) , a reactor RP (possibly connected to a resistive-inductive-capacitive circuit RLC, suitable for attenuating the rise fronts of the voltage and/or current wave forms on the load R) is added in series to the load R, together with the logic programming block LP of the household appliance, and is connected in parallel to a control switch II, suitable for intervening to limit the dissipated power. Another circuitry embodiment, again destined for controlling the current on the load R of the household appliance (whether it be a washing machine, a dishwasher,

an iron, an oven, a stirella" or a vaporella", etc.) and which can again be installed in series in the household appliance at the moment of assembly, is illustratively shown in figure 3 and comprises a transistor T (preferably a TRIAC) , positioned between the load R and the electric system voltage VR, which can be short-circuited by means of a switch 12 situated in parallel (for the selec- tion of half or all of the power available on the load R) and is suitable for being piloted by a control circuit C (of the electric type) , in turn directly connected to the programmable logic unit LP of the household appliance. The load R of the household appliance can be added in series to a resistive-inductive-capacitive circuit RLC, in order to attenuate the rise fronts of the voltage and/or current wave forms present on the load R, whereas the control circuit C of the transistor T can also be connected to the logic unit LP, by means of the connec- tion A, in order to provide a continuous fixed or variable percentage control (by inserting a potentiometer or rheostat P) of the current on the load R. A further connection B can also be envisaged, between the logic unit LP and the control circuit C for the reading, on the part of the circuit C, of possible con- trol signals relating to the activation of a motor of the household appliance or coming from a thermostat or thermometer which reveals a temperature measurement. The temperature measurement provided by reading the signal coming from a thermostat or a thermometer is advantageously used for controlling the dissipated power on the load R of the household appliance; it is possible, in fact, to control the dissipated power on the load R (the heating resistance of household appliances, such as wash- ing machines, dishwashers, ovens, etc.), by reading the temperature detected on the above load R and said reading can be effected by means of a thermostat or thermometer or by the ohmic measurement of the ratio between the voltage measured at the ends of the load R and the cur- rent passing through it (V/l) . The temperature on the load R can be further indirectly measured by means of the control system schematically represented in figure 4, in which a control circuit CC (of the electronic type) controlled by a microproces- sor MP, in turn fed by a feeder AL, is used in addition to the transistor T (normally a TRIAC) . The microprocessor MP and transistor T are also connected to a current transformer TA, which detects the current absorption on the part of the household appliance when said absorption does not solely derive from a resis- tive load R, but, for example, also derives from the intervention of a motor M of the household appliance, which forms a further load (inductive) . Also in this case, it is possible to connect a cir- cuit RLC in series to the load R, in order to attenuate the rise fronts of the controlled voltage and/or current wave on the load R, and the control system illustrated in figure 4 can also be installed in series in the household appliance at the moment of its assembly. The temperature of the load R can also be measured indirectly, by means of the microprocessor MP of the control system of figure 4, by measuring the time used for reaching a certain (known) temperature value; in this case, the microprocessor MP can increase the threshold and/or the control percentage of the voltage and/or current wave, in order to reduce the regime arrival times, to allow high temperatures to be reached. By increasing the control percentage of the current and/or voltage wave on the load R on the basis of the temperature, it is also possible to avoid stressing the magneto-thermal switch, situated downstream of the electric consumption point, with the maximum current intensity percentage for the whole period of time in which the household appliance is in the heating phase. A further embodiment of the control system, accord- ing to the invention, is schematised in figure 5, which refers, in particular, to a control system to be associated with household appliances already installed and already in use and which, in any case, envisages a func- tioning that is completely analogous to that of the control system according to figure 4. In figure 5, VR schematically indicates the electric feeding line suitable for supplying electric energy to a consumption point, for example of the household type, UT, whereas R schematically indicates the load (of the resistive, inductive, mixed type, etc.), responsible for the dissipation of the electric power. Between the electric feeding line VR and the load R, there is the control system of the dissipated power on the load R, according to the invention, generically indicated with SC in figure 5. The control system SC comprises, in particular, the microprocessor MP, which governs the overall functioning of the system, the feeder AL, normally consisting of a battery or energy accumulator or normal feeder, such as a rectifier transformer, suitable for autonomously feeding the microprocessor MP, the piloting or control circuit CC, directly connected to the microprocessor MP and suitable for controlling the transistor T (typically, a TRIAC) , and the current transformer TA, whose outlet sig- nal is sent to the microprocessor MP, to allow it to be conveniently processed. In practice, at the moment in which the load R (which in this case represents one of the electrical ap- paratuses connected to the household consumption point UT and, in particular, one of the household appliances connected to said consumption point UT and responsible for most of the electric power dissipation) absorbs an electric current intensity which is higher than a first pro- grammable threshold (upper programmable threshold) , the microprocessor MP, upon recognizing the electric current intensity value, by means of the device TA, and/or the phase displacement of the same electric current, with respect to the voltage present on the load R, it inter- venes, by means of the control circuit CC and transistor T, which allow the current wave to be controlled, thus preventing the formation of voltage peaks and bringing the current intensity to a much lower value than the upper programmable threshold. If, for example, the load R is recognized by the microprocessor MP as being purely resistive, on the basis of the phase displacement existing instantaneously between voltage and current, and the upper programmable threshold is set at a value of 6 Ampere, the microproces- sor MP can be programmed to control this current inten- sity and bring it to a reduced value (for example 50% with respect to the maximum value) . In this case, as it is a purely resistive load, the household appliance or electrical apparatus in general, connected to the household consumption point UT, will continue to function correctly, even if at lower regimes; for example, in the practical case of an electric oven, an iron, washing machine or dishwasher, in the heating procedure, it will be necessary to wait for a greater time with respect to a normal functioning regime, in order to reach a pre-established temperature. Said electrical equipment, however, will not undergo any kind of damage and can function contemporaneously, without the intervention of the magneto-thermal switch, installed downstream of the electric meter of the consumption point UT, to interrupt the electric energy supply to all the equipment connected to said consumption point UT. In illustrative and preferred, but non-limiting em- bodiments of the invention, the upper programmable threshold of the control system SC can be directly programmed in the factory, when said system SC is manufactured, and can vary according to the application envisaged and, in particular, according to the type of house- hold appliance (oven, dishwasher, washing machine, iron with boiler, etc.) to be controlled. In particular, if the control system SC is destined to be applied to washing machines, the upper programmable threshold can be determined by the same microprocessor MP, which autonomously decides the value on the basis of the fact that the electric absorption and therefore the electric power dissipation, are prevalently caused by the heating resistance (and possibly, to a minimum extent, by the cycle programmer and/or further valves and/or pumps present in the household appliance) . Again, when the control system SC is used for washing machines, the same microprocessor MP can also be programmed, in order to exclude the control intervention of the current wave, by the use of the control circuit CC and transistor T, when the motor M of said household appliances is additionally functioning, as the same motor M cannot be activated when the current value at the inlet is lower than the starting current . The use of the motor M during the functioning of household appliances such as washing machines, is identified by the microprocessor MP, after suitable programming, by recognizing the instantaneous current value (which, when a motor is activated, is definitely higher than 6 Ampere) and the instantaneous phase displacement between voltage and current (which in this case indicates the use of an inductive load and, in any case, not purely resistive) . Another method for recognizing when there is an intervention of the motor M, during the washing cycle of a washing machine, can be effected by testing the microprocessor MP for a certain period of time of the washing cycle, as already described in relation to the control system of figure 5. The microprocessor MP can in fact recognize if the current value higher than the threshold value of 6 Ampere is due to the heating resistance and/or the motor M of the household appliance, by memorizing these values. If, for example, the current absorbed measured by the microprocessor MP has a minimum value which is higher than 6 Ampere (let us say 8 Ampere) for a certain period of time (about 0.5 seconds), this current value will definitely be that absorbed by a heating resistance. If, on the other hand, said value of 8 Ampere (memorized in the microprocessor MP) rises by at least 1 Am- pere in a certain moment of time, the microprocessor MP interprets this variation as an additional ignition of the motor M of the household appliance, thus definitely causing the intervention of the motor M during the washing cycle of said household appliance. This is extremely useful for certain types of house- hold appliances, such as washing machines, for which the instantaneous phase displacement between voltage and current cannot always be clearly determined. According to the invention, the microprocessor MP can be further programmed to bring the controlled current wave back to the original value (for example to 50% of its original value) , when the controlled current intensity value undergoes a further decrease; for example, if a current intensity value greater than 6 Ampere is con- trolled and reduced to 50% of its maximum value, as it is higher than the upper programmable threshold (established at 6 Ampere) , and therefore reduced to about 3 Ampere, the same value is instantaneously brought back to the original value of 6 Ampere if instantaneous values lower than 3 Ampere are detected, as said detection indicates the fact that the resistive load R has been disconnected. The microprocessor MP can again be used for controlling the dissipated power on the load, by reading the temperature of the water heated by the household appli- ance, as described above with respect to figure 4; in this case, the microprocessor MP can increase the threshold and/or the control percentage and reduction of the voltage and/or current wave, in order to reduce the regime arrival times, to obtain high heating temperatures of the water. In order to avoid further and useless prolonging of the heating phase times of household appliances (such as washing machines, dishwashers, ovens, irons, etc.), it is finally possible to use an exchange system CE (figure 6) , situated downstream of the device TA and suitable for reading the instantaneous current intensity measured downstream of the meter, which, if necessary, controls, by means of transmitted waves or via radio, a series of receivers Rl, R2 , R3 , each of which is suitable for pi- loting a particular dissipated power control system (selected from the various possible embodiments described above) , which, in turn, is applied to a respective electric appliance (household appliances El, E2 , E3 of figure 6) . Control of the absorbed power in the control system of figure 5 can also be effected by controlling the voltage, using, such as block T, a transformer or autotrans- former (for example, 170/230 Volts) or an electronic feeder (for example, 170/230 Volts) , which reconstructs the sinusoidal wave; the autotransformer or electronic feeder of the block T is connected to a relay system (typically, relay in the solid state) , as block CC, which commute the voltage applied to the household appliance (in the example indicated, from 230 Volts to 170 Volts) . Figure 7 shows a detailed circuitry example of the electric connection between block T of figure 5 (when an autotransformer AT is used) and the relay system Rl, R2 , R3 used as block CC of figure 5; the resistor RE is adopted for the continuous feeding of the household ap- pliance (considering that new generation digital household appliances can be switched off even for a minimum lack of feeding) , also during voltage commutation (in the example, from 230 Volts to 170 Volts) , thus avoiding a short circuit on the autotransformer branch AT. This system has the advantage of not only being able to feed electrical equipment and, in particular, traditional household appliances (i.e. with mechanical timers) , but also household appliances with digital programming (new generation) , thus providing a universal-type system. A further advantage of the system is that it does not cause phase displacement between voltage and current supplied by the meter (and consequently by the energy supply board) . An alternative circuitry embodiment to that illustrated in figure 7, schematically and partially shown in figure 8, envisages the use of a reactor which causes a voltage drop and phase displacement. In this case, in order to obtain a control of the voltage wave form circulating on the load R, which forms the heating resistance of the household appliance, a reactor RP (equivalent to block T of figure 5) , is placed in series with the load R itself, possibly connected to a resistive-inductive-capacitive circuit RLC, suitable for attenuating the rise fronts of the voltage wave forms on the load R. This does not require any electronic circuit when it is used for dishwashers, ovens, etc., whereas it is connected to a relay R4 (equivalent to block CC of figure 5) , which short-circuits it for 100% functioning and is suitable for intervening to limit the dissipated power, when used for washing machines, which are known to have a considerable inductive load, as the functioning motor. In this case, when the load R (which represents one of the electric appliances connected to the household consumption point UT and, in particular, one of the household appliances connected to said consumption point UT and responsible for most of the electric power dissipation in a civil building) absorbs an electric current intensity higher than a first programmable threshold (upper programmable threshold) , the microprocessor MP, on recognizing the electric current intensity value, by means of the current transformer TA, intervenes, through blocks CC and T, which enable a control of the voltage on the load R, thus avoiding the formation of peaks and bringing the current intensity to a much lower value than the upper programmable threshold. In the case of a purely resistive load, the household appliance, or electrical apparatus in general, con- nected to the household consumption point UT, will continue to function correctly, even if at lower regimes; for example, in the practical case of an electric oven, an iron or a washing machine or dishwasher, in the heating mode, it will be necessary to wait for a longer pe- riod of time, with respect to a normal functioning regime, in order to obtain a pre-established temperature. Said electrical apparatuses, however, will not undergo any kind of damage and will be able to function contemporaneously, without the intervention of the mag- neto-thermal switch, installed downstream of the electric meter of the consumption point UT, interrupting the electric energy supply to all the equipment connected to said consumption point UT. In illustrative and preferred but non-limiting em- bodiments of the invention, the upper programmable threshold of the electronic control system SC can be directly programmed in the factory, during the manufacturing of said system SC, and can vary according to the application contemplated and, in particular, according to the type of household appliance (oven, dishwasher, wash- ing machine, iron with boiler) to be controlled. Furthermore, as already mentioned, if the control system SC, according to the invention, is destined to be applied to washing machines, the upper programmable threshold can be determined by the same microprocessor MP, which will autonomously decide its value on the basis of the fact that the electric absorption and therefore the electric power dissipation, is prevalently caused by the heating resistance and/or, to a minimum extent, by the cycle programmer and/or by further valves and/or pumps present in the household appliance. Again, when the control system SC is used for washing machines, the same microprocessor MP can be programmed so as to exclude the control intervention on the voltage when the motor of said household appliances is further functioning, as the motor itself could not be activated, due to the fact that it has an inlet current value lower than the starting value. The system can therefore be used for any type of household appliance (both traditional appliances, with a mechanical timers and new generation digital appliances) , it does not cause any phase displacement between the voltage and current supplied and, finally, it can be equipped with remote control for its remote deactivation and to disconnect it when it does not need to be used and/or when it is not easy to have direct access to the system. The characteristics, as also the advantages, of the dissipated power control system for electrical equipment and, in particular, for household appliances, object of the present invention, appear evident from the above description. Finally, numerous variations can obviously be applied to the control system in question, all included within the novelty principles of the inventive concept, and it is also evident that in the embodiment of the inventions, the materials, forms and dimensions of the details illustrated can vary according to specific demands and they can be substituted by other technically equiva- lent alternatives.

Claims

1. A control system (SC) of dissipated power for electrical equipment and, in particular, for household appliances, comprising at least one load (R) on which the power is dissipated, which is connected to the feeding line (VR) and also connected to programming logic unit (LP) of the household appliance, characterized in that at least a first switch (I) , electrically connected to said load (R) , is situated downstream of the feeding line (VR) , said load (R) being selected by means of the switch

(I) to dissipate at least a portion of the available power of the household appliance.

2. The control system (SC) according to claim 1, characterized in that said load (R) is in series with at least one reactor (RP) , said reactor (RP) being connected in parallel to at least a second switch (II) , suitable for intervening to limit the dissipated power on the load (R) , in order to control the wave form of the voltage and/or current circulating on said load (R) .

3. The control system (SC) according to claim 2, characterized in that said reactor (RP) is connected in series to a filtrating circuit (RLC) suitable for attenuating the rise fronts of the voltage and/or controlled current wave forms on said load (R) .

4. The control system (SC) according to claim 2, char- acterized in that said reactor (RP) is substituted by at least one electronic regulation device (T) , said regulation device (T) being short-circuited by means of at least a third switch (12) situated in parallel, and suit- able for being piloted by a pilot or control circuit (C) , in turn directly connected to said logic units (LP) for programming the household appliance.

5. The control system (SC) according to claim 4, characterized in that said load (R) is connected in series to a filtrating circuit (RLC) , suitable for attenuating the rise fronts of the voltage and/or controlled current wave forms on said load (R) .

6. The control system (SC) according to claim 4, characterized in that said control circuit (C) of the regula- tion device (T) is connected to said programming logic units (LP) , by means of at least one potentiometer or rheostat (P) of a first connecting line (A) , in order to provide a continuous fixed or variable percentage control of the current on the load R.

7. The control system (SC) according to claim 6, characterized in that said control circuit (C) of the regulation device (T) is connected to said programming logic units (LP) , by means of at least a second connection (B) , for reading, on the part of said control circuit (C) , the signals relating to the activation of a motor of the household appliance or deriving from at least one additional measuring device.

8. The control system (SC) according to claim 4, characterized in that said regulation device (T) is connected to at least one control circuit (CC) , controlled by a microprocessor (MP) , in turn fed by a feeder (AL) , said microprocessor (MP) and said regulation device (T) , also being connected to a current transformer (TA) , which detects the current absorption on the part of the household appliance when said absorption does not solely derive from a resistive load (R) but also from inductive loads caused, for example, by the intervention of at least an activating device (M) of the household appliance.

9. The control system (SC) according to claim 8, char- acterized in that said load (R) is connected in series to a filtrating circuit (RLC) for attenuating the rise fronts of the voltage and/or controlled current wave on said load (R) .

10. The control system (SC) according to claim 8, char- acterized in that said system can be associated with household appliances already installed and already in use and that it is capable of controlling everything that is situated downstream of the connection to the feeding line

(VR) , said microprocessor (MP) being capable of recogniz- ing the electric current intensity value, and/or the phase displacement of said electric current, with respect to the voltage present on the load (R) , so that it intervenes to control the current wave, by means of the control circuit (CC) and said regulation electronic device (T) , thus preventing the formation of voltage peaks and bringing the current intensity to a lower value than the programmable threshold.

11. The control system (SC) according to claim 10, characterized in that said microprocessor (MP) is suitable for controlling the dissipated power on the load, by reading the temperature .

12. The control system (SC) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an exchange system (CE) suitable for reading the instantaneous current value measured downstream of the feeding line (VR) , which controls a series of receivers (Rl, R2 , R3), each of which is suitable for piloting said control system (SC) associated with a respective electric appliance or household appliance (El, E2 , E3) .

13. The control system (SC) according to claim 8, characterized in that, at the inlet of said microprocessor (MP) , a signal is sent relating to the value of the instantaneous power dissipated by said load (R) , said microprocessor (MP) being suitable for piloting said regu- lation electronic device (T) , in order to divide the cur- rent wave present on the load (R) when a first programmable threshold of current absorbed by the load (R) is exceeded and consequently the dissipated current, avoiding overvoltages and/or overcurrents caused by the contempo- raneous functioning of several electric appliances connected to one consumption point (UT) .

14. The control system (SC) according to claim 1, characterized in that it can be installed in at least one electric plug of one or more appliances electrically con- nected to a consumption point (UT) .

15. The control system (SC) according to claim 10, characterized in that said regulation electronic device (T) includes at least one transistor of the TRIAC type, which allows the current wave to be divided, preventing the formation of voltage peaks and bringing the current intensity to a lower value than the programmable threshold.

16. The control system (SC) according to claim 10, characterized in that the threshold can be programmed directly in the factory, when the control system (SC) is being manufactured, and its value varies according to the application envisaged and according to the type of electric appliance or household appliance to be controlled.

17. The control system (SC) according to claim 8, characterized in that said microprocessor (MP) can be pro- grammed with the purpose of excluding the regulation of the current wave if at least a further electric motor of the load (R) is functioning, the functioning of said electric motor being recognized by said microprocessor (MP) following suitable evaluation of the instantaneous current value and/or the instantaneous phase displacement between voltage and current .

18. The control system (SC) according to claim 10, characterized in that said microprocessor (MP) is suitable for recognizing the functioning start-up of the motor of the household appliance by memorizing at least a first value of the electric current absorbed, with respect to said programmable threshold value, and testing an electric current variation towards higher values with respect to said first memorized value of the absorbed electric current.

19. The control system (SC) according to claim 8, characterized in that said microprocessor (MP) .is programmed to bring the current wave back to the original value, when the current intensity value decreases with respect to a prefixed value, as this decrease reveals the absence of a resistive load (R) or a disconnected resistive load (R) •

20. The control system (SC) according to claim 4, characterized in that said regulation electronic device (T) includes at least one autotransformer (AT) or transformer or at least one electronic feeder, which reconstructs the sinusoidal voltage and/or current wave.

21. The control system (SC) according to claim 20, characterized in that said autotransformer (AT) is connected to at least one control circuit (CC) which includes at least one relay (Rl, R2 , R3), suitable for commuting the voltage applied to the load (R) of said electric appliance or household appliance.

22. The control system (SC) according to claim 21, char- acterized in that said relay (Rl, R2 , R3) is connected to at least one resistor (RE) which maintains the load (R) of said electric appliance or household appliance constantly fed, even during the voltage commuting, thus avoiding the short-circuiting of the electric branch in- eluding said autotransformer (AT) .

23. The control system (SC) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least one remote control device, enabling it to be remotely switched off, and therefore disconnected when not in use and/or when it is not easy to have direct access to the system (SC) .

24. A dissipated power control system (SC) for electrical appliances, in particular household appliances, as described and illustrated in the enclosed drawings and for the purposes specified above.