System and method for appliance load distribution

Abstract

An appliance, system, and method for operating a laundry appliance are provided. The laundry appliance includes a controller configured to execute instructions that cause the appliance to perform operations. The operations include transmitting a utilization signal including a utilization rate of the appliance. The operations include obtaining a control signal based on an operation schedule. The operation schedule determines whether the appliance is under-utilized, over-utilized, or nominally utilized based on the utilization signal. The operations include adjusting operation of the appliance based on the control signal.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A laundry appliance, the appliance comprising a controller configured to execute instructions that cause the appliance to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 transmitting a utilization signal comprising a utilization rate of the appliance;   obtaining a control signal based on an operation schedule, wherein the operation schedule determines whether the appliance is under-utilized, over-utilized, or nominally utilized based on the utilization signal; and   adjusting operation of the appliance based on the control signal.   
     
     
         2 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , wherein adjusting operation of the appliance based on the control signal comprises permitting or inhibiting operation of the appliance based on whether the appliance is under-utilized, over-utilized, or nominally utilized. 
     
     
         3 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the operation schedule determines whether the appliance is under-utilized, over-utilized, or nominally-utilized based on comparing the utilization rate to a utilization threshold. 
     
     
         4 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the control signal is a pricing signal, and wherein adjusting operation of the appliance based on the control signal comprises adjusting pricing at the appliance based on the pricing signal. 
     
     
         5 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the control signal is a sensory visual signal configured to emit an audio or visual effect from the appliance. 
     
     
         6 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , the operations comprising:
 transmitting a user control signal to a user interface device, the user control signal directing a user to operate the appliance based on the control signal.   
     
     
         7 . A computer-implemented method for operating a plurality of appliances, the method comprising:
 generating a utilization signal comprising a utilization rate corresponding to the plurality of appliances;   generating an operation schedule of appliances based on the utilization rate;   generating a control signal based on the operation schedule; and   transmitting, to the plurality of appliances, the control signal to one or more of the plurality of appliances.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein generating the operation schedule of appliances based on the utilization rate comprises comparing the utilization rate to a threshold, wherein the threshold corresponds to usage at the appliance. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , the method comprising:
 determining the threshold, wherein determining the threshold comprises determining a baseline utilization rate from the utilization signal received from the plurality of appliances.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein comparing the utilization rate to the threshold determines whether one or more of the plurality of appliances is under-utilized, over-utilized, or nominally-utilized. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the control signal comprises a permissive signal or an inhibit signal, wherein the permissive signal is configured to allow operation of one or more of the plurality of appliances, and wherein the inhibit signal configured to disable operation of one or more of the plurality of appliances. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the control signal comprises a pricing signal. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the pricing signal permits utilization of one or more of the plurality of appliances at a lower user cost than a baseline user cost. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pricing signal permits utilization of one or more of the plurality of appliances at the lower user cost, wherein utilization at the lower user cost corresponds to determining one or more of the plurality of appliances is under-utilized. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the control signal is configured to direct a user to an appliance based on the utilization rate. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein generating the operation schedule comprises generating a priority schedule to arrange the plurality of appliances into an order of operation based on a ranking of utilization rates. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 7 , the method comprising:
 transmitting, to a user interface device, a user control signal indicative of one or more of the plurality of appliances for the user to operate.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 7 , the method comprising:
 transmitting, from the plurality of appliances, a utilization signal comprising a utilization rate of the appliance.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 7 , the method comprising:
 obtaining, at one or more of the plurality of appliances, a control signal based on an operation schedule.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , the method comprising:
 adjusting operation of the appliance based on the control signal.