Abstract: An apparatus wherein a demand fluctuating substantially cyclically is divided into a plurality of sections having predetermined time intervals and wherein the demand is estimated for each section on the basis of the measured result of the demand in the section, characterized in that an adjusting section is set in the vicinity of the boundary between two sections adjoining each other, and that the estimation value of the demand in the adjusting section is compared with the respective estimation values of the two sections, so as to shift the boundary in the direction of widening the section which has the estimation value closer to the estimation value of the adjusting section. Thus, the demand in the vicinity of the boundary is estimated with the estimation value of the widened section, and it can be estimated at high precision.

Abstract: A demand estimation apparatus for controlling machines according to revised estimated demand values wherein estimated demand values are calculated by dividing demand cycles which are fluctuating similarly cyclically into a plurality of sections (time zones), an adjusting section is interposed between each two sections adjoining each other, and an estimate of the fluctuation of the demand is determined based on measurements of both the demand value of the adjusting section and the demand values of the two adjoining sections, and wherein the estimated demand value of each adjusting section is compared with the estimated demand values of the respective two adjoining sections and, based on the comparison, each adjusting section is moved as a whole toward one of the adjoining sections by a predetermined time width when the estimated demand value of the adjusting section more closely approximates the estimated demand value of that one of the adjoining section than the other adjoining section, thus modifying the tim