Sensor-based interruption of an irrigation controller
First Claim
1. A system for interfacing with an irrigation controller based on rainfall, the system comprising:
- an interface unit including a housing and a control unit within the housing and configured to;
cause an interruption of one or more watering schedules executed by the irrigation controller, which is separate from the interface unit, based on signaling received from a rain sensor including hygroscopic material, when a sensed expansion of the hygroscopic material is above a set rainfall accumulation threshold parameter, the rain sensor being separate from the interface unit and the hygroscopic material being configured to expand in response to being contacted by the rainfall and to contract in response to an absence of the rainfall; and
remove the interruption after a completion of a predetermined interval of time after a sensed contraction of the hygroscopic material indicative of a rainfall stop;
wherein the control unit is configured to;
in response to the sensed contraction of the hygroscopic material indicative of the rainfall stop, initiate a timer configured to count down a remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption;
obtain an amount of expansion and contraction in the signaling from the rain sensor at intermittent intervals during a countdown, by the timer, of the remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption; and
at one of the intermittent intervals, reset the timer to restart a countdown of the remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption in response to a determination, by the control unit, that the amount of expansion and contraction of the hygroscopic material in the signaling received from the rain sensor at the one of the intermittent intervals indicates an expansion of the hygroscopic material relative to an amount of expansion and contraction received from the rain sensor at a preceding intermittent interval.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Some embodiments provide a system and method for interfacing with an irrigation controller based on rainfall, the system comprising: an interface unit including a housing and a control unit within the housing and configured to: cause an interruption of one or more watering schedules executed by the irrigation controller, which is separate from the interface unit, based on signaling received from a rain sensor including hygroscopic material, when a sensed expansion of the hygroscopic material is above a set rainfall accumulation threshold parameter, the rain sensor being separate from the interface unit and the hygroscopic material being configured to expand in response to being contacted by the rainfall and to contract in response to an absence of the rainfall; and remove the interruption after a completion of a predetermined interval of time after a sensed contraction of the hygroscopic material indicative of a rainfall stop.
212 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A system for interfacing with an irrigation controller based on rainfall, the system comprising:
an interface unit including a housing and a control unit within the housing and configured to; cause an interruption of one or more watering schedules executed by the irrigation controller, which is separate from the interface unit, based on signaling received from a rain sensor including hygroscopic material, when a sensed expansion of the hygroscopic material is above a set rainfall accumulation threshold parameter, the rain sensor being separate from the interface unit and the hygroscopic material being configured to expand in response to being contacted by the rainfall and to contract in response to an absence of the rainfall; and remove the interruption after a completion of a predetermined interval of time after a sensed contraction of the hygroscopic material indicative of a rainfall stop; wherein the control unit is configured to; in response to the sensed contraction of the hygroscopic material indicative of the rainfall stop, initiate a timer configured to count down a remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption; obtain an amount of expansion and contraction in the signaling from the rain sensor at intermittent intervals during a countdown, by the timer, of the remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption; and at one of the intermittent intervals, reset the timer to restart a countdown of the remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption in response to a determination, by the control unit, that the amount of expansion and contraction of the hygroscopic material in the signaling received from the rain sensor at the one of the intermittent intervals indicates an expansion of the hygroscopic material relative to an amount of expansion and contraction received from the rain sensor at a preceding intermittent interval. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for interfacing with an irrigation controller based on rainfall, the method comprising:
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providing an interface unit including a housing and a control unit within the housing; causing, via the control unit, an interruption of one or more watering schedules executed by the irrigation controller, which is separate from the interface unit, based on signaling received from a rain sensor including hygroscopic material, when a sensed expansion of the hygroscopic material is above a set rainfall accumulation threshold parameter, the rain sensor being separate from the interface unit and the hygroscopic material being configured to expand in response to being contacted by the rainfall and to contract in response to an absence of the rainfall; removing, via the control unit, the interruption after a completion of a predetermined interval of time after a sensed contraction of the hygroscopic material indicative of a rainfall stop; initiating, via the control unit and in response to the sensed contraction of the hygroscopic material indicative of the rainfall stop, a timer configured to count down a remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption; obtaining, via the control unit, an amount of expansion and contraction in the signaling from the rain sensor at intermittent intervals during a countdown, by the timer, of the remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption; determining, via the control unit, that the amount of expansion and contraction of the hygroscopic material in the signaling received from the rain sensor at one of the intermittent intervals indicates an expansion of the hygroscopic material relative to an amount of expansion and contraction received from the rain sensor at a preceding intermittent interval; and resetting via the control unit and at the one of the intermittent intervals, the timer to restart a countdown of the remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for interfacing with an irrigation controller based on rainfall, the system comprising:
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an interface unit including a housing and a control unit within the housing and configured to; cause an interruption of one or more watering schedules executed by the irrigation controller, which is separate from the interface unit, based on signaling received from a rain sensor including hygroscopic material, when a sensed expansion of the hygroscopic material is above a set rainfall accumulation threshold parameter, the rain sensor being separate from the interface unit and the hygroscopic material being configured to expand in response to being contacted by the rainfall and to contract in response to an absence of the rainfall; and remove the interruption after a completion of a predetermined interval of time after a sensed contraction of the hygroscopic material indicative of a rainfall stop; wherein the control unit is configured to; at the time the interruption is caused, to initiate a timer configured to count down a remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption; to obtain an amount of expansion and contraction in the signaling from the rain sensor at intermittent intervals during a countdown, by the timer, of the remainder of time left on the predetermined interval of time of the interruption; to reset the timer in response to a determination, by the control unit, that the amount of expansion and contraction of the hygroscopic material in the signaling received from the rain sensor at the one of the intermittent intervals indicates an expansion of the hygroscopic material relative to an amount of expansion and contraction received from the rain sensor at a preceding intermittent interval; and at one of the intermittent intervals, to permit the timer to continue the countdown of the remainder of time left on the interval of time of the interruption in response to a determination, by the control unit, that the signaling received from the rain sensor at the one of the predetermined intervals indicates a contraction of the hygroscopic material relative to an amount of expansion and contraction received from the rain sensor at a preceding intermittent interval.
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Specification