Capacitive touch on/off control for an automatic residential faucet
First Claim
1. A faucet comprising:
- a spout;
a passageway that conducts water flow through the spout;
a electrically operable valve disposed within the passageway;
a manual valve disposed within the passageway in series with the electrically operable valve;
a manual handle that controls the manual valve; and
a capacitive touch control that is positioned in the spout, where the capacitive touch control toggles the electrically operable valve.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A capacitive touch-controlled automatic faucet comprises: a spout, a magnetically latching valve, a proximity sensor, a handle, a capacitive touch-control, and a logical control. The proximity sensor is sensitive to motion of objects within a detection zone of the proximity sensor. The handle determines a water flow rate and temperature. The capacitive touch-control is positioned in the spout and generates an output signal while the touch-control is in contact with a user. The logical control receives the output signal, and toggles the magnetically latching valve when the output signal begins and ends within a period of time less than a predetermined threshold, but does not toggle the magnetically latching valve when the output signal persists for a period longer than the predetermined threshold. The faucet has a manual mode, wherein the proximity sensor is inactive, and a hands-free mode, wherein water flow is toggled in response to the proximity sensor.
36 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A faucet comprising:
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a spout;
a passageway that conducts water flow through the spout;
a electrically operable valve disposed within the passageway;
a manual valve disposed within the passageway in series with the electrically operable valve;
a manual handle that controls the manual valve; and
a capacitive touch control that is positioned in the spout, where the capacitive touch control toggles the electrically operable valve. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A faucet comprising:
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a spout;
a passageway that conducts water flow through the spout;
an electrically operable valve disposed within the passageway and having an opened position, in which water is free to flow through the passageway, and a closed position, in which the passageway is blocked;
a manual valve disposed within the passageway in series with the electrically operable valve;
a manual handle that controls the manual valve;
a first capacitive touch-control that is positioned in the spout and that generates a first output signal while the first capacitive touch-control is in contact with a user;
a second capacitive touch-control that is positioned in the manual handle and that generates a second output signal while the second capacitive touch-control is in contact with the user;
a logical control that receives the first and second output signals, and which toggles the electrically operable valve between the opened position and the closed position when either the first output signal or the second output signal begins and ends within a period of time between a predetermined lower bound and a predetermined upper bound; and
a proximity sensor that is sensitive to motion of objects within a detection zone of the proximity sensor;
wherein the faucet has a manual mode, wherein the proximity sensor is inactive, and a hands-free mode, wherein the magnetically latching valve is toggled between the opened position and closed position in response to the proximity sensor, subject to being overridden by the output signal and logical control.
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10. A faucet comprising:
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a spout;
a passageway that conducts water flow through the spout;
an electrically operable valve disposed within the passageway;
a sensor operably connected to the electrically operable valve via a logical control, the logical control generating a control signal when the sensor senses an activation event having a duration less than a predetermined threshold; and
wherein the electrically operable valve actuates in response to the control signal. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A fluid flow control for a faucet having an electrically operable valve that is actuated in response to a control signal, the fluid flow control comprising:
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a sensor that detects activation events;
a logical control in communication with the sensor, the logical control generating a control signal when the sensor observes an activation event occurring less than a predetermined number of times within a predetermined period, but which does not generate the control signal when the sensor observes an activation event occurring more than the predetermined number of times within a predetermined period.
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18. A fluid flow control for a faucet having an electrically operable valve that is actuated in response to a control signal, the fluid control comprising:
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a sensor that observes activation events; and
a logical control operably connected to the sensor, the logical control generating a control signal when the sensor observes an activation event having a duration less than a predetermined threshold, but which does not generate the control signal when the sensor observes an activation event having a duration longer than the predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification