Single-lever faucet with manual or automatic flow control
First Claim
1. A faucet assembly comprising:
- a faucet housing having an outlet;
a conduit defining a flow path from a supply of water through the housing to the outlet;
an openable and closable servovalve in the conduit;
an openable and closable manual valve in the conduit and having a control element movable between a full-flow open position, an intermediate-flow middle position, and a no-flow closed position;
a position-detecting switch subassembly mounted on the housing and engageable with the control element;
a proximity detector having a detection field adjacent the outlet; and
control means connected to the proximity detector, to the switch subassembly, and to the servovalve for in the closed position of the element deactivating the detector and closing the servovalve, in the middle position of the element opening the servovalve on detection of an object in the field of the proximity detector, and in the open position of the element disabling the detector and opening the servovalve.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A faucet assembly has a faucet housing having an outlet, a conduit defining a flow path from a supply of water through the housing to the outlet, an openable and closable servovalve in the conduit, and an openable and closable manual valve in the conduit and having a control element movable between a full-flow open position, an intermediate-flow middle position, and a no-flow closed position. A position-detecting switch subassembly mounted on the housing engages the control element and a proximity detector has a detection field adjacent the outlet. A controller connected to the proximity detector, to the switch subassembly, and to the servovalve serves in the closed position of the element for deactivating the detector and closing the servovalve. In the middle position of the element the controller opens the servovalve on detection of an object in the field of the proximity detector. In the open position of the element the controller disables the detector and opens the servovalve.
-
Citations
10 Claims
-
1. A faucet assembly comprising:
-
a faucet housing having an outlet;
a conduit defining a flow path from a supply of water through the housing to the outlet;
an openable and closable servovalve in the conduit;
an openable and closable manual valve in the conduit and having a control element movable between a full-flow open position, an intermediate-flow middle position, and a no-flow closed position;
a position-detecting switch subassembly mounted on the housing and engageable with the control element;
a proximity detector having a detection field adjacent the outlet; and
control means connected to the proximity detector, to the switch subassembly, and to the servovalve for in the closed position of the element deactivating the detector and closing the servovalve, in the middle position of the element opening the servovalve on detection of an object in the field of the proximity detector, and in the open position of the element disabling the detector and opening the servovalve. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
means including a spring for releasably retaining the element in the middle position. -
4. The faucet assembly defined in claim 3 wherein in the middle position the valve passes between 5 liter/minute and 7 liter/minute.
-
5. The faucet assembly defined in claim 1 wherein the servovalve is a solenoid valve.
-
6. The faucet assembly defined in claim 1, further comprising in the passage upstream of the valves:
-
a backflow preventer, and a filter.
-
-
7. The faucet assembly defined in claim 1 wherein the position-detecting switch subassembly includes a pair of separate switches mounted in the housing and separately engageable with the control element.
-
8. The faucet assembly defined in claim 7 wherein
in the closed position only one of the switches is actuated, in the open position only the other of the switches is actuated, and in the middle position neither of the switches is actuated. -
9. The faucet assembly defined in claim 8 wherein the control element can only move through an arc of at most about 4°
- on the housing while in the middle position, the control means only activating the detector for operating the servovalve in a motion-detecting mode in the middle position.
-
10. The faucet assembly defined in claim 7 wherein the switches are microswitches mounted adjacent each other in the housing.
-
Specification