Method and system for reliably detecting structure and water system leaks
First Claim
1. A system for detecting potentially destructive water leakage conditions in a building, comprising:
- a humidity detector for detecting a level of humidity inside of said building;
a control circuit having an input coupled to said humidity detector and generating a preventative response in conformity with determining that said level of humidity has exceeded a threshold;
at least one motion sensor coupled to said control circuit for providing an indication of human activity within said building, wherein said control circuit ignores said determination that said level of humidity has exceeded a threshold and does not generate the preventative response when said motion sensor indicates that human activity is occurring;
an electrically controllable valve for disabling at least a portion of a water supply of said building, wherein said control circuit is coupled to said electrically controllable valve to control said electrically controllable valve, and wherein said preventative response includes closing said electrically controllable valve; and
an appliance current sensor for sensing activation of at least one appliance that uses said portion of said water supply, wherein said current sensor is coupled to said control circuit, and wherein said control circuit opens said electrically controllable valve if said at least one appliance is activated.
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Abstract
A method and system for reliably detecting structure and water system leaks incorporates motion-sensing for determining whether there is activity in a building is occupied and measures humidity of the inside of the building. If there is no activity in the building, and an unexpected level of humidity or sudden change in humidity is detected, an alarm is generated and the building water system can be disabled by an electrically controlled valve. Current consumed by water-consuming and/or water vapor generating appliances can be detected and used to qualify the generating of an alarm or interruption of the water system, so that false alarms are not generated and the water supply is not interrupted due to operation of those appliances.
30 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A system for detecting potentially destructive water leakage conditions in a building, comprising:
- a humidity detector for detecting a level of humidity inside of said building;
a control circuit having an input coupled to said humidity detector and generating a preventative response in conformity with determining that said level of humidity has exceeded a threshold;
at least one motion sensor coupled to said control circuit for providing an indication of human activity within said building, wherein said control circuit ignores said determination that said level of humidity has exceeded a threshold and does not generate the preventative response when said motion sensor indicates that human activity is occurring;
an electrically controllable valve for disabling at least a portion of a water supply of said building, wherein said control circuit is coupled to said electrically controllable valve to control said electrically controllable valve, and wherein said preventative response includes closing said electrically controllable valve; and
an appliance current sensor for sensing activation of at least one appliance that uses said portion of said water supply, wherein said current sensor is coupled to said control circuit, and wherein said control circuit opens said electrically controllable valve if said at least one appliance is activated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
- a humidity detector for detecting a level of humidity inside of said building;
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6. A system for detecting potentially destructive water leakage conditions in a building, comprising:
- a humidity detector for detecting a level of humidity inside of said building;
a control circuit having an input coupled to said humidity detector and generating a preventative response in conformity with determining that said level of humidity has exceeded a threshold;
at least one motion sensor coupled to said control circuit for providing an indication of human activity within said building, wherein said control circuit ignores said determination that said level of humidity has exceeded a threshold and does not generate the preventative response when said motion sensor indicates that human activity is occurring; and
an appliance current sensor for sensing activation of at least one appliance that generates water vapor when in use, wherein said current sensor is coupled to said control circuit, and wherein said control circuit only generates said preventative response if said humidity exceeds said threshold when said at least one appliance is not activated.
- a humidity detector for detecting a level of humidity inside of said building;
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7. A method for detecting potentially destructive water leakage conditions in a building, comprising:
- detecting a level of humidity inside of said building;
sensing motion indicating human activity within said building;
generating a preventative response in conformity with a result of said detecting and said sensing such that said preventative response is generated only when said detected level of humidity is greater than a threshold level and the sensing does not sense motion indicating human activity within the building;
disabling at least a portion of a water supply of said building by closing an electrically controllable valve as said preventative response; and
sensing activation of at least one appliance that uses said portion of said water supply by measuring an electrical current consumed by said at least one appliance, and wherein said disabling said at least a portion of said water supply is only performed during an appliance override condition while said sensing does not sense that said at least one appliance is active. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
- detecting a level of humidity inside of said building;
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12. A method for detecting potentially destructive water leakage conditions in a building, comprising:
- detecting a level of humidity inside of said building;
sensing motion indicating human activity within said building;
generating a preventative response in conformity with a result of said detecting and said sensing such that said preventative response is generated only when said detected level of humidity is greater than a threshold level and the sensing does not sense motion indicating human activity within the building; and
sensing activation of at least one appliance that that generates water vapor when in use by measuring an electrical current consumed by said at least one appliance, and wherein said generating generates said preventative response only while said sensing does not sense that said at least one appliance is active.
- detecting a level of humidity inside of said building;
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13. A method of operating a system for detecting potentially destructive water leakage conditions in a building and generating a preventative response, said method comprising:
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sensing activation of at least one appliance that can cause an undesirable indication of said water leakage conditions by measuring an electrical current consumed by said at least one appliance; and blocking generation of said preventative response by said system in response to said undesirable indication responsive to said sensing that said at least one appliance is active. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification