초록 ▼

An electronic faucet having a spout, a electronically actuated valve, and a microprocessor-based control circuit for operating the valve to enable or disable water flow through the spout. The microprocessor has a control program which includes a calibration routine that uses an infra-red sensor to d

An electronic faucet having a spout, a electronically actuated valve, and a microprocessor-based control circuit for operating the valve to enable or disable water flow through the spout. The microprocessor has a control program which includes a calibration routine that uses an infra-red sensor to determine an adjustable setpoint indicative of the signal received from the sensor in the absence of an object in front of the faucet. The microprocessor switches the valve from its closed state to its open state when the signal from the sensor either increases above the setpoint by a selected amount or decreases below the setpoint by a selected amount. This provides a window about the setpoint within which differences between the setpoint and the signal do not result in opening of the valve. Object detection is accomplished using a tracking routine that adjusts the setpoint in an attempt to track the sensor signal. If the sensor signal undergoes a change that is too large to be tracked, then the microprocessor switches on the valve. Once the sensor signal drops back into a range of values about a stored calibration point, the valve is closed. The control circuit is part of an electronics module that is mounted within the spout and that is held in place between the spout tube and the spout housing. The module includes a curved recess having a shape that conforms to the spout tube so that the module is retained in place at its upper end by the spout tube.

대표청구항 ▼

[We claim:] [1.]a spout having a housing that extends from a base end of said housing to a distal free end of said housing, said base end having a substantially planar mounting surface;an infra-red detector supported within said housing proximate said base end, said housing having an outer surface w

[We claim:] [1.]a spout having a housing that extends from a base end of said housing to a distal free end of said housing, said base end having a substantially planar mounting surface;an infra-red detector supported within said housing proximate said base end, said housing having an outer surface with said detector being recessed from said outer surface, said infra-red detector having an optical axis oriented in a direction that is parallel to the plane in which said mounting surface lies, and said optical axis extending through an opening in said outer surface of said housing at a location in which said outer surface forms an obtuse angle with said mounting surface.