IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0936361
(2007-11-07)
|
등록번호 |
US-8127967
(2012-03-06)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
|
출원인 / 주소 |
- University of South Florida
|
대리인 / 주소 |
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
0 인용 특허 :
11 |
초록
▼
The present invention provides an apparatus for dispensing fluid in preselected volumetric quantities. The apparatus comprises a valve positioned inline with a conduit holding fluid under pressure, a flow meter positioned inline with the conduit, a control unit communicatively coupled to the valve a
The present invention provides an apparatus for dispensing fluid in preselected volumetric quantities. The apparatus comprises a valve positioned inline with a conduit holding fluid under pressure, a flow meter positioned inline with the conduit, a control unit communicatively coupled to the valve and flow meter, the control unit adapted to open and close the valve and detect data from the flow meter associated with the volume of fluid passing through the conduit, a units select switch having a plurality of preselected settings associated with a plurality of volumetric units, the units select switch communicatively coupled to the control unit, and an incrementing switch communicatively coupled to the control unit, whereby the control unit opens the valve responsive to activation of the incrementing switch thereby permitting fluid flow through the conduit until the control unit closes the valve responsive to the flow meter indicating a volume of fluid passed through the conduit substantially equal to a volumetric unit selected on the units select switch.
대표청구항
▼
1. An apparatus for dispensing fluid water in preselected volumetric quantities from a domestic water delivery system, the apparatus comprising: a valve positioned inline with a conduit for holding water under pressure from a domestic water delivery system;a flow meter positioned inline with the con
1. An apparatus for dispensing fluid water in preselected volumetric quantities from a domestic water delivery system, the apparatus comprising: a valve positioned inline with a conduit for holding water under pressure from a domestic water delivery system;a flow meter positioned inline with the conduit;a control unit communicatively coupled to the valve and the flow meter, the control unit adapted to open and close the valve and detect data from the flow meter associated with the volume of water passing through the conduit;a units select switch having a plurality of preselected settings associated with a plurality of volumetric units, the units select switch communicatively coupled to the control unit; andan incrementing switch communicatively coupled to the control unit, whereby the control unit opens the valve responsive to actuation of the incrementing switch, the incrementing switch being actuatable a plurality of times, wherein the number of actuations of the incrementing switch determines the number of volumetric units selected by the units select switch to be dispensed, the actuation of the incrementing switch thereby permitting the flow of water through the conduit until the control unit closes the valve responsive to the data from the flow meter indicating that the volume of water that has passed through the conduit is substantially equal to the volumetric unit selected on the units select switch in combination with the number of actuations of the incrementing switch. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the incrementing switch further comprising an audible signal generator, the audible signal generator for generating an audible signal in response to the actuation of the incrementing switch. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flow meter is selected from the group consisting of a propeller flow meter, an insertion flow meter, a differential pressure flow meter, an ultrasonic flow meter, a vortex flow meter and a magnetic flow meter. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conduit for holding the water under pressure further comprises a faucet. 5. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a manual faucet valve, wherein the flow of water from the faucet is controlled by the manual faucet valve. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the valve is a solenoid valve. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pressure of the water in the conduit is between about 25 psi and about 60 psi. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a pressure regulator positioned inline with the conduit, the pressure regulator to regulate the water reaching the flow meter to between about 25 psi and about 60 psi. 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flow meter further comprises: an infrared light emitting diode;an infrared phototransistor communicatively coupled to receive the light from the light emitting diode and to output a current to the control module;an impeller positioned inline with the conduit, the rotation of the impeller intermittently obstructing the light transmitted from the light emitting diode to the infrared phototransistor thereby varying the output current of the phototransistor to the control module. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit further comprises: a units counter circuit communicatively coupled to receive the output from the incrementing switch;a non-zero detection circuit communicatively coupled between the valve and the units counter circuit;a flow meter pulse counter communicatively coupled to receive the output from the flow meter;a comparison circuit communicatively coupled to receive the output from the units select switch, and the output from the flow meter pulse counter, the comparison circuit to compare the output of the flow meter to the output of the units select switch and to decrement the units counter to provide output to the non-zero detection circuit for control of the valve. 11. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a debouncing circuit positioned between the output of the units incrementing switch and the units counter circuit to suppress a switch contact bounce. 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the units select switch further comprises at least one user definable volumetric unit. 13. The apparatus of claim 1, whereby the units select switch is a rotary switch and the plurality of volumetric units are selected by the rotation of the switch. 14. The apparatus of claim 1, whereby the incrementing switch is a momentary push switch, the actuation of the push switch to permit the flow of water equal to the volumetric unit selected by the unit select switch. 15. An apparatus for dispensing water in preselected volumetric quantities from a domestic water delivery system, the apparatus comprising: a valve positioned inline with a conduit holding water from a domestic water delivery system under pressure;a flow meter positioned inline with the conduit;a control unit communicatively coupled to the valve and flow meter, the control unit adapted to open and close the valve and detect data from the flow meter associated with the volume of water passing through the conduit;a rotary units select switch having a plurality of preselected settings associated with a plurality of volumetric units, the units select switch communicatively coupled to the control unit; andan incrementing switch communicatively coupled to the control unit, whereby the control unit opens the valve responsive to actuation of the incrementing switch, the incrementing switch being actuatable a plurality of times, wherein the number of actuations of the incrementing switch determines the number of volumetric units selected by the units select switch to be dispensed, the actuation of the incrementing switch thereby permitting the flow of water through the conduit until the control unit closes the valve responsive to the data from the flow meter indicating that the volume of water that has passed through the conduit is substantially equal to the volumetric unit selected on the units select switch in combination with the number of actuations of the incrementing switch.
※ AI-Helper는 부적절한 답변을 할 수 있습니다.