[특허]Detecting unintended flush toilet water flow

nth Solutions, LLC

검색어에 아래의 연산자를 사용하시면 더 정확한 검색결과를 얻을 수 있습니다.
검색연산자

검색도움말
검색연산자	기능	검색시 예
()	우선순위가 가장 높은 연산자	예1) (나노 (기계 \| machine))
공백	두 개의 검색어(식)을 모두 포함하고 있는 문서 검색	예1) (나노 기계) 예2) 나노 장영실
\|	두 개의 검색어(식) 중 하나 이상 포함하고 있는 문서 검색	예1) (줄기세포 \| 면역) 예2) 줄기세포 \| 장영실
!	NOT 이후에 있는 검색어가 포함된 문서는 제외	예1) (황금 !백금) 예2) !image
*	검색어의 *란에 0개 이상의 임의의 문자가 포함된 문서 검색	예) semi*
""	따옴표 내의 구문과 완전히 일치하는 문서만 검색	예) "Transform and Quantization"

과학기술 지식인프라 ScienceON

연합인증

연합인증 가입 기관의 연구자들은 소속기관의 인증정보(ID와 암호)를 이용해 다른 대학, 연구기관, 서비스 공급자의 다양한 온라인 자원과 연구 데이터를 이용할 수 있습니다.

이는 여행자가 자국에서 발행 받은 여권으로 세계 각국을 자유롭게 여행할 수 있는 것과 같습니다.

연합인증으로 이용이 가능한 서비스는 NTIS, DataON, Edison 등이 있습니다.

한번의 인증절차만으로 연합인증 가입 서비스에 추가 로그인 없이 이용이 가능합니다.

다만, 연합인증을 위해서는 최초 1회만 인증 절차가 필요합니다. (회원이 아닐 경우 회원 가입이 필요합니다.)

연합인증 절차는 다음과 같습니다.

최초이용시에는
ScienceON에 로그인 → 연합인증 서비스 접속 → 로그인 (본인 확인 또는 회원가입) → 서비스 이용

그 이후에는
ScienceON 로그인 → 연합인증 서비스 접속 → 서비스 이용

연합인증을 활용하시면 KISTI가 제공하는 다양한 서비스를 편리하게 이용하실 수 있습니다.

특허 상세정보

MyON담기

내보내기 페이스북 공유 트위터 공유 카카오톡 공유

Detecting unintended flush toilet water flow

특허상세정보
국가/구분	United States(US) Patent 등록
국제특허분류(IPC7판)	G08B-021/00 E03D-001/00
미국특허분류(USC)	340/605; 004/314; 004/415
출원번호	US-0748793 (2010-03-29)
등록번호	US-8310369 (2012-11-13)
발명자 / 주소	Canfield, Eric L. Cheslock, Edward P.
출원인 / 주소	nth Solutions, LLC
대리인 / 주소	Nixon & Vanderhye P.C.
인용정보	피인용 횟수 : 8 인용 특허 : 62

초록

Water is conserved by detecting unintended inflow of water into the tank of a flush toilet. A sensor acoustically and/or vibrationally coupled to the flush toilet detects sound and/or vibration generated due to turbulence in water flowing into the toilet tank. An electronic circuit analyzes the sensor output to detect cyclical water inflow not intended by a user. The electronic circuit generates an alert such as an audible and/or visual indication that the toilet is leaking.

대표
청구항
▼

1. A toilet monitoring device for determining when a toilet of the type having a fill valve is leaking, the toilet monitoring device comprising: a sensor that in use produces a signal having an amplitude corresponding to sound and/or vibration detected by the sensor; andan electronic circuit to receive and process the signal, the electronic circuit being configured to (a) periodically sample the amplitude of the electrical signal and determine an average amplitude (b) establish a comparative threshold in response to the determined average amplitude, (c) compare the signal amplitudes with the comparative threshold to determine time durations (T3) for which the amplitude of the signal exceeds the comparative threshold and time durations (T4) for which the amplitude of the signal is below the comparative threshold, (d) compare an average value of T3 to a stored user initiated fill valve activity time duration threshold (T1) and if T3 is less than T1, (e) compare the average value of T3 to an average value for T4 and if T3 is less than T4, (f) provide an indication of a toilet fill valve leak. 2. The device of claim 1 wherein said sensor is, in use, mounted on an external surface of the toilet so as to be acoustically and/or vibrationally coupled to the toilet. 3. The device of claim 1 wherein said sensor comprises a piezo-electric sensor. 4. The device of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit is further configured to detect intermittent leaks and produces an alert as the indication. 5. The device of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit in use accepts no user input. 6. The device of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit is further configured to actuate said sensor to cause said sensor to audibly emit said indication. 7. The device of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit is further configured to operate in a learn mode that adaptively models the characteristics and operations of a particular toilet. 8. The device of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit includes a microcomputer. 9. The device of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit is further configured to intermittently operate in a sleep mode to conserve power. 10. The device of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit includes a display that is configured to visually provide the indication. 11. The device of claim 10 wherein said display comprises at least one light emitting diode. 12. The device of claim 10 wherein said display comprises an array of light emitting diodes. 13. The device of claim 1 further including a housing, said sensor and said electronic circuit being disposed within said housing, said housing being configured to be adhesively removably attachable to the outside of a toilet tank. 14. The device of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit is configured to be dynamically adaptable to changing baseline operational characteristics of the toilet. 15. The device of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit is configured to perform statistical standard deviation and averaging analysis on said time durations. 16. A method for monitoring a toilet of the type having a fill valve to determine whether the toilet is leaking, the method comprising: producing an electrical signal having an amplitude corresponding to sound and/or vibration detected by a sensor;periodically sampling the amplitude of the electrical signal,determining an average amplitude, establishing a comparative threshold in response to the determined average amplitude;with a processor, comparing the signal amplitudes with the comparative threshold to determine time durations (T3) for which the amplitude of the signal exceeds the comparative threshold and time durations (T4) for which the amplitude of the signal is below the comparative threshold;with the processor, determining whether the detected event time durations represent a consistent and repetitious series of events indicative of repeated operations of the fill valve due to toilet leakage, including comparing an average value of T3 to a stored user initiated fill valve activity time duration threshold (T1) and if T3 is less than T1, and comparing the average value of T3 to an average value for T4 and if T3 is less than T4, thereby discriminating toilet-generated noise from noise not generated by the toilet and detecting cyclical operation of the toilet that was not initiated by a user; andautomatically producing a humanly-perceivable indication of a toilet fill valve leak in response to said discriminating. 17. The method of claim 16 further including acoustically and/or vibrationally coupling a sensor to an outer surface of the toilet. 18. The method of claim 16 further including mechanically actuating a piezo-electric sensor to produce the sensor signal. 19. The method of claim 16 further including detecting intermittent leaks and producing said indication in response thereto. 20. The method of claim 16 further including actuating a sensor to cause said sensor to emit said alert as an audible indication. 21. The method of claim 16 further including operating in a learn mode that models characteristics of the toilet. 22. The method of claim 16 further including operating in a sleep mode to conserve power. 23. The method of claim 16 further including providing a visual indication. 24. The method of claim 16 further including adhering a water-resistant housing to the outside of a toilet tank and producing the sensor signal from within the housing. 25. The device of claim 16 further including analyzing said sensor signal to determine leakage based on unintended water inflow. 26. The method of claim 16 further including dynamically adapting a detection algorithm to changing characteristics of water flow into the toilet. 27. The method of claim 16 further including performing statistical analysis on said sensor signal. 28. A method of detecting unintended inflow of water into the tank of a flush toilet of the type having a tank having a fill valve therein, comprising: measuring, with a sensor disposed outside of the tank of the flush toilet and not in contact with any water the toilet tank contains, at least one characteristic associated with water inflow into a toilet tank, the sensor producing an electrical signal having an amplitude corresponding to sound and/or vibration detected by the sensor;periodically sampling the amplitude of the electrical signal and determining an average amplitude,establishing a comparative threshold in response to the determined average amplitude;with the electronic circuit, comparing the signal amplitudes with the comparative threshold to determine time durations (T3) for which the amplitude of the signal exceeds the comparative threshold and time durations (T4) for which the amplitude of the signal is below the comparative threshold,processing, with the electronic circuit, said determined time durations to compare an average value of T3 to a stored user initiated fill valve activity time duration threshold (T1) and if T3 is less than T1 and to compare the average value of T3 to an average value for T4 and if T3 is less than T4, to thereby determine whether the time duration comparisons are indicative of a consistent and repetitious series of events characteristic of repeated operations of the fill valve due to toilet leakage, thereby distinguishing toilet events from other disturbances and detecting, with the electronic circuit, when water inflow into said toilet tank is not initiated by a user flushing said toilet and providing an indication of a toilet fill valve leak. 29. The method of claim 28 wherein said measuring comprises detecting vibration or acoustic noise. 30. The method of claim 28 wherein said measuring comprises measuring vibration generated when a fill valve allows water to flow into the toilet tank. 31. The method of claim 28 wherein said flush toilet includes a flapper valve, and said determining determines leaking of the type caused by a faulty flapper valve. 32. The method of claim 28 wherein said measuring comprises detecting a response to vibration or acoustic noise. 33. A method of detecting water flow into a toilet having a tank and a fill valve, said method comprising: using a sensor to produce an electrical signal having an amplitude corresponding to sound and/or vibration detected by the sensor;periodically sampling the amplitude of the electrical signal and determining an average amplitude;detecting, with a processing circuit coupled to the sensor, successive periods during which the fill valve opens to allow water to flow into the toilet tank, including establishing a comparative threshold in response to the determined average amplitude, and comparing the signal amplitudes with the comparative threshold to determine time durations (T3) for which the amplitude of the signal exceeds the comparative threshold and time durations (T4) for which the amplitude of the signal is below the comparative threshold;with the processing circuit, comparing an average value of T3 to a stored user initiated fill valve activity time duration threshold (T1) and if T3 is less than T1, comparing the average value of T3 to an average value for T4 and if T3 is less than T4, thereby determining whether the time durations comprise a consistent and repetitious series of events characteristic of repeated operations of the fill valve due to toilet leakage and distinguishing, with the processing circuit in response to said time durations, toilet events indicative of toilet leakage from disturbances external to the toilet and from user-initiated toilet events; andbased on said determining, providing an indication of a toilet fill valve leak. 34. The method of claim 33 wherein said sensor performs monitoring of acoustic noise or vibration and said determining determines that said water flow is cyclical and therefore not initiated by users of the toilet. 35. The method of claim 33 wherein said sensor performs detecting of vibration generated when said fill valve allows water to flow into the toilet tank. 36. The method of claim 33 wherein said comparing comprises determining whether successive time durations are at least substantially equal. 37. The method of claim 33 wherein said flush toilet includes a flapper valve, and said determining determines leaking consistent with a defective flapper valve.

인용문헌 (62)

이 특허를 인용한 특허 (8)

IPC 상위 출원인

내보내기

상세정보
내보내기 구분	파일저장 인쇄 메일전송
구성항목	관리번호, 국가코드, 자료구분, 상태, 출원번호, 출원일자, 공개번호, 공개일자, 등록번호, 등록일자, 발명명칭(한글), 발명명칭(영문), 출원인(한글), 출원인(영문), 출원인코드, 대표IPC 관리번호, 국가코드, 자료구분, 상태, 출원번호, 출원일자, 공개번호, 공개일자, 공고번호, 공고일자, 등록번호, 등록일자, 발명명칭(한글), 발명명칭(영문), 출원인(한글), 출원인(영문), 출원인코드, 대표출원인, 출원인국적, 출원인주소, 발명자, 발명자E, 발명자코드, 발명자주소, 발명자 우편번호, 발명자국적, 대표IPC, IPC코드, 요약, 미국특허분류, 대리인주소, 대리인코드, 대리인(한글), 대리인(영문), 국제공개일자, 국제공개번호, 국제출원일자, 국제출원번호, 우선권, 우선권주장일, 우선권국가, 우선권출원번호, 원출원일자, 원출원번호, 지정국, Citing Patents, Cited Patents
저장형식	Text(ASCII format) Excel format PIAS분석(.xls)
메일정보	받는사람 (필수) @ 보내는사람 (선택) @ 제목 내용 KISTI 검색결과 이메일 서비스
안내	> 총 건의 자료가 검색되었습니다. > 다운받으실 자료의 인덱스를 입력하세요. (1-10,000) > 검색결과의 순서대로 최대 10,000건 까지 다운로드가 가능합니다. > 데이타가 많을 경우 속도가 느려질 수 있습니다.(최대 2~3분 소요) > 다운로드 파일은 UTF-8 형태로 저장됩니다. 파일의 내용이 제대로 보이지 않을실 때는 웹브라우저 상단의 보기 -> 인코딩 -> 자동선택 여부를 확인하십시오 > ~ > Text(ASCII format) Excel format

과학기술 지식인프라 ScienceON

ScienceON Chatbot

연합인증

특허 상세정보

Detecting unintended flush toilet water flow

초록

대표
청구항
▼

인용문헌 (62)

이 특허를 인용한 특허 (8)

IPC 상위 출원인

과제정보

상세정보조회

원문조회

IPC 상세정보(version : 201201)

연구과제 성과물(0)

참여연구원의 다른 문헌(0)

처리중입니다.

잠시만 기다려주세요.

ScienceON Chatbot

연합인증

특허 상세정보

Detecting unintended flush toilet water flow

초록

대표청구항 ▼

인용문헌 (62)

이 특허를 인용한 특허 (8)

IPC 상위 출원인

과제정보

상세정보조회

원문조회

IPC 상세정보(version : 201201)

연구과제 성과물(0)

참여연구원의 다른 문헌(0)

처리중입니다.

잠시만 기다려주세요.

대표
청구항
▼