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A faucet for discharging water, comprising a spout configured to receive and discharge a supply of water; a light emitter mounted on the spout and configured to emit a light beam; a light sensor mounted on the spout and configured to receive the light beam and detect an interruption of the light bea

A faucet for discharging water, comprising a spout configured to receive and discharge a supply of water; a light emitter mounted on the spout and configured to emit a light beam; a light sensor mounted on the spout and configured to receive the light beam and detect an interruption of the light beam; a control circuit configured to control the flow of water through the faucet based on the interruption of the light beam; and a touchpad for controlling at least one of a flow rate and a temperature of the water discharged from the spout.

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1. A faucet for discharging water, comprising: a spout comprising: a base extending upwardly from a mounting surface; andan arched portion having a first portion, which curves upward and outward from the base, and a second portion, which curves downward and outward from the first portion, the second

1. A faucet for discharging water, comprising: a spout comprising: a base extending upwardly from a mounting surface; andan arched portion having a first portion, which curves upward and outward from the base, and a second portion, which curves downward and outward from the first portion, the second portion having an outlet for discharging water from the spout;a light emitter mounted on or in the second portion of the spout and configured to emit a light beam outside of a work region associated with the faucet;a light sensor mounted on or in the spout and configured to receive the light beam and detect an interruption of the light beam; anda control circuit configured to control the flow of water through the faucet based on the interruption of the light beam. 2. The faucet of claim 1, further comprising a touchpad for controlling at least one of a flow rate and a temperature of the water discharged from the spout, wherein the touchpad is configured to control the flow rate of the water discharged based on a user input along a first orthogonal axis, and wherein the touchpad is configured to control the temperature of the water discharged based on a user input along a second orthogonal axis. 3. The faucet of claim 2, wherein one of the first and second orthogonal axes is an x-axis and the other orthogonal axis is a y-axis. 4. The faucet of claim 3, further comprising a mounting plate having the mounting surface that is configured to mount the faucet to at least one of a sink and a counter, wherein the spout extends upwardly from the mounting plate and the touchpad is disposed on the mounting plate. 5. The faucet of claim 1, wherein the light beam is emitted from the light emitter toward the light sensor, which is located between a bottom of the base and the second portion of the arched portion. 6. The faucet of claim 5, wherein the light sensor is arranged on the base of the spout. 7. The faucet of claim 6, wherein the light beam does not intersect a flow region beneath the outlet of the second portion of the spout, and wherein the work region has a volume that is larger than a volume of the flow region. 8. The faucet of claim 5, wherein the light emitter and the light sensor are arranged adjacent to one another on the arched portion of the spout, such that the light emitter projects the light beam toward the base of the spout, and wherein the light sensor detects light that is reflected back by an object in a detection zone. 9. The faucet of claim 8, wherein the detection zone does not intersect a flow region of the faucet, and wherein the work region, which extends down from an outlet end of the arched portion to a boundary defined by an upper periphery of an opening of a basin of a sink associated with the faucet, includes the flow region. 10. The faucet of claim 1, wherein the work region extends from a periphery of the second portion of the spout to the base of the spout. 11. A faucet for discharging water, comprising: a spout having a base and an arched portion extending from the base for discharging water;a light emitter mounted on or in the arched portion of the spout and configured to emit a light beam toward the base of the spout;a light sensor mounted near the light emitter on or in the arched portion of the spout, wherein the light sensor is configured to detect a reflection of the light beam and output a signal when an object enters a detection zone that does not intersect a work region of a sink to which the faucet is coupled, wherein the work region extends down from an outlet end of the arched portion to a boundary defined by an upper periphery of an opening of a basin of the sink; anda control circuit configured to control the flow of water through the faucet based on the signal from the light sensor. 12. The faucet of claim 11, wherein the detection zone does not intersect a flow region beneath a water outlet of the spout, and wherein the work region includes the flow region and is also outside of the flow region. 13. The faucet of claim 12, wherein the sink is a kitchen sink. 14. The faucet of claim 13, wherein the kitchen sink has a rectangular basin, the boundary defined by the upper periphery of the opening of the basin is rectangular, and the work region has a rectangular pyramidal shape. 15. The faucet of claim 12, wherein the arched portion includes a first portion, which curves upward and outward from the base, and a second portion, which curves downward and outward from the first portion. 16. The faucet of claim 11, further comprising a touchpad for controlling at least one of a flow rate and a temperature of the water discharged from the spout. 17. The faucet of claim 16, further comprising: a first valve configured to control the flow rate of a supply of cold water; anda second valve configured to control the flow rate of a supply of hot water;wherein the touchpad is configured to control operation of the first and second valves based on a first user input along a first orthogonal axis and a second user input along a second orthogonal axis. 18. The faucet of claim 17, wherein the touchpad is configured to control the flow rate of the water based on the first user input along the first orthogonal axis, and wherein the touchpad is configured to control the temperature of the water based on the second user input along the second orthogonal axis. 19. A method of controlling operation of a faucet, comprising the steps of: turning on/off a flow of water from an outlet in a portion of an arched portion of the faucet that curves downward and outward by interrupting a detection zone that is located outside of a work region with an object, wherein the faucet comprises: a light emitter located on or in the portion of the arched portion and configured to emit a light beam into the detection zone; anda light sensor configured to detect an interruption of the light beam; andcontrolling one of a temperature and a flow rate of water through the faucet via a control circuit of the faucet that receives a signal associated with a user movement to control operation of a cold water valve and a hot water valve based on the signal. 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising a touchpad mounted on the faucet, wherein the touchpad outputs a signal associated with a user input, controls the flow rate of the water through the faucet when the user input is along a first orthogonal axis, and controls the temperature of the water discharged from the faucet when the user input is along a second orthogonal axis. 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the light beam is produced by a semiconductor laser that is emitted from the portion of the arched portion of the faucet toward a base portion of the faucet, such that the detection zone does not intersect a flow region of water discharged from an outlet of the arched portion of the faucet, and wherein the work region extends from an end of the portion of the arched portion having the outlet to a boundary defined by an upper periphery of an opening of a basin of a sink.