Patent ID: 9315976
Filing Date: 2016-04-19
CPC Classification: E03C,H03K,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A faucet comprising: a spout; a passageway that conducts fluid flow through the spout; an electrically operable valve located within the passageway; a manual valve located within the passageway in series with the electrically operable valve; a manual handle that controls the manual valve; an insulator located between the spout and the manual handle so that the spout is electrically isolated from the manual handle; a first touch sensor on the manual valve handle; a second touch sensor on the spout; a capacitive sensor directly coupled to one of the first and second touch sensors and capacitively coupled to the other of the first and second touch sensors without a direct electrical connection through a conductor to the capacitive sensor, the capacitive sensor providing an output signal; and a controller coupled to the capacitive sensor, the controller being configured to monitor the output signal from the capacitive sensor to detect touching of the spout and the manual valve handle, the controller also being coupled to the electrically operable valve to control the electrically operable valve in response to the output signal from the capacitive sensor.