Patent ID: 9702128
Date: 2017-07-11
CPC Classifications: E03C

Claim:
1. A faucet comprising: a spout including a lower hub and an upper outlet; a passageway that conducts water flow through the spout; an electrically operable valve disposed within the passageway and having an opened position, in which water is free to flow through the passageway, and a closed position, in which the passageway is blocked; a first capacitive sensor coupled to the spout near the upper outlet, the first capacitive sensor having a first detection field that generates a first output signal upon detection of a user's hands in the first detection field; a second capacitive sensor coupled to the lower hub of the spout, the second capacitive sensor having a second detection field that generates a second output signal upon detection of a user's hands in the second detection field, the first detection field overlapping the second detection field to define a detection zone; and a controller coupled to the first and second capacitive sensors and the electrically operable valve, the controller configured to monitor the signal strengths of the first output signal and the second output signal, and to actuate the electrically operable valve in response to detecting the user's hands within boundaries of the detection zone defined by amplitudes of the first output signal and the second output signal.