Abstract:
A device for controlling a gas flow by wireless signals includes a control signal provider, a solenoid valve and a controller. The control signal provider is operated by user to generate a control signal, which contains a command. The solenoid valve has a valve body and a solenoid unit, wherein the valve body has a channel therein for a gas flow flowing through, and the solenoid unit opens or closes the channel by control. The controller receives the control signal from the control signal provider, and controls the solenoid unit according to the command in the control signal to open or close the channel of the valve body. It allows user to control a solenoid valve, and obtain the status of the solenoid valve at any place. He/she does not have to operate the gas switch in person.

Description:
[0001]    The current application claims a foreign priority to the patent application of Taiwan No. 102137724 filed on Oct. 18, 2013. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The present invention relates generally to a gas switch of a gas appliance, and more particularly to a device which controls a gas flow via wireless signals. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    A gas appliance, such as gas stove, gas water heater, and gas fireplace, is provided with a gas switch on a gas pipe to turn on or turn off a gas flow in the gas pipe. It is advised to turn off the gas switch while he/she is sleeping or out to avoid gas leakage. 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  shows a conventional gas switch  100 , which is a ball valve for manual control. The gas switch  100  has a handle  102  to be turned for turning on/off a gas flow to a gas appliance  200 . For some reasons, the gas switch  100  is mounted at a place, such as under the gas appliance or at a corner, where the user is not easy to reach. Therefore, the user has to search the gas switch  100  by hands, not by eyes, while he/she wants to operate the gas switch  100 . Besides, the user always wonders that did I turn off the switch? Then, he/she searched the switch again, and found the switch is off. Therefore, the conventional gas switch  100  is needed to be improved. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a gas switch, which may be controlled via wireless signals. 
         [0008]    The present invention provides a device for controlling a gas flow by wireless signals, which includes a solenoid valve and a controller. The solenoid valve has a valve body and a solenoid unit, wherein the valve body has a channel therein for a gas flow flowing through, and the solenoid unit opens or closes the channel by control. The controller is electrically connected to the solenoid unit of the solenoid valve, wherein the controller receives a control signal, which contains a command, and controls the solenoid unit according to the command in the control signal to open or close the channel of the valve body. 
         [0009]    With such design, the device of the present invention allows user to control a solenoid valve, and obtain the status of the solenoid valve at any place. He/she does not have to operate the gas switch in person. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a sketch view of the conventional gas switch and the gas appliance; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the solenoid valve and the controller of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]      FIG. 2  shows a device  1  of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention for turning on and off a gas flow to a gas appliance, including a control signal provider, which is a remote control  10  in the present embodiment, a solenoid valve  20 , a controller  30 , and a power supply, which is a battery  40  in the present embodiment. 
         [0016]    The remote control  10  has an input interface  12 , a control unit  14 , a transceiving unit  16 , and a display unit  18 . In an embodiment, the input interface  12  provides a user to operate in order to turn on or turn off the gas flow. The control unit  14  generates a command according to the selection of the input interface  12 . The command includes a turning-on command and a turning-off command. The control unit  14  converts the command into a control signal S 1 , and then transmits the control signal S 1  out through the transceiving unit  16 . In an embodiment, the control signal S 1  is a radio frequency (RF) signal. In another embodiment, the control signal S 1  may be infrared rays, Zigbee, Bluetooth, and so on. 
         [0017]    As shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the solenoid valve  20  is a normally closed solenoid valve, including a valve body  22  and a solenoid unit  24 . The valve body  22  is mounted on a gas pipe  52 , having an input side  222 , an output side  224 , and a channel  226  between the input side  222  and the output side  224 . The input side  222  and the output side  224  are connected to the gas pipe  52  respectively, and a gas flow in the gas pipe  52  enters the valve body  22  via the input side  222 , flows through the channel  226 , and leaves the valve body  22  via the output side  224 . The solenoid unit  24  is provided on the valve body  22  to open or close the channel  226  by an electrical signal. The solenoid unit  24  normally closes channel  226  of the valve body  22 . The solenoid valve  20  is that same as a conventional solenoid valve, so we do not describe the detail here. 
         [0018]    The controller  30  has a case  32  and a control circuit  34 . The case  32  is mounted on the valve body  22  of the solenoid valve  20 , and the control circuit  34  and the battery  40  are received in the case  32 . The control circuit  34  includes a transceiving unit  342 , an electric control unit  344 , and a sensing unit  346 . The battery  40  supplies these elements  342 ,  344 ,  346  with electric power. The electric control unit  344  is electrically connected to the solenoid unit  24  of the solenoid valve  20 , the transceiving unit  342 , and the sensing unit  346  respectively. The transceiving unit  342  receives the control signal S 1  from the remote control  10 , and then the electric control unit  344  interprets the control signal S 1  to obtain the command, and controls the solenoid valve  20  accordingly. 
         [0019]    The electric control unit  344  also compiles a status of the solenoid valve  20  into a data signal S 2 , which is a RF (radio frequency) signal, and transmits the data signal S 2  to the remote control  10  through the transceiving unit  342 . The transceiving unit  16  of the remote control  10  receives the data signal S 2 , and then the control unit  14  interprets the data signal S 2  to obtain the status of the solenoid valve  20  and shows it on the display unit  18 , therefore the user may read the status of the solenoid valve  20  on the display unit  18 . 
         [0020]    The sensing unit  346  senses a voltage of the battery  40 , and transmits it to the electric control unit  344 . While the sensed voltage of the battery  40  is lower than a predetermined voltage, the electric control unit  344  generates a data signal S 2 , which indicates that the battery is low, and transmits it to the remote control  10  through the transceiving unit  342 . The same as above, the transceiving unit  16  of the remote control  10  receives the data signal S 2 , and then the control unit  14  interprets it S 2 , and shows a low-battery warning on the display unit  18 . It informs user to change the battery. The data signal S 2  may contain the sensed voltage of the battery  40 . While sensing unit  346  senses a voltage of the battery  40  lower than a reference voltage, the electric control unit  344  turns off the solenoid valve  20  directly. The reference voltage is lower than the predetermined voltage, and it is the minimum voltage with which the electric control unit  344  can control the solenoid valve  20 . In other words, the solenoid valve  20  will be turned off automatically before the battery  40  is dead. 
         [0021]    The control circuit  34  further is connected to a switch  42  to be switched between a first condition and a second condition. In an embodiment, the first condition of the switch  42  is ON, and the second condition is OFF. While the control circuit  34  does not receive any control signal, and the switch  42  is switched to the first condition (ON), the control circuit  34  opens the channel  226  in the valve body  22 , and the control circuit  34  closes the channel  226  in the valve body  22  while the control circuit  34  does not receive any control signal, and the switch  42  is switched to the second condition (OFF). Therefore, the user still may turn on or off the solenoid valve  20  without the remote control  10 . 
         [0022]    The power supply may be an AC power supply except for the battery  34 . A transformer and a rectifier are required if the device of the present invention is connected to the AC power supply. In practices, the power supply may include an AC power supply for a primary power and a battery for a secondary power. Normally, the AC power supply provides the control circuit  34  with essential power and charges the battery, and the battery provides the control circuit  34  with power only when the AC power supply is disconnected. 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  shows a device  2  for turning on or turning off a gas flow to a gas appliance of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is similar to the device  1  of the first preferred embodiment, except that a control signal provider  60  includes a tablet  62  (remote control), a wireless access point (wireless AP)  64 , and an interpreter  66 . The tablet  62  has a touch screen  622  to be the display unit, and is installed with an application. User may input the command on the touch screen  622  to turn on or off a gas flow through Internet  70 , the wireless AP  64 , and the interpreter  66 . In practices, it may be through a local network rather than Internet. 
         [0024]    The interpreter  66  has a transceiving unit  662 , a Wi-Fi transceiving unit  664 , and a converting unit  666 . User inputs a command through the touch screen  622  of the tablet  62 , and the command is converted into a control signal, and then the control signal is transmitted to the wireless AP  66  though Internet  70 . The control signal is interpreted into a Wi-Fi control signal W 1 , which contains the command, at the wireless AP  66 , and then the Wi-Fi control signal W 1  is transmitted to the interpreter  66 . The Wi-Fi transceiving unit  664  of the interpreter  66  receives the Wi-Fi control signal W 1 , and the converting unit  666  converts it into the control signal S 1 , and then the control signal S 1  is transmitted to the control circuit  34  through the transceiving unit  662  to control the solenoid valve  20  accordingly. 
         [0025]    The control circuit  34  transmits the data signal S 2 , which contains a status of the solenoid valve  20 , to the interpreter  66  periodically. The data signal S 2  is received by the transceiving unit  662  of the interpreter  66 , and is converted into a Wi-Fi data signal W 2  by the converting unit  666 , and then the Wi-Fi data signal W 2  is transmitted to the wireless AP  64  through the Wi-Fi transceiving unit  664 . The Wi-Fi data signal W 2  is converted into the data signal, which contains the status of the solenoid valve  20 , and is transmitted to the tablet  62  through Internet  70 , so that user may read the current status of the solenoid valve  20  on the touch screen  622 . 
         [0026]    As a result, user may control the solenoid valve  20  with the tablet  62  at any place as long as the tablet can connect to Internet, and obtain the current status of the solenoid valve  20  as well. 
         [0027]    In conclusion, the device of the present invention allow user to remotely control a solenoid valve, and obtain the status of the solenoid valve. In comparison with the prior art, the present invention overcomes the drawback of the prior art, user has to operate the switch in person, and the switch is hard to reach. In addition, the control circuit, the battery, and the switch are directly mounted on the solenoid valve, which simplifies the design of the elements of the present invention, and makes it easier to install the device. 
         [0028]    It must be pointed out that the embodiments described above are only some preferred embodiments of the present invention. All equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention.