Abstract:
An automated liquid delivery system comprising: a housing defining an internal chamber, the housing comprising at least one delivery hole; a flow control valve inserted into the internal chamber and connectable to a source of liquid, the flow control valve for controlling a flow of liquid coming from the source of liquid; at least one pipe inserted into the internal chamber and connected to the flow control valve for delivering the liquid coming from the flow control valve through the delivery hole of the housing; a controller inserted into the internal chamber for controlling the flow control valve, the flow control valve and the controller being powerable by a battery insertable into the housing; and a cover securable to the housing for enclosing the flow control valve, the pipe, the controller and the battery therein.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to the field of faucets, and more particularly to electronic faucets. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    In order to provide an automated water delivery system to a container such as an automated bathtub or shower, an electronic faucet or shower head is required. Such an automated water delivery system may be remotely controlled to remotely control the flow of water. Therefore, electrical power must be provided to the automated water delivery system. Connecting the automated water delivery system to the power grid may require construction work such as removing the bathtub or making holes in a wall to electrically connect the automated water delivery system to the power grid, which is time-consuming and expensive. 
         [0003]    Therefore, there is a need for an improved automated liquid delivery system. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    According to a broad aspect, there is provided an automated liquid delivery system comprising: a housing defining an internal chamber, the housing comprising at least one delivery hole; a flow control valve inserted into the internal chamber and connectable to a source of liquid, the flow control valve for controlling a flow of liquid coming from the source of liquid; at least one pipe inserted into the internal chamber and connected to the flow control valve for delivering the liquid coming from the flow control valve through the delivery hole of the housing; a controller inserted into the internal chamber for controlling the flow control valve, the flow control valve and the controller being powerable by a battery insertable into the housing; and a cover securable to the housing for enclosing the flow control valve, the pipe, the controller and the battery therein. 
         [0005]    In one embodiment, the automated liquid delivery system further comprises the battery. 
         [0006]    In one embodiment, the battery comprises a rechargeable battery. 
         [0007]    In one embodiment, the automated liquid delivery system further comprises a solar panel for charging the rechargeable battery. 
         [0008]    In one embodiment, the solar panel is secured to the cover. 
         [0009]    In one embodiment, the automated liquid delivery system further comprises a communication unit inserted into the internal chamber for at least receiving activation commands. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, the communication unit comprises a wireless communication unit. 
         [0011]    In one embodiment, the automated liquid delivery system further comprises an activation key for activating the flow control valve. 
         [0012]    In one embodiment, the activation key comprises one of a press button and a motion sensor. 
         [0013]    In one embodiment, the automated liquid delivery system further comprises a temperature sensor inserted into the internal chamber for monitoring a temperature of the liquid to be delivered by the pipe. 
         [0014]    In one embodiment, the temperature sensor comprises a thermistor secured to an outer surface of the pipe. 
         [0015]    In one embodiment, the temperature sensor is inserted into the flow control valve. 
         [0016]    In one embodiment, the automated liquid delivery system further comprises a flow meter for monitoring a flow rate of the liquid. 
         [0017]    In one embodiment, the control flow valve comprises a mixing valve fluidly connectable to two sources of liquid. 
         [0018]    In one embodiment, the automated liquid delivery system further comprises a level sensor for monitoring a level of liquid in a container in which the automated liquid delivery system is to deliver the liquid. 
         [0019]    In one embodiment, the level sensor comprises an ultrasonic level sensor. 
         [0020]    In one embodiment, the automated liquid delivery system further comprises a contactless temperature sensor for monitoring a temperature of the liquid when contained in a container in which the automated liquid delivery system is to deliver the liquid. 
         [0021]    In one embodiment, the contactless temperature sensor comprises an infrared temperature sensor. 
         [0022]    In one embodiment, the housing comprises a faucet housing, the automated liquid delivery system corresponding to an electronic faucet. 
         [0023]    In another embodiment, the housing comprises a shower head housing, the automated liquid delivery system corresponding to an electronic shower head. 
         [0024]    In another embodiment, the housing comprises a shower head housing, the automated liquid delivery system corresponding to an electronic shower head. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0025]    Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which: 
           [0026]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electronic faucet comprising a cover, in accordance with a first embodiment; 
           [0027]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the electronic faucet of  FIG. 1  with the cover omitted, in accordance with an embodiment; 
           [0028]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the electronic faucet of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
           [0029]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an electronic faucet provided with a level sensor and a contactless temperature sensor, in accordance with a second embodiment; 
           [0030]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating a controller for an electronic faucet, in accordance with an embodiment; 
           [0031]      FIG. 6  illustrates a cover for an electronic faucet provided with a solar panel, in accordance with an embodiment. 
       
    
    
       [0032]    It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0033]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , there is illustrated an electronic faucet  10  that may be used in connection with a bathtub, a sink, or the like. The electronic faucet  10  comprises a housing  12  defining an internal chamber  14  and a cover  16  that is removably securable to the housing  12 . The housing  12  and the cover  16  are shaped so that the housing with the cover secured thereto has the shape of a faucet. 
         [0034]    The electronic faucet  10  further comprises a flow control valve for receiving water from a source of water and controlling the flow of water to be delivered by the electronic faucet. The input of the flow control valve  18  is fluidly connected to a first pipe  20  in which water flows from the source of water. The output of the flow control valve  18  is fluidly connected to the input of a second pipe  22 . A temperature sensor  24  such as a thermistor is secured to the outer surface of the pipe  22  in order to measure the temperature of the water flowing into the pipe  22 . The output of the second pipe  22  is fluidly connected to the input of a flow meter  26  that is adapted to monitor the flow of the water flowing therethrough. The output of the flow meter  26  is fluidly connected to a water delivery pipe  28  which may have a curved shape as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The water is delivered via the output of the pipe  28 . It should be understood that the housing  12  comprises a water delivery hole on its bottom face to allow the water delivered by the pipe  28  to fall into the bathtub. In one embodiment, the output of the pipe  28  is inserted into the water delivery hole. 
         [0035]    The electronic faucet  10  further comprises a battery  30  and a controller (not shown). The battery  30  is used for powering at least the controller and the flow control valve  18 . The battery may also be used for powering other components such as temperature sensors, flow rate sensors, etc. 
         [0036]    In one embodiment, the battery  30  is a rechargeable battery. 
         [0037]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the internal chamber  14  may extend from the top of the housing  12  and the cover  16  is then securable on the top of the housing  12  as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The flow control valve  18 , the second pipe  22 , the temperature sensor  24 , the flow meter  26 , the pipe  28 , and the battery  30  are received within the internal chamber  14  of the housing  12 . 
         [0038]    In one embodiment, the flow control valve  18  is directly connected to a single source of water. In this case, the temperature sensor  24  may be omitted. 
         [0039]    In another embodiment, the flow control valve  18  is fluidly connected to a mixing valve that is fluidly connected to a source of hot water and a source of cold water. The controller may be adapted to control the operation of the mixing valve in order to control the temperature of the water to be delivered by the electronic faucet  10 . 
         [0040]    In a further embodiment, the flow control valve  18  may be a mixing valve fluidly connected to both a source of hot water and a source of cold water. In this case, the controller is adapted to control the flow control valve  18  to adjust the flow of hot water and the flow of cold water flowing therethrough and adjust the temperature of the water delivered by the electronic faucet  10 . 
         [0041]    In one embodiment, the electronic faucet  10  further comprises a communication unit such as a wireless communication unit for receiving commands for the activation of the electronic faucet. For example, the electronic faucet  10  may be remotely controlled by a user using a remote control such as a mobile device. In this case, when the user inputs a command for opening the electronic faucet  10 , the remote control sends a command indicative of the opening for the electronic faucet to the electronic faucet  10 . The controller of the electronic faucet  10  receives the command via the communication unit and opens the flow control valve according to the received command to deliver water. Similarly, when the user inputs a command for closing the electronic faucet  10 , the remote control sends a command indicative of the closing for the electronic faucet to the electronic faucet  10 . The controller of the electronic faucet  10  receives the command via the communication unit and closes the flow control valve according to the received command to deliver water. 
         [0042]    In an embodiment in which the electronic faucet  10  comprises a temperature sensor  24 , the controller may be adapted to receive the measured temperature of the water flowing into the pipe  22  from the temperature sensor  24  and transmit the measured temperature via the communication unit. 
         [0043]    In an embodiment in which the electronic faucet comprises a flow meter  26 , the controller may be adapted to receive the flow of the water measured by the flow meter  26  and transmit the measured flow via the communication unit. 
         [0044]    In an embodiment in which the electronic faucet  10  comprises a temperature sensor  24 , the controller may be adapted to receive from a remote control a desired temperature for the water to be delivered via the communication unit. In this case, the controller may be adapted to adjust the flows of hot and cold water by controlling the mixing valve so that the temperature measured by the temperature sensor  24  substantially corresponds to the temperature desired by the user. 
         [0045]    In one embodiment, the electronic faucet  10  comprises no temperature sensor  24  and the controller comprises a database containing mixing valve setting conditions for different water temperatures. In this case, upon receiving a desired temperature for the water, the controller retrieves from the database the mixing valve setting conditions that correspond to the received desired temperature and applies the retrieved mixing valve setting conditions to the mixing valve in order to obtain water having the desired temperature. 
         [0046]    In another embodiment in which the faucet  10  is provided with the temperature sensor  24 , the controller may apply a feedback loop control method to obtain the desired temperature. In this case, the controller receives the temperature measured by the temperature sensor  24  and adjusts the mixing valve setting conditions until the desired temperature is obtained. 
         [0047]    In the same or another embodiment in which the electronic faucet  10  comprises a flow meter for measuring water flow rates, the controller may be adapted to receive from a remote control a desired flow for the water to be delivered via the communication unit. In this case, the controller may be adapted to adjust the flow of water by controlling the control flow valve  18  so that the flow measured by the temperature sensor  24  substantially corresponds to the received desired flow. 
         [0048]    In another embodiment, the electronic faucet  10  may be provided with an activation device for opening and closing the faucet  10 . For example, the electronic faucet may be provided with an activation key such as a press button for opening and closing the electronic faucet. In another example, the activation device may be a motion sensor. 
         [0049]    In one embodiment, the electronic faucet  10  further comprises a level senor such as a contactless level senor for measuring the level of water in the container with which the electronic faucet  10  is used. For example, the electronic faucet  10  may comprise a dual ultrasonic sensor  40  adapted to measure the distance between the water within the bathtub and the sensor  40 . The dual ultrasonic sensor  40  is adapted to emit two ultrasound wave beams  44  which reflected by the surface of the liquid, e.g. water, and to detect the reflected ultrasound wave beams to measure the distance between the surface of the liquid and the dual ultrasonic sensor  40 . The controller may then determine the level of liquid within the container or the volume of liquid in the container using from the measured distance between the surface of the liquid and the dual ultrasonic sensor  40 . 
         [0050]    In one embodiment the controller is adapted to receive a command indicative of a desired level of water within the bathtub. In this case, the controller is adapted to receive the measured level of water from the level sensor  40  close the control flow valve  18  when it determines that the measured level substantially corresponds to the desired level. 
         [0051]    In the same or another embodiment, the electronic faucet further comprises a contact less temperature sensor  42  for remotely measuring the temperature of the liquid contained in the container. For example, the contactless temperature sensor may be an infrared temperature sensor  42 . The infrared temperature sensor  42  is adapted to emit a beam  46  of infrared light which is reflected by the surface of the liquid contained in the container, and to detect the reflected light beam to measure the temperature of the liquid. 
         [0052]    In one embodiment, the controller is adapted to receive a command indicative of a desired temperature for the water in the bathtub and the measured temperature from the contactless temperature sensor  42 . The controller then compares the measured temperature to the desired temperature and controls the mixing valve to add water having an adequate temperature until the measured temperature substantially corresponds to the desired temperature. If the measured temperature is less than the desired temperature, the controller is adapted to control the mixing valve so as to add hot water. If the measured temperature is greater than the desired temperature, the controller is adapted to control the mixing valve so as to add cold water. 
         [0053]    It should be understood that the contactless level sensor  40  and the contactless temperature sensor  42  may be positioned at any adequate location on the housing  12  of the electronic faucet  10  as long as they can sense the water contained in the bathtub. In the illustrated embodiment the housing comprises holes on its wall that faces the bottom of the bathtub once installed, adjacent to the output of the pipe  28 . As a result, the contactless level sensor  40  and the contactless temperature sensor  42  face the bottom of the bathtub. 
         [0054]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary controller contained in the electronic faucet  10 , in accordance with some embodiments. The processing module  100  typically includes one or more Computer Processing Units (CPUs) or Graphic Processing Units (GPUs)  102  for executing modules or programs and/or instructions stored in memory  104  and thereby performing processing operations, memory  104 , and one or more communication buses  106  for interconnecting these components. The communication buses  106  optionally include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnects and controls communications between system components. The memory  104  includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices, and may include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. The memory  104  optionally includes one or more storage devices remotely located from the CPU(s)  102 . The memory  104 , or alternately the non-volatile memory device(s) within the memory  104 , comprises a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. In some embodiments, the memory  104 , or the computer readable storage medium of the memory  104  stores the following programs, modules, and data structures, or a subset thereof:
       a valve module  110  for controlling the operation of the control flow valve and/or the mixing valve;   a level module  112  for determining if a desired level has been reached; and   a temperature module  114  for determining if a desired temperature has been reached.       
 
         [0058]    Each of the above identified elements may be stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices, and corresponds to a set of instructions for performing a function described above. The above identified modules or programs (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, the memory  104  may store a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, the memory  104  may store additional modules and data structures not described above. 
         [0059]    Although  FIG. 5  shows a processing module  100 ,  FIG. 3  is intended more as functional description of the various features which may be present in a management module than as a structural schematic of the embodiments described herein. In practice, and as recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art, items shown separately could be combined and some items could be separated. 
         [0060]      FIG. 6  illustrates an alternate cover  16 ′ which may be used when the battery  30  is a rechargeable battery. The cover  16 ′ is provided with a solar panel  32  comprising photovoltaic cells for charging the rechargeable battery. The solar panel  32  is electrically connected to the battery  30  via a permanent electrical connection or a disconnectable electrical connector. It should be understood that the solar panel  32  may be secured at any adequate position on the housing  12  or the cover  16 ′. For example, the solar panel  32  may be secured on the top face of the cover  16 ′ as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0061]    While in the present description there is described an electronic faucet, it should be understood that the housing and the cover may be chosen so that the present system applies to any adequate type of automated liquid delivery systems. For example, the automated liquid delivery system may be shower head. In this case, the housing is shaped and sized to correspond to a shower head housing and the cover is chosen so as to correspond to a shower head cover. 
         [0062]    The embodiments of the invention described above are intended to be exemplary only. The scope of the invention is therefore intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.