FLUID FLOW MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The present disclosure provides a fluid flow management system that includes a flow sensor coupled to a fluid source conduit and configured to determine a fluid flow in the fluid source conduit; a flow sensor controller to compare the fluid flow to a flow threshold and generate a leak trigger signal based on the comparison of the fluid flow to the flow threshold; a controllable valve coupled to the fluid source conduit; and a valve controller to control the controllable valve to shut off the fluid flow in the fluid conduit based on a state of the leak trigger signal.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for monitoring and managing fluid flow, for example, gas and/or water fluid flow monitoring and management.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG.1illustrates a fluid flow monitoring and management system100consistent with several embodiments of the present disclosure. The system100includes a flow sensor102and a controllable flow valve104coupled to a fluid source via a fluid conduit101(e.g., gas pipe, water pipe, etc.). In embodiments described herein, the fluid source may include gas (e.g., natural gas, propane, etc.) and/or liquid (e.g., water, etc.) as is commonly found in residential and commercial buildings. The flow sensor102is generally configured to determine a fluid flow through the conduit101and the controllable flow valve is generally configured to shut off fluid flow in the event of a leak condition, as described herein. The system100ofFIG.1may be used on a main gas supply line and/or main water supply line. The system100ofFIG.1may also be used in one or more supply branches, for example, a gas supply to a household appliance, a water supply to a plumbing fixture, etc. The system100ofFIG.1is generally configured for automated and/or user-controlled leak detection and fluid shut-off, as described herein.

The system100also includes a flow sensor controller106coupled to the flow sensor102and generally configured to monitor fluid flow in the conduit101to determine if a fluid leak has occurred. The flow sensor controller106includes leak detection circuitry108configured to compare a flow threshold107to a fluid flow through the conduit101, as determined by the flow sensor102, as will be described below. If fluid flow in the conduit101exceeds a the flow threshold107, the leak detection circuitry108is also configured to generate a leak trigger signal109indicative of a leak in the conduit101and/or a leak in an appliance coupled to the conduit101. As is understood, in normal operation, a gas appliance or plumbing fixture will cause fluid flow in the conduit101when the appliance/fixture is turned on. Fluid flow under these conditions may be generally considered to be much larger than fluid flow associated with a leak. Accordingly, generation of a leak trigger109may also be based on a flow override signal111, where the flow override signal111is indicative of and/or proportional to a normal (i.e., intentional) fluid flow to a gas appliance and/or plumbing fixture. If the flow override signal111indicates normal, intentional operation, the leak detection circuitry108may disregard the flow threshold signal107(and therefore cancel generating a leak trigger signal109). In other embodiments, the flow override signal111may be generated by an appliance/fixture that is in communication with the flow sensor controller106, for example, an internet-of-things (IoT) appliance/fixture configured to generate a flow override signal during normal, intentional operation.

The flow sensor controller106may also be configured to provide fluid flow information to a remote device (122) on a continuous or periodic basis, and such information may include fluid flow at various times, leak trigger events, etc. The flow sensor controller106also includes communications circuitry110generally configured to provide communications with other devices as described herein. The communications circuitry110may be configured to exchange commands and data with other devices of the system100ofFIG.1using conventional and/or proprietary communications protocols, for example WiFi, cellular, near-field communication (NFC) (e.g., Bluetooth, etc.).

The system100also includes a valve controller112generally configured to control an operation (shut-off operation) of the controllable flow valve104. The valve controller112includes valve shut-off circuitry114generally configured to receive a trigger command and generate a valve shut-off command115to cause the controllable flow valve104to shut off, i.e., to stop fluid flow. The trigger command may include, for example, the leak trigger109as generated by the leak detection circuitry108, a remote command as may be generated by a remote device (122) in communication with the valve controller112, and/or a detector trigger. The detector trigger may be generated by, for example, one or more detectors in communication with the valve controller112. The one or more detectors, as illustrated inFIG.1, may include, for example a smoke detector118A, a water detector118B, gas detector118C, CO2 detector118D, and/or other known or after-developed detectors (such as a temperature sensor, etc.), etc. As a general matter, the detector trigger may be generated by any detector situated in or near the environment of the fluid supply such that a detector trigger indicates an adverse event that, for safety reasons, may cause a shut-off of the fluid supply. The valve controller1112also includes communications circuitry116generally configured to provide communications with other devices as described herein. The communications circuitry116may be configured to exchange commands and data with other devices of the system100ofFIG.1using conventional and/or proprietary communications protocols, for example WiFi, cellular, near-field communication (NFC) (e.g., Bluetooth, etc.). The valve controller112may communicate shut-off commands with a remote device122to notify a user of a shut-off event. In some embodiments, a shut-event may also be communicated to emergency services (e.g., fire department, etc.).

The system100ofFIG.1may also include a remote device122generally configured to exchange commands and data with the flow sensor controller106and valve controller112. The remote device122may include, for example, a user device (e.g., handheld computing device such as a smart phone, laptop, etc.) to enable a user to monitor and control fluid flow. The remote device may include memory to store historical flow data124, as received from the flow sensor controller106. The historical flow data124may enable a user to identify fluid use trends and/or trigger warnings associated with fluid flow. In some embodiments, the remote device122may include flow threshold generation circuitry124configured to determine an appropriate flow threshold107based on, for example, the historical flow data124, user defined and/or manufacturer supplied threshold data, etc. The flow threshold generation circuitry124may be configured to utilize machine learning and/or artificial intelligence techniques for determining a flow threshold107. The remote device122may also include remote trigger generation circuitry128to enable a user to generate a remote shut-off trigger to the valve shut-off circuitry114. For example, if a user is going on vacation, it may be desirable to enable the user to shut off water and/or gas supply to a residence, etc. The remote device122also includes communications circuitry130generally configured to provide communications with other devices as described herein. The functionality of the remote device122described above may be embodied as an “app” or application that may be supplied by a manufacturer of the flow sensor controller106and/or valve controller112. The communications circuitry116may be configured to exchange commands and data with other devices of the system100ofFIG.1using conventional and/or proprietary communications protocols, for example WiFi, cellular, near-field communication (NFC) (e.g., Bluetooth, etc.). The remote device122may communicate with the flow sensor controller106and valve controller112via network120.

The flow threshold107may be based on a tolerance limit for a given appliance coupled to the fluid conduit101. For example, a gas stove may include a pilot light requiring a small amount of gas flow to keep the pilot light ignited. In such a scenario, the flow threshold107may include a non-zero flow amount that is tolerated for an appliance. In other embodiments, the flow threshold107may be set to a zero value. For example, if the system100is configured to monitor and control a water supply, any flow detected by the leak detection circuitry108may be indicative of a burst pipe (e.g., freezing event, etc.) and/or other leak in the system, and the flow threshold107may be set to have a zero or very low value so that water supply can be shut off if any non-intentional flow is detected. In other embodiments, the flow threshold may be adjusted over a time period, for example throughout a day based on the historical flow data124. For example, water and/or gas flows may demonstrate a daily flow pattern during normal (intentional) use. Such patterns may be used by the flow threshold generation circuitry126to determine an appropriate flow threshold107and to increase the accuracy of the flow threshold107. In other embodiments, the flow threshold107may be provided by a manufacturer and/or user definable within a given flow range.

FIG.2illustrates a flowchart200of fluid leak detection operations according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Operations of this embodiment include determining the presence of a flow override signal, indicating intentional fluid flow202. If the flow override signal is not present, operations of this embodiment also include comparing a fluid flow to a flow threshold204. If the fluid flow exceeds the threshold206, operations also include generating a leak trigger signal indicative of a fluid leak208. Operations may also include communicating the leak trigger signal to a valve controller and/or user device210. If the fluid flow remains below the threshold206, operations include continue comparing a fluid flow to a flow threshold204on a continuous or periodic basis.

FIG.3illustrates a flowchart300of fluid shut-off operations according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Operations of this embodiment include enabling control of a fluid flow valve302, Operations also include determining if a leak trigger is present304. If a leak trigger is present304, operations also include controlling the flow valve to shut off fluid flow306. Operations may also include communicating the shut-off event to a remote device308. If a leak trigger is not present304, operations also include determining if a remote trigger is present310. If a remote trigger is present310, operations also include controlling the flow valve to shut off fluid flow312. Operations may also include communicating the shut-off event to a remote device314. If a leak trigger or remote trigger is not present, operations may also include determining if a detector trigger is present316. If a detector trigger is present316, operations may also include controlling the flow valve to shut off fluid flow318and communicating the shut-off event to a remote device320. If a leak trigger, remote trigger or detector trigger is not present, operations include continuing to monitor for triggers322.

FIG.4illustrates example implementations400of a fluid flow management system according to embodiments of the present disclosure. At402, a gas fluid system is depicted that includes a main supply line404, a first supply branch406and a second supply branch408. The first supply branch406includes an example flow sensor102′/flow sensor controller106′ and controllable flow valve104′/valve controller112′. Similarly, the second supply branch408includes an example flow sensor102″/flow sensor controller106″ and controllable flow valve104″/valve controller112″. Communications devices are include to enable communication with a remote device (not shown). In this example embodiment, the flow sensor controller106′/106″ and valve controllers112′/112″ may communicate with one another. If a shut-off event occurs in one supply branch (e.g., first branch406), the flow controllers of the other branch (e.g., second branch408) may also shut off.

At410, a water fluid system is depicted that includes an example flow sensor102′″/flow sensor controller106′″ and controllable flow valve104′″/valve controller112′″ along a main water supply line.

FIG.5illustrates another example implementation500of a fluid flow management system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In this example flow sensor102″″/flow sensor controller106″″ is in communication with a remote device122′, a detector118′ and a controllable flow valve104″″/valve controller112″″.

“Circuitry”, as used in any embodiment herein, may comprise, for example, singly or in any combination, hardwired circuitry, programmable circuitry such as processors comprising one or more individual instruction processing cores, state machine circuitry, and/or firmware that stores instructions executed by programmable circuitry. The circuitry may be configured to execute code or instruction sets, and such code or instruction sets may be embodied as software, firmware, etc. Software may be embodied as a software package, code, instructions, instruction sets and/or data recorded on non-transitory, computer-readable storage devices. Firmware may be embodied as code, instructions or instruction sets and/or data that are hard-coded (e.g., nonvolatile) in memory devices. The circuitry may, collectively or individually, be embodied as circuitry that forms part of a larger system, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), system on-chip (SoC), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, etc.

Any of the operations described herein may be implemented in a system that includes one or more non-transitory storage devices having stored therein, individually or in combination, instructions that when executed by circuitry perform the operations. Here, the circuitry may include any of the aforementioned circuitry including, for examples, one or more processors, ASICs, ICs, etc., and/or other programmable circuitry. Also, it is intended that operations described herein may be distributed across a plurality of physical devices, such as processing structures at more than one different physical location. The storage device includes any type of tangible medium, for example, any type of disk including hard disks, floppy disks, optical disks, compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), compact disk rewritables (CD-RWs), and magneto-optical disks, semiconductor devices such as read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs) such as dynamic and static RAMs, erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), flash memories, Solid State Disks (SSDs), embedded multimedia cards (eMMCs), secure digital input/output (SDIO) cards, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Other embodiments may be implemented as software executed by a programmable control device.