Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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AUTOMATIC FAUCET V
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a faucet, and more particularly to an
automatic
faucet with an optical detecting device to detect a displacement of a hand of
a
user.
Description of the Prior Art
A conventional automatic faucet disclosed in US 6,691, 341 contains a closing
valve; a controller, a discharging member connected with the closing valve via
a
pipeline; an optical sensor coupled with the controller through an electric
line,
and a cylindrical body to insert the pipeline and the electric line; wherein
the
discharging member and the optical sensor are fixed on a front end of the
body,
and the optical sensor is capable of reflecting a light on a flowing path, so
when
a user puts a hand on the flowing path, it is sensed to flow water.
The optical sensor is an infrared-ray sensor, and the infrared-ray sensor
includes a transmitter to transmit an infrared ray and a receiver to receive
the
infrared ray, so the infrared-ray sensor is capable of being used to detect
objects
below a spout. However, the infrared-ray sensor can not distinguish a static
state
and a dynamic state, therefore the objects below the spout such as a pot, a
blow,
vegetables, or fruits in a water tank, are detected, and a water flow can not
be
opened and closed.
To solve above-mentioned problem, a position-sensing detector disclosed in
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US Pub. No. 20060200903 is applied to distinguish a user's hand or objects
below the spout such as a pot, a blow, vegetables, or fruits in a water tank,
so
that water flows out of the spout precisely, and three sensors to flow the
water
out of the spout contains:
First positioning sensor including a sensing device to detect a user's hand,
and
the sensing device including an infrared-ray transmitter fixed= at a
transmitting
position relative to 5 to15 degrees in a vertical direction; a receiver to
receive an
infrared ray transmitted by the infrared-ray transmitter; a controlling device
to
transmit with the receiver and to control the water to flow out of the spout;
the
water is determined based on a receiving angle of the infrared ray. Because
the
user's hand and the objects in the water tank are located at different
heights, the
infrared ray reflected is received by the receiver at different angles to
judge the
user's hand or the objects, thereby flowing water precisely.
Second positioning sensor including an infrared-ray sensing device to transmit
the infrared ray, to receive the infrared ray reflected, and to generate a
distance
signal, the distance signal represents a running distance before the infrared
ray is
reflected; a controlling device transmitting with the sensing device to
control the
water to flow out of the spout, and the water flows based on whether the
distance signal is over a threshold distance value, and the threshold distance
value is determined by an environment condition, for example, if the distance
between the spout and the water tank becomes larger, the threshold distance
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value becomes larger; while the distance between the spout and the water tank
becomes smaller, the threshold distance value becomes smaller.
Third positioning sensor containing an infrared-ray sensing device to transmit
the infrared ray, to receive the infrared ray reflected, and to generate a
distance
signal, the distance signal represents a running distance before the infrared
ray is
reflected, and the distance signal is generated on a plurality of points to
display a
distance of each point; a controlling device to transmit with the sensing
device
and to filter the distance signal on a basis of an environment condition, and
when the distance signal is filtered to judge if it is over a threshold
distance
value so that the water is controlled to flow out of the spout, wherein the
plurality of points are the user's hand or the objects.
Nevertheless, if the user's hand or the object falls in or moves below the
spout,
the water flows out of the spout still.
Besides, if the third positioning sensor is served on a pull spray head of an
automatic faucet and the spray head is pulled outward, in cause the user's
hand
passes below the spout carelessly, the water flows out of the spout still. In
addition, if the spray head is pulled outward to a work zone, the user has to
move the other hand below the spout to be sensed so that the water flows out
of
the spout, having inconvenient operation.
Even though an automatic faucet can sense the user's hand to flow water,
cookware or kitchen knife is probably sensed to flow water out of the spray
head,
wasting water.
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spray head, wasting water.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the
afore-described disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One aspect of the present invention is to provide an automatic faucet is
capable of overcoming the shortcomings of the conventional automatic faucet.
To obtain the above, an automatic faucet provided by the present
invention contains:
a body including a spout;
a spray head mounted on the spout to be pulled outward or retracted
inward;
an optical detecting device fixed on the spout to detect a hand of a user
and to transmit a digital signal; wherein between a transmitting direction of
an
infrared ray and a water flowing direction of the spray head is formed an
angle,
and the angle is between 150 to 190 degrees;
a controlling device to receive the digital signal of the optical detecting
device and to control the water to flow out of the spray head;
wherein the optical detecting device is fixed on one side of the spray
head adjacent to the user;
wherein the optical detecting device is fixed above a holding portion of
the spray head.
Thereby, after the spray head is pulled outward to the work zone, the
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finger is capable of controlling a water supply by moving upward or downward.
The optical detecting device is fixed on the spray head, and the
transmitting direction of the infrared ray is opposite to the water flowing
direction of the spray head and is adjacent to the user and is located above a
holding portion of
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the spray head, therefore the user or other objects around the transmission
area
of the infrared ray will not pass through or exist in the transmission area of
the
infrared ray, i.e., even though the user moves the finger toward a detecting
area
on purpose, the water will not be supplied, thereby preventing from water
waste.
Furthermore, because the optical detecting device is fixed above the holding
portion of the spray head, even though the user holds the spray head, the
water
will not be supplied. But, when the finger moves toward the detecting area,
the
finger is sensed to control the water supply from the spray head to prevent
the
water from flowing out of the spray head when the user pulls the spray head
1 0 outward.
When the spray head is pulled outward to the work zone, the water supply is
controlled easily by moving the finger upward or downward without using the
other hand, thus obtaining an easy operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
1 5 Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the application of an automatic
faucet
according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the operation of the automatic faucet
according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the application of the automatic faucet
according
20 to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the operation of the automatic faucet according
to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
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Fig. 5 is a schematic view of the assembly of an optical detecting device of
the
automatic faucet according to the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
Fig. 6 is a plan view showing the operation of the optical detecting device of
the automatic faucet according to the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
Fig. 7 is a plan view showing the operation of the automatic faucet according
to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 8 is another plan view showing the operation of the automatic faucet
according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 9 is also another plan view showing the operation of the automatic faucet
according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention will be clearer from the following description when
viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of
illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present
invention.
Referring to Figs. 1-3, an automatic faucet 1 according to a preferred
embodiment of the present invention comprises a body 10 including a spout 11,
a holder 101 fixed on a top plane 20 of a water tank 21, and an outlet pipe
102
disposed on the holder 101; the spout 11 is formed on an outlet end of the
outlet
pipe 102.
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Referring to Fig. 2, the automatic faucet 1 also includes a spray head 30
mounted on the spout 11 to be pulled outward or retracted inward, and the
spray
head 30 includes a switch 31 arranged on the spray head 30 as shown in Figs. 3
and 6 to shift different water spray modes.
The spray head 30 is connected with a water supply pipeline 40 having a
section of soft tube 41 to flow water out of the spray head 30, thus supplying
water. The water supply pipeline 40 includes a closing valve 50, such as a
solenoid valve, to be properly opened or closed as illustrated in Fig. 4. It
is
well-known that when the closing valve 50 is opened, the water flows to the
spray head 30 from the water supply pipeline 40 so as to supply the water;
when
the closing valve 50 is closed, the water stops flowing, and the closing valve
50
is controlled by a controlling device 60.
It is to be noted that the automatic faucet 1 is provided with an optical
detecting device 70 to detect a displacement of a hand a (i.e., a finger) of a
user.
For example, when the hand a is detected, the controlling device 60 transmits
a
control signal toward the closing valve 50 to control the water to flow out of
the
spray head 30.
The optical detecting device 70, as shown in Fig. 5, is fixed on one side of
the
spray head 30 adjacent to the user and includes a light source 71 to emit
light
and reflect the light by ways of the user's finger; an image sensor 72 to
receive
the light reflected from the finger so as to further detect a fingerprint of
the
finger and to judge the displacement of the finger; a processing unit 73
coupled
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with the image sensor 72 to transform a fingerprint image into a digital
signal.
The light source 71 is an infrared-ray transmitter to transmit an infrared ray
as
illustrated in Fig. 6, a transmitting direction of the infrared ray is
represented by
a Y axis, a water flowing direction of the spray head 30 is denoted by a X
axis,
between the Y axis and the X axis is formed an angle O. In this embodiment,
the
angle 8 is between 150 to 190 degrees, i.e., the transmitting direction of the
infrared ray is equal to or close to an opposite water flowing direction of
the
spray head 30 such that the user or other objects around a transmission area
of
the infrared ray will not pass through or exist in the transmission area of
the
infrared ray, i.e., even though the user walks aside the water tank, the
optical
detecting device 70 is capable of detecting the transmission area of the
infrared
ray.
The image sensor 72 is a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)
image sensor. The processing unit 73 is a digital signal processor (DSP). The
optical detecting device 70 also includes a housing 74 disposed on the spray
head 30 and integrally formed with a casing 32 of the spray head 30 as
illustrated in Fig. 6, but the optical detecting device 70 can also be an
independent component connected with the spray head 30. The housing 74
includes the light source 71, the image sensor 72, and the processing unit 73
fixed therein; the housing 74 includes an opening 741 fixed thereon as shown
in
Fig. 5 to emit the light and is made of IR transparent material.
The optical detecting device 70 of the present invention is disclosed in TW
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Pub. No. 201032091A1 and is not a technology importance in the present
invention, it is only used to match with a specific device to solve
conventional
defects.
The processing unit 73 of the optical detecting device 70 is the digital
signal
processor to transform the fingerprint image of the image sensor 72 into the
digital signal so that the controlling device 60 controls the water to flow
out of
the spray head 30 by transmitting the digital signal toward the controlling
device
60.
In operation, the automatic faucet 1 has two optional functions as follows:
First, the spray head 30 is kept in the spout 11 to flow the water, i.e., the
spray
head 30 is not pulled outward, so the user moves the finger across the
transmission area of the infrared ray transmitted from the light source 71 of
the
optical detecting device 70 as illustrated in Fig. 7, the infrared ray is
reflected by
the finger and received by the image sensor 72, and the fingerprint image of
the
finger is detected to judge the displacement of the finger, thereafter the
displacement is transmitted toward the processing unit 73 so that the
fingerprint
image is transformed into the digital signal, and the digital signal is
transmitted
toward the controlling device 60 so that the controlling device 60 opens or
closes the closing valve 50 to control the water to flow from the spray head
30.
When the user intends to stop the water, the finger moves across the
transmission area of the infrared ray transmitted from the light source 71 of
the
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optical detecting device 70 once more.
Secondary, the spray head 30 is pulled outward to a work zone so as to supply
the water. In operation, as shown in Fig. 8, the spray head 30 is held by the
user's and then is pulled outward to the work zone, because the finger will
not
pass across the transmission area of the infrared ray transmitted from the
light
source 71 of the optical detecting device 70 in a normal operation state, the
water will not be supplied. After the spray head 30 is pulled outward to the
work
zone, the user's finger moves upward to cross the transmission area of the
infrared ray transmitted from the light source 71 as illustrated in Fig. 9 so
that
the infrared ray is reflected by the finger to open or close the closing valve
50 by
using the controlling device 60, thus supplying the water from the spray head
30.
When desiring to stop the water, the finger moves across the transmission area
of the infrared ray transmitted from the light source 71 of the optical
detecting
device 70 again. Thereby, after the spray head 30 is pulled outward to the
work
zone, the finger is capable of controlling a water supply by moving upward or
downward.
The optical detecting device 70 is fixed on the spray head 30, and the
transmitting direction of the infrared ray is opposite to the water flowing
direction of the spray head 30 and is adjacent to the user and is located
above a
holding portion of the spray head 30, therefore the user or other objects
around
the transmission area of the infrared ray will not pass through or exist in
the
transmission area of the infrared ray, i.e., even though the user moves the
finger
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toward a detecting area on purpose, the water will not be supplied, thereby
preventing from water waste.
Furthermore, because the optical detecting device 70 is fixed above the
holding portion of the spray head 30, even though the user holds the spray
head
30, the water will not be supplied. But, when the finger moves toward the
detecting area, the finger is sensed to control the water supply from the
spray
head 30 to prevent the water from flowing out of the spray head 30 when the
user pulls the spray head 30 outward.
When the spray head 30 is pulled outward to the work zone, the water supply
is controlled easily by moving the finger upward or downward without using the
other hand, thus obtaining an easy operation.
While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with
the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further
embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present
invention.
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