RESIDENTIAL FLOOD SAFE SYSTEM

SYSTEME DE PROTECTION CONTRE L'INONDATION RESIDENTIELLE

English Abstract

The invention provides the residential household owner/occupant a safeguard
against major household
flooding from leaking, broken, cracked or loose plumbing on water systems. It
works by automatically
stopping the flow of household water to the household fixtures, when the
preset maximum continuous
flow time period has been exceeded.
Residential household occupants depend on their water systems not to break,
fatigue, freeze or
deteriorate to the point that a leak or flood situation arises, and normally
have no protection system to
protect against these types of failures causing flooding. Some causes of
household flooding would be
eliminated. Examples are the following: leaky faucet/garden hose or toilet
flapper, broken pipe,
showering too long, a washing machine or dishwasher hose fails, frozen pipe
burst, or a tap left on
accidentally. Many households unfortunately do suffer water flood damage,
causing major insurance
claims and hardships of renovations and sometimes living elsewhere while the
repairs are completed.
With this new residential FloodSafe system, prolonged water use (any household
water flow) is detected
and stopped at a predetermined time input. Valuable water is saved and
disastrous floods are
minimized.
The Floodsafe System has a flow sensor that signals the digital timer to
start. The flow sensor is initially
tuned and setup to be activated by a minimal water flow set-point. Once the
timer has started and
maintains uninterrupted flow for a pre-set flow time (set previously by the
household occupant) the
water flow to the house is automatically terminated via a solenoid valve.
This invention prevents wasted water and more importantly, prevents a flood in
the household;
then the inherent problem can be rectified by the home owner. The owner can
press the reset button
on the said FloodSafe System to restart the water usage monitoring for the
next potential water issue.

Claims

Claims:
A FloodSafe System which is comprised of:
1. A household which has a 1/2-3/4-1" diameter fluid inlet and outlet
plumbing,
2. To install the flood safe system, the household plumbing piping is cut
nearest to the inlet but
after any filters or after water softening systems. A 12" section of piping is
removed and the
flood safe components are installed via couplings on the plumbing. The said
FloodSafe System
includes two devices on the water piping and one electrical control box to be
wall mounted and
plugged into a 115 Volt outlet. See FloodSafe drawing (#FS-01). On the
household piping, one
fluid flow detector/sensor (option of two types) and a water shutoff valve are
installed with 3"
of pipe between them and 3" of piping on each outer side to connect to
existing plumbing via
two piping couplings. View picture FSP-01 to visualize the real life FloodSafe
installed on a
household water system.
3. A flow sensor in claim 2 being a thermal dispersion flow sensor or a sensor
being a spring
actuated flow sensor, for use in detecting water flow in the plumbing. Either
type is used to start
the electronic timer/controller to measure the pre-set time period of water
flow. The sensor is
electronically connected to the timer with the black wire first through a
diode, then to the B1
terminal, and the brown wire to terminal 25 (supply power) on the timer. Both
these
connections are 24 Volts DC. The timer unit counts downward from the preset
time. The pre-set
time is chosen by the owner based on known normal usage. The thermal
dispersion type water
sensor is to be used when the household is equipped with filtered well water
or municipally
treated water. The thermal dispersion flow detector in claim 3 works by
sensing the flow rates
from .04 to 3 fps, by having two sensitive temperature probes, one which is
heated and one not
heated. The water flow reduces the temperature of the heated probe, which
decreases the
temperature differential between the two probes, sending an electrical signal
to the timer
controller.
4. The detector/sensor in claim 2 being a spring supported water sensor works
by an angular
spring piston against the flow of water which becomes lifted by the fluid
flow, actuating the
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inductive sensor sending a 24 V DC signal to the timer controller. This fluid
sensor device also
acts as a built- in check valve not allowing flow in the opposite direction.
This fluid sensor is to
be used on systems with no water filtration or softening on the house
plumbing. The sensor is
electronically connected to the timer with the black wire first through a
diode then to the B1
and 28 terminals, and the brown wire to A1 and 25 terminals on the timer. Both
these
connections are 24 Volts DC.
5. A 115 Volt AC shut-off valve, electrically connected to the
timer/controller for stopping the fluid
flow when the timer reaches its continuous flow pre-set time period.
6. The fluid shutoff valve in claim 5 reacts immediately (within one second)
via a two-way, semi-
direct lift valve with a normally open operating position. There are two built
in relays (r1 and
r2). When the timer hits its limit flow time, a 24 VDC signal triggers r1 and
r2 to close. The
shutoff valve coil is then energized from L(load) and N(Neutral) with 115 VAC
from the timer via
terminals 15 and 18, and the power supply to close the valve. Conversely, the
coil is de-
energized (by the reset button manually depressed) the r1 relay will release
its 'hold' and the
valve will open due to no current being sent.
7. As in claim 6, when the water flow has been continuously detected via a
24 Volt DC signal from
the by either said flow detector in claims 3 and 4, to a pre-set time period
in the time controller,
the controller sends a 115 VAC electrical power signal to the shutoff valve to
close. No fluid flow
situation has them been created. The water flow and water problem has been
stopped.
8. At this point, the owner can fix the water issue, and then reset the said
flood safe system via
depressing the reset switch on the control box. The valve will open and the
timer will
automatically reset.
9. Any moment when there is no flow detected, the timer will stop its
countdown. The time will
reset to the pre-set time, once the next water usage situation starts.
Therefore, for example, if a
toilet is flushed, the timer will start when the toilet tank is being refilled
(say 3 minutes) but
once the water flow stops, the timer also stops. Once the occupant, for
example, washes his/her
hands at the sink, the timer restarts at the full pre-set time once again. A
suggested pre-set
control time for a residential house is recommended to be between 10-30
minutes.
10. There is a by-pass mode to allow fluid to flow without said FloodSafe
protection. This is
accomplished via the slide out fuse or unplugging the unit from 115 VAC.
Explaining details of the constituents of the FloodSafe system:
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11. The timer controller stated within claim 3 is a DIN rail mounted multi-
functional digital timer
with universal voltage from 24-265 volts, wide time range from .1 seconds to
999 hours, digital
display for pre-set time, and manually operated setup and adjust keys. The pre-
set time is
shown on the screen, a flashing arrow is shown when flow is detected, and the
countdown
display shows the time remaining before shut-down commences. By pressing the
buttons on the
timer, any pre-set time period can be easily set on the timer by the household
occupant. Upon
each flow situation, the timer shows restarting at the pre-set time setting
and shows each
second, minute and hour of the countdown. Once flow commences again, the timer
starts
countdown starting at the full preset time.
12. The thermal dispersion flow sensor in claim 3 is plumbed in line with the
beginning of the house
fluid flow. It is accurate to 5% of flow rate at constant temperature, works
with fluid
temperature from 0-60 °C, works with voltage input of 12-36 volts, has
two states of normally
open and normally closed, and has a reaction time of 10 seconds after probe is
initially warmed
up. Once warmed up the reaction time is 1 second. This unit can be set up via
trial and error to
detect low flow volumes.
13. The spring supported fluid sensor in claim 4 is plumbed in line with the
beginning of the fluid
house flow. It can be plumbed directly before or after the valve. This sensor
is to be set up to
detect very low volumes of fluid (as low as .8GPM as in a small house leak),
but has the ability to
detect up to 6.6 GPM. There are flow graduation marks on the side for rough
set points. Fine
tune set up of the flow trigger is accomplished via trial and error by turning
the top knurled
knob clockwise until the desired low flow rate is detected and light turns on.
When the green
indicator light is on, fluid flow is detected and noted by the owner, when the
green light is out,
there is no flow. When the piston is pushed upward by the fluid flow, the
pistons position is
detected via an inductive sensor and a binary output is sent out to the timer
controller
(terminals 81, 28 and 25). The timer is activated and starts the preset
countdown.
14. The solenoid shut off valve as in claim 5 is plumbed in line with the
sensor after the filtering
system and fluid softening units and before any house faucets or hot water
tanks. It can handle
a voltage from 100-120V, has a working temperature range of 0-129°C,
reaction time of under 1
second, and working pressure range of 0-90 PSI. Valve is NO (normally open)
and closes its gate
valve to seat in its internal saddle via an energized coil, stopping the flow
of water.
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15. The FloodSafe system in claim 2 is reset by manually depressing the reset
button. This
subsequently de-energizes the r1 relay, stopping the flow of electricity to
the solenoid valve coil
whereby the valve's built-in spring pushes the valve back to the normally open
(NO) position.
16. The Floodsafe system is equipped with a 2 Ampere circuit fuse to protect
the timer/control and
components from high voltage/amperage. This fuse can be changed or checked by
depressing
the top clip and pivoting the internal fuse holder from its outer stationary
sheath. The fuse can
then be changed or checked.
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Description

Background of the Invention:
This FloodSafe water shut off system is unique to the industry by detecting a
continuous flow of water
via a thermal dispersion sensor, for a preset time period that is deemed
"longer time than normal
usage", then the water supply is automatically stopped to the household-
stopping a flood situation. The
water flow rate could be a small leak or a full flow rate: all water flows
will start the timer. Once the pre-
determined continuous flow time elapsed has been satisfied, the water flow is
terminated to the
household. The owner can then fix the issue, without any (or minimal) fluid
damage to the house.
Other patents of similar means of stopping a household water flood are listed
below.
None of the below systems combine the detection of low volume flow rates via a
thermal dispersion
flow switch or spring supported piston type, and have the device electrically
controlled via a multi-
functional digital timer with a 115 volt output which electrically closes an
electric solenoid valve.
Patent#CA 1275395-fluid timer
Patent#CA 2228517- flood control device
Patent#CA 2918952- smart fluid shut off
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CA 2982992 2018-06-22