Patent Application
20250102337
This disclosure relates generally to the field of whole-home electronic water control systems, in particular water leak detection, and water analytics.
Water leak-related property damage causes homeowners billions of dollars in damage every year in the United States alone. The single most important factor in mitigating property damage caused by leaks is the amount of time it takes for the leak to be discovered and the water shutoff. The longer it takes to respond, the greater the damage incurred.
A flowmeter including a body having a wall configured to communicate a fluid between an inlet and an outlet, and an ultrasonic transducer configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal to another ultrasonic transducer along a path in the body. A plurality of reflectors are disposed in the wall and are configured to reflect the ultrasonic signal multiple times across the body along the path in the fluid flowing through the housing. A processor is coupled to the ultrasonic transducers and is configured to determine a time the ultrasonic signal takes to travel the path and determine a flow rate of the fluid as a function of a determined time.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the examples will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples. The objects and advantages of the present subject matter may be realized and attained by means of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of the relevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present teachings may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuitry have been described at a relatively high-level, without detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present teachings.
It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the present disclosure have been simplified to illustrate the details that are relevant for a dear understanding of the present disclosure, while eliminating, for the purpose of clarity, certain details found in the supporting electronics. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other details are required in implementing the present disclosure. However, because these other details are well known in the art, and do not add to the understanding of the present disclosure, a discussion of these details is not provided herein.
The term “coupled” as used herein refers to any logical, optical, physical or electrical connection, link or the like by which signals, or light produced or supplied by one system element are imparted to another coupled element. Unless described otherwise, coupled elements or devices are not necessarily directly connected to one another and may be separated by intermediate components, elements or communication media that may modify, manipulate or carry the light, sound, or signals.
Whole-home water leak detectors are a particular type of leak detector that is installed on the main water line at the entry to the home, generally after sprinkler systems but before other plumbing fixtures of the home.
Leak detectors in a simple form consist of electronics and onboard software configured to control the leak detector and a flowmeter to determine water flow through the leak detector. Some leak detectors only detect leaks and then trigger an alarm to alert the homeowner but take no further action. However, many leak detectors also incorporate a motorized valve (they are installed in-line) to enable automatic and manual opening and closing (shutoff) of the water line to the home in the event a leak is detected. Automatic shutoff valves ensure a quick response time to limit damage in the event of a water leak.
Smart leak detectors make it easier and more convenient for homeowners to detect water leaks. The term “smart” in the context of leak detection typically means the leak detector is connected via a communication network to a backend server where water flow analysis is performed. Such analysis may or may not include some sort of machine learning to interpret and respond based on the water flow data. Smart leak detectors typically come with companion software applications (“apps”) that provide water usage monitoring. Water flow data collected from the leak detector is presented in the app in summary form to the user, typically in the form of a chart. Users can use this feature to view detailed records of the leak event and also track their water usage over time.
With whole-home water monitoring, a sensing package and network connectivity enables homeowners to monitor and assess all aspects of their water usage—not just leak detection and flow data. Water quality analysis provides a critical missing piece of information that homeowners need to effectively manage their water supply.
Flowmeters are devices for determining the flow rate of a medium (typically liquid or gas) through a delivery channel (typically a pipe). Many types of flowmeters have been developed over the years based on a range of methods for determining flow rate. These include but are not limited to mass flow meters, positive displacement flow meters, electromagnetic flow meters, vortex flow meters, ultrasonic flow meters, turbine flow meters, and impeller flowmeters. Each of these types of flowmeters have characteristics and tradeoffs that make them suitable for the requirements of a given application.
Whole home water leak detection systems have requirements that make selection of a flowmeter particularly challenging. Flowmeters for whole home leak detection systems must provide highly sensitive water flow measurements across an extremely wide dynamic range, from less than 0.2 gallons per hour (GPH) in the case of a slow “pin-hole” type leak to 10 gallons per minute (GPM) or more in the case of a pipe burst, and low pressure drop across the flowmeter even at the high end of its dynamic flow range. The flowmeters must be resistant to degradation over time and jamming by hardwater deposits and particulates inherent to the water piping environment. These characteristics must be achieved in a small physical space, at a relatively low financial cost.
Typically, flow meters that have optimal characteristics are industrial in nature and not available at a price point that is practical for use in whole home water leak detection systems. Flow meters that are practical (low-cost turbine and impeller types), are typically inaccurate, have moving parts that wear out too quickly, and/or produce high resistance to flow such that there is a significant pressure drop across the flow meter, thereby unacceptably restricting the flow of water when installed on a home main water line. For these reasons, ultrasonic flowmeters are a superior choice for whole home water leak detector and water monitoring systems.
A basic ultrasonic water-flow meter design, as shown at 200 in
These equations can be used to determine the velocity of water flow (v). The water flow (v) is derived from simultaneous Equations 1 and 2 by eliminating c:
The flowrate in gallons per minute is given by equation below, where Q is the volumetric flow rate (i.e., gpm or lpm, etc.), v is the velocity and A is the cross-sectional area of the pipe 208 (A=π*r2).
The longer the distance L, the greater the Δt. Therefore, flowmeters that implement a longer signal path through the flowing water produce greater differences in the ToF and therefore are able to detect smaller changes in flowrate (greater sensitivity).
This disclosure relates to an improved ultrasonic type of flowmeter for whole home leak detection and in particular, whole home water monitoring applications. The disclosure advantageously supports a clear non-obstructing water flow path, while extending the signal path through the flowing water and therefore achieving relatively larger differences in ToF to achieve best in class sensitivity to flow variations.
This disclosure includes a flowmeter configured as key sub-system of the whole home water monitoring system 300 as shown in
A system block diagram of the system 300 is shown at 400 in
Ultrasonic W-Path flowmeter 500 is shown in
Important features of ultrasonic W-Path flowmeter 500 include triple reflectors 700 and 702 fabricated from chrome-plated steel. The triple reflectors consist of two reflectors 700 machined at an angle and a single center flat reflector 702. Reflectors 700 and 702 are precisely engineered and keyed such that the angles of incidence and angles of reflection result in the ultrasonic signal 426 delivered cleanly along path P from one ultrasonic transducer 420 to the other. In a preferred configuration angled reflectors 700 are precisely 24.2 degrees as illustrated in
The appended claims set forth novel and inventive aspects of the subject matter described above, but the claims may also encompass additional subject matter not specifically recited in detail. For example, certain features, elements, or aspects may be omitted from the claims if not necessary to distinguish the novel and inventive features from what is already known to a person having ordinary skill in the art. Features, elements, and aspects described herein may also be combined or replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent, or similar purpose without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63540928 | Sep 2023 | US |
