Patent Grant
8220722
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to monitoring devices and, more specifically, to a shower monitor mountable to a pipe having a thermal sensor that actuates a preselected timing cycle which emits an audible tone at predetermined intervals until the timing cycle has expired whereupon a continuous tone is emitted until the thermal sensor is deactivated by a drop in the threshold temperature of the thermal sensor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other timing devices designed for similar purposes. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,644 issued to Main on Jan. 7, 1975.
Another patent was issued to Persson on Dec. 9, 1975 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,468. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,266 was issued to Persson on Sep. 21, 1976 and still yet another was issued on Apr. 11, 1978 to Goff, et al. as U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,250.
Another patent was issued to Bowen on May 10, 1988 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,120. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,709 was issued to Tognotti on Dec. 31, 1991. Another was issued to Huang on May 16, 1995 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,203 and still yet another was issued on Jul. 16, 1996 to Huang as U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,779.
Another patent application was published to Vassallo on Feb. 14, 2002 as U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0018401. Yet another U.S. Patent Application No. US 2003/0112845 was published to Kaiser et al. on Jun. 19, 2003. Another patent was issued to Mingori on Mar. 16, 1960 as U.K. Patent No. GB830,721. Yet another Japan Patent No. JP54028599 was issued to Masatoshi on Mar. 3, 1979. Another was published to Saar on May 13, 1998 as European Patent Application No. EP 0 841 546 and still yet another was issued on Jun. 8, 2005 to Morris as U.K. Patent No. GB 2 408 826.
A digital cooking timer responsive to the temperature of a cooking medium and incorporating minimum and maximum time decoders to insure that the cooking period is within a predetermined range is described. An interval timer sets up a counting period upon immersion of the product in the cooking medium but is inhibited from starting its counting function by the minimum time decoder until elapse of a fixed time period. After elapse of the fixed time period, the interval timer is enabled when and if the cooking medium reaches a predetermined temperature. The maximum time decoder provides an override control that energizes the control device after a fixed period in the absence of an energizing signal for the control device from the interval timer.
A shower safety comfort temperature guide for use with bathing showers and the like in a manner to assist an individual in pre judging the comfort zone of the water prior to bodily contact with the water, the guide intended to be attached to the shower head pipe immediately prior to the shower head in a manner to measure the temperature of the water flowing through the pipe and indicating such temperature on a color zone guide dial, the guide including a bimetallic temperature responsive element for sensing the temperature change and connected through a gear mechanism to an indicator for indicating such temperature on the dial face.
A shower safety comfort temperature guide for use with bathing showers and the like in a manner to assist an individual in pre judging the comfort zone of the water prior to bodily contact with the water, the guide intended to be attached to the shower head pipe immediately prior to the shower head in a manner to measure the temperature of the water flowing through the pipe and indicating such temperature on a color zone guide dial, the guide including a bimetallic temperature responsive element for sensing the temperature change and connected through a gear mechanism to an indicator for indicating such temperature on the dial face
A portable food thermometer affording an audible alarm at a preset cooking completion temperature. A water reservoir defined within a two-part housing is fillable by the user in advance of use. An elongated sensing probe insertable in the food is secured extending through one of the housing parts inward of the reservoir and contains a slideable rod supported on a confined temperature sensing material. Expansion of the sensing material in response to increasing food temperature forces the rod outward of the probe. Opposite the free end of the rod is a spring loaded ball valve sealing the reservoir from a whistle outlet. Temperature graduations on the housing enable adjusting the spacing between the rod and valve at room temperature for presetting the operating temperature of the unit. On reaching set point cooking temperature, the outwardly forced position of the rod acts to open the valve enabling steam in the reservoir to activate the whistle alarm. When the alarm is activated, a plug positioned in the whistle outlet is displaced outwardly for affording a visual indication of thermometer operation.
A simple and inexpensive water temperature sensor that may be mounted on existing water faucets or showers to provide a ready visible indication of the temperature of the water flowing through the faucet or shower. The temperature sensor comprises an outer transparent tube mounted coaxially with the pipe leading to the faucet or shower head, a number of o-rings mounted within the tube and spaced along the length of the tube to form different compartments along the sensor, and a number of differently colored tubular members respectively forming a second wall for the compartments, with each compartment being filled with a material, such as paraffin wax, with the material in each compartment melting at a different temperature from the material in the other compartments, to become transparent and reveal the corresponding colored inner tubular member, when the water flowing to the faucet or shower has a particular temperature.
A shower flange thermometer includes a circular casing having a planar front face, the center of the front face forming a circular pipe-receiving aperture. Inside the casing is a thermometer having a temperature-sensitive foot adjacent to the aperture for transferring heat from and to the shower pipe. A transparent window in the face displays temperatures of the shower water as indirectly indicated by the temperature of the pipe.
A pipe, which includes a plurality of transparent sections and a plurality of opaque sections alternatively connected in series, the opaque sections being made in multiple colors, the transparent sections having temperature display chips which change color when the inside temperature of the pipe is changed over a fixed range.
A faucet or shower head includes a transparent zone on the casing thereof through which the color and quality of the water may be visually checked. A temperature display chip is mounted within the transparent zone and is covered with a transparent protective covering. The temperature display chip detects and displays the temperature of the water passing through the faucet or shower head. If the water temperature exceeds a predetermined value, a temperature controlled integrated circuit (IC) is activated to automatically give an audio alarm. This alarm helps prevent users from being scalded with excessively hot water.
A device for timing the cooking of a food item, comprising timing means, apt to compute a cooking time interval, signaling means, actuatable by the timing means to signal that the time interval has elapsed, and temperature sensitive means, apt to be arranged in proximity of the food item and to determine the starting of computing of the time interval by the timing means at a pre-determined temperature.
The present invention is a temperature measuring device for insertion into food which audibly signals the user when the temperature of the food reaches a predetermined level. The stem of the device contains a coiled temperature sensitive bi-metallic spring. As the internal temperature of the substance increases, the temperature sensing material slowly rotates, causing a pointer and triggering disk to rotate. When the rotation achieves a predetermined position, a pre-wound coil spring is permitted to engage a drive gear which operates a hammer device so as to provide an audible signal. Thus, the user is audibly alerted when the internal temperature of the substance reaches the desired threshold level.
A thermometer 4, for indicating the temperature of fluid contained in a pipe, is supported so as to lie wholly within the pipe, which has a transparent observation section inserted therein. The transparent section 1 is adapted to be secured by fittings 3 to the remainder of the piping 2. The arrangement may form part of a shower apparatus in which hot and cold water are piped separately and mixed by a control valve.
To secure alarming at all times after a certain time lapse even in case the detector has some fault or malfunction, by installing a timer along with the water level/temperature detector.
A system is disclosed for monitoring the use of water in an individual unit of a multi-unit building wherein the multi-unit building is supplied water from a common source (10) and the individual unit has a plurality of water consuming structures each supplied by one or a pair of water pipes (15) supplied from the common source. A monitor (19) determines the volumetric flow through each of the pipes, each of said monitors, and periodically transmits a signal encoded with the volumetric flow of the pipe and the identification of the individual unit in which the pipe is located. A remote receiver receives the encoded signals from each of the monitors and computes a total volumetric flow of water for the individual unit for a selected period of time. Additionally, continuous volumetric flow through the pipe proximate the water consuming structure during a predetermined period of time can be predetermined time so that an alarm signal can be transmitted in the event that it is determined that flow to the water consuming structure has been continuous for the predetermined time. The use of heat energy in the water devices can be monitored to define the heat energy use. The remote receiver receives the encoded signals from each of the monitors, defines a total volumetric flow of water and/or total heat energy use for the individual unit for a selected period of time, computes a water consumption/heat energy charge and prepares and forwards a bill to the individual unit.
A water-temperature-sensing alarm, contained within a buoyant vessel, that comprises of appropriate electronic components, powered by battery(ies), which can carry out a series of bath-water-temperature tests to give an audible and visible indication. From a stand-by mode, the device will detect its presence in a conductive fluid (bathwater in this case), apply electrical power to other components on the circuit board, and emit an appropriate sound and light sequence. Temperature probes set in the vessel will detect the temperature of the water and instigate another appropriate sound and light sequence. If the water temperature is at an optimum temperature, the sound and light sequence will continue during the time the temperature remains at optimum. If the temperature rises above the optimum a louder sound, and more intensive light sequence, is emitted to provide a warning to the responsible person/guardian/parent that the other person in, or about to be placed in, the bath-water could be in danger of suffering scald burns. The alarm device can also be programmed to detect the temperature of water below a given temperature and emit an audible and visible alarm sequence to warn the responsible person/guardian/parent that the person in the bath-water could be in some discomfort or even in danger of suffering from hypothermia. Once removed from the bath-water the device detects the absence of conductive fluids and reverts to a stand-by mode.
While these timing sensing devices may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a thermal sensor that monitors shower pipe temperatures.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a thermal sensor that monitors shower pipe temperatures incorporating temperature sensor for initiating a timing and alarm cycle.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a timer including cycle time usage alarm and continuous alarm when timing cycle terminates.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a timer incorporating means for engaging a pipe, LCD display, timer adjustment buttons, and pass code protection buttons.
Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a shower monitor mountable to a pipe having a thermal sensor that actuates a preselected timing cycle which emits an audible tone at predetermined intervals until the timing cycle has expired whereupon a continuous tone is emitted until the thermal sensor is deactivated by a drop in the threshold temperature of the thermal sensor.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying drawing, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views.
The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.
In order that the invention may be more fully understood, it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:
With regard to reference numerals used, the following numbering is used throughout the drawings.
The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention (and several variations of that embodiment). This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments, practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. For definition of the complete scope of the invention, the reader is directed to appended claims.
The shower monitor of the present invention 10, as seen in
The monitor of the present invention 10 may be employed on any pipe where it is desired to reduce water usage or to provide a reminder to turn off a watering device such as a lawn or garden sprinkler. To provide the additional function the monitor may employ a flow sensor 34 in combination with or in lieu of the thermal sensor 14. The flow sensor is connected to the processor as seen in
The monitor may be provided with a visual indicator 40 such as a flashing light for users that are hearing impaired. The visual indicator is connected to the processor as seen in
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3859644 | Main | Jan 1975 | A |
| 3924468 | Persson | Dec 1975 | A |
| 3981266 | Persson | Sep 1976 | A |
| 4083250 | Goff et al. | Apr 1978 | A |
| 4743120 | Bowen | May 1988 | A |
| 4936508 | Ingalz | Jun 1990 | A |
| 5076709 | Tognotti | Dec 1991 | A |
| 5415203 | Huang | May 1995 | A |
| 5535779 | Huang | Jul 1996 | A |
| 6016836 | Brunkhardt | Jan 2000 | A |
| 6055213 | Rubbo et al. | Apr 2000 | A |
| 6286764 | Garvey et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
| 6814486 | Sidoni | Nov 2004 | B2 |
| 7124452 | Bauza | Oct 2006 | B1 |
| 20020018401 | Vassallo | Feb 2002 | A1 |
| 20030112845 | Kaiser et al. | Jun 2003 | A1 |
| 20030125842 | Chang et al. | Jul 2003 | A1 |
| 20050016603 | Brunkhardt | Jan 2005 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 841.546 | May 1998 | EP |
| 830.721 | Mar 1960 | GB |
| 2.408.826 | Jun 2005 | GB |
| 54028599 | Mar 1979 | JP |
