Wave Control Circuit

Abstract

A wave control circuit disclosed herein may be used to control the operation of various plumbing devices and appliances. The wave control circuit uses a sensor to sense presence of objects in the vicinity of the plumbing device and appliance using the wave control circuit and a control circuit to control the operation of the plumbing device or appliance.

Description

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling operation of a plumbing device, the apparatus comprising: a sensor device adapted to detect movement of an object in its sensing field and to generate a sensing signal;a control circuit adapted to: generate a timing event in response to the sensing signal,generate an enabling signal to enable a valve in response to the timing event,calibrate the sensor device after a delay following the enabling of the valve,determine if the valve needs to be disabled, andgenerate a disabling signal to disable the valve.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plumbing device is at least one of a faucet and a showerhead.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further adapted to determine if the valve needs to be disabled by starting an automatic timer after calibrating the sensor, and at least one of determining if there is an object near the sensor and if the time has expired.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein calibrating the sensor circuit further comprises calibrating the sensor circuit to account for the flow of fluid.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein control circuit is adapted to generate enabling and disabling signals for a hot valve and a cold valve.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the control circuit is further adapted to control hot valve and the cold valve in a manner so as to cycle the flow of water from the plumbing device through a warm state, a hot state and a cold state in a predetermined order.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control circuit is further adapted to turn on at least one of a red LED and a blue LED based on the temperature of the water.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control circuit is further adapted to select at least one of the warm state, a hot state and a cold state upon detection of an object near the sensor.

9. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the control circuit is further adapted to control the volume of water dispensed through the plumbing device.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the control circuit is further adapted to set the volume of flow from the plumbing device through a number of pre-determined volume levels.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the control circuit is further adapted to select one of the number of pre-determined volumes based on detection of an object near the sensor.

12. A method of controlling operation of a plumbing device, the method comprising: detecting movement of an object in sensing field of a sensor to generate a sensing signal;generating a timing event in response to the sensing signal;generating an enabling signal to enable a valve in response to the timing event;calibrating the sensor device after a delay following the enabling of the valve;determining if the valve needs to be disabled; andgenerating a disabling signal to disable the valve.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the plumbing device is at least one of a faucet and a showerhead.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining if the valve needs to be disabled by: starting an automatic timer after calibrating the sensor; andat least one of determining if there is an object near the sensor and if the time has expired.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising controlling a hot valve and a cold valve in a manner so as to cycle the flow of water from the plumbing device through a warm state, a hot state and a cold state in a predetermined order.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising turning on at least one of a red LED and a blue LED based on the temperature of the water.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising controlling the volume of water dispensed through the plumbing device.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising setting the volume of flow from the plumbing device through a number of pre-determined volume levels.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising selecting one of the number of pre-determined volumes based on detection of an object near the sensor.