Masco Corporation of Indiana

Raymond A Vincent

Randall Paul Schmitt

John Kirk

Jeffrey J Iott

A plumbing device uses electronic control circuitry with two infrared emitters and one infrared receiver to detect objects in a particular region of space. In one embodiment, detection of an object using both sensors (in sequential scans) results in the plumbing device turning on. When no object has been detected for a certain amount of time, the plumbing device is turned off. Also, when the plumbing device has run for another certain amount of time, the plumbing device is turned off regardless of whether an object is still being detected. In another embodiment, the output of the IR emitters is partially blocked by one or more mask elements to tailor the region that is covered by both IR emitters and, hence, the region that triggers the opening of the plumbing device valve.

Control for an automatic plumbing device

A pilot valve has: an input passageway, an output passageway, a rotatable shaft disposed between them, a permanent magnet affixed to the rotatable shaft, an electromagnet, a control element, and a failsafe magnet. The rotatable shaft has a slot that gives the rotatable shaft a varied cross-section as a function of its position. The slot is disposed to permit fluid to flow between the input passageway and the output passageway except when the rotatable shaft is in a closed position. The electromagnet is disposed to generate first magnetic field that, via the permanent magnet, drives the rotatable shaft away from the closed position. The control element places a PWM current on the electromagnet, such that the length of the duty cycle controls the strength of the first magnetic field. The failsafe magnet is disposed to generate a second magnetic field that drives the rotatable shaft away from the closed position.

Low energy fluid actuator control element

An electronic faucet having a spout, a electronically actuated valve, and a microprocessor-based control circuit for operating the valve to enable or disable water flow through the spout. The microprocessor has a control program which includes a calibration routine that uses an infra-red sensor to determine an adjustable setpoint indicative of the signal received from the sensor in the absence of an object in front of the faucet. The microprocessor switches the valve from its closed state to its open state when the signal from the sensor either increases above the setpoint by a selected amount or decreases below the setpoint by a selected amount. This provides a window about the setpoint within which differences between the setpoint and the signal do not result in opening of the valve. Object detection is accomplished using a tracking routine that adjusts the setpoint in an attempt to track the sensor signal. If the sensor signal undergoes a change that is too large to be tracked, then the microprocessor switches on the valve. Once the sensor signal drops back into a range of values about a stored calibration point, the valve is closed. The control circuit is part of an electronics module that is mounted within the spout and that is held in place between the spout tube and the spout housing. The module includes a curved recess having a shape that conforms to the spout tube so that the module is retained in place at its upper end by the spout tube.

Growing community of inventors

Plymouth, MI, United States of America

Raymond A Vincent