Leak-detecting check valve, and leak-detection alarm system that uses said check valve

Abstract

One object of the present invention is to monitor water pipes regularly and to detect water leaks by using basic equipment and to provide a device that generates an alarm when a leak occurs. The present invention responds not only to minor leaks that occur naturally because, for instance, a water pipe is decrepit, but also responds to human-caused leaks, such as those that occur because a person forgets to turn off a water faucet or because of the failure of equipment such as a hot-water heater. The present invention is a leak-detection alarm system that is composed of two main parts: (1) a leak-detecting check valve that detects movements of a movable device that makes the same movement as the valve element of a check valve that is attached to a water pipe and performs switching, and that transmits as detection signals the movement of valve elements, and (2) a signal-processing device that analyzes detection signals transmitted by the leak-detecting check valve and actuates a leak-detection alarm. The leak-detecting check valve has a main valve and an ancillary valve. The main valve operates in response to a high rate of flow of fluid through the pipe, such as occurs when there is a large leak that corresponds to said human-cause leaks, and the ancillary valve operates in response to low rate of flow of fluid through a pipe, such as occurs when there is a small leak that occurs naturally.