E03B1/00

Solid foam stick manifold device
10105560 · 2018-10-23 ·

A solid foam stick manifold device provides solid stick foam additive to multiple discharge lines. The device includes a housing having an interior space defining a mixing chamber configured for holding a solid foam stick. An inlet extends from the housing and is in fluid communication with the interior space directly into the mixing chamber. An outlet extends from the housing and is in fluid communication with the interior space. The outlet is positioned such that flow through the inlet passes through the mixing chamber before being expelled through the outlet for expelling foam produced by mixing of water with the solid foam stick within the mixing chamber.

Touch sensitive tap

A touch sensitive tap includes a tap main body; a support pipe rotatably assembled to the tap main body and disposed with a touch sensing area for a user to touch; a conductive silicone ring sealingly connecting the tap main body and the support pipe and electrically connecting the tap main body and the support pipe to form an integral conductor therebetween; an outlet portion connected to the support pipe; a waterway at least connected from the tap main body to the support pipe and connected to the outlet portion; and an on-off control portion coupled to the waterway to control opening and closing of the waterway. The integral conductor acquires a touch signal from the touch sensing area and transmits the touch signal to the on-off control portion, and the on-off control portion controls opening and closing of the waterway after receiving the touch signal.

WATER PROFILE USED TO DETECT MALFUNCTIONING WATER APPLIANCES
20180259131 · 2018-09-13 · ·

A system is provided for determining from a location upstream of a plurality of water appliances, whether a specific water appliance is malfunctioning. The system may comprise at least one processor. The system may detect, from at least one sensor in a distributed water infrastructure upstream of the plurality of water appliances, a plurality of normal water usage profiles. The system may associate at least one of the plurality of normal water usage profiles with each of the plurality of water appliances. The system may store each of the plurality of normal water usage profiles in a manner associating each of the plurality of normal water usage profiles with an associated water appliance. The system may detect at least one current water usage profile. The system may compare the at least one current water usage profile with at least one of the stored normal water usage profiles to determine a corresponding identity of an associated water usage appliance and to determine if a substantial deviation exists between the stored normal water usage profile for the identified appliance and the at least one current water usage profile. The substantial deviation may be reflective of a potential malfunction in the associated water usage appliance. The system may initiate remedial action if the substantial deviation, reflective of a potential malfunction, is determined.

USER/APPLIANCE WATER SIGNATURE
20180259132 · 2018-09-13 · ·

A system is provided for tracking usage of a plurality of water appliances in a distributed water infrastructure. The system may comprise at least one processor. The system may receive, from a location in the distributed water infrastructure upstream of the plurality of water appliances, historical water usage measurements. The system may determine from the historical water usage measurements at least one unique water usage signature associated with each of the plurality of water appliances. The system may store in memory each at least one unique water usage signature for each of the plurality of appliances. The system may receive, from the location in the distributed water infrastructure upstream of the plurality of water appliances, current water usage measurements. The system may determine from the current water usage measurements at least one current water usage signature. The system may compare the current water usage signature with at least one of the unique water usage signatures stored in memory to determine a match. The system may, based on the signature match, ascertain an identifier of a water appliance in current use.

EVENT BASED LEAK DETECTION SYSTEM
20180259133 · 2018-09-13 · ·

A system is provided for detecting abnormal consumption in a distributed water infrastructure. The system may receive from at least one sensor associated with the distributed water infrastructure signals indicative of water usage in the distributed water infrastructure, and aggregate groups of signals to construct a plurality of time-based water event profiles, each water event profile containing a distribution of water usage indicators over time. The system may store a subset of the plurality of water event profiles in memory as normal water event profiles, and receive, from the at least one sensor, signals indicative of current water usage in the distributed water infrastructure. The system may construct, from the signals indicative of current water usage, at least one current water event profile, and compare the at least one current water event profile with normal water event profiles stored in the memory. The system may initiate remedial action if the at least one current water event profile does not substantially correspond to normal water event profiles stored in the memory.

Mixing valve
10041234 · 2018-08-07 · ·

A mixing valve having a housing and first and second flow control valves. The housing has a mixing chamber, a first outlet, and a second outlet. The first flow control valve controls fluid flow through the first outlet to the mixing chamber, and the second flow control valve controls fluid flow through the second outlet to the mixing chamber. The first and second outlets each have a size so that the mixing valve has a flow coefficient of approximately 2.5 in a mid-open position of both flow control valves, and the housing has a length dimension, a width dimension, and a thickness dimension, and the largest of these dimensions is no more than approximately 65 millimeters.

Apparatus for filtering and/or conditioning and/or purifying a fluid such as water, and interface thereof for providing water boiler expansion pressure relief

An apparatus for filtering water has an interface and a filtration/purification canister removably mountable onto the interface. Connecting the canister to the interface automatically opens a check valve in the interface to permit water to flow from the interface into and through the canister, and then back to and through the interface to an outlet port. Disconnecting the canister from the interface automatically closes the check valve, stopping the flow of water. An end cap may be substituted for the canister to permit fluid to flow through the interface when the canister is not mounted on the interface. The interface provides for water boiler expansion pressure relief, while guarding against any water contaminated downstream of the apparatus from backflowing into the filtration/purification canister and contaminating the portion of the filtration/purification canister downstream of the filter/conditioning/purifying medium held within the filtration/purification canister and thereby causing water exiting the outlet port of the filtration/purification canister to be contaminated.

Advanced valve actuator with integral energy metering
10007239 · 2018-06-26 · ·

An automatic control valve actuator assembly is configured to control opening and closing of the valve via positioning of a valve closure member. The valve actuator is further configured to determine the volume of fluid flowing through the valve. In an embodiment, the valve actuator includes an integral energy consumption calculation and retention module configured to calculate heat energy for energy consumption tracking.

HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE PREDICTION
20180143047 · 2018-05-24 · ·

A detection system is provided for a distributed water infrastructure, where the system is configured to determine at least one of a human health or lifestyle state from water usage patterns in the distributed water infrastructure. The system may comprise at least one processor. The system may receive from at least one sensor associated with the distributed water infrastructure signals indicative of water usage in the distributed water infrastructure. The system may determine from the signals indicative of water usage a current water usage pattern. The system may access a database of a plurality of stored water usage patterns, where each at least one stored water usage pattern is associated with at least one human health or lifestyle state. The system may compare at least one current water usage pattern with at least some of the stored water usage patterns. The system may, based on the comparison, identify a human health or lifestyle condition reflected by the current water usage pattern. The system may institute a remedial action corresponding to the identified human health or lifestyle state.

DIFFERENTIATE USER BY THEIR WATER BEHAVIOR
20180143056 · 2018-05-24 · ·

A system is provided for differentiating between water usage of multiple water consumers using a common distributed water infrastructure. The system may comprise at least one processor. The system may receive from a water sensor in the distributed water infrastructure upstream of a plurality of appliances, signals indicative of water usage. The system may construct from the signals indicative of water usage a plurality of water event profile signatures. The system may, based on differences between similar water event profiles, associate at least one water event profile signature with a first water consumer and associate a second water event profile signature with a second water consumer. The system may store the water event profile signatures for the first water consumer and the second water consumer. The system may construct current water event profiles reflecting subsequent water usage in the distributed water infrastructure. The system may compare the current water event profiles with water event profile signatures stored in memory. The system may, based on the comparison, attribute a first current water event profile to the first water consumer and attribute a second current water event profile to the second water consumer. The system may output data for generating at least one report of water usage by the first water consumer.