Two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device and method

Abstract

A two-distance touch free automatic type water supply method includes: when a sensor senses an appearance of an external object at a first distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is an open signal, whereby water of the outlet is supplied; when the sensor senses a disappearance of the external object at the first distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is a closed signal, whereby water of the outlet is not supplied; when the sensor senses a first appearance and a first disappearance of the external object at a second distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is an open signal, whereby water of the outlet is supplied; and when the sensor senses a second appearance and a second disappearance of the external object at the second distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is a closed signal, whereby water of the outlet is not supplied.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device, comprising:
 a shell comprising an inlet, a flow channel and an outlet, wherein the outlet is communicated with the inlet through the flow channel;   an electronic control unit comprising:
 a sensor adjacent to the outlet for sensing an external object and then generating a sensing signal; and 
 a control circuit electrically connected to the sensor and receiving the sensing signal for generating a control signal; and 
   a driving unit, wherein an end of the driving unit is disposed in the shell, and the other end of the driving unit is physically connected to the flow channel for automatically controlling whether water of the outlet is supplied according to the control signal;   wherein:   when the sensor senses an appearance of an external object at a first distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is an open signal, whereby the water of the outlet is supplied;   when the sensor senses a disappearance of the external object at the first distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is a closed signal, whereby the water of the outlet is not supplied;   when the sensor senses a first appearance and a first disappearance of the external object at a second distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is an open signal, whereby the water of the outlet is supplied, wherein the first distance is different from the second distance; and   when the sensor senses a second appearance and a second disappearance of the external object at the second distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is a closed signal, whereby the water of the outlet is not supplied.   
     
     
         2 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 1 , wherein the first distance is set from 10 to 15 centimeters, and the second distance is set from 2 to 8 centimeters. 
     
     
         3 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 1 , wherein the driving unit is a solenoid valve. 
     
     
         4 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a cold/hot rotary switch adapted to set whether the water supply of the outlet is hot water, warm water or cold water; and   a first valve core, wherein an end of the first valve core is physically connected to the cold/hot rotary switch, and the other end of the first valve core is physically connected to the inlet for controlling a mixture ratio of cold water to hot water of the inlet.   
     
     
         5 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 4 , wherein the first valve core comprises:
 a control rod mechanically connected to the cold/hot rotary switch; and   a throttling plate physically connected to the control rod, and comprising two through apertures, which are corresponding to the cold water pipe and the hot water pipe of the inlet respectively, whereby when the cold/hot rotary switch drives the control rod and further rotates the throttling plate, an overlapping area between one of the two through apertures and the cold water pipe and an overlapping area between the other one of the two through apertures and the hot water pipe can be adjusted.   
     
     
         6 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 1 , wherein the two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device is a touch free automatic type faucet. 
     
     
         7 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 1 , wherein the two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device is installed at a touch type faucet. 
     
     
         8 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is disposed onto the shell. 
     
     
         9 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is disposed on the control circuit and is exposed out from the shell. 
     
     
         10 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an automatic/manual mode cold/hot rotary switch adapted to set whether the water supply of the outlet is hot water, warm water or cold water in an automatic mode, the water supply of the outlet is hot water, warm water or cold water in a manual mode, or the water supply of the outlet is in a stop mode; and   a second valve core, wherein an end of the second valve core is physically connected to the automatic/manual mode cold/hot rotary switch, and the other end of the second valve core is physically connected to the inlet for controlling a mixture ratio of cold water to hot water of the inlet.   
     
     
         11 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 10  wherein the second valve core comprises:
 a control rod mechanically connected to the automatic/manual mode cold/hot rotary switch; and 
 a throttling plate physically connected to the control rod, and comprising two first and two second through apertures, wherein: 
 during the automatic mode the two first through apertures are corresponding to the cold water pipe and the hot water pipe of the inlet respectively, whereby when the automatic/manual mode cold/hot rotary switch drives the control rod and further rotates the throttling plate, an overlapping area between one of the two first through apertures and the cold water pipe and an overlapping area between the other one of the two first through apertures and the hot water pipe can be adjusted in the automatic mode; and 
 during the manual mode the two second through apertures are corresponding to the cold water pipe and the hot water pipe of the inlet respectively, whereby when the automatic/manual mode cold/hot rotary switch drives the control rod and further rotates the throttling plate, an overlapping area between one of the two second through apertures and the cold water pipe and an overlapping area between the other one of the two second through apertures and the hot water pipe can be adjusted in the manual mode. 
 
     
     
         12 . A two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device, comprising:
 a shell comprising an inlet, a flow channel and an outlet, wherein the outlet is communicated with the inlet through the flow channel;   an electronic control unit comprising:
 an only sensor adjacent to the outlet for sensing an external object and then generating a sensing signal; and 
 a control circuit electrically connected to the sensor and receiving the sensing signal for generating a control signal; and 
   a driving unit, wherein an end of the driving unit is disposed in the shell, and the other end of the driving unit is physically connected to the flow channel for automatically controlling whether water of the outlet is supplied according to the control signal;   wherein:   when the sensor senses an appearance of an external object at a first distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is an open signal, whereby the water of the outlet is supplied;   when the sensor senses a disappearance of the external object at the first distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is a closed signal, whereby the water of the outlet is not supplied;   when the sensor senses a first appearance and a first disappearance of the external object at a second distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is an open signal, whereby the water of the outlet is supplied, wherein the first distance is different from the second distance; and   when the sensor senses a second appearance and a second disappearance of the external object at the second distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is a closed signal, whereby the water of the outlet is not supplied.   
     
     
         13 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 12 , wherein the first distance is set from 10 to 15 centimeters, and the second distance is set from 2 to 8 centimeters. 
     
     
         14 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 12 , wherein the driving unit is a solenoid valve. 
     
     
         15 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 12 , further comprising:
 a cold/hot rotary switch adapted to set whether the water supply of the outlet is hot water, warm water or cold water; and   a valve core, wherein an end of the valve core is physically connected to the cold/hot rotary switch, and the other end of the valve core is physically connected to the inlet for controlling a mixture ratio of cold water to hot water of the inlet.   
     
     
         16 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 15 , wherein valve core comprises:
 a control rod mechanically connected to the cold/hot rotary switch; and   a throttling plate physically connected to the control rod, and comprises two through apertures, which are corresponding to the cold water pipe and the hot water pipe of the inlet respectively, whereby when the cold/hot rotary switch drives the control rod and further rotates the throttling plate, an overlapping area between one of the two through apertures and the cold water pipe and an overlapping area between the other one of the two through apertures and the hot water pipe can be adjusted.   
     
     
         17 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 12 , wherein the two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device is a touch free automatic type faucet. 
     
     
         18 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device according to  claim 12 , wherein the two-distance touch free automatic type water supply device is installed at a touch type faucet. 
     
     
         19 . A two-distance touch free automatic type water supply method, comprising the following steps of:
 providing a sensor, wherein the sensor is adjacent to an outlet for sensing an external object and then generating a sensing signal;   when the sensor senses an appearance of an external object at a first distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is an open signal, whereby the water of the outlet is supplied;   when the sensor senses a disappearance of the external object at the first distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is a closed signal, whereby the water of the outlet is not supplied;   when the sensor senses a first appearance and a first disappearance of the external object at a second distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is an open signal, whereby the water of the outlet is supplied, wherein the first distance is different from the second distance; and   when the sensor senses a second appearance and a second disappearance of the external object at the second distance from the sensor, the sensing signal is a closed signal, whereby the water of the outlet is not supplied.   
     
     
         20 . The two-distance touch free automatic type water supply method according to  claim 19 , wherein the first distance is set from 10 to 15 centimeters, and the second distance is set from 2 to 8 centimeters.