Top actuated touchless faucet

Abstract

The present disclosure is generally directed towards a top assembly for a faucet. The top assembly includes a sensor mounted to the top assembly and configured to produce a signal in response to sensing a movement from a user, a knob surrounding the sensor wherein rotation of the knob controls a temperature of a flow of fluid discharged from an outlet of the faucet, and a control system that controls the flow of fluid to the outlet in response to the signal from the sensor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A top assembly for a faucet comprising:
 a sensor mounted to the top assembly and configured to produce a signal in response to sensing a movement from a user;   a knob surrounding the sensor wherein rotation of the knob controls a temperature of a flow of fluid discharged from an outlet of the faucet; and   a control system that controls the flow of fluid to the outlet in response to the signal from the sensor.   
     
     
         2 . The top assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the movement is one of a hand wave or a hand gesture. 
     
     
         3 . The top assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to sense the movement from the user using infrared-light (IR) technology. 
     
     
         4 . The top assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a valve positioned to selectively control flow from a hot water inlet and a cold water inlet to the outlet. 
     
     
         5 . The top assembly of  claim 4 , wherein a bottom surface of the knob is coupled to the valve, such that when the knob is rotated, the valve rotates. 
     
     
         6 . The top assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the valve is a temperature mixing assembly and further comprises:
 a hot water inlet port to receive hot water from the hot water inlet;   a cold water inlet port to receive cold water from the cold water inlet; and   an outlet port to provide mixed temperature water from the temperature mixing assembly to the outlet.   
     
     
         7 . The top assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the top assembly further comprises a cover arrangement positioned to surround the sensor. 
     
     
         8 . The top assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the cover arrangement further comprises:
 a first cover directly surrounding the sensor; and   a second cover surrounding the first cover, wherein a first surface of the second cover abuts the first cover and a second surface of the second cover, opposite the first surface, is externally facing.   
     
     
         9 . The top assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the second surface of the second cover comprises a plurality of visual indicators. 
     
     
         10 . The top assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the knob comprises:
 a base positioned at an end of the knob, the base comprising a plurality of serrations; and   a washer positioned proximate to the base.   
     
     
         11 . A faucet assembly comprising:
 a base assembly;   a spout coupled to the base assembly, the spout having an outlet for providing a flow of fluid beneath the outlet;   a top assembly coupled to a top surface of the base assembly, comprising:
 a sensor mounted to the top assembly and configured to produce a signal in response to sensing a movement from a user; and 
 a knob surrounding the sensor wherein rotation of the knob controls a temperature of the flow of fluid discharged from the outlet; and 
   a control system that controls the flow of fluid to the outlet in response to the signal from the sensor.   
     
     
         12 . The faucet assembly of  claim 11 , further comprising a valve positioned to selectively control flow from a hot water inlet and a cold water inlet to the spout. 
     
     
         13 . The faucet assembly of  claim 12 , wherein a bottom surface of the knob is coupled to the valve, such that when the knob is rotated, the valve rotates. 
     
     
         14 . The faucet assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the valve is a temperature mixing assembly and further comprises:
 a hot water inlet port to receive hot water from the hot water inlet;   a cold water inlet port to receive cold water from the cold water inlet; and   an outlet port to provide mixed temperature water from the temperature mixing assembly to the spout.   
     
     
         15 . The faucet assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the top assembly further comprises a cover arrangement positioned to surround the sensor. 
     
     
         16 . The faucet assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the cover arrangement further comprises:
 a first cover directly surrounding the sensor; and   a second cover surrounding the first cover, wherein a first surface of the second cover abuts the first cover and a second surface of the second cover, opposite the first surface, is externally facing, wherein the second surface of the second cover comprises a plurality of visual indicators.   
     
     
         17 . A top assembly for a faucet comprising:
 a sensor assembly, comprising:
 a sensor mounted to the top assembly and configured to produce a signal in response to sensing a movement from a user; and 
 a sensor holder configured to support the sensor within the top assembly; 
   a knob surrounding the sensor wherein rotation of the knob controls a temperature of a flow of fluid discharged from an outlet of the faucet; and   a control system configured to:
 provide a flow of fluid to the outlet based at least on a first signal from the sensor in response to a first movement from a user; and 
 stop the flow of fluid to the outlet based at least on a second signal from the sensor in response to a second movement from the user. 
   
     
     
         18 . The top assembly of  claim 17 , wherein the control system is configured to stop the flow of fluid to the outlet prior to receiving the second signal from the sensor in response to a preset amount of time elapsing. 
     
     
         19 . The top assembly of  claim 18 , further comprising a valve positioned to selectively control flow from a hot water inlet and a cold water inlet to the outlet. 
     
     
         20 . The top assembly of  claim 19 , wherein a bottom surface of the knob is coupled to the valve, such that when the knob is rotated, the valve rotates.