Water softener monitoring system

Abstract

A system for monitoring the level or amount of a material within a container is provided. The system includes a detection mechanism that can be a direct detection mechanism or any of a number of indirect detection mechanisms. When the detection mechanism senses an upper level of the substance in the container that is below a predetermined lower limit for the substance, the mechanism operates an alarm mechanism to emit an audible and/or visible alarm to alert an individual to the low level of the substance within the container. The alarm mechanism can be integrally formed with the detection mechanism, or can be spaced from the detection mechanism in order to provide a more accessible point for the viewing or hearing of the alarm emitted by the alarm mechanism.

1. A salt sensing unit for a water softener tank comprising:
 a first housing enclosure that connects to the outside of the tank without the need for drilling of any holes and is configured to mount to any shape and size of tank; 
 a low level alarm mechanism that can be placed up to 100 feet away from the tank and is battery operated; 
 a first sensor that senses through a wall of the tank; 
 a monitoring device operably connected to the sensor and positioned within the housing and includes software to allow for at least one of: 
 self-calibration and automatically determining the sensitivity of the sensor depending on variables in the tank, 
 operator inputs to the unit,
 detection of time between softening cycles to reduce unit energy consumption, and 
 
 detection of a dirty tank condition. 
 
     
     
       2. The salt sensing unit of  1 , further comprising:
 an infrared wave source operably connected to the monitoring device; and 
 a second sensor mounted on an opposite side of the tank and operably connected to the monitoring device. 
 
     
     
       3. The unit of  claim 1  wherein the first sensor is a position based sensor. 
     
     
       4. A unit of  claim 1  wherein the first sensor is at least one of: an induction-based detection mechanism that detects the inductance of the substance, and a capacitance-based detection mechanism that detects the capacitance of the substance. 
     
     
       5. The unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a container attachment means operably connected to the housing that includes at least one of: an adhesive, tabs having double sided tape, hook and loop fasteners, tabs having a protruding male member and a receiving female member, and a shaft fastened to the container. 
     
     
       6. The unit of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor further includes a chip that is operably connected to software for determining a threshold for a substance within the tank. 
     
     
       7. The unit of  claim 1 , wherein the software further detects peaks and valleys in a capacitance of a substance within the tank. 
     
     
       8. The unit of  claim 1 , wherein the software further includes a timer that operates the sensor at intervals. 
     
     
       9. The unit of  claim 1  wherein the sensor is a calibration mechanism that works with the sensor to obtain a lower limit capacitance value based on chemical processes within the water softener tank. 
     
     
       10. The unit of  claim 1  wherein the sensor is a capacitance-based detection mechanism and further includes a chip for analyzing a stored lower limit capacitance value of a brine substance relative to an actual capacitance value of a chemical process within the water softener tank. 
     
     
       11. The unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a second sensor operably connected to the first sensor, and wherein the second sensor operates independently from the first sensor to act as a variable gauge. 
     
     
       12. The unit of  claim 11 , wherein at least one sensor is a capacitive strip mounted on the tank. 
     
     
       13. The unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a battery set inside the housing. 
     
     
       14. The unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a low level alarm mechanism that can be placed up to 100 feet away from the tank and is battery operated, and wherein the first sensor detects a solid material and an aqueous material within the tank; and the alarm mechanism remotely receives a signal from the sensor and promulgates an alert. 
     
     
       15. The unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a low level alarm mechanism that can be placed up to 100 feet away from the tank and is battery operated, and wherein the alarm mechanism is located remotely from the sensor and wherein the sensor wirelessly transmits to the signaler alarm mechanism. 
     
     
       16. A salt sensing unit for a water softener tank comprising:
 a first housing enclosure that connects to the outside of the tank and is configured to mount to any shape and size of tank; 
 a low level alarm mechanism that can be placed up to 100 feet away from the tank and powered by a battery or electrical outlet; 
 a first sensor that senses through a wall of the tank; 
 a monitoring device operably connected to the sensor and positioned within the housing and includes software to allow for at least one of: 
 self-calibration and automatically determining the sensitivity of the sensor on the tank, 
 operator inputs to the unit, 
 detection of time between softening cycles to reduce unit energy consumption, and 
 detection of a dirty tank condition. 
 
     
     
       17. A salt sensing unit for a water softener tank comprising:
 a first housing enclosure that connects to the outside of the tank; 
 a low level alarm mechanism remote from the tank; 
 a first sensor that senses through a wall of the tank; 
 a monitoring device operably connected to the sensor and positioned within the housing and includes software to allow for at least one of:
 self-calibration and automatically determining the sensitivity of the sensor on the tank, and 
 detection of time between softening cycles to reduce unit energy consumption.