Smart water dispenser and control method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10597280-B2
Application number	US-201816029035-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2018
Priority date	Sep 26, 2017
Publication date	Mar 24, 2020
Grant date	Mar 24, 2020

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a smart water dispenser and a control method thereof. The smart water dispenser includes: a mechanical switch, an electronic switch and a controller. The controller is configured to determine whether water usage is normal according to ON/OFF states of the mechanical and the electronic switches; if so, to indicate a water discharged volume detection unit to collect a water discharged volume; and otherwise, to turn off the electronic switch and transmit a play instruction to a voice playback unit. The control method includes: detecting states of the mechanical switch and the electronic switch in real time; determining whether the mechanical switch is in the ON state when the electronic switch is switched from the OFF state to the ON state; if so, turning off the electronic switch and outputting a prompt voice; and otherwise, collecting the water discharged volume when the mechanical switch is switched from the OFF state to the ON state.

First claim

We claim:

1. A smart water dispenser comprising:
a mechanical switch;
an electronic switch arranged on a water outlet pipeline;
a mechanical switch detection unit configured to detect an ON/OFF state of the mechanical switch and transmit a detection result to a controller; and
an electronic switch detection unit configured to detect an ON/OFF state of the electronic switch and transmit a detection result to the controller;
wherein the controller is connected to the electronic switch, the mechanical switch detection unit and the electronic switch detection unit, and is configured to determine whether water usage is normal according to the ON/OFF states of the mechanical and the electronic switches, and to turn off the electronic switch if it is determined that the water usage is abnormal.

2. The smart water dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a detection module, a determination module and a control module; and
wherein the detection module is connected to the mechanical switch detection unit and the electronic switch detection unit, respectively, and configured to receive the ON/OFF states transmitted by the mechanical switch detection unit and the electronic switch detection unit; and
wherein the determination module is connected to the detection module and configured to determine whether the mechanical switch is in the ON state when the electronic switch is switched from the OFF state to the ON state; transmit an abnormal water usage instruction to the control module if it is determined that the mechanical switch is in the ON state; and if it is determined that the mechanical switch is in the OFF state, transmit a normal water usage instruction to the control module when the mechanical switch is switched from the OFF state to the ON state; and
wherein the control module is connected to the determination module and the electronic switch, and configured to turn off the electronic switch upon receiving the abnormal water usage instruction.

3. The smart water dispenser according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a fingerprint recognition unit connected to the determination module and configured to collect fingerprint data and transmit the collected fingerprint data to the determination module;
wherein the determination module is configured to compare the collected fingerprint data with a pre-entered fingerprint template, transmit matching success information to the control module when the collected fingerprint data matches the pre-entered fingerprint template, and transmit matching failure information to the control module when the collected fingerprint data does not match the pre-entered fingerprint template; and
wherein the control module is configured to activate the electronic switch upon receiving the matching success information, and transmit a play instruction to a voice playback upon receiving the matching failure information.

4. The smart water dispenser according to claim 2 , wherein the control module is configured to indicate a water discharged volume detection unit to collect a water discharged volume upon receiving the normal water usage instruction.

5. The smart water dispenser according to claim 4 , wherein:
the water discharged volume detection unit is connected to the determination module, configured to collect a volume of water flowing through the water outlet pipeline in real time during a water discharge process as the water discharged volume, and transmit the water discharged volume to the determination module;
the determination module is connected to the water discharged volume detection unit and configured to compare the collected water discharged volume with a preset water discharged threshold, and transmit water getting completion information to the control module when the collected water discharged volume is greater than or equal to the water discharged threshold; and
the control module turns off the electronic switch upon receiving the water getting completion information.

6. The smart water dispenser according to claim 4 , further comprising:
an infrared detection unit connected to the determination module, configured to detect an actual distance between a user and the smart water dispenser in real time, and transmit the actual distance to the determination module;
wherein the determination module is connected to the infrared detection unit and configured to compare the detected actual distance with a preset water getting distance, and determine whether the mechanical switch is in the ON state when the actual distance is greater than or equal to the water getting distance, and transmit leaving information to the control module if it is determined that the mechanical switch is in the ON state; and
wherein the control module transmits a play instruction to a voice playback unit upon receiving the leaving information if the determination module determines that the mechanical switch is in the ON state.

7. The smart water dispenser according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a timer connected to the control module and configured to start upon receiving a timing instruction transmitted by the control module, and also connected to the determination module and configured to transmit an accumulated time to the determination module;
wherein the determination module is configured to compare the accumulated time with a preset time threshold, and determine whether the electronic switch is turned on when the accumulated time is greater than or equal to the time threshold, and transmit delay information to the control module if it is determined that the electronic switch is turned on; and
wherein the control module is configured to turn off the electronic switch upon receiving the delay information, and transmit the timing instruction to the timer when it is determined that the mechanical switch is switched from the ON state to the OFF state.

8. The smart water dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to transmit a play instruction to a voice playback unit if it is determined that the water usage is abnormal.

9. A control method of a smart water dispenser, wherein the smart water dispenser comprises a mechanical switch and an electronic switch arranged on a water outlet pipeline, the control method comprising:
detecting, by a mechanical switch detection unit of the smart water dispenser, an ON/OFF state of the mechanical switch and transmitting a detection result to a controller of the smart water dispenser;
detecting, by an electronic switch detection unit of the smart water dispenser, an ON/OFF state of the electronic switch and transmitting a detection result to the controller;
determining, by the controller, whether the mechanical switch is in an ON state when the electronic switch is switched from an OFF state to an ON state; and
turning off the electronic switch if it is determined that the mechanical switch is in the ON state.

10. The control method according to claim 9 , wherein the smart water dispenser further comprises a fingerprint recognition unit, and wherein before the states of the mechanical switch and the electronic switch are detected in real time, the control method further comprises:
collecting, by the fingerprint recognition unit, fingerprint data and transmitting the collected fingerprint data to the controller,
comparing, by the controller, the collected fingerprint data with a pre-entered fingerprint template;
activating, by the controller, the electronic switch when the collected fingerprint data match the pre-entered fingerprint template; and
transmitting, by the controller, a play instruction to a voice playback when the collected fingerprint data do not match the pre-entered fingerprint template

Assignees

• Boe Technology Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Feng Feng
• Zhang Zhongwei

Classifications

• G07F13/065

  for drink preparation · CPC title

• G07F15/04

  in which the quantity mechanism is set forward automatically by the insertion of a coin · CPC title

• F24D17/00

  Domestic hot-water supply systems · CPC title

• G07F13/025

  wherein the volume is determined during delivery · CPC title

• G07F9/026

  for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty · CPC title