WO2017078545A1

WO2017078545A1 - Ultrasonic flow meter for use in or near a valve assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2017078545A1
Application number: PCT/NZ2016/050176
Authority: WO
Inventors: David John Picton
Original assignee: David John Picton
Priority date: 2015-11-03
Filing date: 2016-11-03
Publication date: 2017-05-11

Abstract

An ultrasonic flow meter is shown in situ inside a flow control valve assembly (100) situated between a shut-off valve member (113) and an outlet (109). The flow measuring portion (101) has a straight conduit of constant internal diameter with two piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers (103) at or close to either end of this straight conduit. To minimise turbulence from operation of the valve members (113), (115), the flow meter (101) has a step down portion from its inlet so that the internal diameter of the flow meter is reduced in two stages via tapering and cylindrical portions until the diameter is that of the measuring portion. At its outlet the same arrangement is reversed so that the internal diameter is increased in stages until it is again equal to the original inlet diameter at its outlet.

Description

ULTRASONIC FLOW METER FOR USE IN OR NEAR A VALVE ASSEMBLY

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an ultrasonic flow meter for use in or near a valve assembly, and in particular to a control valve assembly incorporating such an ultrasonic flow meter. Such a control valve assembly can be used as part of a water management system for monitoring and/or management of water consumption in or around buildings such as residential homes, apartment buildings, hotels, motels, office buildings, schools, factories, and the management and conservation of water supplies and controlled water usage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The management of water resources is of increasing importance, especially within large urban areas. The management of the water generally involves the use of control valves, and increasingly the use of individual meters for each end user.

Increasingly there is a need to remotely control the water valves for each user, for example to restrict water usage when supply difficulties are experienced during a long dry period. Remote control of water valves can also be used to isolate sections of a supply system where leaks have been identified.

Also, there is a trend towards electronic retrieval of water meter usage data, as this reduces the cost involved in manually reading meters.

Many existing water meters include mechanical components which can wear and become less effective over time, or which are not efficient at measuring small flow rates of less than 1 litre/min. Ultrasonic measuring systems provide a "solid state" solution to this problem. However, ultrasonic measuring systems are often not reliable when used in flow paths close to a valve, due to turbulence in the water as a result of its passage through the valve's pathway, as well as the changing conditions as the valve opens or closes.

In my published PCT/NZ2009/000203 and PCT/NZ2009/000204 specifications (the latter also published as US 8,606,413), I described a valve assembly incorporating a mechanical flow meter using a "paddle wheel" but that is less than desirable. I investigated the use of an ultrasonic flow meter but discovered that they would not work within the confines of the valve assembly as they were too close to the two valve units.

Moving parts and seals within flow paths can also provide spaces that are difficult to clean or which can harbour pathogens. Hence flow measuring equipment which includes moving parts and/or seals is not suitable for use in the food industry.

Various different types of flow meters are known in the prior art for measuring flow rates of fluids in pipe lines, hoses and the like. Ultrasonic flow meters use ultrasound waves to measure the velocity of a liquid or gas flow. It involves using ultrasonic transducers to emit pulses of ultrasound along a fluid flow path and calculating the average velocity of the fluid by averaging the difference in measured transit time between the pulses of ultrasound propagating into and against the direction of the flow.

Prior art ultrasonic flow meters have a number of limitations. More specifically they have not been able to cope with a phenomenon known as 'cavitation', where air or gas bubbles form in fluid flow pipes and the measured flow rate readings of the ultrasonic flow meters are distorted due to the presence of the bubbles. Cavitation is a common occurrence in pipes and usually occurs at low pressure zones of piping such as the suction side of a fluid pump or near valves, bends, curves and joints of a piping system. At low pressure zones, the dissolved gases of the fluid are released as bubbles within the fluid flow.

Due to this effect, prior art ultrasonic flow meters are installed on straight sections of piping some distance away from valves, bends, curves, joints and other fittings of the piping system and on the discharge side of a fluid pump, opposite to the suction side of the pump, in order to avoid cavitation. Bubbles can also be introduced into a fluid flow due to other reasons such as the presence of leaks in the piping system which can lead to distorting the readings of ultrasonic flow meters. Furthermore some fluids such as slurries, wastewater, viscous liquids and the like have entrained air bubbles in the fluid flow and hence most prior art ultrasonic flow meters cannot be used for measuring the flow rate of these fluids.

Variations of prior art designs include ultrasonic flow-meters which use sonically reflective materials such as solid particles or entrained air bubbles of a fluid flow to determine the flow rate of the fluid. They are known as 'Doppler flow meters' and make use of the Doppler Effect to calculate the velocity of the reflective materials in the fluid flow. However this method of flow rate measurement involves the use of complex software programs and also the flow meters require some flowing reflective material such as air bubbles or particles to be present in the measured fluid flow at all times in order for the flow meters to make measurements.

Ultrasonic flow meters rely on the transmission of sound in the fluid between transducers which can be mounted on the exterior of the pipe. However, they suffer from a significant disadvantage in practice, as they cannot be used in close proximity to valves (which create turbulence and/or cavitation as the valve is opening or closing, similar problems occur near bends or junctions in the pipework, or from other irregularities which could cause cavitation or turbulent flow in the pipe.

There is a need for an improved ultrasonic flow meter which could be used in close proximity to a valve, or close to bends or other irregularities in the pipe. Preferably one which could be used as part of a control valve assembly.

In this specification unless the contrary is expressly stated, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge; or known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned. DEFINITIONS

Throughout this specification the word "comprise" and variations of that word, such as "comprises" and "comprising", are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a flow meter and/or flow control apparatus and/or a method of use which will at least go some way towards overcoming one or more of the above mentioned problems, or at least provide the public with a useful choice.

STATEMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect the invention resides in an ultrasonic flow meter capable of measuring rate of fluid flow in a conduit, the ultrasonic flow meter comprising: at least one compression chamber, the cross-sectional area of the compression chamber being less than the cross- sectional area of the conduit and, one or more ultrasonic transducers located at or towards one or more ends of the compression chamber, the ultrasonic transducers capable of emitting and receiving ultrasonic waves across the chamber, wherein the compression chamber is capable of compressing fluid flowing through the chamber, the compression of the fluid causing entrained air or gas bubbles in the fluid flow to be dissolved into liquid form.

Preferably the ultrasonic flow meter is not susceptible to cavitation in the fluid flow and the dissolving of entrained air or gas bubbles in the fluid flow allows the flow rate of the fluid to be measured accurately.

Preferably the ultrasonic flow meter comprises two ultrasonic transducers located at or towards either end of the compression chamber. Preferably the ultrasonic flow meter includes a flow meter inlet and a flow meter outlet allowing the flow meter to be connected in line with a fluid conduit.

Preferably the compression chamber is an elongated tube extending from the flow meter inlet to the flow meter outlet, the diameter of the compression chamber being smaller than the diameters of the flow meter inlet and the flow meter outlet.

Preferably the ultrasonic flow meter is capable of measuring flow rate of a fluid flowing through a piping system when installed within or near a bend, curve, joint or other fitting of the piping system.

Preferably the ultrasonic flow meter is capable measuring flow rate of a fluid flowing through a valve, pump or other device when the flow meter is installed near or within the structure of the valve, pump or other device.

Preferably the ultrasonic flow meter is capable measuring flow rate of a fluid flowing through a conduit even when there are air or gas bubbles in the fluid flow caused by one or more leaks in the conduit.

Preferably the ultrasonic transducers communicate with a printed circuit board (PCB).

More preferably the ultrasonic transducers are coupled to a PCB having one or more microcontrollers, the microcontrollers being capable of calculating the fluid flow rate through the ultrasonic flow meter using output signals of the ultrasonic transducers.

In another aspect the invention resides in a kit of parts forming an ultrasonic flow meter substantially as specified herein when assembled, said kit including at least one section of tubing or piping (cylindrical or otherwise) having a mid-section cross-sectional area less than the cross-sectional area of the inlet and/or the outlet of the tubing or piping and one or more ultrasonic transducers.

In a further aspect the invention resides in a method of measuring flow rate of a fluid flowing through a conduit using the ultrasonic flow meter described above, the method comprising the steps of: connecting the ultrasonic flow meter in line with the conduit so that the fluid flows through the compression chamber of the ultrasonic flow meter, the compression chamber compressing the fluid flowing through the chamber, the compression of the fluid causing entrained air or gas bubbles in the fluid flow to be dissolved into liquid form, emitting and receiving a plurality of ultrasonic waves to and from the ultrasonic transducer(s) across the compressed fluid flowing through the compression chamber and, calculating the flow rate of the fluid flowing through ultrasonic flow meter using output signals of the ultrasonic transducer(s).

In another aspect the invention provides a flow meter installed in a valve assembly for measuring the flow rate of fluids through the valve, the flow meter having an inlet and an outlet and a flow conduit though which a fluid can flow from the inlet to the outlet, the inlet having an inlet internal diameter, and the outlet having an outlet internal diameter equal to the inlet internal diameter, the flow conduit having an intermediate flow measurement portion of conduit having a lesser internal diameter than the inlet/outlet internal diameter, and the flow meter having a flow measuring system configured for measuring the flow rate through the flow measurement portion of conduit, and wherein the flow measurement system has at least one ultrasonic transducer, and the flow conduit also includes an inlet portion of conduit which is configured to produce a convergent flow in any fluid entering the flow meter, and the outlet portion configured to produce an equal and opposite divergent flow in any fluid leaving the flow meter.

A valve assembly having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet and a passageway there-between, an electric motor connected to a rotatable crank pin, a controller capable of signaling the electric motor to rotate the crank pin to pre-determined positions, a shut-off valve member operatively-connected to the crank pin and capable of preventing flow thorough the valve assembly when in its fully closed position, a metering valve member operatively-connected to the crank pin and capable of being opened or closed to assist in regulating flow through the valve assembly, the valve assembly having a small bypass passageway to enable a very small water flow to bypass the metering valve member when the metering valve member is in its fully closed position, such that rotation of the crank pin will cause the metering valve member or the shut-off valve member to move into a predetermined position, a pressure sensor and a temperature sensor within the valve assembly to monitor the pressure and temperature of a fluid downstream of the shut off valve member, and an ultrasonic flow meter having an inlet and an outlet and a flow conduit through which a fluid can flow from the inlet to the outlet, the inlet having an inlet internal diameter, and the outlet having an outlet internal diameter equal to the inlet internal diameter, the flow conduit having an intermediate flow measurement portion of conduit having a lesser internal diameter than the inlet/outlet internal diameter, and the flow meter having a flow measuring system configured for measuring the flow rate through the flow measurement portion of conduit, and wherein the flow measurement system has at least one ultrasonic transducer, and the flow conduit also includes an inlet portion of conduit which is configured to produce a convergent flow in any fluid entering the flow meter, and the outlet portion configured to produce an equal and opposite divergent flow in any fluid leaving the flow meter and wherein the inlet of the ultrasonic flow meter is connected to or forms part of the shut-off valve.

By way of example a typical domestic water system may deliver up to 30 litres/min at full flow (though most outlets such as taps have flow restrictors to reduce the flow at output and to maintain a positive pressure in the conduit between the mains source and the outlet). In contrast, a very small flowrate via the bypass passageway is preferably less than 1 litre/minute.

Preferably the metering valve member is conical or frusto-conical and is capable of moving into or out of engagement with a tapered throat in the valve so that as the metering valve member moves towards the tapered throat, the flow through the metering valve is reduced.

Preferably the small bypass passageway is provided by a groove on the exterior of the metering valve member to enable a very small water flow to by-pass the metering valve member when the metering valve is in its fully closed position.

Preferably there is a sensor capable of detecting the angular position of the crank pin. Preferably the inlet portion of the conduit of the ultrasonic flow meter includes one or more substantially tapered sections to reduce the internal diameter from that of the inlet internal diameter to the internal diameter of the flow measurement portion, and the outlet portion of conduit includes one or more equal and opposite substantially tapered sections to increase the internal diameter from that of the flow measurement portion to the of the outlet internal diameter.

Preferably the flow measurement portion of conduit has a substantially constant cross sectional area along its length and is substantially straight.

Preferably the flow meter includes two ultrasonic transducers.

In its most preferred form the ultrasonic flow meter is located in situ inside a flow control valve assembly (see Figure 1) situated between a shut-off valve member and an outlet. The flow measuring portion has a straight conduit of constant internal diameter with two piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers at or close to either end of this straight conduit. To minimise turbulence from the combined metering and shut off valve member the flow meter has a step down portion from its inlet so that the internal diameter of the flow meter is reduced in two stages via tapering and cylindrical portions until the diameter is that of the measuring portion. At its outlet the same arrangement is reversed so that the internal diameter is increased in stages until it is again equal to the original inlet diameter at its outlet. It may be increased in diameter again depending upon the size of and pressure requirements of the water conduits to which it is attached. The drawing shows that the internal diameters of the main inlet and outlet conduits are at least twice the internal diameter of the flow measuring portion.

Preferably the valve assembly is connected to a control unit having both a display screen and provision for inputs (more preferably in the form of a touch screen) and a modem or other communication device capable of sending reports to the user's smartphone or to a monitoring station or both.

In most cases it is preferred that the main controller can have an inbuilt modem and GPS unit to send alarm information to a monitoring station and ensue that the monitoring station recognizes the location of the premises (especially useful in the case of a multi-apartment residence) - though in most cases the installer will have logged the unit's serial number (its unique ID) to the address database(s) of the water company or other monitoring service(s).

Preferably the flow conduit has an inlet portion of conduit which includes one or more substantially tapered sections to reduce the internal diameter from that of the inlet internal diameter to the internal diameter of the flow measurement portion.

Preferably the flow conduit has an outlet portion of conduit which includes one or more substantially tapered sections to increase the internal diameter from that of the flow measurement portion to the of the outlet internal diameter.

Preferably the flow measurement portion of conduit has a substantially constant cross sectional area along its length.

Preferably the flow measurement portion of conduit is substantially straight.

Preferably the flow measurement portion of conduit has substantially parallel sidewalls.

Preferably the flow meter is made of a plurality of sections, the sections being joined together to form a leak resistant body extending from an inlet end of the flow meter to an outlet end of the flow meter and which includes the flow measurement portion of conduit.

Preferably at least one section of the plurality of sections of the flow meter includes a material in contact with the fluid flow which has a very low sound absorption coefficient, for example steel or glass.

Preferably the inlet section is made of a plastics material.

Preferably the flow measurement portion of conduit is at least partially defined by the section of the flow meter having a very low sound absorption coefficient.

Preferably the flow measurement portion of conduit is made of a metal or glass based material.

Preferably the flow meter includes two ultrasonic transducers. Preferably a first of the two ultrasonic transducers is situated downstream of the inlet portion of conduit and is situated at an initial part of the parallel flow measurement portion of conduit.

Preferably a second of the two ultrasonic transducers is situated at a final part of the parallel flow measurement portion of conduit and is situated upstream of the outlet portion of conduit.

Preferably the ultrasonic transducers are in the form of rings, a first transducer ring being situated about an upstream end of the flow measurement portion of conduit and a second transducer ring being situated about a downstream end of the flow measurement portion of conduit.

Preferably the ultrasonic transducers are piezoelectric transducers.

Preferably the flow meter also includes a temperature sensor configured to measure the temperature of fluid flowing through the flow measurement portion of conduit.

A flow control valve incorporating at least one flow meter substantially as described above.

Preferably the flow meter is situated downstream of a flow regulating section of the flow control valve.

Preferably the flow control valve includes a pressure sensor which is in communication with the section of the valve downstream of the flow regulating section.

Preferably the flow control valve includes an electronically controllable actuator.

Preferably the flow control valve includes communication means for sending data relating to, or calculated from flow and/or pressure data obtained by the flow control valve, to a data retrieval and/or data processing device.

Preferably the flow control valve includes communication means for receiving data or instructions from the data retrieval and/or data processing device.

In another aspect the invention provides method of managing water usage using a flow control valve as described above, and including the steps of: (a) Monitoring the flow rate through the valve, (b) During periods of relatively constant flow rate, monitoring the time duration of that relatively constant flow rate, (c) Depending on the particular flow rate and time duration at the flow rate, making a decision to restrict the flow rate or to cut off the flow completely.

Preferably the method also includes the step of continuing to monitor the flow rate though the valve and of removing any imposed flow rate restriction if a zero flow rate is subsequently detected.

Preferably the method of managing water usage using a flow control valve as described includes the steps of;

• Periodically closing the valve,

• Monitoring the rate of pressure decay upstream of the closed valve,

• From the rate of decay determining a probable status of the plumbing system upstream of the valve,

• Providing a warning to users of the plumbing system or closing off supply to the plumbing system.

The invention may also broadly be said to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more of the parts, elements or features, and where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents, such equivalents are incorporated herein as if they were individually set forth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, by reference to the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 shows a cross-section diagram of an ultrasonic flow meter (installed in a fluid flow valve) in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention. FIGURE 2 shows a part of the circuit diagram of the printed circuit board of the ultrasonic flow meter.

FIGURE 3 shows another part of the circuit diagram of the printed circuit board of the ultrasonic flow meter.

FIGURE 4 shows the double sided printed circuit board of the ultrasonic flow meter.

FIGURE 5 is a schematic illustrating the time of flight principle used for calculating flow rate in the ultrasonic flow meter.

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation view of a flow meter according to the present invention, in which a cross section A-A is defined,

FIGURE 7 is a cross sectional view A-A of the flow meter,

FIGURE 8 is a cross sectional view of a flow control valve, and

FIGURE 9 shows one snap-shot of the movement of the crank pin and how its position controls the relative position of the shut off valve member and the metering valve member, in this case the crank pin is in the Westerly position.

FIGURE 10 shows the crank pin in the southwest position.

FIGURE 11 shows the crank pin in the southern position.

FIGURE 12 illustrates the crank pin positions controlled by the gear motor.

FIGURE 13 is a graph showing the relationship of valve position (from FIGURE 12) to measured flow rate.

FIGURES 14 TO 54 show various screen shots and layouts explaining the operation of the system. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description will describe the invention in relation to preferred embodiments of the invention, namely an ultrasonic flow meter. The invention is in no way limited to these preferred embodiments as they are purely to exemplify the invention only and that possible variations and modifications would be readily apparent without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.

Since this invention includes improvements to the Water Management System described in my earlier International patent specifications: PCT/NZ2009/000203 and PCT/NZ2009/000204 specifications, the contents of which are incorporated herein by way of reference.

Example 1:

Figure 1 shows the ultrasonic flow meter 101 of this invention installed inside a water control valve assembly. It shows a pair of ultrasonic transducers 103 placed at opposite ends of a compression chamber 105. The compression chamber 105 has a flow meter inlet 107 (which mates with a shut-off valve member) and a flow meter outlet 109 for inline connection with a fluid conduit, pipe or hose. Output signals from the ultrasonic transducers are connected to a printed circuit board 123 located within the valve assembly.

The disclosed ultrasonic flow meter 101 is in this case in close proximity to the two valve members 1 13, 1 15 which will open and close in use under the control of a separate control unit which can be programmed by the user, and which is designed to communicate information about the operation of the valve unit.

The valve unit 100 is shown having a shut-off valve member 1 13, a metering valve member 1 15, an electric gear motor/encoder 121, a printed circuit board (PCB) 123, a pressure transducer 125 and a rotatable crank pin 127. The microcontrollers in the PCB 123 of the valve 100 are designed to control the motor 121 so that when the crank pin 127 is rotated by the motor 121, the metering valve 1 15 and the shut-off valve 1 13 opens and closes allowing the fluid flow passing between the valve inlet 1 17 and the valve outlet 1 19 to be controlled as desired. The microcontrollers of the PCB 123 also take an input from the pressure transducer 125 in order to determine the pressure of the fluid flow between the valve inlet 1 17 and the valve outlet 1 19. The ultrasonic transducers 103 send measurement data to the microcontrollers of the PCB 123 so that the microcontrollers can determine the flow rate of the fluid flowing between valve inlet 1 17 and valve outlet 1 19.

The ultrasonic flow meter 101 of this invention is designed to be able to measure the fluid flow rate through the valve 100 even when there are entrained air and gas bubbles in the fluid flow. Air and gas bubbles tend to form in the fluid flowing through the valve 100 since the valve opens and closes frequently creating pressure rises and drops in the fluid flow (cavitation effect). The inventor has found that prior art ultrasonic flow meters are unable to measure the flow rate through this valve 100 due to the formation of air and gas bubbles as explained in the background section.

Prior art ultrasonic flow meters are required to be installed some distance away from valves, bends, curves and joints of a piping system in order to avoid distortion of flow rate readings due to cavitation (formation of air and gas bubbles). In the case of the valve 100 invented by the inventor, the ultrasonic flow meter is placed prior to the outlet 1 19 of the valve in order for the microcontrollers of the PCB 123 to accurately determine the flow rate through the valve. If the flow meter is placed some distance away from the valve (as in the prior art) the reading would not be as accurate and also the pipeline would need to be cut in two places for the valve and the flow meter to be installed separately. This would make the installation process more difficult and cumbersome. Furthermore it may not be possible to install the ultrasonic flow meter some distance away from the valve 100 due to space restrictions and bends of some piping systems. Therefore the inventor has discarded the use of all prior art ultrasonic flow meters since they are incompatible with the valve 100 and has investigated methods of installing an ultrasonic flow meter within the structure of the valve 100 without causing the flow rate reading to be distorted due to cavitation.

The inventor has found that entrained air and gas bubbles in the fluid flow through the valve 100 would collapse and return to liquid state (i.e.: air and gas bubbles are absorbed back into the fluid) if the internal diameter is reduced for a section. The inventor has overcome the problems of the prior art flow meters by designing what he calls 'a compression zone' (i.e.: compression chamber 105) between the inlet 107 and the outlet 109 of the ultrasonic flow meter. The "compression chamber" 105 is designed to ensure that any entrained bubbles in the fluid flow are reabsorbed into the fluid. It achieves this by having a smaller cross-sectional area (or smaller diameter in the case of a cylindrical chamber as shown in Figure 1) than the cross-sectional area of the inlet 107 and the outlet 109.

When fluid enters the ultrasonic flow meter through inlet 107 it is effectively compressed because the diameter/cross-sectional area of the flow path is stepped down, suppressing any bubbles that might have been present in the fluid. At the outlet 109 of the meter, the diameter/cross-sectional area is reversed to the original size so that the fluid flow goes from a small diameter within the meter to a slightly larger diameter at the valve outlet 1 19. This allows the fluid to re-expand to its original level and any bubbles formed during re- expansion would not affect the reading of the flow meter since the expansion occurs after the fluid has passed the transducers 103. Hence measurements made by the ultrasonic transducers 103 placed at either end of the chamber 105, are not distorted and it is possible to make an accurate flow rate reading even when the ultrasonic flow meter is located within the structure of the valve 100.

As shown in Figure 1, the inlet pipe 107 of the ultrasonic flow meter leads into a series of tapered rings within the pipe which gradually reduce the diameter of the inlet pipe so that it matches the smaller diameter of the compression chamber 105. The outlet pipe 109 has a similar series of tapered rings to reduce the diameter of the outlet pipe so that it matches the smaller diameter of the compression chamber 105 at the outlet side. In alternative embodiments, the reduction in diameter of the piping can also be accomplished by having frusto-conical shaped inlet and outlet pipes extending from either side of the chamber 105.

The valve unit 100 with the ultrasonic flow meter 101 is designed to be used in the water management system invented by this inventor, as described above. The water management system of the inventor uses multiple valves 100 placed in the piping system of a household or other building where each valve controls an allocated section of the piping system. Each allocated section has one or more points of use such as sinks, dishwashers or hot water heaters. The PCB 123 of each valve assembly 100 has microcontrollers which are able to terminate or change the flow of water to a particular section or point of use in the event that the flow rate through the valve exceeds a maximum allowed value, or the total flow exceeds a maximum allowed quota (measured using flow meter 101, or a pressure change is detected in the line (measured using pressure transducer 125. Therefore the water management system of the inventor allows for a method of controlling the fluid flow to each point of use of a household or other building through the use of the valve(s) 100.

The motor/encoder 121 is a gear motor with a ratio of 30: 1 so that it can accurately control movement of the crank pin and open and close the valve members against the force applied by mains water pressure. This gear ratio also provides the motor with resistance to unintentional movement of the crank under the influence of water pressure. Note that in Figures 1 an 8 the crank pin is shown in different positions so that the shut off valve is closed in Figure 1 but in the open position in Figure 8. The shut off valve member seats against the bottom of the ultrasonic flow meter so that it is fully closed when in the uppermost position (Figure 1) and moves downwardly against water pressure to the fully open position shown in Figure 8.

Figures 2 and 3 show circuit diagrams of the PCB 123 of the valve 100. The microcontrollers of the PCB are used to calculate the flow rate of the fluid flowing through the ultrasonic flow meter 101 as mentioned before. The PCB 123 also has sufficient processing capability and memory to monitor and log the temperature and pressure of the fluid flow. The PCB 123 also includes a GPS unit (not shown), which provides an input to the microcontrollers to determine the latitude and longitude of the valve 100. The PCB 123 further includes a barometric sensor (not shown), in the form of a chip, which monitors the atmospheric pressure, in which together with information from a base station is used to calculate the height of the device within a building.

The PCB 123 circuit diagram of Figure 2 shows the input signals 1 1 1 of the ultrasonic transducers 103 fed into the PCB 123 through connector 201. The input signals 1 1 1 are then supplied to three operational amplifiers 203 forming an integrator, narrow band-pass filter and a Schmidt trigger. The output from the operational amplifiers 203 is then supplied to a time-to-digital converter integrated circuit 205 to calculate the time-of-flight of each ultrasonic pressure wave transmitted between the ultrasonic transducers 103. The output of the integrated circuit 205 is supplied to a microprocessor 313 as indicated by the connecting pins 213 and 327 of Figures 2 to 3. A command signal 209 from the microprocessor 313 is supplied to a multiplexor 21 1 to allow for measurement of ultrasonic pressure waves travelling between the ultrasonic transducers 103 in both directions.

Fluid temperature information is also fed into the integrated circuit 205 through input terminal 201 and the Schmitt trigger buffer logic gate 207.

Figure 3 shows a filter 301 and power supply 303 providing DC to a shunt voltage regulator 305. In the prototype, the power supply 303 receives an input voltage of 24VDC and outputs 5VDC and 3VDC.

Figure 3 further shows a constant current supply 307 supplied to the pressure and temperature sensors which are attached to the connector 309. Outputs from the sensors are passed from the instrumentation amplifier 31 1 to the processor 313, together with motor/encoder signals from connectors 315-317. Also shown is an external connector 319 used for programming and testing the microprocessor 313.

Outputs from the processor 313 supplies required data to a transmitter/receiver connector 323 communicating with a central data recording and control station (base station). Control inputs from this central station can provide for variation in the processing of data in processor 313. The transmitter/receiver is preferably a short range data transfer protocol such as ZigBee or Bluetooth.

The PCB 123 includes a serial FLASH memory integrated circuit 325 and a serial E2PROM memory integrated circuit 321.

Figure 3 also shows an RS485 bidirectional transceiver 329 facilitating external communications and receiving power through connecter 331.

Figure 4 shows a printed copy of the double sided PCB layout of the PCB 123. The PCB layout is made double sided for convenience and it can alternatively be made from a single sided PCB or any other PCB layout configuration. However the double sided layout allows the PCB to be fitted on the valve 100 in a more compact and convenient manner.

Flow rate Calculation Example - refer Figure 5. The following example shows how the flow rate of fluid is calculated by the microcontroller 205 of PCB 123 using the readings from the ultrasonic transducers 103. In this example the fluid flowing through the flow meter is water. Piezo 1 and Piezo 2 refers to the ultrasonic transducers 103.

Time to travel downstream from Piezo 1 to Piezo 2:

where t_p is the electronic propagation delay, c_w is the speed of sound in water, L is the sensor separation and v is the flow velocity.

Time to travel upstream from Piezo 2 to Piezo 1 :

L

+ i„ = (s)

^{1 ¥} {€,.. - S?)

Rearrange 1 & 2 to solve for v:

2¾ t_s 4- 2t% + -§- ί,) t₂ - ¾ I At

v ¾^:

and as: ^i^s then 2i₁i_s 2t_t .

The Time to Digital Convertor (TDC) integrated circuit 205 solves the above equation using the sensor separation distance (L), differential time measurement (At), and the time measurements for a sonic burst to travel upstream (ti and downstream (t₂ as shown in Figure 5. The resultant water flow velocity (v) is converted to a water flow rate (F) using the diameter (D) of the water delivery conduit. A temperature sensor 51 (Example 3) is provided to allow for compensation of the velocity as it changes with temperature.

Example 2:

With reference to Figures 6 and 7, a flow meter 1 1 for measuring the flow rate of fluids will now be described. The flow meter 1 1 has a flow conduit 13 through which a fluid can pass, and this conduit includes a flow measurement portion of conduit 15. The flow meter 1 1 also includes a flow measuring system 17. The flow measuring system 17 is configure to measure the flow rate through the flow measurement portion of conduit 15. While it is often desirable to incorporate a flow meter within a flow control valve, to provide flow rate information that can be used by the controller of the flow control valve, it is generally difficult to obtain accurate flow data from such a configuration. Typically flow meters are situated a distance of at least ten pipe diameters away from the valve to allow turbulence within the fluid flow to stabilise.

This problem is particularly apparent when employing ultrasonic flow measuring technology. Ultrasonic flow meters only work efficiently when measuring substantially laminar flows well away from the interference create by valves.

Example 3:

Figure 8 shows an example of a use for the flow meter 1 1. The flow meter 1 1 has been designed primarily for use in a flow control valve 19. The flow meter 1 1 is situated close to and just downstream of a flow regulating section 21 of the flow control valve 19 and hence it is located between the inlet 60 of the flow control valve and its outlet 61.

In summary, Figure 8 shows a flow control valve 19 having an inbuilt ultrasonic flow meter between a combined shut off and metering valve 21 and an outlet 61. The flow measuring portion 1 1 has a straight conduit of constant internal diameter with two piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers 45 at or close to either end of this straight conduit. To minimise turbulence from the combined metering and shut off valve 21 the flow meter 1 1 has a step down portion 23 from its inlet so that the internal diameter of the flow meter is reduced in two stages via tapering and cylindrical portions until the diameter is that of the measuring portion. At its outlet the same arrangement is reversed so that the internal diameter is increased at 27 in stages until it is again equal to the original inlet diameter at its outlet. It may be increased in diameter again depending upon the size of and pressure requirements of the water conduits to which it is attached. The drawing shows that the internal diameters of the main inlet 60 and outlet 61 conduits are at least twice the internal diameter of the flow measuring portion.

A characteristic of the novel flow meter 1 1 is that the flow conduit 13 also includes an inlet portion of conduit 23 which is configured to produce a convergent flow in any fluid entering the flow meter 1 1 and an equal and opposite divergent flow as it leaves the flow meter. It can be seen in Figure 7 that the inlet portion of conduit 23 includes a substantially tapered section of conduit 25 which narrows or converges in the direction of fluid flow. Fluid flows through the inlet portion of conduit 23 prior to reaching the flow measurement portion of conduit 15.

The inventor has found that even a relatively short section of converging flow has a significant effect on the level of turbulence in the fluid flow as it leaves the flow regulating section 21 of the valve 19. Test show that even though the flow meter 1 1 is situated within the housing of the control valve 19, and is situated only a couple of pipe diameters away from the flow regulating section 21, it works accurately and consistently.

In this example, the flow conduit 13 has an equal and opposite outlet portion of conduit 27 which has a substantially tapered section of conduit, widening or diverging in the direction of fluid flow. In each case there are three different internal diameters. The drawings are not to scale but the dimensions measured from Figure 7 when printed as an A4 sheet give an idea of the step down (and step up) ratios as the fluid flows from inlet end 35 towards outlet end 37. The internal diameter of the entrance labelled as 35A is 13mm and the first tapered section reduces the diameter to 1 1mm at cylindrical section 35C, then the next tapered section 35D reduces the diameter to 8mm for the fluid measurement portion 15.

When the fluid measurement portion 15 reaches the outlet end the internal diameter is stepped up by identical amounts so that first tapered portion 37D allows the fluid to encounter section 37C having a diameter of 1 1mm then the next tapered portion 37B steps up the diameter to the cylindrical portion 37A having an internal diameter of 13mm.

Thus the step down and step up ratios can be expressed as 13: 1 1 :8 for the step down, and an equal set of ratios for the step up of 8: l l : 13.

The flow measurement portion of conduit 15 has a substantially constant cross sectional area along its length, this section of conduit being substantially straight and having substantially parallel sidewalls 29.

In Figure 7 it can be seen that the flow meter 1 1 is physically made of a plurality of sections, the sections being joined together with joints sealed using O-rings 31. In this way the flow meter 1 1 comprises a leak resistant body 33 which defines the flow conduit 13 and which extends from an inlet end 35 to an outlet end 37. The flow measurement portion of conduit 15 extends from within an inlet section 39 of the flow conduit 13 and to a location within an outlet section 41.

An intermediate section 43 of the flow meter 1 1 is made from a stainless steel tube. Fluid flowing through a central part of the flow measurement portion of the conduit 15 is surrounded by and in contact with the hard inner surface of the stainless steel tube which forms the intermediate section 43. Steel is used in this section rather than plastic due to the very low sound absorption coefficient of the steel compared to plastics materials. This helps with the function of the ultrasonic flow measuring system 17.

Both the inlet section 39 and the outlet section 41 are made of a plastics material, and in this example an acetal plastics material has been used. The tapered inlet portion of conduit 23 is situated at the inlet end 35 of the inlet section 39. And the remaining part of the inlet section 39 contains a straight or parallel sided section of conduit which forms a part of the flow measurement section of conduit 15. Similarly, the tapered outlet portion of conduit 27 is situated at the outlet end 37 of the outlet section 41, and the remaining part of the outlet section 41 contains a straight or parallel sided section of conduit which forms a part of the flow measurement section of conduit 15.

The ultrasonic flow measuring system 17 includes two ultrasonic transducers 45, both being piezoelectric transducers. The ultrasonic transducers are in the form of rings, a first transducer ring 47 being situated about an upstream end of the flow measurement portion of conduit 15 and a second transducer ring 49 being situated about a downstream end of the flow measurement portion of conduit 15. The first transducer ring 47 is mounted externally on the acetal inlet section 39, and the second transducer ring 49 is mounted externally on the acetal outlet section 41.

The first transducer ring 47 is situated downstream of the convergent inlet portion of conduit 23 and is situated over the initial part of the parallel flow measurement portion of conduit 15. The second transducer ring 49 is situated over the final part of the parallel flow measurement portion of conduit 15 and is situated upstream of the divergent outlet portion of conduit 27. The ultrasonic waves travel between the first and second transducer rings 47 & 49, and through the fluid situated within the intermediate section 43. And since any turbulence in the fluid is largely eliminated by the convergent entrance section, relatively accurate flow measurements are achieved.

The flow meter 1 1 also includes a temperature sensor 51 attached to the outside of the intermediate section 43. The temperature sensor 51 is configured to measure the temperature of fluid flowing through the flow measurement portion of conduit 15 and allows temperature compensation calculations to be made to improve the accuracy of the flow meter 1 1.

The flow control valve 19 has a pressure sensor 53 which communicates with the section of the valve that is downstream of the flow regulating section 21. This provides pressure information that can be used for such functions as leak detection, for example by closing the valve 19 and monitoring the pressure decay rate.

The flow control valve 19 also includes an electronically controllable actuator which allows the valve 19 to be operated automatically in response to commands from a control system. For this reason, the flow control valve 19 can also include communication means for sending or receiving data relating to flow, temperature and/or pressure, to a data retrieval and/or data processing device.

The main components of the flow regulating section 21 of the control valve 19 are shown in Figure 8. The flow regulating section 21 is similar to that of the control valve described in Example 1 above and also in PCT/NZ2009/000203 the contents of which have been incorporated herein by way of reference. Figure 8 shows that the flow control valve 19 has a water inlet 60 and water outlet 61 of equal internal diameter both of which are approximately twice the internal diameter of the flow measurement portion 15 of the flow meter. In Figure 8 the inlet 60 and outlet 61 are shown as having internal diameters of 20mm (when printed on A4 paper and measured) compared with the measured 8mm internal diameter of the flow measurement portion 15.

Looking now at the cross sectional views of figures 1 and 8 it will be apparent that the valve motor 1 1 1 (preferably an electric gear motor) causes its shaft to rotate on command, and will cause the shaft to move through a number of degrees (see also Figure 12). The shaft is connected to a crank pin 131 and the crank pin is held within a hollow keeper which in turn is connected both to the shut-off valve 133 and also to the metering valve 132. The aperture passing through the manifold module 1 13 connects at right angles with an aperture which extends upwardly via a non-return valve 134 into a tapered throat which forms the valve seat 135 for the movable portion of the metering valve.

The metering valve 132 is shaped in the form of a conical body capable of moving into or out of engagement with the throat, and when fully lowered its tapered sides will mate against the tapered sides of the upper portion of the throat to cause the metering valve to close off the water flow through the throat. In practice it does not fully close off the water flow because of the presence of a small bypass passageway which allows a very small water flow (typically about 0.8 litres/min at 5 Bar water pressure) for measurement purposes (when the metering valve is "closed" and the shut off valve is in an open state (part or fully open) so that water from the mains can bypass the "closed" metering valve and pass through the at least partly open shut-off valve. In the drawings this is shown as a small groove or slot on the conical surface of the metering valve member but it could also be a groove on the valve seat, or a separate tiny passageway through the body of the valve from one side of the meting valve to the other. In my previous patent I refer to this as a "tell-tale groove". To achieve this small water flow I have used a rectangular groove of the metering valve member of (a) 0.4mm x 0.4mm and also (b) 0.5mm x 0.5mm and both allow just enough water to bypass the metering valve member to allow for adequate measurements.

Surrounding the crank pin is the keeper which moves the metering valve and shut-off valves up and down in the configuration shown in Figures 1 and 8.

Above the keeper there is the shut-off valve which closes off the bottom of the ultrasonic flow meter.

Rotation of the electric gear motor in response to its controller causes the crank pin 131 to move through a number of different positions. In these positions I have used the compass positions (see also Figure 12) to show the position of the crank pin 131 relative to the aperture in the keeper body 152. In this abridged sequence of drawings, the crank pin appears to rotate anticlockwise when viewed from the westerly position of Figure 9, to the southwesterly position of Figure 10 and down to the southern position of Figure 1 1.

In the drawings we have shown the crank pin 131 moving through 160° (see also Figure 12 for the range of movement) moving through the westerly half of the drawings. As a result of the symmetrical nature of the keeper 152, it is possible for the gear motor to rotate through the easterly half of the drawings, and still achieve the same opening and closing arrangements. In designing this valve with a symmetrical keeper 152, 1 envisage, by way of example, that the controller and gear motor could be programmed so that the gear motor will operate in say the westerly quadrant for the first one million cycles, and then the preset to operate on the easterly quadrant for the next one million cycles. The controller can include a counter to count the number of opening and closing of the valve, to allow for any wear within the crank pin and the interior of the keeper 152. Alternatively instead of counting a fixed number of cycles for one quadrant and then switching to the other quadrant, the valve may include a sensor to detect the quadrant in use, and alternately switch to the opposite quadrant in order to extend the operating life of the valve.

In another variation it may be desirable to switch from the westerly quadrant to the easterly quadrant at set time periods, to minimize wear in either half of the keeper 152 or portion of the crank pin exposed to the interior of the keeper.

In Figure 9 as the crank pin 131 moves to the westerly position, the shut off valve 133 is now almost fully open, but the metering valve 132 is now partially closed to control the flow rate through the valve.

In Figure 10 the shut-off valve 133 is now fully open as the crank pin moves to the southwest position, but the metering valve 132 is now almost fully closed.

In Figure 1 1 the crank pin 131 moves to the southernmost position, the metering valve 132 is fully closed (except for the effect of the telltale groove 162) and the shut-off valve 133 is now moving towards the valve seat. At this point it is still fully open, further rotation will cause it to move back towards the valve seat.

Figure 12 and Table A shows the relative position of the crank pin to the flow rate through the valve. Table A:

Preferably the position of the crank pin is controlled by the gear-motor, and the gear-motor is in turn controlled by a controller which receives signals from various sensors to control the precise position of the gear motor and hence the precise position of the crank pin. The controller receives signals from the shaft encoder as well as signals from the flow meter and the pressure transducer so that information on the pressure in the output pipe the flow rate through the outlet pipe and the position of the shut-off valve and metering valve can be calculated and used to control and measure the flow of a liquid such as water through the valve body.

Figure 13 is a graph of measured flow rate against the valve positions shown in Table A. The "tell-tale" amount is only a few drops per minute and thus cannot be graphed in Figure 13. Example 4:

This is an overview of the operation of the system installed in different dwellings and how the display screens or smart phone app would convey information to the customer or plumber and how they could control the system in situ or remotely.

The valve assembly is connected to a separate controller which is preferably connectable to the internet as shown in Figure 29 of my earlier PCT/NZ2009/000204 (published as WO2010039045 Al) or as shown in the present figure 34 - where one controller may control a number of separate valve assemblies in one dwelling or in a multi-dwelling such as an apartment block.

Each control unit having both a display screen and provision for inputs (typically in the form of a touch screen) and a modem or other communication device capable of sending reports to the user's smartphone or to a monitoring station or both. This control unit can receive information from and send instructions to the microcontroller within the valve assembly.

In most cases the main controller can have an inbuilt modem and optionally a GPS unit to send information to a monitoring station and ensue that the monitoring station recognizes the location of the premises (especially useful in the case of a multi-apartment residence) - though in most cases the installer will have logged the unit's serial number (its unique ID) to the address database(s) of the water company or other monitoring service(s) as described below.

Glossary

Flow limitation The specified maximum length of time for a continuous flow of water at a constant pressure.

PCB Printed Circuit Board

Leak test An automatic test to detect a leak. Line test An automatic water pressure test to check whether the tap has been left open. It occurs after a flow limit has been reached, and after resetting the system following a leak.

Point of use The place where the water leaves the tap and is used or consumed.

Self test An optional test to check for minor leaks, once in every twenty four hour period.

Smart building A building that contains environmental sensors connected to a monitoring system, typically to control solar heating and/or air flow.

Soft start A limit on the initial amount of water flowing from an outlet.

High flow The rapid change in water pressure that is detected when a consumer opens or closes a tap (talks to the hand).

Reminder A short temporary drop in water pressure.

Tap A tap, shower head, faucet, or any other home water outlet.

Zone A specific section of the property associated with one digitalwater™ unit.

Zone quota The total daily quota of water that can be used by this zone.

This overview describes the configuration and functionality of the system and will give specific examples of its use, including the:

• Ultrasonic flow meter,

• Wireless sensor to detect water temperature,

• Integrated Smartphone application and control software,

• Control unit (hardware containing the control software). THE SYSTEM Overview

The system combines a Smartvalve with computer software and wireless communications to create a simple and efficient system which improves:

• water management,

• water conservation,

• energy conservation,

• water billing.

The system requires little or no maintenance. It can be installed in:

• A single property containing one home,

• Apartment blocks, condominiums, and similar buildings containing multiple homes,

• Commercial buildings such as hotels, schools, and hospitals. Benefits

The system provides a comprehensive range of round the clock benefits at multiple levels: Benefits to water companies: A water company can:

• Collect and store the water usage information for each home.

• View up to date information about any customer's water consumption at anytime.

• Detect unusual patterns in water use by a customer and notify/query the customer.

• Reduce the flow rate or shut off the water supply remotely, if necessary, eliminating the need to visit the home or manipulate stopcocks or isolation valves. • Create accurate bills automatically with no need to read an external water meter.

• Send accurate bills, rather than estimated bills, to customers automatically.

• Reduce the amount of water that needs to be collected, stored, treated, and supplied.

• Reduce the amount of waste water that needs to be collected, stored, treated, and discharged.

• Collect accurate statistics about water consumption and use these to forecast future demand.

Benefits to insurance companies:

An insurance company can:

• Reduce the number of claims and payouts for water damage from leaks and burst pipes, as leaks are detected automatically and the water supply is shut Doff immediately.

Benefits to the global environment:

The world's natural freshwater resource is conserved because:

• Fresh water is used very efficiently with little or no wastage, reducing consumption overall.

• Rivers and artesian supplies are not used more quickly than their replenishment rate.

• Less waste water is produced and discharged into the receiving environment.

• The negative impact of waste water on the ecology of the receiving environment is reduced.

Benefits to the consumer:

Each consumer can:

• Show real time information about their water use. • Quickly detect problems, e.g. a tap that has been left running.

• Shut off the water supply to a specific zone to prevent unauthorised usage; e.g. an outside tap.

• Get a better understanding of the amount of water they use each day, week, and month.

• Set a quota to control the total amount of water that is used each day, week, or month.

• Understand where and how water is being wasted, and then reduce or stop this wastage.

• Check the hot water temperature.

• Reduce energy consumption through more efficient use of the hot water.

• Automatically detect and shut off leaks.

• Save money through reduced water bills and reduced power bills. If more than one Smartvalve is installed in a home, there are extra benefits:

• Each Smartvalve can control and monitor the water used within one specific zone; e.g. the laundry.

• The water supply to a specific zone can be shut-off to prevent unauthorised usage; e.g. an outside tap.

Benefits to nations:

As the global population increases, the growing demand for water can managed more effectively. This means that:

• A country with limited freshwater resources can maximise the efficient use of this limited supply. • There is less need for conflict over water resources in areas that have to share a limited supply.

Components

The system contains the following components:

At least one Smartvalve as shown in Figure 14. This is plumbed into the mains water supply after it enters the consumer's home.

A Smartvalve can be used to control the water for:

• The entire home,

• One designated zone (such as a bathroom). Depending on requirements, the water company can install:

• Only one Smartvalve.

• Multiple Smartvalves, to control different zones.

If more than one Smartvalve is installed, each Smartvalve is issued with a unique identifier during the initial setup.

TM

The digitalwater system Smartphone application.

This digitalwater™ app has a friendly interface (Figure 15) which uses icons and colours to provide helpful up to date information to the consumer.

If desired, the consumer can use the digitalwater™ app to view details about their water use, and to manage their water use by customising their settings.

Use of the digitalwater™ app is optional.

The digitalwater™ app is part of the control software. Another part of the digitalwater™ app, the System Setup menu, can be accessed only by authorised personnel such as the installer or plumber.

The control unit contains the control software which constantly communicates with— and controls— each Smartvalve. The control software has default settings which are very useful for consumers who do not want to customise their settings.

The control software also communicates - through a modem - with the remote database belonging to the water company, to provide the water company with real time monitoring and control of water use. The water utility company can also use the database for automatic billing purposes.

In multiple home units, the control software can be networked together to provide building wide management but each home has individual control of their water usage through the digitalwater™ app.

If more than one Smartvalve is installed in a single home to manage the water used in different zones, each Smartvalve is physically connected to the control unit in a daisy□ chain sequence through the connections cables, as shown in Figure 16.

If only one Smartvalve is installed, this is connected directly to the control unit through the connections cable.

Power is supplied to each Smartvalve through the connections cable from the control unit, which is plugged into the home's electrical supply.

The Smartvalve

The Smartvalve is an extremely well designed, robust unit with minimal moving parts and no maintenance requirements.

The main body, which contains all the valves and the ultrasonic flow meter, is manufactured from food grade plastic.

This stylized cross section of Figure 17 shows the main features inside a Smartvalve. Each Smartvalve can be shipped in an individual box with all screws, the wall plate, and an installation sheet, ready for immediate installation.

Communications

An overview of the digitalwater™ system communication pathways is shown in Figure 18.

The digitalwater™ system is designed to provide water companies with real□ time information about each consumer's water consumption.

This information is supplied through the control unit, over a wireless connection to the water company, and can be stored in the water company's database for as long as desired.

The water company can also use the wireless connection to access the control unit in each home. This provides the water company with the ability to immediately reduce the water flow rate or shut off the water supply, if necessary, and the ability to reverse these actions equally quickly. Examples of icons are shown in Figure 19 and can be displayed on a smart phone app or on the control screen or both. These icons are shown for the purpose of explanation only as they assist in illustrating how the consumer or plumber would view and/or control the operation of the system.

Digitalwater™ App Icons

Digitalwater™ app icons are show in Figure 19.

INSTALLATION Overview

The digitalwater™ system can be installed in a building:

• During the initial constructions phase

• During a property refurbishment

• As a retro-fit to the existing plumbing (only on Smartvalve can be installed). Multiple Smartvalves can be installed in a home, depending on the level of control that the consumer wants over the water supply to different zones. For example, three zones (e.g. kitchen, shower, and laundry) will require three Smartvalves.

The system is installed in two stages. These can be done at different times. For example, Stage 1 might be done in the construction phase as soon as the wiring is complete, and Stage 2 might be done just before the consumer moves into the home.

Stage 1: Mounting & Electrics

• Fix the control unit to an interior wall, close to the location where the Smartvalve will be installed.

• Fix the Smartvalve to an interior wall of the home, close to the mains supply pipe.

• If more than one Smartvalve is being installed in a home, connect the Smartvalves to the control unit using the connection cables in a daisy-chain sequence.

• Insert the SIM card into the control unit then connect the control unit to a power supply.

• Access the digitalwater™ application digitalwater™ app on a Smartphone. [ID of the property location and a recording of each Smartvalve can be stored on the water company's remote database. A unique serial number is printed on the side of each Smartvalve - so the installer could enter this and the location data via the SIM card]

• Use the System Setup menu to check all the connections between each Smartvalve and the control unit are working.

• Use the System Setup menu to check that the adjustable valve in each Smartvalve will fully open and fully close, then leave each Smartvalve in the fully closed position.

Stage 2: Plumbing

• Plumb each Smartvalve inlet pipe into the mains supply. • Plumb each Smartvalve outlet pipe to the home zone that is shown on the temporary label.

• Access the digitalwater™ app on a Smartphone.

• Use the System Setup menu to fully open each Smartvalve and allow mains water to flow through the pipes.

• Check for leaks, rectify, and bleed the water system.

• Identify the zone that each Smartvalve will control and name each Smartvalve.

• Do a physical test to check that each Smartvalve is actually controlling the zone shown on the digitalwater™ app (and rename if necessary).

• Customise the settings for each zone (if necessary) so that system is ready for use by the consumer.

Stage 1 (Mounting & Electrics) can be done by the electrical installer or house finisher. Stage 2 (Plumbing) must be done by a professional plumber. Typical installation and system setup

This section shows an example of a typical installation using the System Setup menu on a Smartphone.

The System Setup menu can be accessed only by authorised personnel, such as the electrical installer and the plumber.

The System Setup menu is used to configure the entire system for the home during the installation, and to help diagnose and rectify any problems when the system is in use.

Note: These screenshots in the following drawings Figures 20 to 27 provide an overview, for information only, to demonstrate how easy it is to install and setup a digitalwater™ system. Stage 1: Mounting and Electrics

The installer mounts the Smartvalve(s) on the interior wall and connecting them to the control unit, using the connection cables.

The installer insert a SIM card into the control unit then connects the control unit to a power supply.

The yellow LED on each Smartvalve lights up to confirm that it has power.

The installer uses a Smartphone to access the digitalwaterTM app, Figure 20, then enters a special code to display the System Setup>Electrical screen.

The installer uses the Electrical screen to enter the unique serial number of each Smartvalve. (This is Figure 21 printed on the side of each Smartvalve).

The installer uses the Electrical screen to show the unique serial number of each Smartvalve at this home.

The installer uses Electrical > Cycle to select each Smartvalve (Figure 22) one-by-one, and check that the adjustable valve will fully open and fully close.

The installer leaves each Smartvalve in the fully closed position and then powers off the system.

This completes Stage 1 of the installation. Stage 2: Plumbing

When Stage 1 has been complete, the plumber connects the plumbing then turns on the power.

The plumber uses a Smartphone to access the digitalwaterTM app Figure 23 then enters a special code to display the System Setup>Plumbing menu shown in Figure 24.

The plumber uses Plumbing>Purge All to fully open the adjustable valve in each Smartvalve. This fills the home water pipes, cylinders, and tanks with water. The plumber bleeds the air from the system then checks for, and rectifies any leaks. The plumber selects Close All.

The plumber selects each Smartvalve, one-by-one, then selects Commission and names it to identify the zone that it will control, show in Figure 25.

The plumber displays the main screen Figure 26 which shows the different water management zones in this home.

The plumber then performs a physical test to check that each Smartvalve controls the zone that is shown on the digitalwaterTM appl. (If not, the plumber can rename the Smartvalve to match the zone that is controls).

If necessary, the plumber uses the Zone Setup menu Figure 27 to adjust the settings (e.g. water flow rate and allowed time) for each zone. Otherwise, the default settings are used.

This is especially useful for consumers who do not want to use the digitalwater™ app themselves or who are not comfortable with technology.

The system is now ready for use.

Examples of Installation Configuration

The following diagrams show some common installation configurations.

This is not a definitive list and, for multiple homes, a variable number of separate homes can be grouped into a single master system.

All installation configurations include a control unit containing the control software.

The control software communicates - through a modem - with the remote database belonging to the water company. The remote database enabled the water company to monitor alerts and aggregate usage statistics.

The control software can be accessed by the water company for realDtime monitoring, water control, and to bill each consumer automatically over the internet. Example 1 : One home - one Smartvalve - one control unit - See Figure 28

This configuration is used typically as a retro□ fit to an existing plumbing system. It is the simplest configuration and provides the most basic measurement and control of water usage.

For simplicity the control unit and its display screen has been omitted from this drawing.

Example 2: One home - two Smartvalves - one control unit - see Figure 29

Two Smartvalves provide separate measurement and control of total hot water usage and total cold water usage.

Example 3 : One home and one water heater - four Smartvalves - one control unit - see Figure 30

Total hot water usage is measured and controlled through one Smartvalve. Cold water usage in the bathrooms, toilets, and the rest of the house is measured and controlled through the other three Smartvalves.

Example 4: One home and two water heaters - four Smartvalves - one control unit - see Figure 31

Hot water usage is measured and controlled through two Smartvalves. Cold water usage in two bathrooms and two toilets, and in the rest of the house, is measured and controlled through the other two Smartvalves.

Example 5: Multiple homes with individual system s and control unites - see Figure 32

This installation configuration shows how the system could be installed in a multi home unit such as an apartment block.

Each home has its own water mains intake pipe and its own system. Example 6: Multiple individual system s with centralised water management - see Figure 33

This installation configuration shows how the system could be installed in a multiple home unit such as a hotel or an apartment block.

Each home has its own individual system but these are linked to a single control unit which provides centralised building wide management.

The control unit can be used to aggregate statistics, for water billing management and / or for apportioning costs.

Example 7: Multiple individual system s with remote water management - see Figure 34

This installation configuration shows how the system can be installed in multiple individual homes; e.g. an apartment block.

In this example, each home has its own individual system but these are linked to a single control unit.

MAINTENANCE

Shutting off the water supply

If any maintenance or repair work needs to be carried out in a particular zone, the plumber can use the digitalwater™ app to shut down the water supply to that zone only.

This is very useful as it enabled the consumer to continue using water elsewhere in the home, minimising inconvenience and disruption.

Repairing a Leak

The system will rapidly and automatically detect a leak, and then immediately shutDoff the water supply to that zone (see section 4.1 for more information). The zone icon on the digitalwater™ app is shown in red and the small Leak Alert icon and Reset icon are also displayed to show the consumer that a leak has been detected.

The consumer can reset the water supply temporarily through the digitalwater™ app (e.g. to finish a laundry cycle) but the system will detect the leak again and then shut off the water supply to that zone again.

The consumer should call a plumber to locate and repair the leak as soon as possible.

When the plumber has finished repairing the leak and resets the water supply through the digitalwater™ app, the control software opens the adjustable valve so that the water supply to that zone can re-pressurise.

The control software also performs a self test of the zone (this checks whether the repair is satisfactory). If not, it will shut down the water supply to this zone again automatically.

When the self test shows that the repair is effective, the zone icon is shown in green again and the small alert icons disappear.

Replacing a Smartvalve

The Smartvalve is designed to be maintenance free and has an expected lifetime of many years.

The combination of an excellent design and the installation location inside the home, provide several advantages in the unlikely event of needing to replace a Smartvalve:

• It takes only a few minutes to replace a Smartvalve.

• There is no risk of contaminating the water supply with mud or untreated groundwater during the replacement works.

• There is no need to work outside in difficult conditions such as the dark and/or bad weather.

• Only a very small amount of water contained within the Smartvalve is lost during the replacement works. A broad overview of the replacement procedure is shown in Figure 35 and Figure 36 to illustrate how simple and easy it is:

• The plumber uses the isolation valve to shut off the water to the zone then disconnects the connection cable at the base of the Smartvalve.

• The plumber uses an adjustable spanner to disconnect the outlet pipe at the top of the Smartvalve.

• The plumber uses an Allen key to remove the two Allen screws that hold the locking bracket in place, then removes the locking bracket.

• The plumber lifts the Smartvalve upwards and outwards to remove it.

• The plumber reverses this procedure to put the new Smartvalve in place and resume the water supply.

• Finally, the plumber uses the System Setup menu on the app to record the new serial number of this Smartvalve so that the consumer and the water company can recognise the replacement Smartvalve.

• The plumber returns the old Smartvalve to digitalwaterTM for diagnostics and servicing.

AUTOMATIC HOME PROTECTION Leak Test

The system checks for leaks continuously and immediately shuts down the water flow to a zone if a leak is detected.

Benefits

• The water system is checked for leaks constantly.

• A leak is detected automatically and very quickly. • The water flow to the zone with the leak is shut down automatically to avoid a costly waste of water.

• Damage to goods and property is avoided.

• Other zones in the home continue to receive their normal water supply because there is no need to shut down the water supply to the other zones.

• The red Leak Alert icon and the red zone icon on the digitalwater™ app draws the consumer's attention to the leak. (The screen shots were originally prepared and filed in colour for clarity and ease of explanation).

• Consumers have the reassurance of knowing that the water supply to the affected zone will be shut down automatically if the leak occurs while they are away from home; e.g. out at work or on holiday.

Consumer's View - see Figure 37

The leak test itself is invisible to the consumer.

The water supply to that zone is shut off. If the consumer has a tap open in that zone, the water supply will suddenly stop.

The colour of the zone icon on the Main screen changes to red and the small Leak Alert icon and Reset icon appear next to it.

The consumer can touch the red zone icon to see more details on the zone information screen.

The zone information screen Figure 38 shows that the water supply to this zone has been shut off.

If a tap in this zone is open, the consumer must close the tap.

The consumer can touch Reset to resume the water supply to this zone temporarily. However, the leak will be quickly detected again and the water supply will be shut off again. The consumer should arrange for the leak to be repaired as soon as possible.

When the leak has been repaired, the plumber touches Reset to resume the normal water supply to this zone.

How does it work?

The transducer in the Smartvalve monitors the water pressure continuously and reports this to the control software.

The control software automatically initiates a leak test if there is an unexpected drop in water pressure OR if the daily self test (see section 4.3) detects a possible leak.

During the leak test, the control software instructs the adjustable valve in the Smartvalve to fully close and then monitors the water pressure over a specific period of time.

During this time, the water pressure may:

• Continue to drop steadily. This indicates a significant leak. (The size of the leak is estimated from the size of the drop in water pressure. A minor leak will show only a gradual drop in water pressure.)

• Stay the same. The control software decides there is no leak and stops the leak test.

• Drop suddenly. The control software decides that a tap has been opened and stops the leak test.

If a leak is detected, the control software:

• Closes the shut off valve to prevent further water wastage.

• Changes the colour of the zone icon to red to show the consumer that a problem has been detected.

• Displays the small Leak Alert icon and the Reset icon on the Main screen to show the consumer that a leak has been detected. The control software will not allow water to start flowing in this zone until someone touches Reset and opens the tap. This instructs the control software to override leak control for a maximum time of 30 minutes.

The control software performs a self test of the zone to check whether the leak is still in place. If so, it will shut down the water supply to this zone again automatically. This cycle will continue until the leak has been repaired.

If the self test determines that the leak is no longer present, it returns the adjustable valve to the default setting, the control software shows the zone icon in green again and removes the small alert icons.

Line Test

The system line test checks the water pressure in the pipe to determine whether a tap has been left open in that particular zone.

The line test is performed automatically after a flow limit has been reached, to check whether the consumer is still using the water (or whether the water is being lost due to a leak). It is also performed after someone has touched Reset on the zone information screen.

Benefit

• The line test prevents overflows and flood damage as a result of a tap that has been left open by mistake; e.g. the consumer is running a bath but is called away and forgets that the tap is open.

• The property and the consumer's possessions are all protected from flood damage.

• The consumer does need to spend time mopping up after an overflow.

• The consumer avoids the need to make an insurance claim for flood damage or the expense of replacing items that have been damaged by flooding.

• The line test happens automatically and is totally invisible to the consumer. Consumer's View - see Figure 39 The line test itself is invisible to the consumer.

If the line test detects that a tap has been left open in a particular zone, the control software shows that zone icon in red on the main screen with the small Open Alert icon next to it.

How does it work?

The control software can perform a line test at any time as part a flow limitation check or a leak control check. The line test may take up to 30 seconds.

The control software instructs the adjustable valve in the Smartvalve to open to the test angle. This allows just enough water to flow through the Smartvalve in order to activate the ultrasonic flow meter and the transducer.

If the water pressure:

• rises, this indicates that the tap has been closed (or the leak repaired), and the line test is complete.

• stays the same or drops, this indicates that the tap has been left open (or that the leak is still present). In this case, the system closes the shutDoff valve to prevent further water wastage, and displays a message next to the Open Alert icon on the Zone Information screen, asking the consumer to close the tap.

Note: The test angle of the adjustable valve depends on various factors and is set by the control software, using trial and error, after installation.

Self Test

The system can perform a self test to check for minor leaks in a zone, once in every twenty four hour period. If a leak is detected, the Leak Alert icon is displayed on the main screen, alerting the consumer to the leak and identifying the zone (see section 4.1).

The self test runs ONLY if it has been enabled AND if a start time has been specified. The self test is enabled by default. The default start time is 0400. Benefits

• The water system is checked automatically for minor leaks every single day.

• The consumer can choose the most convenient time to run the self test.

• The consumer can specify which zones should run the self test.

• A minor leak will be detected within twenty-four hours.

• The self test will reveal a leak that has been repaired incorrectly.

• The self test happens automatically and is invisible to the consumer Consumer's View - see Figure 40

The self test itself is invisible to the consumer.

If the consumer wants to change the settings for the self test in a particular zone, they can use the Zone Setup menu then select Self Test.

The consumer can drag the button to enable (green bar) or disable (red bar) the self test in this zone.

If the self test is enabled, the start time is also shown. The consumer can change the start time by touching the + and - buttons.

How Does it Work?

The control software incorporates a clock and activates the self test at the specified time.

The self test instructs the leak test to run with increased sensitivity in order to detect small leaks (less than 200 ml of water) within a zone while the adjustable valve is closed. INFORMATION FOR THE CONSUMER

Main Screen

The main screen is displayed on the digitalwater™ system application digitalwater™ app by default. It shows each zone in the consumer's home and the water status in eachzone.

Benefits

• At a glance information about the water status in each zone.

• Real time information.

• Large colour coded icons that are easy to understand.

• Problems are shown in red for immediate identification.

• The type of problem is shown by a small alert icon Consumer's View - see Figure 41

A home can multiple zones. This example shows a home with four zones: the hot water supply, a pool, a laundry, and a bedroom.

The colour of the icons provides instant information about the status of each zone (see Section 1.6).

How does it work?

The control software is in constant communication with the ultrasonic flow meter and the transducer in each Smartvalve and always knows the status of the water (pressure, temperature, and flow rate) in each zone.

The control software converts the status information into the icons that are displayed on the app, to provide real□ time information for the consumer.

The control software stores all of the water management settings for each zone. If the settings have not been customised, the control software uses the default settings. The control software uses settings to change the positions of the adjustable valve and the shutDoff valve in each Smartvalve so that water usage in each zone matches the settings as closely as possible.

Zone Information Screen

The zone information screen shows the water status (pressure, temperature, and flow rate) in an individual zone. It can also show the current angle of the Smartvalve if required.

Benefits

• Instant real time information about the water pressure, flow rate, and Smartvalve angle in this zone.

• Measurement units can be customised to suit individual preferences. Consumer's View - see Figure 42

Touch any zone icon on the main screen to show the zone information screen. This view can also display the temperature of the water.

How does it work?

The control software constantly monitors the water pressure and flow rate in each Smartvalve. It also monitors and changes the angle of the adjustable valve in the Smartvalve, as this influences the flow rate.

When the consumer touches a zone icon on the Main screen, the control software sends the latest status information to the digitalwater™ app and this is displayed immediately.

Zone Usage Screens

The zone usage screens shows how much water has been used in this zone today and/or during the week. The current day starts one second after midnight.

Benefits

• The consumer can see exactly how much water is being used in this zone on

a daily and weekly basis. • The consumer can compare the amount of water used in this zone with the amount of water used in all the other zones, and easily identify which zone uses the most water.

• The consumer can compare the amount of water used on different days of the week and identify the reasons for heavy water use on specific days.

• The consumer can decide whether or not the amount if water being used in this zone is reasonable.

• The consumer can think about more efficient ways to use water in this zone; e.g. perhaps wash bigger loads of laundry twice a week instead of smaller loads four times a week.

Consumer's View - see Figure 43

The consumer touches a zone icon on the Main screen to show the zone information screen.

The consumer touches the information icon to see a choice between viewing today's usage or weekly usage.

If the consumer touches Today's Usage, the amount of water used in this zone today, compared with water used in the other zones, is shown as a:

• Pie chart

• Percentage

• Specific amount in Liters.

If the consumer touches Weekly Usage, the amount of water used in this zone today and the past week, compared with water used in the other zones, is shown in Figure 44 as a:

• Bar chart • Specific amount in Litres.

How does it work?

The control software constantly monitors the water flow through each Smartvalve and stores all of this water usage information.

At the end of each day (midnight), the control software transmits all of this information to the water company's remote database for storage.

When the consumer selects a zone on the Main screen then touches the zone information icon, the digitalwater™ app provides a choice between Today's Usage or Weekly Usage.

If the consumer touches:

• Today's Usage, the control software retrieves the stored data from the water company's database and shows the total amount of water used in this zone during the current day, compared with the total amount of water used in all of the other zones.

• Weekly Usage, the control software retrieves the stored data from the water company's database and shows the total amount of water used in this zone today and during the past six days, compared with the total amount of water used in all of the other zones.

MANAGE HOME WATER USAGE Zone Setup Menu

The Zone Setup menu enabled a consumer to view and/or change any or all of the settings for a particular zone.

Note: For ease of use, consumers who do not want to customise their settings for any reason (e.g. not comfortable with technology) automatically use the default settings and do not need to use the Zone Setup menu. Benefits

• The consumer can choose whether or not to customise the settings for a zone.

• The consumer can adjust any or all of the settings within a zone.

• The consumer can adjust the settings whenever they want. Consumer's View - Figure 45

The Zone Setup menu is invisible to the consumer unless they choose to select it on the app.

The consumer displays the zone information screen which shows the current water pressure and flow, and the angle of the adjustable valve. Optionally, the flow rate and the flow time could be added to this screen as two new lines e.g. flow rate 14 1/min - flow time 6:00 minutes.

When the user touches the Zone Setup icon, the Flow screen is displayed (see section 6.2. If the consumer touches More, the Zone Setup menu displays all the other setup options that are available for this zone.

The Zone Setup menu Figure 46 lists all of the setup options that the consumer can change for this particular zone.

Options that are already enabled are shown with a green tick.

The consumer can touch a blue arrow to view the current settings for an option and then change them if necessary.

In this example, the Bedroom zone has the Quota, Leak Control, and Self Test options enabled.

How does it work?

When the consumer has selected a zone and touched the Zone Setup icon, the control software retrieves the current settings for that zone. The control software displays the Zone Setup menu and shows which options are enabled and disabled in that zone.

Flow Rate

The system adjusts the rate of flow in a particular zone to match the setting specified in the control software.

The plumber specifies a default setting during the installation but the consumer can change this setting to suit their own preference.

The default flow rate is 6 Litres/minute.

Note: If the consumer has specified a Soft Start, this will automatically override the flow rate setting.

Benefits

• The flow rate can be set at an appropriate level for each zone.

• Water is not wasted in zones that do not require a high flow rate. Consumer's View - see Figure 47

When the consumer opens the tap, the flow rate may increase or decrease initially, but then flows at a constant rate.

If desired, the consumer can adjust the flow rate for a particular zone by displaying the zone information screen and then touching the setup icon to show the flow screen.

The Flow screen shows the Flow Rate (L/Min) for the selected zone.

The consumer can adjust the flow rate by dragging the Flow button to the left (decrease) or to the right (increase).

How does it work?

The control software is in constant communication with each Smartvalve so it always knows the status of each zone. The control software also stores all the water management control information for each zone, including the flow rate.

When the consumer opens the tap, the ultrasonic flow meter in the Smartvalve detects the rate of water flow and informs the control software. The control software moves the adjustable valve so that the actual flow rate matches the specified flow rate.

Flow Time

The system can limit the time that water can flow continuously in a particular zone to match the flow time limit that has been specified.

The default flow time limit (for the first and the second time period) is three minutes. Benefits

• Excessive and/or unnecessary consumption of water can be prevented.

• The length of time that water can flow continuously can be set at an appropriate level for each zone.

• Water is not wasted in zones that do not require a long period of continuous water flow.

Consumer's View - Figure 48

When the consumer opens the tap, water will flow until the consumer closes the tap OR until the first time limit for this zone is reached.

If the time limit is reached, the water flow stops. The consumer must close the tap then open it again to resume the water supply for a further limited time period.

If the time limit is reached again, the water flow stops again and the Reset button appears on the screen. In this case, the flow will not start again until the consumer touches Reset. If desired, the consumer can adjust the time limit for a particular zone by displaying the zone information screen and then touching the setup icon to show the Flow screen.

The Flow screen shows the flow time limit (minutes and seconds) for the selected zone. This is the time that water is allowed to flow continuously.

The consumer can adjust the flow time limit by dragging the Time button to the left (decrease) or to the right (increase).

How does it work?

The control software is in constant communication with each Smartvalve so it always knows the status of each zone.

The control software also stores all the water management control information for each zone, including any limit on the time that water can flow continuously.

When the consumer opens the tap, the ultrasonic flow meter in the Smartvalve starts timing the length of continuous water flow and informs the control software. The control software checks the flow time limit and if the water is still flowing at the end of that time limit, instructs the adjustable valve to close.

If the Smartvalve detects that the tap has been closed and opened again quickly, several times, it resumes the water flow. If the water is still flowing at the end of this second time period, the control software instructs the adjustable valve to close and displays the Reset button on the zone information screen.

Timed Shut Off

The system can automatically shutDoff the water supply to a particular zone for a specified time period.

This option is disabled by default but the consumer can change this setting to suit their own preference. Benefits

• Water use can be prevented during a specific time period; e.g. between lam and 5am. This can be useful to comply with local regulations to avoid noise disturbance from washing machines and flushing toilets.

• The water supply to a particular zone can be shut-off for a specific period of time without interrupting the water supply to other zones. This means that if a repair needs to be done within this zone, the rest of the home water supply does not need to be shut-off.

Consumer's View - see Figure 49

If the consumer opens a tap in this zone during the shut down period, no water will flow. The consumer must display the Zone Information screen and touch Reset to override the shut off.

This consumer experience happens only if this option has been enabled AND if a shut off period has been specified.

If desired, the consumer can enable or disable the Timed Shut off option through the Zone Setup menu (see section 6.1) and/or change the shutoff time period.

The consumer can drag the button to change the existing status. This can be enabled (green bar) or disabled (red bar).

If enabled, the Start Hour and End Hour show the shut off time period. The consumer can adjust these times with the+ and - icons.

How does it work?

The control software also stores all the water management control information for each zone, including any time period during which water is not allowed to flow. The control software incorporates a clock. When the Timed Shut down option for a zone has been enabled, the control software shuts off the water supply to this zone at the start of the shut down period and displays the Reset button on the Zone Information page. The control software will not allow the water to flow during the specified shut□ down period unless the consumer touches Reset.

When the end of the specified shut down period is reached, the control software removes the Reset button from the Zone Information screen and returns the Smartvalve to normal operation so that water can flow whenever the consumer turns the tap ON.

Automatic Shut Off

The system can automatically close the water supply to a particular zone if no water has been used within a specified number of hours.

This option is enabled by default but the consumer can change this setting to suit their own preference. The default timeout period is 16 hours.

Benefits

• The water supply to a zone is stopped automatically after a specified time if no water has been used within this time period. This limits the amount of water that can be lost due to leaks or theft from outside taps.

• Consumers have the reassurance of knowing that the water supply in the specified zones will be stopped automatically after the specified time period while they are not at the property e.g. away on business.

Consumer's View - see Figure 50

If the consumer does not use any water in this zone during the timeout period then opens the tap after the timeout period has expired, no water will flow. The consumer must display the Zone Information screen and touch Reset to override the timeout.

This consumer experience happens ONLY if this option has been enabled AND if a timeout period has been specified. If desired, the consumer can enable or disable the Auto Shutoff option through the Zone Setup menu (see section 6.1).

The consumer can drag the button to change the existing status. This can be enabled

(green bar) or disabled (red bar).

If enabled, the Timeout shows how many hours with no water usage are allowed before the water supply in this zone is automatically shut off. The consumer can adjust the number of hours with the + and - icons.

How does it work?

The control software incorporates a clock. When the Auto Shutoff option for a zone has been enabled, the control software starts the timeout clock for this zone when the consumer turns the tap OFF.

If water has not been used during the timeout period, the control software instructs the adjustable valve in the Smartvalve to remain closed at the end of the timeout period and displays the Reset button on the appropriate zone in the Zone Information screen.

The control software will not allow the adjustable vale to open again until the consumer touches the Reset button.

Quota

The system can automatically halve the flow rate within a zone when the specified daily quota has been reached.

This option is disabled by default but the consumer can change this setting to suit their own preference. If enabled, the default amount of water is 400

Litres/day.

Benefits

• The amount of water used each day within a zone can be controlled. • The reduced flow rate immediately informs the consumer that the daily quota for this zone has been used.

• The reduced flow rate limits the amount of additional water that can be

used.

• The reduced flow rate enabled an appliance (e.g. a dishwasher) to

complete its cycle.

Consumer's View - see Figure 51

The consumer will experience a sudden decline in the flow rate. The reduced flow rate will continue for the rest of that day (until midnight).

This consumer experience happens only if this option has been enabled AND if a quota has been specified for this zone.

If desired, the consumer can enable or disable the Quota option through the Zone Setup menu (see section 6.1).

(green bar) or disabled (red bar).

If enabled, the Target shows the amount of water that can be used each day in this zone at the normal flow rate. The consumer can adjust this with the + and - icons.

How does it work?

The control software is in constant communication with each Smartvalve so always knows the status of each zone.

The control software also stores all the water management control information that has been set up for each zone by the home, including any water quota.

After the specified quota has flowed through the Smartvalve that day, the control software instructs the adjustable valve in the Smartvalve to partially close and reduce the water flow. The control software will not allow the adjustable valve to be opened beyond this partially closed position for the remainder of the day (until midnight). At one second past midnight, the control software resets the quota for this zone for the new day.

IMPROVE INDIVIDUAL WATER USE Soft Start

A Soft Start controls the speed of the initial water flow from a tap, then allows the water flow to build up to the specified rate.

The Soft Start is particularly useful when a hot water tap is connected to a local water heater, because only a small amount of cold water is used before the hot water arrives at the tap.

This feature is disabled by default but the consumer can change this setting to suit their own preference.

Benefits

• The consumer can control the rate of water flow for a tap.

• A Soft Start enhances the consumer's comfort because it avoids sudden splashes and puddles of water.

• A Soft Start conserves water because it avoids wasting a lot of cold water during the wait for hot water.

Consumer's View - see Figure 52

When the consumer opens the tap, the water trickles out at first and then slowly builds up to the normal flow rate. This consumer experience occurs ONLY if this feature has been enabled.

If desired, the consumer can enable or disable the Soft Start option through the Zone Setup menu (see section 6.1). The consumer can drag the button to change the existing status. This can be enabled (green bar) or disabled (red bar).

How does it work?

The control software limits the initial rate of water flow from the tap using the adjustable valve in the Smartvalve to match that specified by the consumer.

The flow sensor in the Smartvalve informs the control software about the water flow rate. The control software continues to open the adjustable valve until the water flow matches that specified by the consumer.

Reminder

The system can create a short, temporary drop in the water pressure (a pulse) after the water has been flowing for a specified length of time.

This consumer experience happens ONLY if this feature has been enabled.

This feature is disabled by default but the consumer can change this setting to suit their own preference. If it is enabled, the default time interval is three minutes.

Benefit

• The pulse reminds the consumer that the water has been running for a

specified length of time.

• The pulse helps the consumer to become more aware of the amount of

water they are using.

• The pulse can act as a clock to remind the consumer how much time has

passed.

Consumer's View - see Figure 53

The consumer experiences a sudden decline in the flow rate from the tap for a few seconds then the flowrate returns to normal. This is known as a pulse.

The first pulse occurs after a specified time interval has passed. If the consumer continues to run the water, the pulse is repeated after the same time interval. This cycle is repeated until the consumer closes the tap.

If desired, the consumer can enable or disable the Time's Up option through the Zone Setup menu (see section 6.1).

If enabled, the Interval shows the amount of time that water can flow in this zone before the reminder pulse is sent. The consumer can adjust the number of minutes with the + and - icons.

How does it work?

The control software incorporates a clock and also stores all the water management control information that has been set up for each zone by the home, including any time interval specified by the Reminder feature.

When the consumer turns the tap ON, the Smartvalve opens the adjustable valve in that zone and starts the time interval countdown. At the end of the countdown period, the control software checks whether the water is still flowing. If so, the control software instructs the adjustable valve in the Smartvalve to partially close and then reD open immediately, and also restarts the time interval countdown.

This cycle continues until the consumer turns the tap OFF.

High Flow

The system can allow water to flow at an increased pressure for a short time period within a designated zone (also known as Talk to The Hand).

This feature is disabled by default but the consumer can change this setting to suit their own preference. If it is enabled, the default flow rate is 6 Litres/minute and the default flow time is 15 seconds. Benefits

• This feature can be useful when high pressure is needed for a particular

reason e.g. washing a car.

• It avoids wasting water when a high pressure flow is not required. Consumer's View - see Figure 54

The consumer opens the tap to start the normal water flow, then closes and opens the tap quickly several times to tell the digitalwater™ system to increase the water pressure.

The water pressure increases for the specified time period then returns automatically to the normal flow rate at the end of this time.

The consumer can repeat the open/close sequence as often as needed to maintain the high pressure flow.

If desired, the consumer can enable or disable the High Flow option through the Zone Setup menu (see section 6.1).

How does it work?

The control software also stores all the water management control information that has been set up for each zone by the home, including any consumer□ specified flow rate and time period.

When the consumer turns the tap ON, the flow sensor in the Smartvalve detects the rate of water flow.

When the flow sensor and the water pressure sensor detect the rapid fluctuations resulting from the consumer turning the tap ON and OFF several times in rapid succession, the control software instructs the adjustable valve to open until the specified high pressure flow rate is achieved. At this point, the control software starts the time interval countdown and displays the High Flow Alert icon on the main screen.

At the end of the countdown period, the control software checks whether the water is still flowing. If so, the control software instructs the adjustable valve in the Smartvalve to partially close to return the water flow to the normal rate.

The flow control valve 19 can be used in a range of applications, including in a method of managing water usage as follows;

• Monitoring the flow rate through the valve,

• During periods of relatively constant flow rate, monitoring the time duration of that relatively constant flow rate,

• Depending on the particular flow rate and time duration at the flow rate, making a decision to restrict the flow rate or to cut off the flow completely.

The flow control valve with its built in flow meter can be used to monitor whether a tap in a hot water system has been accidentally left on. For example, someone may start running a shower, and then the phone rings and the shower may be left running at full hot for some time. The valve could monitor the flow rate and time duration and be used to shut off or reduce the flow if it detects a hot tap left open for a pre-determined period of time.

Similarly the flow control valve with its built in flow meter can be used to control the time spent having a shower. The user can pre-set an acceptable length of time for a shower, and then when hot water usage in a shower has been detected for that pre-selected time period of time, the control system can begin reducing the flow rate of hot water and/or shut off the flow of hot water.

The method can also include the step of continuing to monitor the flow rate though the valve 19 and of removing any imposed flow rate restriction if a zero flow rate is subsequently detected. A second example of a use for the valve 19 is in a method of managing water usage as follows;

• Periodically closing the valve (for example at around 2am),

• Monitoring the rate of pressure decay upstream of the closed valve,

• From the rate of decay determining a probable status of the plumbing system upstream of the valve, and

• If a leak is detected, classify the leak as minor or major; and

• If the leak is classified as minor: provide a warning message (for example a warning light) to users of the plumbing system, or

• If the leak is classified as major: close off the water supply to the plumbing system.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Thus it can be seen that at least the preferred form of the invention provides a flow meter and flow control valve and method of use which can be used to manage the use of water. The flow meter is simple and has no moving parts and is therefore capable of providing years of trouble free operation.

In addition the flow meter and can be built into the housing of the control valve making installation of the valve complete with flow meter a simple task.

The flow meter has no moving parts and/or seals that are in contact with the fluid passing through the valve making it suitable for use in the food industry.

The ultrasonic flow meter of the present invention can be used within or near valves, pumps, corners, bends, joints and other fittings of a piping system. Unlike prior art ultrasonic flow meters which must be placed some distance away from corners, bends and pipe fittings in order to avoid distortion due to cavitation, the ultrasonic flow meter of this invention does not suffer from distortion of measurement due to the presence of air or gas bubbles. The compression chamber 105 of the ultrasonic flow meter compresses any air or gas bubbles present in the fluid flow so that cavitation does not occur and hence an accurate flow rate measurement can be made even when the meter is installed within or near bends, corners and pipe fittings.

The ultrasonic flow meter of this invention is optimised to be used with the inventor's corresponding invention, the valve 100. The ultrasonic flow meter is directly integrated into the structure of the valve 100 and it is capable of making accurate flow rate measurements from within the valve structure. This avoids the need to install the flow meter some distance away from the valve and hence the pipeline does not need to be cut in two places during installation.

The fluid flow meter of the present invention can be used with any type of fluid regardless of whether it contains any entrained air or gas bubbles. The fluid can be pure water, slurry, waste water, viscous liquids or any other liquid having entrained air or gas bubbles. The ability of the compression chamber to substantially remove all air and gas bubbles from the fluid flow allows the flow rate of any fluid type to be measured accurately.

Furthermore the ultrasonic flow meter can accurately measure flow rate of a fluid flowing in a conduit even when there are entrained air or gas bubbles in the fluid flow caused by one or more leaks in the conduit. Therefore this flow meter is made immune to measurement errors caused by leaks in the fluid line.

The disclosed ultrasonic flow meter does not require any reflective particles such as air bubbles to be present in the fluid flow to make a measurement. Some prior art ultrasonic flow meters require the presence of reflective materials to determine flow rate using complex software as mentioned in the background section (i.e.: Doppler flow meters). The current invention does not have any such requirements and can measure flow rate regardless of the presence of air and gas bubbles.

Ultrasonic flow meters are inexpensive to maintain because they do not use any moving parts unlike mechanical flow meters of the prior art. Mechanical flow meters use paddles, rotors and other parts which can easily fail under stress and hence ultrasonic flow meters are more reliable since they are not prone to this type of failure.

VARIATIONS

Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope thereof.

Although the ultrasonic flow meter has been shown installed in and forming part of a valve assembly it is apparent that it can be supplied as a standalone unit capable of being plumbed into a conduit. The example described above includes two spaced apart ultrasonic transducers. It is envisaged that an alternative configuration could use a single ultrasonic transducer, for example a Doppler style flow meter.

Stainless steel is used to make the intermediate section 43 of the flow meter 1 1. It is envisaged that other materials having a low sound absorption coefficient, could be used, for example another metal or metal alloy, or glass.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the ultrasonic flow meter 101 is incorporated into the structure of the inventor's corresponding invention, the valve 100. However the flow meter 101 can be used in any other piping network for measuring flow rate while suppressing air and gas bubbles in the fluid flow. It can be used as a stand-alone unit near corners, bends, joints, and other fittings of a piping system as explained before.

The compression chamber 105 shown is an elongated tube or pipe extending from the flow meter inlet 107 to the flow meter outlet 109, having a smaller diameter than the diameter of the fluid flow path of the valve 100 in Figure 1. The diameter, length and shape of the compression chamber 105 can be optimised to ensure maximum suppression of air and gas bubbles depending on the particular type of fluid passed through the flow meter. The compression chamber is not necessarily a cylindrical tube or pipe and can also be square, triangular or any other shaped tube or piping in other embodiments. The ultrasonic transducers 103 are preferably piezoelectric sensors capable of emitting and/or receiving ultrasonic waves through the fluid flow for measurement of flow rate. They can be selected from any suitable ultrasonic transducers (also referred to as 'piezoelectric sensors/transducers' in the industry) currently available in the market. Furthermore even though the embodiment of Figure 1 illustrates an ultrasonic flow meter having a pair of ultrasonic transducers, any number of transducers can be incorporated into the design of the ultrasonic flow meter of this invention. The ultrasonic flow meter of this invention could be implemented with one, two, three or more transducers using commonly known prior-art ultrasonic flow meter design techniques. For example, the flow meter could be designed to have a single transducer that emits an ultrasonic signal through the flow of water in the compression tube, and then waits for a reflected signal (possibly from a signal reflector placed at the opposite end of the tube) to be received so that there is only one transducer measuring fluid flow within the compression tube.

The casing, inlet 107, outlet 109 and the compression chamber 105 of the ultrasonic transducer can be made from any suitable piping material, for example, steel or plastic tubing such as PVC.

The ultrasonic transducer is powered from a power supply circuit located on the PCB 123 as mentioned previously. The circuit can be made to operate under battery power, mains power or other power supply means (e.g.: solar power) depending on the requirements of the installation process.

Throughout the description of this specification, the word "comprise" and variations of that word such as "comprising" and "comprises", are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.

It will of course be realised that while the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope of this invention as claimed.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic flow meter for use in or near a valve assembly for measuring the flow rate of fluids associated with the operation of the valve assembly, the flow meter having an inlet and an outlet and a flow conduit though which a fluid can flow from the inlet to the outlet, the inlet having an inlet internal diameter, and the outlet having an outlet internal diameter equal to the inlet internal diameter, the flow conduit having an intermediate flow measurement portion of conduit having a lesser internal diameter than the inlet/outlet internal diameter, and the flow meter having a flow measuring system configured for measuring the flow rate through the flow measurement portion of conduit, and wherein the flow measurement system has at least one ultrasonic transducer, and the flow conduit also includes an inlet portion of conduit which is configured to produce a convergent flow in any fluid entering the flow meter, and the outlet portion configured to produce an equal and opposite divergent flow in any fluid leaving the flow meter.

2. A flow meter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inlet portion of the conduit includes one or more substantially tapered sections to reduce the internal diameter from that of the inlet internal diameter to the internal diameter of the flow measurement portion, and the outlet portion of conduit includes one or more equal and opposite substantially tapered sections to increase the internal diameter from that of the flow measurement portion to the of the outlet internal diameter.

3. A flow meter as claimed in claim 3, wherein the flow measurement portion of conduit has a substantially constant cross sectional area along its length and is substantially straight.

4. A flow meter as claimed in claim 3, wherein the flow meter includes two ultrasonic transducers.

5. A flow meter as claimed in claim 4, wherein a first of the two ultrasonic transducers is situated downstream of the inlet portion of conduit and is situated at an initial part of the substantially straight portion of the conduit.

6. A flow meter as claimed in claim 5, wherein a second of the two ultrasonic transducers is situated at a final part of the substantially straight portion of the conduit and is upstream of the outlet portion of conduit.

7. A flow meter as claimed in claim 6, wherein the ultrasonic transducers are in the form of rings, a first transducer ring being situated about an upstream end of the flow measurement portion of conduit and a second transducer ring being situated about a downstream end of the flow measurement portion of conduit.

8. A flow meter as claimed in claim 7, wherein the ultrasonic transducers are piezoelectric transducers.

9. A flow meter as claimed in claim 8, wherein the flow meter also includes a temperature sensor configured to measure the temperature of fluid flowing through the flow measurement portion of conduit.

10. A flow control valve assembly incorporating at least one flow meter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.

1 1. A flow control valve assembly as claimed in claim 10, wherein the flow meter is situated downstream of and in close proximity to a flow regulating section of the flow control valve assembly.

12. A valve assembly having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet and a passageway there-between, an electric motor connected to a rotatable crank pin, a controller capable of signaling the electric motor to rotate the crank pin to pre-determined positions, a shut-off valve member operatively-connected to the crank pin and capable of preventing flow thorough the valve assembly when in its fully closed position, a metering valve member operatively-connected to the crank pin and capable of being opened or closed to assist in regulating flow through the valve assembly, the valve assembly having a small bypass passageway to enable a very small water flow to bypass the metering valve member when the metering valve member is in its fully closed position, such that rotation of the crank pin will cause the metering valve member or the shut-off valve member to move into a predetermined position, a pressure sensor and a temperature sensor within the valve assembly to monitor the pressure and temperature of a fluid downstream of the shut off valve member, and an ultrasonic flow meter having an inlet and an outlet and a flow conduit through which a fluid can flow from the inlet to the outlet, the inlet having an inlet internal diameter, and the outlet having an outlet internal diameter equal to the inlet internal diameter, the flow conduit having an intermediate flow measurement portion of conduit having a lesser internal diameter than the inlet/outlet internal diameter, and the flow meter having a flow measuring system configured for measuring the flow rate through the flow measurement portion of conduit, and wherein the flow measurement system has at least one ultrasonic transducer, and the flow conduit also includes an inlet portion of conduit which is configured to produce a convergent flow in any fluid entering the flow meter, and the outlet portion configured to produce an equal and opposite divergent flow in any fluid leaving the flow meter and wherein the inlet of the ultrasonic flow meter is connected to or forms part of the shut-off valve.

13. A flow control valve assembly as claimed in claim 12, wherein the metering valve member is conical or frusto-conical and is capable of moving into or out of engagement with a tapered throat in the valve so that as the metering valve member moves towards the tapered throat, the flow through the metering valve is reduced.

14. A flow control valve assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the flow control valve assembly includes communication means for sending data relating to, or calculated from flow and/or pressure data obtained by the flow control valve assembly, to a data retrieval and/or data processing device.

15. A flow control valve assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the flow control valve assembly includes communication means for receiving data or instructions from the data retrieval and/or data processing device.

16. A method of managing water usage using a flow control valve assembly as claimed in claim 15, and including the steps of;

• Monitoring the flow rate through the valve assembly using the output from the ultrasonic flow meter,

• During periods of relatively constant flow rate, monitoring the time duration of that relatively constant flow rate, • Depending on the particular flow rate and time duration at the flow rate, making a decision to restrict the flow rate or to cut off the flow completely.

17. A method of managing water usage as claimed in claim 16, wherein the method also includes the step of continuing to monitor the flow rate though the valve assembly and of removing any imposed flow rate restriction if a zero flow rate is subsequently detected.

18. A method of managing water usage using a flow control valve assembly as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 17, including the steps of;

• Periodically closing the valve,

• Monitoring the rate of pressure decay upstream of the closed valve,

• From the rate of decay determining a probable status of the plumbing system upstream of the valve, providing a warning to users of the plumbing system or closing off supply to the plumbing system.