GB2374710A

GB2374710A - Flood water or rain detector and alarm

Info

Publication number: GB2374710A
Application number: GB0118864A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Anthony Frew
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-04-20
Filing date: 2001-08-02
Publication date: 2002-10-23
Also published as: GB0118864D0

Abstract

The device comprises two collection plates 1, held at an angle to each other to create two sides of a trough separated by a small gap 3. Adjacent the gap, each plate is made electrically conductive so that rain water (figure 1) that collects on the plates can run down towards the gap and bridging the gap completing an electrical alarm circuit. To detect flood water (figure 2), the device is inverted and covered by a waterproof protective housing 18 that is open at the bottom such that flood water 24 can rise into the housing to such a height (X) that the two collection plates are connected by the water so that an alarm circuit is completed. An alternate arrangement (see figures 5, 6, 7) has a single continuous collection plate with a separated tube 7 held apart to form a bridging gap between conducting parts of the tube and plate. The device may include radio remote control.

Description

FLOOD WATER/RAIN DETECTOR AND ALARM The flood-water/rain detecting alarm has been designed primarily to warn people against the event of flooding or nearly dried washing becoming wet when rain may be threatening. In each case, the two alarms are completely independent of each other but share the same detecting method. That is to say that the sensor for rain is positioned one way up where the droplets run down towards a small bridging gap, but when inverted for flood-water detection, sensing is at the opposite plate ends. Simply in either case, the detector is connected to an alarm system that can be switched'on'or'off and allows the owner to go about their home duties without continually watching the skies or perhaps sleeping more easily when near by river levels are high.

Prior art in similar alarm systems tend to use interdigited copper tracks that can suffer from verdigris if left where surface contamination through exposure to the elements decreases the conductivity and hence, functionality. It should also be noted that if these tracks are manufactured via the chemical etching method, then it is likely that these very tracks will also be prone to separation from matrix, and possible transverse cracking through weathering, temperature change and attempts at surface cleaning. Certainly, water detectors are not new but this inventive step aims to introduce a new type of sensor that when coupled to a standard alarm, offers the user two early warning systems. This would be a 'deluxe'rain/smoke alarm that could warn against smokey garden fires as opposed to the'standard'rain only alarm. The'standard'system would only require a siren, battery, switch and optional delay chip placed inside a water proof housing with rain sensor on top. By contrast, the same water sensor maybe set inverted inside a durable plastic housing and placed at ground level adjacent to the residence to be protected from flooding. This early warning device could alert the sleeping owner of the impending threat should nearby rivers burst their banks.

In the event of rain, the detector may contain two copper collector plates or similar conductors that are bonded to non-conductive base pads where a gap of 0. 1mm between the plates creates an open circuit. An insulated electrical wire runs from each conductive collector plate where one wire goes to the alarm system and the other travels through a simple on/off switch. When the switch is in the'on'position, the alarm remains silent until a droplet of rain falls on one of the two collector plates and runs downwards to the gap where'bridging'occurs.

The'open'circuit then becomes'bridged'and the alarm sounds.

Each detector plate is so angled to give an optimum inclusive angle of 900. This gives a maximum capture area while also allowing sufficient slope for the droplet to run down to the'bridging'gap via gravity. It is envisaged that sometimes a droplet according to its mass and velocity may on impact burst into several smaller droplets therefore increasing the likelihood of detection through the act of dispersal and consequential'bridging'. Since the bridging gap is only 0. 1 mm wide, it then therefore follows that anyone of the minute droplets could bridge the collector plates to increase early detection. The optimum angle of 900 between these plates maybe decreased or increased and therefore would be obvious to anyone in the art.

The two non-conductive support pads have a circular recess just below the bonded plates so that when the rain has stopped, excess water maybe cleared away using the edge of a piece of paper. This recess, seen in Fig 1, allows ease of water clearing so enabling the alarm to be reset without sounding.

These detectors can be made in any size but the longer they become, so their effectiveness increases in droplet detection. Alternatively, several smaller rain detectors can be used in tandem on the alarm housing or if a flood alarm system then one sensor set against the house wall or in the lowest garden position.

Detectors maybe incorporated into an existing alarm system at manufacture such as a smoke alarm therefore creating a dual function. In this case, the rain detector connected by twin wires would be positioned on the outer windowsill and be controlled by an on/off switch. This switch on the alarm does not interfere with the smoke detector function at any time. Therefore, the smoke alarm is still active at all times and would be best placed in a utility room or similar convenient spot.

While the smoke alarm itself is not a new idea, the concept of its use in detecting nearby garden fires is so. Therefore, permission for its use in such an alarm as described would be sort from the patent holder/holders. In this case, the whole alarm would be of the transportable type and placed in an outside position where smoke and rain detection could be most effective.

The complete alarm systems could come in at least three styles with a variation on sensor design as well as the way in which they are connected to the main waterproof housing. These variations can be seen in the illustration section.

Therefore, the three main systems are as follows. Firstly, a sensor and sender that is placed on the washing line and is activated by remote or radio control from some position in the home. These remote control devices are already on the market and are not a new concept. The second option is for the alarm to be permanently positioned next to the inside of a window and where the sensor leads are so small that they pass in between the window and its frame even in the closed position. A variation on this is that the two sensor wires pass out through a predrilled hole in the wall. The sensor then seats on the outer windowsill or similar position. Thirdly, a complete and transportable system that hangs by one or two strategically placed hooks as see in Fig 9. Since this concept involves hanging the whole alarm out on the line, if rain is detected, the alarm will sound for thirty seconds followed by silence. Resounding will repeat in the same fashion until the owner retrieves the washing and alarm. The sounding could be longer or shorter and this fact will be obvious to anyone in the art.

To make the sensor more attractive, the collector plates can be profiled so that the overall effect visually is that of a'butterfly'as seen in Fig 4. Therefore each plate becomes a wing and in fact the shape could also be fly-like or bee-like etc.

Attachment and positioning onto the non-conductive supports in this case would be as seen in Fig 1.

A more sophisticated'butterfly'sensor would be as seen in Fig 5 where the wings are actually made from one piece of conductive material. If the plate or material is bent centrally along the body axis, then the formed 900 inclusive wings present realism and more importantly, effective droplet capture. An insulated electrical wire would be attached by soldering or similar process to this wing set and will be the'positive'side. A second conductive plate that is bent at right angles and inverted seats onto a non-conductive separator block. This inverted conductor plate also has a wire attached to its underside through soldering or similar process and becomes known as the'negative'path. This negative insulated wire passes through a hole in the non-conductive separator block and bent wing section hole where it then sits beside the'positive'wire. Once assembly has occurred, the'negative'inverted section sits within 0. 1 mm distance of the 'positive'wing section on both sides. The inverted section also serves to give body shape and so has this dual function. The three assembled parts are then put onto a mounting block with through wire hole that allows seating and bonding of mating faces Ref: Fig 8. The whole sensor is then secured to the alarm housing via a threaded boss that projects out from the underside of the mounting block. In some cases, the mounting block will be a part of the unit that houses the alarm system and so the butterfly assembly shall be placed directly onto this as an alternative.

The rain alarm housing itself may be round for simplicity or more intricate in the case of a house, cottage or windmill, etc. These will be made through the plastic moulding process and by design be tough and completely waterproof.

Fig. 9 demonstrates the version where a bungalow-style housing contains all the unseen, though necessary electronics, to operate/activate the alarm system.

For those threatened by floodwater, the sensor in Fig 1 is placed upside down in a tough plastic casing. The casing is sealed at the top end to prevent rainwater from setting the alarm off accidentally via the bridging gap and the whole unit may be secured to the outer building wall. In this case, the tough inverted casing is placed in a predetermined position where rising water will be sensed and connection to the main alarm is via insulated twin electrical cable. A hole in the casing wall and adjacent to the inverted sensor allows the trapped air to escape the inner section as water rises when entering the twin through ports from any direction.

While as previously highlighted, use of copper for water/rain detectors can be a problem if used in thin etched form, the proposed use of copper plates indicates rigidity and a toughness that will allow simple efficient cleaning and polishing that keeps conductivity high. The use of stainless steel would not necessarily be new but would overcome the problem of surface degradation and consequential loss of conductivity. In conclusion, the best way to overcome the problems of cleaning would be to use a material that is both a good conductor and has the ability to not be affected by weathering. Therefore, the ultimate solution to this problem is to use gold leaf strips that lay along the bridging gap. If each strip end is connected to its common take off wire, then should a break occur in one track, electrical flow shall take the opposite route and still allow the alarm to operate once bridging has happened. Certainly the gold leaf strip can now be mounted on any inexpensive, non-conductive material that is machined/moulded or fabricated using a low cost production technique. This would help off-set the cost of the gold leaf strip.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which :- Figure 1 shows in perspective the mirror image water/rain detector plate 1 with non-conductive base supports 2. Also seen is the water clearance recess 3.

Figure 2 shows a plan view of the detector with conductive collector plates 1 that demonstrate the water droplet catchment area and the bridging gap'X'.

Figure 3 shows a side view of the detector with conductive collector plate 1 seated amid the two bonded non-conductive base pads 2.

Figure 4 shows the plan view of the'butterfly'wing detector plate 4 and its mirror image wing that would be bonded and placed as seen in Fig 1,2 & 3.

Figure 5 shows how the'butterfly'wing set 5 can be made out of one piece. The second conductive plate 7 seats on the intermediate non-conductor separator 6.

Figure 6 shows an exploded view of the'butterfly'sensor in which holes 8 & 9 in

conductor 5 and separator 6 accept the'positive'and'negative'electrical wires. Figure 7 shows the front view of the'butterfly'sensor with wing section 5 seated about the alternative securing threaded separator 13. An electrical wire 12 hangs through. Also seen is the indicated position for sectional view X-X.

Figure 8 shows the through section X-X taken from Figure 7. The non-conductive separator 6 seats onto the wing 5 that in turn is positioned on the non-conductive support block 10. The electrical wire 11 is attached to the wing set 5 and second electrical wire 12 to conductor plate 7.

Figure 9 shows the tough plastic housing 16 that contains the electrical components/alarm. The mirror image hooks 17 allow the housing to hang from the washing line in a balanced fashion and here the sensor plates 14 seat on the side of the roof section via integral moulding 15.

Figure 10 shows the tough plastic cube 18 that houses the water sensor as seen in Fig 1 but now in an inverted fashion. The mirror image lug 19 contains the screw hole 20 where attachment maybe to a house wall or wooden post in a lower garden position. The line X-X shows the point of section.

Figure 11 demonstrates clearly the through section X-X of cubed housing 18 taken from Fig 10. The inverted water sensor 21/22 with mirror image detector plates 1 are positioned at the predetermined distance'X'that is less than 1 cm from ground level. An independent insulated electrical wire attaches to mirror image solder points 22 before passing out through the air vent 23. The through slot 24 allows the rising water internal access and where the alarm will sound once'bridging'occurs across the conductive mirror image detector plates 1.

Figure 12 A shows the bottom view of the cubed housing 18 where the mirror image detector plates 1 sit bonded about twin non-conductive base pads 21.

Figure 12 B shows the'full-on'front view of the rain detector plate 1 and how the gold leaf track 1/2 is seated at the bottom edge or bridging point 1/3. Also seen are the two connecting points for one side of the circuit where the insulated wire 1/4 joins the track 1/2 in two positions to form a loop. The opposing collector plate is a mirror image of this and placed according to Figure 1.

Figure 13 shows how the individual units come together to form the alarm system. The siren 25 is connected to the sensor 27 via a semiconductor/timer 26 where a 9v battery 29 then provides power through a simple'on/off switch 28.

The semiconductor/timer 26 is type NE555/556 or similar that when coupled to known resistors and capacitors will give a siren tone of a certain duration before cutout i. e. 30 seconds Figure 14 shows how the individual components come together to form the alarm system in a more simplified manner than as explained in Figure 13. The key difference is the omission of the semiconductor/timer 26. Therefore, the siren 25 will sound once the sensor 27 has detected water and shall remain'sounding' until the user isolates the battery 29 via the switch 28.

Figure 15 demonstrates how the sensor 27 maybe connected into an existing smoke alarm unit 30. This is the standard type as purchased for the home and once connected then turns the alarm into a twin function unit where the smoke alarm is always'on'but that the water detecting side maybe turned'on'or'off via switch 28 independently as and when required.

Claims

FLOOD WATER/RAIN DETECTOR AND ALARM CLAIMS 1. A flood water/rain detector containing two angular catchment plates that are spaced apart from each other to form a'bridging gap'and connected to a simple audible alarm that maybe an integral unit if for rain. Should the detector be for flood-water, connection of the said detector to the alarm would be via twin core insulated electrical cable.
2. A rain detector as claimed in claim 1 that has at least two conductive catchment plates/strips set adjacent to each other with an inclusive angle of 90 (maximum variation +/-10 degrees) and bridging gap in between not less than 0.1 mm.
3. A rain detector as claimed in claim 2 that has a pre-manufactured recess in between and below the catchment plates for drainage through gravity or manual water clearance after the event to enable alarm resetting.
4. A rain detector as claimed in claim 2 whose catchment plates may be bonded in place at manufacture.
5. A rain detector as claimed in claim 2 that may use profiled collector plates that once assembled look like a'butterfly', or similarly, profiles such as those of a fly, bubble-bee, or bird in flight could be used.
6. A rain detector as claimed in claim 5 that may also have the'butterfly'profile but this time manufactured out of one piece of conductive material where this 900 wing set sits below a second inverted conductor seated upon a non- conductive separator to then look completely like a butterfly body.

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7. A rain detector as claimed in claim 6 that when assembled may locate onto a threaded non-conductive separator with through hole that creates a passage for the two soldered/secured sensor wires.
8. A rain detector as claimed in claim 1 that sits on the roof of a tough plastic waterproof house that contains a siren, switch, battery and timer.
9. A rain detector as claimed in claim 1 whose'housing'containing the alarm components as claimed in claim 8, maybe a cottage, windmill, shed, or even circular like a bird feeder.
10. A rain detector as claimed in claim 8 who's circuit could contain a semiconductor/timer chip NE555/556 or similar so that the alarm sounds for a limited period i. e. 30 seconds, or the'resounding'could be such that it reoccurs until the owner retrieves the washing. Changing the sounding duration and'in between'silence duration could also be used.
11. A rain detector as claimed in claim 8 who's housing could contain a a standard smoke alarm for the detection of garden fires but also be connected to the rain sensor, therefore giving the owner a warning of two independent events.
12. A rain detector as claimed in claim 11, that when brought back into the house acts as a secondary smoke alarm to give the home greater security against fire.
13. A flood water detector as claimed in claim 1 that would not need the'timer chip'as claimed in claim 10, since the urgency to react would be greater than that of just dealing with wet washing and so to avoid confusion in the middle of the night, the alarm tone would be different to that of the conventional smoke alarm.

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14. A flood water detector as claimed in claim 1 who's tough plastic housing may be secured against the house wall at ground level or placed at a lower point in the garden where earlier detection shall result through two wires from the detector plates connected to the base unit in the home.
15. A flood water detector as claimed in claim 14 that maybe placed upside down in a tough plastic housing and once secured and positioned as claimed in claim 2, would provide the owner with early flood warning especially in the night.
16. A flood water detector as claimed in claim 1 that has twin opposing ports close to the bottom edge of the tough plastic casing/body about inverted sensor to allow immediate water access/escape from either direction.
17. A flood water detector casing/body as claimed in claim 16 that has a breather hole on a side position near the top to allow air out and water to rise.
18. A flood water/rain detector as claimed in claim 1 that may use gold leaf strip bonded/attached for the full length of the detector face at bridging point and of which the support collector plates could be conductive or a non-conductive.
19. A rain detector as claimed in claim 18 whose gold leaf track on each independent plate is connected at each end by its own common wire from alarm, so to provide functionality should a crack in the said gold track occur.

19. A flood water/rain detector as claimed in claim 18 whose gold leaf track on each independent plate is connected at each end by the same common wire from alarm.

20. A flood water/rain detector and alarm system substantially as herein described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows CLAIMS 1. A flood water detector containing two inverted angular conductive catchment plates that when placed in a tough plastic housing shall render the attached armed alarm through connecting cable to be silent until bridging of the said plates occurs by rising water, although in an entirely different arrangement for sensing rain, the same angled twin conductive catchment plates now face upwards upon non-conductive supports therefore displaying an area for droplet capture with consequential alarm sounding when said conductive capture plates are bridged causing the armed open circuit to become closed.

2. A rain detector as claimed in claim 1 that has at least two conductive catchment plates upon non-conductive support/supports where said adjacent catchment plates form an inclusive angle of 900 with a maximum variation of +/-10 degrees and bridging gap in between not less than 0. 1mm.

3. A rain detector as claimed in claim 2 that has a manufactured recess in the non-conductive support/supports immediately below the catchment plates bridging gap, therefore allowing drainage through gravity where manual water clearance after the event may enable alarm resetting without sounding.

4. A rain detector as claimed in claim 2 whose catchment plates may be bonded in place at manufacture.

5. A rain detector as claimed in claim 2 that may use profiled collector plates that once assembled look like a'butterfly', or similarly, profiles such as those of a fly, bubble-bee, or bird in flight could be used.

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6. A rain detector as claimed in claim 5 that may also have the'butterfly'profile but this time manufactured out of one piece of conductive material where this 90 wing set sits below a second inverted conductor seated upon a non- conductive separator to then look completely like a butterfly body.

7. A rain detector as claimed in claim 6 that when assembled may locate onto a threaded non-conductive separator with through hole that creates a passage for the two soldered/secured sensor wires.

8. A rain detector as claimed in claim 1 that sits on the roof of a tough plastic waterproof house that contains a siren, switch, battery and timer.

9. A rain detector as claimed in claim 1 whose'housing'containing the alarm components as claimed in claim 8, maybe a cottage, windmill, shed, or even circular like a bird feeder.

10. A rain detector as claimed in claim 8 who's circuit could contain a semiconductor/timer chip NE555/556 or similar so that the alarm sounds for a limited period i. e. 30 seconds, or the'resounding'could be such that it reoccurs until the owner retrieves the washing.

11. A rain detector as claimed in claim 8 who's housing could contain a a standard smoke alarm for the detection of garden fires but also be connected to the rain sensor, therefore giving the owner a warning of two independent events.

12. A rain detector as claimed in claim 11, that when brought back into the house

acts as a secondary smoke alarm to give the home greater security against :

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13. A flood water detector as claimed in claim 1 that would not need the'timer chip'as claimed in claim 10, since the urgency to react would be greater than that of just dealing with wet washing and so to avoid confusion in the middle of the night, the alarm tone would be different to that of the conventional smoke alarm.

14. A flood water detector as claimed in claim 1 who's tough plastic housing may be secured against the house wall at ground level or placed at a lower point in the garden where earlier detection shall result via two wires from the detector plates connected through the wall to the base unit inside the home.

15. A flood water detector as claimed in claim 14 that maybe placed upside down in a tough plastic housing and once secured and positioned as claimed in claim 2, would provide the owner with early flood warning especially in the night.

16. A flood water detector as claimed in claim 1 whose tough plastic housing as claimed in claim 14 has twin opposing ports close to its bottom edge to allow immediate water access/escape from either direction.

17. A flood water detector as claimed in claim 1 whose tough plastic housing as claimed in claim 14 has a breather hole on a side position near the top to allow air out and natural water level to rise.

18. A rain detector as claimed in claim 1 that may use gold leaf strip bonded/attached for the full length of the detector face at bridging point and of which the support collector plates could be conductive or a non-conductive.