WO2015033275A1

WO2015033275A1 - An apparatus for measuring water level

Info

Publication number: WO2015033275A1
Application number: PCT/IB2014/064221
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kwai Sang So
Original assignee: Kwai Sang So
Priority date: 2013-09-06
Filing date: 2014-09-03
Publication date: 2015-03-12

Abstract

An apparatus for measuring water level comprises a water measuring device (100) and a reader (200). The water measuring device (100) comprises a control member (40) adapted for communicating with the reader (200), the water measuring device (100) further comprises first and second signal generating elements (10, 20) adapted for forming an electrical conduction path through an electricity conductive medium positioned between the first and second signal generating elements (10, 20) and a plurality of pairs of the first and second signal generating elements (10, 20) vertically arranged along an outer wall of the water measuring device (100).

Description

AN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING WATER LEVEL

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring water level for use in plant carriers.

Background of the invention

Originally, if the user wants to measure the water level in a container, he is required to put the fluviometer into a container, which is complex and takes time; with the planting application art, plant carriers generally have a pot structure and regular and a certain volume of watering is required for flowers planted in containers. If the water level in a plant carrier is too high, root rot may occur easily; if the water level in a plant carrier is too low, the flower may die due to shortage of water. A common plant carrier generally has a closed structure and the water level in the plant carrier cannot be observed directly. Thus people need to take a lot of time and energy to often observe the humidity of the soil in the plant carrier or insert a fluviometer into the plant carrier to judge the water level of the plant carrier. However, the above method requires certain experience and wastes time and energy, and the user must contact the plant in the plant carrier in order to insert the fluviometer into the plant carrier, which unavoidably damages the plant. Moreover, it is not easy for ordinary people to master the technique of measurement.

According to the prior arts, it appears transparent plant carriers. Although the water level in transparent plant carriers can be obtained through visual inspection, the result is inaccurate, which is not favorable to precise determination of the volume of watering for flowers. Likewise, in other occasions, there exists the need to obtain the precise water level in plant carriers in a non-intrusive way.

Summary of Invention

The problem to be solved for the present invention is to solve the inconvenient and inefficient operation of the existing watering measuring apparatus for use in plant carriers. Another problem to be solved for the present invention is to solve that the existing plant watering apparatus does not involve any cordless indictor for showing the result of the water level measured by the water measuring apparatus mounted inside the plant carrier. The present invention provides an apparatus for measuring water level comprising a water measuring device; a reader; said water measuring device further comprising a control member adapted for communicating with said reader; said water measuring device further comprising first and second signal generating elements adapted for forming an electrical conduction path through an electricity conductive medium positioned between said first and second signal generating elements and at least two pairs of said first and second signal generating elements vertically arranged along an outer wall of said water measuring device.

Typically, said first and second signal generating elements are adapted for communicating with said control member when said electrical conduction path is formed.

Typically, said control member is adapted for identifying a particular pair of said first and second signal generating elements.

Typically, said reader is adapted to communicate with said water measuring device through radio frequency signal.

Typically, said reader is a RFID reader.

Typically, said control member comprises a RFID tag.

Typically, said reader is an active RFID reader adapted to transmit interrogator signals and receive authentication replies from said RFID tag of said control member.

Typically, said control member further comprises an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio frequency signal, collecting DC power from the radio frequency signal transmitted from said reader.

Typically, said control member further comprises an antenna adapted for receiving and transmitting the radio frequency signal.

Typically, said control member is adapted to provide DC power to said plurality of pairs of said first and second signal generating elements.

Typically, a pair of said first and second signal generating elements are adapted for providing signal to said control member when the electrical conduction path is formed between a pair of said first and second signal generating elements.

Typically, said apparatus comprises a plant carrier for mounting a plant inside said plant carrier.

Typically, said control member is adapted to measure the water level inside a plant carrier by identifying number of signals provided by said plurality of pairs of aid first and second signal generating elements.

Typically, an electricity conductive medium is water.

Typically, said reader comprises a means for displaying the water level signal. Typically, said reader further comprises a means for communicating the external electronic device.

Typically, said reader further comprises a means for communicating the plant watering device.

Typically, said reader further comprises a means for identifying the plants.

Typically, said apparatus further comprises a humidity sensor device adapted for detecting the humidity of the soil inside said plant carrier.

Typically, said humidity sensor device comprises passive RFID tag adapted for communicating with said reader.

Description of the drawings

This and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading of the following detailed descriptions and drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a water measuring device of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG 2 shows a front view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective of a reader of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows another perspective of a reader of an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 shows a perspective of a humidity sensor device of an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in an embodiment, the apparatus for measuring water level comprising a water measuring device 100, a reader 200, said water measuring device further comprising a control member 30 adapted for communicating with said reader; said water measuring device further comprising a first signal generating elements 10 and a second signal generating element 20 adapted for forming an electrical conduction path through an electricity conductive medium 40 positioned between a first signal generating element 10 and a second signal generating element 20 and a plurality of pairs of first and second signal generating elements 10, 20 vertically arranged along an outer wall of the water measuring device 100. Preferably, at least two pair of first and second signal generating elements on the outer wall of the water measuring device. For example, a first pair (10, 20), a second pair (11 21), a third pair (12, 22) and a fourth pair (13, 23) of first and second signal generating elements can be arranged on the longitudinal outer wall of the water measuring device. Typically, the water measuring device is put into the reservoir or water container inside the plant carrier in order to measure the water level inside the reservoir or water container of the plant carrier. Alternatively, the water measuring device can also be put into the soil inside the plant carrier in order to measure the water quantity inside the soil of the plant carrier. Specifically, the longitudinal portion having first and second signal generating elements (10, 20) of water measure device 100 is immersed in the soil or reservoir or water container of the plant carrier. The control member 40 is positioned on the top of the water measuring device 100. More specifically, RFID tag can be installed in the control member 30 in order to receive and transmit radio frequency signal to and from the reader 200.

Preferably, the reader 200 can be equipped with RFID active reader which provide radio frequency signal to water measuring device 100. The electric current will be induced by the electromagnetic wave and then provide electricity to a plurality pairs of first and second signal generating elements. If there is the case that a electricity conductive medium, such as water medium, located in the conductive region 30 between the first and second signal generating elements (10, 20), the electrical conduction path will then be formed and electric current can be passed through the first and second signal generating elements (10, 20) and the conductive region 30. Preferably, the conductive region 30 is a longitudinal concave region or a longitudinal aperture positioned on the middle region of the water measuring device 100. Typically, water can be stored inside the above region 30. Once the electric current passes through a pair of the first and second signal generating elements, a particular electric signal will be sent to the control member 40 for storage and data analysis. Typically, the control member can receive the individual electric signals from the pairs of first and second signal generating elements and identify the signals from various locations of the pairs of first and second signal generating elements lying on the various vertical positions of the water measuring device. Preferably, an antenna 41 is arranged on the water measure device 100 and is used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signal to and from the reader 200. As such, water level of the plant carrier can be determined under the above measuring system. Particularly, the wet soil of the plant carrier can form a water medium inside the conductive region 30 and allow the electric current to pass through such that the electric signal can be sent to the control member 40 in order to record the water level at the position of such particular pair of first and second signal generating elements. On the other hand, the dry soil is normally positioned above the wet soil inside the plant carrier. The fact is that the dry soil is not able to act as a conductive region for conducting electricity such that the pair of first and second signal generating elements with the conductive region filling with the dry soil is not able to provide electric signal to the control member 40. In this embodiment, the number of electric signals would be relied on the number of pairs of first and second signal generating elements immersed in the wet soil or reservoir of the plant carrier. Typically, the more number of electric signals received by the control member 40 can represent the higher degree of water level inside the plant carrier.

Alternatively, the water measuring device 100 can comprises an active RFID tag which has an on-board battery and periodically transmits its ID signal. A battery-assisted passive (BAP) has a small battery on board and is activated when in the presence of an RFID reader. A passive tag is cheaper and smaller because it has no battery. However, to start operation of passive tags, they must be illuminated with a power level roughly three magnitudes stronger than for signal transmission. That makes a difference in interference and in exposure to radiation. Further, Tags may either be read-only, having a factory-assigned serial number that is used as a key into a database, or may be read/write, where object-specific data can be written into the tag by the system user. Field programmable tags may be write-once, read-multiple; "blank" tags may be written with an electronic product code by the user. Particularly, such RFID tags mounted to the water measuring device 100 contain at least two parts: an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio-frequency (RF) signal, collecting DC power from the incident reader signal, and other specialized functions; and an antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal. The tag information is stored in a non-volatile memory. The RFID tag includes either a chip-wired logic or a programmed or programmable data processor for processing the transmission and sensor data, respectively.

In this embodiment, the reader 200 is an RFID reader which can transmit an encoded radio signal to interrogate the tag of the water measuring device 100. The RFID tag equipped in the water measuring device 100 can receive the message and then responds with its identification and other information. This may be only a unique tag serial number for a particular plant carrier which can be easily identify the plant and store the relevant data to the computer. Alternatively, this may be product-related information such as a stock number, lot or batch number, production date, or other specific information.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the indicator 50 showing the degree of water level is arranged on a first surface of the reader 200, the degree of water level can be illustrated under the indicator 50 by showing the number of lights displayed at the indicator 50. Preferably, the environmental condition of the plant carried inside the plant carrier, such as humidity of the soil of the plant carrier, can be displayed on the screen 60.

Referring to FIG. 5, in this embodiment, the hygristor or humidity sensor 70 can be put into the soil of the plant carrier for measuring the humidity of the soil.

In this embodiment, the reader 200 is an active RFID reader adapted to transmit interrogator signals and receive authentication replies from said RFID tag of said control member. Typically, the control member 40 comprises an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio frequency signal, collecting DC power from the radio frequency signal transmitted from said reader, the control member 40 can provide DC power to said plurality of pairs of said first and second signal generating elements. The control member 40 can measure the water level inside a plant carrier by identifying number of signals provided by the plurality of pairs of first and second signal generating elements. Preferably, the reader 200 comprises a means for communicating the external electronic device, such as internet or computer.

In this embodiment, the plant carrier according to the present invention may have a variety of overall structures and mainly comprises a container carrying water, soil in the container and flower planted in the soil. The purpose of the present invention is mainly to make a plant carrier for the above measuring apparatus and the main purpose of the above measuring apparatus is to obtain the water level value in the container, therefore the overall structure of the plant carrier is secondary. In the preferred embodiment of the plant carrier according to the present invention, the plant carrier of a structure is selected for elaboration.

For a plant carrier of other structures, such as a plant carrier directly carrying soil and water, likewise, just arrange a water level tag group within the plant carrier carrying water in the plant carrier with the above method, and the signal transmission and receiving device of the above measuring apparatus can be used for detection, thus obtains the real-time water level value of the plant carrier. The structure is simple and the arrangement is easy. Common plant carriers can be directly modified to be suitable for the above measuring apparatus.

The present invention has been described in detail, with reference to the preferred embodiment, in order to enable the reader to practice the invention without undue

experimentation. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that many of the previous disclosures may be varied or modified somewhat without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the intellectual property rights to this invention are defined only by the following claims.

Claims

Claims I claim:

1. An apparatus for measuring water level comprising

a water measuring device;

a reader;

said water measuring device comprising a control member adapted for communicating with said reader;

said water measuring device further comprising first and second signal generating elements adapted for forming an electrical conduction path through an electricity conductive medium positioned between said first and second signal generating elements; and

at least two pairs of said first and second signal generating elements vertically arranged along an outer wall of said water measuring device.

2. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 1, wherein said first and second signal generating elements are adapted for communicating with said control member when said electrical conduction path is formed.

3. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 2, wherein said control member is adapted for identifying a particular pair of said first and second signal generating elements.

4. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 2, wherein said reader is adapted to communicate with said water measuring device through radio frequency signal.

5. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 4, wherein said reader is a RFID reader.

6. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 5, wherein said control member comprises a RFID tag.

7. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 6, wherein said reader is an active RFID reader adapted to transmit interrogator signals and receive authentication replies from said RFID tag of said control member.

8. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 7, wherein said control member further comprises an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio frequency signal, collecting DC power from the radio frequency signal transmitted from said reader.

9. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 7, wherein said control member further comprises an antenna adapted for receiving and transmitting the radio frequency signal.

10. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 8, wherein said control member is adapted to provide DC power to said plurality of pairs of said first and second signal generating elements.

11. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 2, wherein a pair of said first and second signal generating elements are adapted for providing signal to said control member when the electrical conduction path is formed between a pair of said first and second signal generating elements.

12. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 11, wherein said apparatus comprises a plant carrier for mounting a plant inside said plant carrier.

13. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 12, wherein said control member is adapted to measure the water level inside a plant carrier by identifying number of signals provided by said plurality of pairs of aid first and second signal generating elements.

14. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 13, wherein an electricity conductive medium is water.

15. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 1, wherein said reader comprises a means for displaying the water level signal.

16. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 15, wherein said reader further comprises a means for communicating the external electronic device.

17. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 15, wherein said reader further comprises a means for communicating the plant watering device.

18. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 15, wherein said reader further comprises a means for identifying the plants.

19. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 1, wherein said apparatus further comprises a humidity sensor device adapted for detecting the humidity of the soil inside said plant carrier.

20. The apparatus for measuring water level according to Claim 19, wherein said humidity sensor device comprises passive RFID tag adapted for communicating with said reader.