Water supply control sensing device for water outlet end of faucet
Through radar sensing technology, the combined structure of patch antennas, waveguide antennas and slot antennas is used to solve the problem of infrared sensors being susceptible to interference and pollution, achieving high accuracy and stability of faucet water supply, and improving the user experience.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202420849269.6
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-04-23
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-27
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-04-23
AI Technical Summary
The water supply control sensing device at the outlet of the traditional faucet is susceptible to interference from high infrared reflective objects and is easily contaminated by scale, resulting in a decrease in sensitivity and the inability to accurately sense dark or rough surfaces, which affects the user experience.
Radar sensing is adopted, through the combined structure of patch antenna, waveguide antenna and slot antenna, microwave signals are used to enhance and accurately emit direction, avoid defects of infrared sensors, and achieve higher induction accuracy and stability.
It effectively avoids the malfunction of infrared sensors and induction failure, improves the accuracy and stability of the faucet water supply, and improves the user experience and convenience.
Smart Images
Figure CN222252352U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of faucet control, in particular to a water supply control sensing device used for a water outlet end of a faucet. Background Art
[0002] Most traditional automatic water supply control sensing devices use infrared emission and reception to identify whether the hand is close to the faucet. This method has the advantages of low power consumption and battery power supply. In particular, there are now sensing devices integrated into the water outlet of the faucet, but these sensing devices still use the infrared sensing principle, specifically placing the infrared sensor at the water outlet of the faucet, using the water outlet of the faucet as a window, and sensing the user's hand by reflecting downward. However, the drain area of the wash basin is mostly made of metal materials such as aluminum, chrome-plated metal, and stainless steel, which have the characteristics of high infrared reflection and are prone to misoperation; moreover, the infrared sensor placed at the water outlet is more susceptible to scale contamination, resulting in reduced sensitivity or even failure; in addition, the infrared sensor is not sensitive to dark surfaces and rough surfaces (such as towels), resulting in inaccurate water supply from the faucet, affecting the user's experience.
[0003] Therefore, it is necessary to propose improvements to the problems existing in the prior art. Utility Model Content
[0004] The utility model aims to provide a water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet, aiming to solve the problems in the prior art.
[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the utility model provides a water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet, which includes a patch antenna, a waveguide antenna and a slot antenna; the waveguide antenna is attached to the patch antenna and a signal coupling and conduction structure is formed between the two, microwaves are emitted outward from the lower part of the gap between the waveguide antenna and the patch antenna, and the slot antenna is arranged at the lower part of the gap between the waveguide antenna and the patch antenna.
[0006] Furthermore, the patch antenna includes a floor layer and a radar transceiver antenna and a radar circuit board respectively arranged on two sides of the floor layer, and the main direction of transmitting and receiving microwaves of the radar transceiver antenna is perpendicular to the floor layer; the waveguide antenna is attached to the patch antenna with the aid of a coupling medium layer, and the side where the radar transceiver antenna is located faces the waveguide antenna.
[0007] Furthermore, the material of the coupling medium layer is ceramic or plastic, the dielectric constant is 2 to 8, and the thickness d1 is 0.03 to 0.2 mm.
[0008] Furthermore, the length of the slot of the slot antenna is greater than 1 / 2 of the wavelength of the induction radar received and transmitted, and the width of the slot of the slot antenna is greater than 1 / 16 of the wavelength of the induction radar received and transmitted.
[0009] Furthermore, the water supply control sensing device also includes a microcontroller unit, which is installed on a radar circuit board. The patch antenna, waveguide antenna, slot antenna and microcontroller unit are installed in a shell, and the shell is made of polymethyl methacrylate, polycarbonate or polybutylene terephthalate; the radar circuit board is also provided with a pulse drive circuit with an "H" bridge structure.
[0010] Furthermore, the microwaves received and transmitted by the patch antenna are Doppler microwaves in the X-band and have a transmission power less than <0 dBm.
[0011] Furthermore, the waveguide antenna includes a metal base plate, and a plurality of nail column structures and a plurality of mushroom waveguide structures are arranged on the side of the metal base plate facing the patch antenna. The nail column structures are distributed on the two side edges and the top edge of the metal base plate, and the mushroom waveguide structure is distributed in the middle of the metal base plate; the mushroom waveguide structure includes a cap and a mushroom handle connected between the cap and the metal base plate, and adjacent caps are spaced apart to form a gap.
[0012] Furthermore, the side surface of the metal base plate facing the patch antenna is at least partially filled with a structural medium, and the material of the structural medium is ceramic or epoxy resin, and the dielectric constant is 3.5-6.
[0013] Furthermore, the diameter D1 of the nail column structure is 0.1-0.3 mm; the diameter D2 of the cap is 1.5-3 mm, the thickness d2 of the cap is 30-100 um, and the gap width L between adjacent caps is 0.3-1.5 mm; the diameter D3 of the mushroom stem is 0.1-0.3 mm, and the height H of the mushroom stem is 0.5-1.6 mm.
[0014] Furthermore, the material of the nail column structure and / or the cap and / or the mushroom handle is copper.
[0015] The utility model provides a water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet, which adopts radar sensing to replace traditional infrared sensing. When in use, it is installed at the water outlet of the faucet, and whether water is supplied is determined by sensing whether there is a moving object below the water outlet. The microwave-based sensing method can avoid the problem that the infrared sensor in the prior art is easily interfered by highly infrared reflecting objects, and can also effectively avoid the sensing failure caused by scale, pollution, etc.; at the same time, the water supply control sensing device enhances the microwave signal through the cooperation of the patch antenna and the waveguide antenna, and the setting of microwaves emitting outward from the lower part of the gap between the waveguide antenna and the patch antenna can make the entire water supply control sensing device relatively thin. The thickness of the patch antenna and the waveguide antenna is mainly considered during the design, so that the water supply control sensing device is easier to install on the water outlet of the faucet, and there is no need to make the water outlet of the faucet too large, which does not affect the appearance; in addition, the slot antenna is used to more accurately control the direction of the microwave and improve the accuracy of the sensing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of the water supply control sensing device used for the water outlet of a faucet of the utility model;
[0017] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A partial enlarged view of the middle A;
[0018] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the top view of the water supply control sensing device used for the water outlet of a faucet of the utility model;
[0019] Figure 4 It is the front view of the waveguide antenna;
[0020] Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the waveguide antenna.
[0021] Description of reference numerals:
[0022] 1. Induction radar; 11. Patch antenna; 111. Floor layer; 112. Radar transceiver antenna; 113. Radar circuit board; 12. Waveguide antenna; 121. Metal base plate; 122. Spike structure; 123. Mushroom waveguide structure; 1231. Cap; 1232. Mushroom handle; 124. Structural medium; 13. Slot antenna; 14. Coupling medium layer; 15. Shell; 2. Micro control unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] The following is a detailed description of the embodiments of the present utility model.
[0024] In this embodiment, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, when terms such as "set on", "connected", and "connected" appear, these terms should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be directly connected or connected through one or more intermediate media. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in this embodiment can be understood according to the specific circumstances. The directional words that appear in this embodiment are to better illustrate the characteristics of the features and the relationship between the features. It should be understood that when the placement direction of this embodiment changes, the characteristics of the features and the direction of the relationship between the features also change accordingly. Therefore, the directional words do not constitute an absolute limitation on the characteristics of the features and the relationship between the features in space, but only play a relative limitation role.
[0025] The utility model provides a water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet, such as Figures 1 to 5As shown, it includes a patch antenna 11, a waveguide antenna 12 and a slot antenna 13. The patch antenna 11, the waveguide antenna 12 and the slot antenna 13 cooperate to enhance the microwave signal and more accurately control the direction of the microwave. The waveguide antenna 12 is attached to the patch antenna 11 and a signal coupling and conduction structure is formed between the two. The microwave is emitted outward from the lower part of the gap between the waveguide antenna 12 and the patch antenna 11. The slot antenna 13 is arranged at the lower part of the gap between the waveguide antenna 12 and the patch antenna 11. The signal emitted by the patch antenna 11 is enhanced by the signal coupling and conduction structure and then emitted from the lower slot antenna 13 to the sensing area; similarly, the signal reflected by the hand is also received from the lower slot antenna 13 and then enhanced by the coupling and conduction structure and then returned to the patch antenna 11. The above structure is conducive to improving the signal-to-noise ratio and subsequent signal processing.
[0026] Through the above-mentioned structural setting, the water supply control sensing device used for the water outlet of the faucet adopts radar sensing to replace the traditional infrared sensing. When in use, it is installed at the water outlet of the faucet. Whether water is supplied is determined by sensing whether there is a moving object below the water outlet. The microwave-based sensing method can avoid the problem that the infrared sensor in the prior art is easily interfered by highly infrared reflecting objects, and can also effectively avoid the sensing failure caused by scale, pollution, etc.; at the same time, the water supply control sensing device enhances the microwave signal through the cooperation of the patch antenna 11 and the waveguide antenna 12. The setting of microwaves emitting outward from the lower part of the gap between the waveguide antenna 12 and the patch antenna 11 can make the entire water supply control sensing device relatively thin. The thickness of the patch antenna 11 and the waveguide antenna 12 is mainly considered during the design. In this way, the water supply control sensing device can be more easily installed on the water outlet of the faucet, without making the water outlet of the faucet too large, and does not affect the appearance; in addition, the slot antenna 13 is used to more accurately control the direction of the microwave and improve the accuracy of the sensing.
[0027] In this embodiment, the microwaves received and transmitted by the patch antenna 11 are Doppler microwaves in the X-band and the transmission power is less than <0dBm (further <-15dBm), which can sensitively identify moving objects. The Doppler microwaves in the X-band of about 10GHz (specifically, 9.85GHz or 10.525GHz can be selected) avoid the crowded 5-6GHz (common mobile phone and WIFI frequencies), are not easily interfered by environmental frequencies, and meet the needs of induction control; the use of low transmission power can reduce environmental electromagnetic interference, avoid malfunction interference caused by multi-point and multi-path reflection of signals, improve the overall signal-to-noise ratio, and avoid false triggering.
[0028] In this embodiment, the patch antenna 11 includes a floor layer 111 and a radar transceiver antenna 112 and a radar circuit board 113 respectively arranged on two sides of the floor layer 111. The main direction of microwave transmission and reception of the radar transceiver antenna 112 is perpendicular to the floor layer 111. The waveguide antenna 12 is attached to the patch antenna 11 by means of a coupling medium layer 14, and the side where the radar transceiver antenna 112 is located faces the waveguide antenna 12. The above structural arrangement can reduce the thickness of the entire water supply control sensing device.
[0029] In this embodiment, the coupling medium layer 14 is made of ceramic or plastic, with a dielectric constant of 2 to 8 and a thickness d1 of 0.03 to 0.2 mm. Preferably, the coupling medium layer 14 is made of an organic plastic film with a dielectric constant greater than 3.0 and a low high-frequency loss angle, and is further preferably a polyimide film.
[0030] In this embodiment, the length of the slot antenna 13 is greater than 1 / 2 of the wavelength received and transmitted by the water supply control sensing device, and the width of the slot antenna 13 is greater than 1 / 16 of the wavelength received and transmitted by the water supply control sensing device.
[0031] In this embodiment, the radar circuit board 113 also includes a pulse drive circuit of an "H" bridge structure, which is used to output a drive signal for opening or closing the pulse electromagnetic valve. The water supply control sensing device also includes a micro control unit 2, which is installed on the radar circuit board 113. The micro control unit 2 is connected to the power supply module through an external lead for power supply and the pulse drive circuit is connected to the external control line to achieve connection with the pulse electromagnetic valve, and the pulse electromagnetic valve is used to control the on and off of the faucet. The patch antenna 11, the waveguide antenna 12, the slot antenna 13 and the micro control unit 2 are installed in the housing 15, and the material of the housing 15 is preferably PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), PC (polycarbonate), PBT (polybutylene terephthalate), etc.
[0032] In this embodiment, the bandpass range of the waveguide antenna 12 is 6 to 18 GHz, and the bandwidth is 12 GHz. Specifically, the waveguide antenna 12 includes a metal base plate 121, and the side of the metal base plate 121 facing the patch antenna 11 is provided with a plurality of nail column structures 122 and a plurality of mushroom waveguide structures 123, the nail column structures 122 are distributed on the two side edges and the top edge of the metal base plate 121, and the mushroom waveguide structures 123 are distributed in the middle of the metal base plate 121; the mushroom waveguide structure 123 includes a cap 1231 and a mushroom handle 1232 connected between the cap 1231 and the metal base plate 121, and adjacent caps 1231 are spaced to form a gap. The nail column structure 122 is used to shield the left, right, and top directions, so that microwaves are mainly transmitted and received from the slot antenna 13 at the bottom. In a specific application, the cap 1231 is attached to the radar transceiver antenna 112 by means of a polyimide film, and the microwaves emitted by the transceiver antenna 112 enter the signal coupling and conduction structure from the gaps between adjacent caps 1231. Preferably, the diameter D1 of the nail column structure 122 is 0.1 to 0.3 mm; the diameter D2 of the cap 1231 is 1.5 to 3 mm, the thickness d2 of the cap 1231 is 30 to 100 um, and the width L of the gap between adjacent caps 1231 is 0.3 to 1.5 mm; the diameter D3 of the mushroom stem 1232 is 0.1 to 0.3 mm, and the height H of the mushroom stem 1232 is 0.5 to 1.6 mm. According to experiments, the structure in the above size range has a better induction effect when used for water supply control.
[0033] In this embodiment, the side surface of the metal base plate 121 facing the patch antenna 11 is at least partially filled with a structural medium 124 . The material of the structural medium 124 is ceramic or epoxy resin, and the dielectric constant is 3.5-6.
[0034] In this embodiment, the material of the nail column structure 122 and / or the cap 1231 and / or the mushroom stem 1232 is copper.
[0035] After testing, the water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of the faucet provided in this embodiment will not be falsely triggered when used under conditions of strong sunlight, static highly reflective objects, human body movement in the surrounding area, etc., and will not affect normal operation when facing adverse conditions such as dark hands, rough objects, or the window of the sensing radar is covered with a small amount of water droplets, foam, dirt, etc.
[0036] In summary, this water supply control sensing device used at the water outlet of the faucet has strong stability and can greatly improve the user experience and convenience.
[0037] In the absence of conflict, the above-mentioned embodiments and features thereof may be combined with each other.
[0038] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the preferred technical solutions of the utility model, rather than to limit the protection scope of the utility model. Although the utility model has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, ordinary technicians in this field should understand that the technical solutions of the utility model can be modified or replaced by equivalents without departing from the essence and scope of the utility model.
Claims
1. A water supply control sensing device for a faucet outlet, characterized in that: It includes a patch antenna (11), a waveguide antenna (12) and a slot antenna (13); The waveguide antenna (12) is attached to the patch antenna (11) and a signal coupling and conduction structure is formed between the two. Microwaves are emitted outward from the lower part of the gap between the waveguide antenna (12) and the patch antenna (11). The slot antenna (13) is arranged at the lower part of the gap between the waveguide antenna (12) and the patch antenna (11).
2. The water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet according to claim 1, characterized in that: The patch antenna (11) comprises a floor layer (111) and a radar transceiver antenna (112) and a radar circuit board (113) respectively arranged on two sides of the floor layer (111); the main direction of microwave transmission and reception of the radar transceiver antenna (112) is perpendicular to the floor layer (111); the waveguide antenna (12) is attached to the patch antenna (11) by means of a coupling medium layer (14), and the side where the radar transceiver antenna (112) is located faces the waveguide antenna (12).
3. The water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet according to claim 2, characterized in that: The material of the coupling medium layer (14) is ceramic or plastic, the dielectric constant is 2 to 8, and the thickness d1 is 0.03 to 0.2 mm.
4. The water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet according to claim 2, characterized in that: The length of the slot of the slot antenna (13) is greater than 1 / 2 of the wavelength received and transmitted by the induction radar (1), and the width of the slot of the slot antenna (13) is greater than 1 / 16 of the wavelength received and transmitted by the induction radar (1).
5. The water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet according to claim 2, characterized in that: The water supply control sensing device also includes a micro control unit (2), the micro control unit (2) is mounted on a radar circuit board (113), the patch antenna (11), the waveguide antenna (12), the slot antenna (13) and the micro control unit (2) are mounted in a housing (15), the housing (15) is made of polymethyl methacrylate, polycarbonate or polybutylene terephthalate; the radar circuit board (113) is also provided with a pulse drive circuit of an "H" bridge structure.
6. The water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet according to claim 1, characterized in that: The microwaves received and transmitted by the patch antenna (11) are Doppler microwaves in the X band and have a transmission power less than <0 dBm.
7. The water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The waveguide antenna (12) comprises a metal base plate (121), and a plurality of nail column structures (122) and a plurality of mushroom waveguide structures (123) are arranged on the side of the metal base plate (121) facing the patch antenna (11), the nail column structures (122) are distributed on the two side edges and the top edge of the metal base plate (121), and the mushroom waveguide structures (123) are distributed in the middle of the metal base plate (121); the mushroom waveguide structure (123) comprises a cap (1231) and a mushroom handle (1232) connected between the cap (1231) and the metal base plate (121), and adjacent caps (1231) are arranged at intervals to form a gap.
8. The water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet according to claim 7, characterized in that: The side surface of the metal base plate (121) facing the patch antenna (11) is at least partially filled with a structural medium (124); the material of the structural medium (124) is ceramic or epoxy resin, and the dielectric constant is 3.5-6.
9. The water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet according to claim 7, characterized in that: The diameter D1 of the nail column structure (122) is 0.1 to 0.3 mm; the diameter D2 of the cap (1231) is 1.5 to 3 mm, the thickness d2 of the cap (1231) is 30 to 100 um, and the gap width L between adjacent caps (1231) is 0.3 to 1.5 mm; the diameter D3 of the mushroom stem (1232) is 0.1 to 0.3 mm, and the height H of the mushroom stem (1232) is 0.5 to 1.6 mm.
10. The water supply control sensing device for the water outlet of a faucet according to claim 6, characterized in that: The material of the nail column structure (122) and / or the cap (1231) and / or the mushroom stem (1232) is copper.