DESC:CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is based on and derives the benefit of Indian Provisional Application 202221014110 filed on 15-Mar-2022, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[001] Embodiments disclosed herein relate to water purifiers, and more particularly to sensing the water being provided as input to the purifier and purifying the water based on the sensed input water.
BACKGROUND
[002] Products currently available are designed to purify water blindly and without the knowledge of the presence or the state of the water at an inlet of the water purifier.
[003] Traditionally, water purifiers determine if input water is available at the inlet of the water purifier through a low pressure switch (LPS) and sensors, such as flow sensors and conductivity sensors. However, this method can have drawbacks such as lack of accuracy, lack of cost-effectiveness, increased component count, increased connection complexity, and increased product wiring in input/output (I/O) port usage.
[004] Also, if the input Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) level is very low, the conductivity sensors may not be effective as it can provide a false trigger to the controller, which can cause the water purifier to misbehave. Therefore, it is desirable to have methods and systems for sensing the water being provided as input to the purifier without having the above-mentioned traditional drawbacks.
OBJECTS
[005] The principal object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for filtering water in a water purifier, based on the presence of water at an inlet of the water purifier and a detected quality of the water at the inlet of the water purifier.
[006] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating at least one embodiment and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
[007] Embodiments herein are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, through out which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:
[008] FIG. 1 depicts example components of a water purifier, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[009] FIGs. 2A and 2B depict example operations of the water purifier, according to embodiments as disclosed herein; and
[0010] FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart for filtering water in a water purifier, based on the presence of water at an inlet of the water purifier and a detected quality of the water at the inlet of the water purifier, according to embodiments as disclosed herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0012] The embodiments herein achieve methods and systems for filtering water in a water purifier, based on the presence of water at an inlet of the water purifier and a detected quality of the water at the inlet of the water purifier. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 3, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.
[0013] Embodiments herein disclose methods and a water purifier for determining availability of input water in a water purifier, the quality of the water at the inlet (wherein the quality can be determined in terms of factors, such as, but not limited to, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) levels). The water purifier comprises a current sensor, which can sense a value of current flowing through a pump in the water purifier. The water purifier comprises a quality sensor, which can sense the quality of water at the inlet of the purifier. Further, the water purifier comprises a controller that can determine that water is available in the inlet, if the value of current flowing through the pump is greater than a threshold current value and determine the type of filtration to be applied (RO and/or UV) based on the quality of the water at the inlet.
[0014] FIG. 1 depicts example components of a water purifier. The water purifier 100, as depicted, comprises a controller 101, a current sensor 102, a water quality sensor 103, a RO filtering mechanism 104, a UV filtering mechanism 105, a plurality of solenoid valves (SVs) 106, a tank 107, and a memory 108.
[0015] The term ‘controller 101’ as used in the present disclosure, may refer to, for example, hardware including logic circuits; a hardware/software combination such as a processor executing software; or a combination thereof. For example, the processing circuitry more specifically may include, but is not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a System-on-Chip (SoC), a programmable logic unit, a microprocessor, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. For example, the controller 101 may include at least one of, a single processer, a plurality of processors, multiple homogeneous or heterogeneous cores, multiple Central Processing Units (CPUs) of different kinds, microcontrollers, special media, and other accelerators.
[0016] The current sensor 102 can sense a value of current flowing through a pump (not shown) at the inlet. The current sensor 102 can provide the sensed current value to the controller 101. The controller 101 can compare the sensed current value to a threshold current value (which can be stored in the memory 108). If the sensed current value is greater than the threshold current value, the controller 101 can determine that there is water available at the inlet of the filter 100 (i.e., input water is present). If the sensed current value is not greater than the threshold current value, the controller 101 can determine that water is not available at the inlet of the filter 100.
[0017] The water quality sensor 103 can sense the quality of the water; i.e., the TDS levels of the water. The water quality sensor 103 can communicate the sensed TDS value to the controller 101. The controller 101 can compare the sensed TDS value to a threshold TDS value (which can be stored in the memory 108).
[0018] If the sensed TDS value is not greater than the threshold TDS value (as depicted in FIG. 2A), the controller 101 can determine that water does not require the RO filtering mechanism 104 to be done. So, the controller 101 opens the solenoid valve 106a and closes the solenoid valve 106b, such that the UV filtering mechanism 105 performs filtering operation on the input water and the RO filtering mechanism 104 does not perform any filtering on the input water and store the filtered water in the tank 107.
[0019] If the sensed TDS value is greater than or equal to than the threshold TDS value (as depicted in FIG. 2B), the controller 101 can determine that water requires the RO filtering mechanism 104 also to be done. So, the controller 101 closes the solenoid valve 106a and opens the solenoid valve 106b, such that the UV filtering mechanism 105 and the RO filtering mechanism 104 both perform filtering operation on the input water and store the filtered water in the tank 107.
[0020] The solenoid valve 106A, 106B being open means that water may flow through the valve, when the respective valve is open. The solenoid valve 106A, 106B being closed means that water may not flow through the valve, when the respective valve is closed.
[0021] In an embodiment herein, the controller 101 can provide an indication to a user using a user interface (such as using an indicator light, an inbuilt display, and so on) (not shown). In an embodiment herein, the controller 101 can provide an indication to a user using an application on a user device (such as a mobile device, a tablet, a computer, an Internet of things (IoT) device, a wearable device, and so on), a web interface, and so on.
[0022] There may be additional components and modules present in the water purifier 100, which help further in the filtration of the water.
[0023] The memory 108 stores at least one of, the threshold current value, the threshold TDS value, the sensed current values, the sensed threshold values, and so on. Examples of the memory 108 may be, but are not limited to, NAND, embedded Multimedia Card (eMMC), Secure Digital (SD) cards, Universal Serial Bus (USB), Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), solid-state drive (SSD), and so on. Further, the memory 108 may include one or more computer-readable storage media. The memory 108 may include one or more non-volatile storage elements. Examples of such non-volatile storage elements may include Read Only Memory (ROM), magnetic hard discs, optical discs, floppy discs, flash memories, or forms of electrically programmable memories (EPROM) or electrically erasable and programmable (EEPROM) memories. In addition, the memory 108 may, in some examples, be considered a non-transitory storage medium. The term "non-transitory" may indicate that the storage medium is not embodied in a carrier wave or a propagated signal. However, the term "non-transitory" should not be interpreted to mean that the memory is non-movable. In certain examples, a non-transitory storage medium may store data that may, over time, change (e.g., in Random Access Memory (RAM) or cache).
[0024] FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart for filtering water in a water purifier, based on the presence of water at an inlet of the water purifier and a detected quality of the water at the inlet of the water purifier. In step 301, the current sensor 102 senses the value of current flowing through the pump at the inlet and provides the sensed current value to the controller 101. In step 302, the controller 101 compares the sensed current value to the threshold current value. If the sensed current value is greater than the threshold current value, the controller 101 determines that there is water available at the inlet of the filter 100 (i.e., input water is present). If the sensed current value is not greater than the threshold current value, the controller 101 can determine that water is not available at the inlet of the filter 100. In step 303, the water quality sensor 103 senses the TDS levels of the water and communicates the sensed TDS value to the controller 101. In step 304, the controller 101 compares the sensed TDS value to the threshold TDS value. If the sensed TDS value is not greater than the threshold TDS value (as depicted in FIG. 2A), the controller 101 can determine that water does not require the RO filtering mechanism 104 to be done. So, in step 305, the controller 101 opens the solenoid valve 106a and closes the solenoid valve 106b, such that the UV filtering mechanism 105 performs filtering operation on the input water and the RO filtering mechanism 104 does not perform any filtering on the input water and storing the filtered water in the tank 107 (step 307). If the sensed TDS value is greater than or equal to than the threshold TDS value (as depicted in FIG. 2B), the controller 101 can determine that water requires the RO filtering mechanism 104 also to be done. So, in step 306, the controller 101 opens the solenoid valve 106b and closes the solenoid valve 106a, such that the UV filtering mechanism 105 and the RO filtering mechanism 104 both perform filtering operation on the input water and storing the filtered water in the tank 107 (step 307). The various actions in method 300 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 3 may be omitted.
[0025] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The network elements shown in FIGs. 1, 2A and 2B include blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device, or a combination of hardware device and software module.
[0026] The embodiment disclosed herein describes methods and systems for filtering water in a water purifier, based on the presence of water at an inlet of the water purifier and a detected quality of the water at the inlet of the water purifier. Therefore, it is understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer readable means having a message therein, such computer readable storage means contain program code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device. The method is implemented in at least one embodiment through or together with a software program written in e.g. Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) another programming language, or implemented by one or more VHDL or several software modules being executed on at least one hardware device. The hardware device can be any kind of portable device that can be programmed. The device may also include means which could be e.g. hardware means like e.g. an ASIC, or a combination of hardware and software means, e.g. an ASIC and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software modules located therein. The method embodiments described herein could be implemented partly in hardware and partly in software. Alternatively, the invention may be implemented on different hardware devices, e.g. using a plurality of CPUs.
[0027] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of embodiments and examples, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments and examples disclosed herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.
,CLAIMS:We claim:
1. A method (300) for filtering water, the method comprising:
sensing (301), by a current sensor (102), a current at an inlet of a water purifier;
comparing (302), by a controller (101), the sensed current with a threshold current value;
determining, by the controller (101), that water is present at the inlet, if the sensed current is greater than the threshold current value;
sensing (303), by a water quality sensor (103), a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) value of the water at the inlet;
comparing (304), by the controller (101), the sensed TDS values with a threshold TDS value;
enabling, by the controller (101), a UltraViolet (UV) filtering mechanism (105) to perform filtering of the water, if the sensed TDS value is less than the threshold TDS value; and
enabling, by the controller (101), the UV filtering mechanism (105) and a Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtering mechanism (104) to perform filtering of the water, if the sensed TDS value is greater than or equal to the threshold TDS value.
2. The method, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller (101) enables the UV filtering mechanism (105) to perform filtering of the water by opening a solenoid valve (106A) and closing a solenoid valve (106B).
3. The method, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller (101) enables the UV filtering mechanism (105) and the RO filtering mechanism (104) to perform filtering of the water by closing the solenoid valve (106A) and opening the solenoid valve (106B).
4. The method, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method comprises filling a tank (107) in the water purifier with filtered water.
5. A water purifier (100) comprising:
a current sensor (102) configured for sensing a current at an inlet of the water purifier;
a water quality sensor (103) configured for sensing a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) value of the water at the inlet; and
a controller (101) configured for
comparing the sensed current with a threshold current value;
determining that water is present at the inlet, if the sensed current is greater than the threshold current value;
comparing the sensed TDS values with a threshold TDS value;
enabling a UltraViolet (UV) filtering mechanism (105) to perform filtering of the water, if the sensed TDS value is less than the threshold TDS value; and
enabling the UV filtering mechanism (105) and a Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtering mechanism (104) to perform filtering of the water, if the sensed TDS value is greater than or equal to the threshold TDS value.
6. The water purifier, as claimed in claim 5, wherein the controller (101) is configured to enable the UV filtering mechanism (105) to perform filtering of the water by opening a solenoid valve (106A) and closing a solenoid valve (106B).
7. The water purifier, as claimed in claim 5, wherein the controller (101) is configured to enable the UV filtering mechanism (105) and the RO filtering mechanism (104) to perform filtering of the water by closing the solenoid valve (106A) and opening the solenoid valve (106B).
8. The water purifier, as claimed in claim 5, wherein the controller (101) is configured to fill a tank (107) in the water purifier with filtered water.