Researchers Submit Patent Application, “Water Meter System And Method”, for Approval (USPTO 20210381207): Patent Application

2021 DEC 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Daily Real Estate News -- From Washington, D.C., NewsRx journalists report that a patent application by the inventors Brotherton, Donald J. (San Marcos, TX, US); Morrow, David C. (Midland, TX, US), filed on June 28, 2021, was made available online on December 9, 2021.

No assignee for this patent application has been made.

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Less than one percent of all the water on Earth can be used by people. Property damage can result from water damage due to plumbing failures, and pipes that freeze is the second most common cause of homeowner loss. Household leaks can include more than one trillion gallons of water annually nationwide. The Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program held Fix-a-Leak Week from Mar. 20-26, 2017 to bring awareness of a need to conserve water. The average household water leak can account for more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year, and ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day. Water leaks caused $9.1 billion in annual homeowner policy property losses from 2007 to 2009 including approximately 23 percent of all homeowner property losses. According to the American Insurance Association “[w]ater damage claims have been growing faster than other components of homeowners insurance.” In the U.S., water damage is the second most frequently filed insurance claim and has accounted for more than $5 billion of reported claims each year from 1999 to 2003. Water damage claims, mostly from leaky or burst pipes, are the primary cause of rising property-insurance costs. Up to 93% of the cost of water damage can be prevented or minimized if an automatic water leak detection and shut-off system is present in the homes, according to an ACE Private Risk Services study of damage sustained by affluent homeowners.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent application, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “Embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a water meter that may include at least one ultrasonic sensor that may be arranged in a water meter body and provided to detect and trace leaks in real-time. A ball valve may be configured to remotely close, and dual pressure sensors may be arranged on each side of the valve. The dual pressure sensors may be arranged to separate upstream pressure zones from downstream pressure zones when the ball valve is closed. The water meter may further provide a power source that may include a solar panel, an adapter, a battery, and/or another energy source. When the water meter automatically detects low flows and leaks, the power source may automatically turn the water meter on or off. Specialized fittings may be configured to allow a user to install the system. The water meter may be connected to a water meter application, and the water meter application may be configured to display and notify a user of a water flow rate increase in real-time. The water meter may minimize flow turbulence and cavitation, and the ball valve may be configured to remotely close and shut off water supplied to various locations. The water meter may include an angled sensor port that may be arranged to extend from the water meter body and monitor a water temperature.

“Other embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a metering system that may include a first and a second ultrasonic sensor. The first and second ultrasonic sensors may be provided to detect and trace leaks in real-time. A ball valve may be configured to remotely close, and dual pressure sensors may be arranged on each side of the ball valve. A power source be made of a solar panel, an adapter, a battery, and/or another energy source. When the metering system automatically detects low flows and leaks, the power source may automatically turn the metering system on or off. A water flow, a gas flow, or a combination of the water flow and the gas flow may be monitored to detect and trace leaks in real-time. Flow irregularities within the metering system may be communicated to a user in real-time. A dashboard may be connected to the metering system, and the dashboard may be configured to display the flow irregularities and metering system data to the user. The metering system may minimize flow turbulence and cavitation. The metering system may be solely battery-powered.

“Embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a method of operating a water meter system. The method of operating the water meter system may provide the steps of detecting and tracing leaks in real-time, by a processor, and utilizing at least one ultrasonic sensor. The method may include remotely closing a ball valve, wherein dual pressure sensors may be arranged on each side of the ball valve. The method may provide powering the water meter system with a solar panel, an adapter, a battery, and/or another energy source. Installing the water meter system may utilize specialized fittings, and the specialized fittings may be configured to allow a user to install the system. The method may provide the step of notifying the user in real-time of flow irregularities within the metering system. The method may further include displaying the flow irregularities and metering system data on a dashboard. The method may provide the step of transmitting detected leaks to the metering system from the at least one ultrasonic sensor that may provide leak detection logic.

“Other technical features may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following drawings, descriptions and claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A water meter, comprising: two ultrasonic sensors placed in sensor ports in a top portion of a water meter body and physically touching water on an inside of the water meter body, the two ultrasonic sensors provided to monitor water flow and detect and trace leaks in real-time; a first input including a water temperature sensor that monitors water temperature; a second input including ambient sensors that monitor air temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure around the water meter; a third input that communicates with online weather forecast information, wherein the first input, the second input, and the third input correlate to provide warnings about freezing pipes associated with the water meter; a ball valve configured to remotely close; and dual pressure sensors arranged on each side of the ball valve, wherein the dual pressure sensors are arranged to separate upstream pressure zones from downstream pressure zones and monitor pressure on each side of the ball valve when the ball valve is closed, and wherein one of the dual pressure sensors continuously monitors pressure when the ball valve is open.

“2. The water meter according to claim 1, further comprising: a power source made of a solar panel, an alternating current (AC) adapter, an external direct current (DC) battery, or another energy source, the power source connected to a power switch, the water meter having an automated flow detection feature.

“3. The water meter according to claim 1, wherein the water meter is connected to a water meter application, the water meter application configured to display and notify a user of a water flow rate increase in real-time and also provide high-resolution flow visualization, totalization of volume, and metering data and settings to adjust flow sensitivity on a user-by-user basis, the water flow visualization including a graphical display of flow.

“4. The water meter according to claim 1, wherein the ball valve is configured to remotely close and shut off water supplied to various locations.

“5. The water mater according to claim 1, further comprising: an angled sensor port arranged to extend from the water meter body and monitor a water temperature.

“6. The water meter of claim 1, wherein the water meter monitors a time to cold measurement that provides for measuring a flow of water and temperature over time to estimate a time period before water may reach a cold threshold.

“7. The water meter of claim 1, wherein the water meter monitors a time to heat measurement that provides for measuring a flow of water and temperature over time to estimate a time period before water is at a maximum heat.

“8. The water meter of claim 1, wherein the water meter monitors an efficiency of heating water, heat metering in an open or closed system, and a heat energy value.

“9. A method of operating a metering system, comprising the steps of: monitoring water temperature using a first input including a water temperature sensor; monitoring air temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure around the metering system using a second input including ambient sensors; using a third input, communicating with online weather forecast information, wherein the first input, the second input, and the third input correlate to provide warnings about freezing pipes associated with the water meter; monitoring water flow and detecting and tracing leaks in real-time, by a processor, utilizing two ultrasonic sensors integrated into a water meter body; providing high-resolution water flow visualization, totalization of volume, and metering data on a dashboard associated with the metering system, the water flow visualization including a graphical display of flow; and monitoring pressure within the metering system using dual pressure sensors arranged on each side of a ball valve, wherein one of the dual pressure sensors continuously monitors pressure when the ball valve is open and the dual pressure sensors monitor pressure on each side of the ball valve when the ball valve is closed.

“10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: powering the water meter system with a solar panel, an alternating current (AC) adapter, an external direct current (DC) battery, a solar panel, or another energy source.

“11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: notifying a user in real-time of flow irregularities within the metering system.

“12. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: transmitting detected leaks to the metering system from the two ultrasonic sensors.

“13. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: metering consumption, watching for leaks, and sending no-flow alerts to provide non-invasive monitoring for elderly or high-risk tenants.

“14. The method according to claim 9, wherein the water flow visualization is historical and/or live/real-time.

“15. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: providing a secure mode to identify unauthorized entry and use of water.

“16. The method according to claim 9, wherein the two ultrasonic sensors detect negative flow or backflow and the ball valve is closed to stop backflow contamination.

“17. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: providing predictive consumption through an alert notification system identifying whether a user is above or below current consumption behavior by a volume or a percentage.

“18. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: providing predictive billing by pulling a billing cycle for a city and associating that billing to a user based on the user’s address and calculating a bill in real-time to predict the user’s end-of-month bill.

“19. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: shared monitoring, metering, and remote valve control by a water supplier and a user associated with the metering system.

“20. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: providing price prediction by comparing historical data to current consumption rates, comparing a historical consumption record to current monthly rates per day, mapping daily consumption to a user-set conservation goal to identify where the user will be in consumption at the end of the month and apply the user’s provider’s billing costs to get an estimated rate.”

For additional information on this patent application, see: Brotherton, Donald J.; Morrow, David C. Water Meter System And Method. Filed June 28, 2021 and posted December 9, 2021. Patent URL: https://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220210381207%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20210381207&RS=DN/20210381207

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