As a result of increased environmental awareness, water conservation has become an important issue especially in the Western part of United States, densely populated areas elsewhere within the United States and in other countries or regions that have arid climates.
With regard to domestic water consumption in this country, the ultimate use is generally for sanitary, culinary, drinking, washing or bathing purposes. It has been found that careless or willful waste occurs during the performance of certain of these tasks such as washing dishes, preparing food, brushing teeth, etc. wherein the user permits the water to flow continuously from the faucet rather than to temporarily shut-off the flow, when water is not needed, during these procedures. The primary reason for not interrupting the water flow is generally because the user's hands are occupied or because of the effort required to again achieve the same water temperature and/or pressure.
By way of example, water consumption during the process of washing and rinsing a typical load of dishes for four place settings, consumes 7.5 gallons of water or approximately one cubic foot of water. During the wash/rinse period, the water is idling for about fifty (50%) percent of the time, thus wasting 0.5 cubic feet.
Aside from the environmental issues, another motivation for reducing consumption is economic in nature in that there is a tendency for the rates charged for metered water to generally increase rather than decrease. Furthermore, the conservation of hot water minimizes the fuel needed to heat the water and thus achieves additional cost savings.
An apparatus to control a water faucet valve without requiring hands-on operation is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,270,239. A shortcoming of that device is that the moveable components of the mechanical linkage are subjected to friction and wear resulting in slack and inefficiency. A further problem with that device is that the installation requires a plumber or other skilled workman and it is not particularly adapted as a retro-fit assembly.
Another remote control faucet valve device, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,035, utilizes a flexible conduit for communicating between a foot control member and a valve member. A disadvantage of that arrangement is that the conduit is draped over the sink and the kitchen cabinet when in use and thus presents a physical impediment or hinderance which interferes with access to the sink and underlying cabinet. The conduit can also further become entangled with kitchen appliances. Additionally, the hydraulic system has a restricted range of control functions.
With regard to wireless control systems utilizing a radio link, these devices have been applied to the operation of motorized toy vehicles and model airplanes. They have also been applied to remote keyless entry systems for locking or unlocking the doors and trunk lid of automobiles. The utilization of radio controls for home automation has been rather limited with the most common usage being for electronic garage door openers.
Fluid handling apparatus employing radio signal control has been applied to irrigation systems as discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,726,477 and 4,838,310. The systems of the aforementioned patents, however, are not adapted for domestic use and do not include an electronic valve structure or a tactile foot-operated sending unit as in this invention.