Water meters having integrated pressure regulating systems and related methods
AssigneeSensus Spectrum, LLC
InventorChristian Heizenroeder
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Meters including a pressure regulating systems are provided. The pressure regulating system includes a pressure sensor configured to sense pressure of water flowing through the meter; an actuator coupled to the pressure sensor; an electronics module configured to receive pressure information related sensed pressure from the actuator and process the received pressure information; and a radio module coupled to the meter and configured to receive the processed sensor information from the electronics module, communicate the processed sensor information to a remote location and receive pressure adjustment information from the remote location. The received pressure adjustment information is used to adjust water pressure in the meter from the remote location.
Claims15
A water meter including a water meter housing, the water meter housing including a pressure regulating system, the pressure regulating system comprising:
- a pressure sensor, in the water meter housing, that senses pressure of water flowing through the water meter housing;
- an actuator in the water meter housing;
- an electronics module, in the water meter housing coupled to the actuator, wherein the electronics module receives pressure information related to sensed pressure from the pressure sensor and processes the received pressure information;
- and
- a radio module in the water meter housing and configured to receive the processed sensor information from the electronics module, communicate the processed sensor information to a remote location and receive pressure adjustment information from the remote location, the received pressure adjustment information being used to adjust water pressure using the actuator in the meter from the remote location,
- wherein the water meter comprises a magnetic inductive water meter that measures water consumption and water pressure and adjusts the pressure in the magnetic inductive water meter up and down to increase or decrease water consumption.
A water meter comprising:
- a water meter housing;
- a pressure sensor in the water meter housing that senses pressure of water flowing through the water meter;
- and
- an integrated pressure control valve inside the water meter housing, the integrated pressure control valve configured to receive instructions from a remote location based on the sensed pressure of water flowing through the water meter to increase and/or decrease water pressure of water flowing through the water meter using an actuator in the water meter housing,
- wherein the water meter comprises a magnetic inductive water meter that measures water consumption and water pressure and adjusts the pressure in the magnetic inductive water meter up and down to increase or decrease water consumption.
A method of remotely adjusting pressure in a magnetic inductive water meter, the magnetic inductive water meter comprising a water meter housing including a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, an actuator, an electronics module and a radio module therein, the method comprising:
- sensing pressure of water flowing through the water meter using the pressure sensor;
- receiving the sensed pressure of the water flowing through the water meter at the electronics module in the water meter;
- processing the received sensed pressure at the electronics module to provide processed pressure information;
- providing the processed pressure information to a remote location via the radio module;
- receiving pressure adjustment information from the remote location via the radio module;
- and
- adjusting the pressure of the water flowing through the water meter based on the received pressure adjustment information from the remote location.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.