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US 12,607,482 B2Granted
Central multi-user inhome display device for water meters
AssigneeGfw AG
InventorStefan Christen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An inhome display device and method are provided for reading and monitoring consumed hot and cold water that includes a plurality of water meters which measure hot and cold water consumption and encrypt the consumption data, one internal or external radio module per water meter for transmitting the encrypted consumption data, a gateway for one or multiple water meters for receiving and transmitting the encrypted consumption data to a remote backend server. The consumption data is decrypted, processed and made available in the remote backend server. The consumption data of a water meter is retrievable from the remote backend server via at least one central inhome display and displayed on the at least one central inhome display.
Claims15
An inhome display system for reading and monitoring water consumption, the inhome display system comprising:
- a plurality of water meters, each of the water meters being configured to measure hot water consumption and/or cold water consumption to obtain consumption data and encrypt the consumption data to output the encrypted consumption data,
- at least one transmitter per each water meter that transmits the encrypted consumption data,
- a plurality of gateways, each of the plurality of gateways corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of water meters such that at least one gateway is provided per each water meter of the plurality of water meters, each of the gateways being configured to receive and transmit the encrypted consumption data to a remote backend server,
- wherein the encrypted consumption data is decrypted, processed and made available in the remote backend server,
- wherein the consumption data of at least one of the plurality of water meters is retrievable from the remote backend server via at least one central inhome display and displayed on the at least one central inhome display,
- wherein each of the plurality of water meters is installed in a different apartment in a building complex and the at least one central inhome display is located at a commonly accessible location in the building complex,
- wherein the at least one central inhome display is a touchpad for executing query instructions and for authentication and authorization, and
- wherein a plurality of assigned building complexes are stored in the backend server and each assigned building complex has its own assigned water meters, which are assigned to the respective assigned building complex in a 1:1 relationship and wherein each assigned building complex has at least one assigned central inhome display, which is assigned to the respective assigned building complex in a 1:1 relationship, so that only information about the assigned water meters of the assigned building complex in which the at least one assigned inhome display is located can only be retrieved from the at least one assigned central inhome display.
5 more elements
A method for reading and monitoring water consumption, the method comprising:
- providing an inhome display system, wherein the inhome display system comprising:
- a plurality of water meters, each of the water meters being configured to measure hot water consumption and/or cold water consumption to obtain consumption data and encrypt the consumption data to output the encrypted consumption data,
- at least one transmitter per each water meter that transmits the encrypted consumption data, and
- a plurality of gateways, each of the plurality of gateways corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of water meters such that at least one gateway is provided per each water meter of the plurality of water meters, each of the gateways being configured to receive and transmit the encrypted consumption data to a remote backend server,
- wherein the encrypted consumption data is decrypted, processed and made available in the remote backend server,
- wherein the consumption data of at least one of the plurality of water meters is retrievable from the remote backend server via at least one central inhome display and displayed on the at least one central inhome display,
- wherein each of the plurality of water meters is installed in a different apartment in a building complex and the at least one central inhome display is located at a commonly accessible location in the building complex, and
- wherein the at least one central inhome display is a touchpad for executing query instructions and for authentication and authorization,
- wherein the consumption data is only retrievable and is only displayed on the at least one central inhome display by confirming a correct user identification, wherein said confirming the correct user identification includes:
- storing settings on the backend server, and
- identifying the correct user identification by receiving user input by either receiving a serial number of a specific water meter or a user name and a corresponding password on the at least one central inhome display and by comparing and verifying the user input with the settings stored on the backend server, and
- wherein a plurality of assigned building complexes are stored in the backend server and each assigned building complex has its own assigned water meters, which are assigned to the respective assigned building complex in a 1:1 relationship and wherein each assigned building complex has at least one assigned central inhome display, which is assigned to the respective assigned building complex in a 1:1 relationship, so that only information about the assigned water meters of the assigned building complex in which the at least one assigned inhome display is located can only be retrieved from the at least one assigned central inhome display.
9 more elements
A method for reading and monitoring water consumption, the method comprising:
- providing an inhome display system, wherein the inhome display system comprising:
- a plurality of water meters, each of the water meters being configured to measure hot water consumption and/or cold water consumption to obtain consumption data and encrypt the consumption data to output the encrypted consumption data,
- at least one transmitter per each water meter that transmits the encrypted consumption data, and
- a plurality of gateways, each of the plurality of gateways corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of water meters such that at least one gateway is provided per each water meter of the plurality of water meters, each of the gateways being configured to receive and transmit the encrypted consumption data to a remote backend server,
- wherein the encrypted consumption data is decrypted, processed and made available in the remote backend server,
- wherein the consumption data of at least one of the plurality of water meters is retrievable from the remote backend server via at least one central inhome display and displayed on the at least one central inhome display,
- wherein each of the plurality of water meters is installed in a different apartment in a building complex and the at least one central inhome display is located at a commonly accessible location in the building complex, and
- wherein the at least one central inhome display is a touchpad for executing query instructions and for authentication and authorization,
- wherein the consumption data is only retrievable and is only displayed on the at least one central inhome display by a confirming correct user identification, and wherein said confirming the correct user identification includes:
- storing settings on the backend server,
- capturing one or more biometric characteristics of a user, and
- comparing and verifying the one or more biometric characteristics with the settings stored on the backend server, and
- wherein the at least one central inhome display comprises a biometric scanner for the authentication and the authorization, and
- wherein a plurality of assigned building complexes are stored in the backend server and each assigned building complex has its own assigned water meters, which are assigned to the respective assigned building complex in a 1:1 relationship and wherein each assigned building complex has at least one assigned central inhome display, which is assigned to the respective assigned building complex in a 1:1 relationship, so that only information about the assigned water meters of the assigned building complex in which the at least one assigned inhome display is located can only be retrieved from the at least one assigned central inhome display.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.