Overflow protection shut-off apparatus for use with a water heater

Claim 1

An overflow protection shut-off device for use with a water heater for shutting off a supply of water to the water heater when a leaking condition occurs comprising, in combination: a resettable stop valve mechanism comprising: a fitting securable to an input water line of a water heater, an axially rotatable stem engaged within the fitting and being rotatable to an opened position for allowing water flow within the input line and further being rotatable to a closed position for preventing such flow, a cam secured to the stem, a coil spring coupled to the stem and having a biased orientation for placing the stem in an opened position and an unbiased orientation for placing the stem in the closed position, and a hand-turnable knob coupled to the stem for allowing the coil spring to be placed in the biased orientation upon discretion of a user; a switching mechanism comprising: a hollow rigid housing with a plurality of apertures formed thereon for receiving a flow of water from the water heater when the leaking condition occurs, a rigid and L-shaped lever having a short arm, a long arm with a hooked outboard end, and a location therebetween that is pivotally coupled to the housing, a spring coupled between the long arm of the lever and the housing, a strip of water-soluble material having one end coupled to the housing and another end coupled to the outboard end of the long arm of the lever to thereby place the spring of the switch mechanism in a biased position, and a cable having a first end held in contact with the cam of the valve mechanism and a second end coupled to the short arm of the lever and with the strip dissolvable when placed in contact with water entering the housing to release the lever and remove the first end of the cable from contact with the cam, thus allowing closure of the stop valve mechanism; electronic horn means for providing an audible indication of the leaking condition when the cam is released from contact with the first end of the cable; a battery for supplying electrical energy to the horn; and a depressible switch coupled between the horn and the battery and having a depressed orientation when placed in contact with the cam for allowing electrical energy to be delivered to the horn means and a released orientation for preventing such delivery.