Method and apparatus for controlling automatic toilet flushing system
AssigneeHydraze, Inc.
InventorCharles Dylan Grody
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for controlling actuations of an automatic toilet flushing mechanism compares manual flush timestamps, latch open timestamps and latch close timestamps in association with uses of a toilet stall to generate a stall use profile. Automatic toilet flushing may be controlled based on the stall use profile. Stall usage data, toilet usage data and/or water usage data may be collected and provided for improved maintenance and water conservation.
Claims19
A method for controlling actuations of an automatic toilet flushing mechanism, the method comprising:
- acquiring and storing a manual flush timestamp in association with each occurrence of a manual flush of a toilet in a toilet stall;
- acquiring and storing a latch open timestamp in association with each unlatching of the door latch configured on a door of the toilet stall;
- acquiring and storing a latch close timestamp in association with each latching of the door latch;
- comparing the manual flush timestamp, the latch open timestamp, and the latch close timestamp to generate a stall use profile;
- determining whether to actuate an Automatic Flushing of the toilet based on the stall use profile.
An apparatus for controlling actuations of an automatic toilet flushing mechanism, the apparatus comprising:
- a processor;
- memory in communication with the processor;
- a toilet stall latch in communication with the processor, the toilet stall latch configured to communicate latch open event data and latch close event data to the processor for storage in the memory;
- a toilet flush actuator in communication with the processor, the toilet flush actuator configured to automatically flush a toilet in response to an actuation signal from the processor;
- a toilet flush sensor in communication with the processor, the toilet flush sensor configured to communicate toilet flush event data to the processor for storage in the memory;
- wherein the processor is configured to implement a method for controlling actuations of an automatic toilet flushing mechanism, the method comprising:
- acquiring and storing a manual flush timestamp in association with each occurrence of a manual flush of a toilet in a toilet stall;
- acquiring and storing a latch open timestamp in association with each unlatching of the door latch configured on a door of the toilet stall;
- acquiring and storing a latch close timestamp in association with each latching of the door latch;
- comparing the manual flush timestamp, the latch open timestamp, and the latch close timestamp to generate a stall use profile;
- determining whether to actuate an Automatic Flushing of the toilet based on the stall use profile.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.