Programmable toilet flush initiating, monitoring and management system and method thereof
AssigneeHydraze, Inc.
InventorCharles Dylan GRODY
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a toilet flushing initiating, monitoring and management system initiated by the unlocking of a locking member on a door mounted in a stall typically found in a bathroom such as a public bathroom. Signal patterns from flushing controller and a door housing controller are recorded and analyzed to identify associated fault conditions. Notifications of the associated fault conditions are output and communicated to an authorized user, such as a facilities manager.
Claims21
A system for managing toilet flushing in a bathroom stall, comprising:
- (i) a door housing controller comprising:
- a door lock chamber,
- a slider capable of translating from a first position to a second position, the slider comprising a first end and a second end opposite the first end, wherein the slider first end in the first position is inserted in the door lock chamber and the slider first end in the second position is free of the door lock chamber,
- a signal emitter associated with the door locking member, the signal emitter configured to send a wireless signal to a flush signal receiver when the slider is in the second position,
- a sensor configured for sensing the slider when the slider is in the second position, the sensor operatively connected to the signal emitter;
- (ii) a toilet flushing controller operatively joined to the flush signal receiver;
- (iii) a toilet flushing actuator controlled by the toilet flushing controller, wherein the signal emitter is configured to transmit to the flush signal receiver a signal upon sensing that the slider has been translated to the second position, the toilet flushing controller configured to control the toilet flushing actuator to initiate a single toilet flush when the stall door is unlocked;
- and
- (iv) a system controller in communication with the toilet flushing controller and the door housing controller;
- wherein the system controller is configured to:
- receive time-stamped event data indicative of events occurring within a usage cycle defined by cycle boundary events;
- standardize event timing within the usage cycle;
- generate a distribution of events over the standardized usage cycle;
- overlay a distribution for at least a second flushing technology on the same axes;
- compute a similarity measure between distributions;
- and,
- based at least in part on the similarity measure, update at least one parameter of a flushing technology and/or a policy governing flush timing or volume.
A computer-implemented method for analyzing data from a toilet flushing system, comprising:
- receiving, by a system controller, time-stamped event data comprising cycle boundary events and flushing-related events, the flushing-related events comprising data from at least a stall door latch and a distance sensor or other sensor configured to detect a condition for initiating a flush;
- defining a usage cycle based on the cycle boundary events;
- recording distance-sensor activation timestamps indicating when the distance sensor would have initiated a flush, regardless of whether the distance sensor actually initiated the flush;
- standardizing the time-stamped flushing-related events to the usage cycle;
- generating a first distribution of flushing-related events over the standardized usage cycle;
- overlaying, on common axes, a second distribution corresponding to a different flushing technology;
- computing a similarity measure between the first distribution and the second distribution;
- and
- outputting at least one of:
- (i) a visualization comprising the first distribution, the second distribution, and the similarity measure, or (ii) a report comprising the similarity measure.
The method of claim 18, wherein applying the update is performed at least in one of the following contexts:
- during manufacturing, in the field by a facilities manager, automatically and dynamically by the system controller, or a combination thereof.
The method of claim 18, wherein the applying comprises using a model configured to receive inputs including at least one of:
- battery life, usage-cycle duration, time of day, frequency of manual flushes, stall geometry, or historical similarity measures, and to output updated timing or sensitivity parameters.
(canceled)
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a system controller, cause the system controller to perform operations comprising:
- receiving time-stamped cycle boundary events and flushing-related events from a toilet flushing system;
- standardizing flushing-related events within a usage cycle defined by the cycle boundary events;
- generating and overlaying distributions for different flushing technologies on common axes;
- computing a similarity measure between the distributions;
- and
- in response to the similarity measure, implementing at least one of:
- a change to a distance sensor timing or sensitivity parameter, a programmable flush delay, or a volume-selection policy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.