Flush toilet unit

Abstract

Disclosed is a flush toilet unit, which is capable of measuring a urine volume with a high degree of accuracy without making a significant change to a conventional water-closet structure. The flush toilet unit (1) of the present invention comprises a bowl (12) for receiving urine of a user therein, a trap portion (15) fluidically connected to the bowl and adapted to guide a pooled water in the bowl to a sewer pipe and to form a water seal relative to the sewer pipe, pooled-water discharge means (34, 35) for lowering a pooled-water level in the bowl to a given water level which is below an overflow water level in the trap portion, water-level measurement means (46) for measuring a water-level variation between the lowered pooled-water level set by the pooled-water discharge means and a water level in the bowl after urination by the user, urine-volume calculation means for calculating a volume of urine voided into the bowl by the user, in accordance with the water-level variation value measured by the water-level measurement means, and water supply means for supplying water into the bowl to return the pooled-water level in the bowl to the overflow water level.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a flush toilet unit, and more particularly to a flush toilet unit capable of measuring a volume of voided urine and / or biological information related to the urine volume. BACKGROUND ART [0002] Biological information to be obtained from urine is valuable in the medical fields, particularly in the fields of preventive medical care and therapeutic management. While a urine sample has heretofore been collected using a collecting vessel, such as a urine collection cup, this conventional technique lacks consideration to comfort for patients required for offering their urine samples. Thus, there is the need for providing a technique for allowing a volume of voided urine and / or biological information related to the urine volume to be measured through urination at a lavatory in a usual manner. Further, there is the need for providing a flush toilet unit suitable for measuring an index necessary not only for preventive medical care, but ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a flush toilet unit that can easily measure the volume of urine voided by a user. The unit has a high reliability and is cost-effective. It achieves this by learning the volume of urine through a simple process of urination in a lavatory. The unit has a urine-volume measuring function that reduces the time lag for preparation and improves user-friendliness during urination. It also has a high-accuracy urine-volume estimation function without significantly changing the conventional water-closet structure. The unit has a pooled-water discharge means to lower the water level in the bowl and a water-level measurement means to measure the variation in water level. The urine-volume calculation means calculates the volume of urine voided by the user based on the water-level variation. The water-supply means then supplies water back to the bowl to return it to the sewer pipe and form a water seal. The technical effects of the invention include improved accuracy in urine-volume measurement, reduced time lag, user-friendliness, and cost-effectiveness.

Problems solved by technology

As described above, the previously proposed systems for measuring a urine volume or a urine flow rate involve various problems.

Moreover, the aforementioned conventional urine-volume measuring systems have a problem about insufficient operational reliability due to properties of urine as a measurement target.

That is, urine containing a large amount of electrolyte, such as sodium chloride, is liable to corrode measuring-elements / devices made of metal and consequently cause a negative effect on functions of the measuring-elements / devices.

Further, the flush toilet disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 08-299348 has a problem about poor user-friendliness, because it is required to take a long time for preparation of a urine-volume measuring operation, and a user is obliged to hold his / her urine until initiation of the measurement.

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