User position sensor and user profiles for toilet
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional toilets face challenges in maintaining cleanliness, especially at the hinge location, while also maintaining aesthetics and efficiency in electrically operated cover and seat opening mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a toilet design featuring a ball-and-socket hinge mechanism that allows the cover and seat to pivot and swivel, reducing electrical power requirements and enabling independent operation for different user requirements, along with a control system that uses sensors to automate the opening and closing of the cover and seat based on user position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the cover and seat are hingably attached to pivot about a horizontal axis, then the cover and seat can be raised from lowered position to stowed position, but the cleanliness at the hinge location deteriorates and aesthetics are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the cover and seat assembly into separable components that can be independently positioned. The cover can be detached from the seat, and both can be independently raised or lowered, eliminating the need for a traditional hinge at the cover-seat interface and improving cleanliness in previously hidden areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary lifting mechanism (electric motor or spring system) that replaces the traditional hinge connection. This intermediary system allows the cover and seat to be raised without direct hinge contact at the visible interface, maintaining cleanliness while enabling operation.
2Extent of automation
If electrically operated opening mechanisms are implemented, then automated cover and seat opening is achieved, but electrical power requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs spring-loaded counterweight mechanisms that automatically raise the cover and seat when activated. The springs store potential energy that counteracts gravity, significantly reducing the electrical power needed compared to direct electric motors that must overcome the full weight of the cover and seat assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses periodic sensing (detecting user approach) followed by periodic actuation (raising cover and seat). This intermittent operation rather than continuous power consumption reduces overall energy usage while maintaining automated functionality.
3Device complexity
If traditional hinged cover and seat configuration is used, then structural simplicity is maintained, but the ability to provide independent operation for different user requirements is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The cover and seat are separated into independent operable units. Each can be raised, lowered, or detached independently, allowing different users to access the toilet bowl without the other component being in the way, thereby providing versatility while maintaining relatively simple individual mechanisms for each component.
Data Source
AI summary
A toilet includes a base, a seat rotatably coupled to the base, a drive mechanism, a sensor, and a controller. The drive mechanism is configured to rotate the seat with respect to the base. The sensor is configured to generate image data for a user within a predetermined distance to the base. The controller is configured to determine an orientation of the user based on the image data and generate a command for the drive mechanism in response to the orientation of the user.