Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E03—WATER SUPPLY; SEWERAGE
  • E03D—WATER-CLOSETS OR URINALS WITH FLUSHING DEVICES; FLUSHING VALVES THEREFOR
  • E03D5/00—Special constructions of flushing devices, e.g. closed flushing system
  • E03D5/10—Special constructions of flushing devices, e.g. closed flushing system operated electrically, e.g. by a photo-cell; also combined with devices for opening or closing shutters in the bowl outlet and/or with devices for raising/or lowering seat and cover and/or for swiveling the bowl
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E03—WATER SUPPLY; SEWERAGE
  • E03D—WATER-CLOSETS OR URINALS WITH FLUSHING DEVICES; FLUSHING VALVES THEREFOR
  • E03D1/00—Water flushing devices with cisterns ; Setting up a range of flushing devices or water-closets; Combinations of several flushing devices
  • E03D1/30—Valves for high or low level cisterns; Their arrangement ; Flushing mechanisms in the cistern, optionally with provisions for a pre-or a post- flushing and for cutting off the flushing mechanism in case of leakage
  • E03D1/32—Arrangement of inlet valves
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E03—WATER SUPPLY; SEWERAGE
  • E03D—WATER-CLOSETS OR URINALS WITH FLUSHING DEVICES; FLUSHING VALVES THEREFOR
  • E03D11/00—Other component parts of water-closets, e.g. noise-reducing means in the flushing system, flushing pipes mounted in the bowl, seals for the bowl outlet, devices preventing overflow of the bowl contents; devices forming a water seal in the bowl after flushing, devices eliminating obstructions in the bowl outlet or preventing backflow of water and excrements from the waterpipe

Definitions

• the automated bowl fill system 140 determines an estimate of an amount of water that was prevented from flowing down the drain of the toilet during the flush cycle 100 due to the operation of the automated bowl fill system 140.
• the bowl fill flow is only allowed to occur for a predefined period of time in order to fill the bowl without losing any further water, it follows that with each flush that the automated bowl fill system 140 is employed, a predefined amount of water is saved. Specifically, any water that might have potentially been lost in the third phase 109 (FIG. 1) will have been conserved.
• An estimate of the amount of water that is prevented from flowing down the drain in this manner is calculated for each flush cycle 100 by the automated bowl fill system 140.
• the estimate of the amount of water saved for each flush cycle 100 is stored in a memory of the automated bowl fill system 140 to facilitate this calculation.
• the automated bowl fill system 140 is powered by batteries. Consequently, it would be advantageous that the display device 159 was not activated unless the toilet tank lid had been removed from the toilet tank 120 so that a user may see it at such time to save power.
• the automated bowl fill system 140 may include a photo sensor 163 that signals to the automated bowl fill system 140 to activate the display 159 when ambient light is detected. When the toilet lid is placed over the toilet tank 120, then there will be little or no light in the toilet tank 120. However, when the lid of the toilet tank 120 is removed, then light will strike the photo sensor 163.
• valve control interface 239, alarm interface 246, and display interface 249 include, for example, such registers, buffers, and/or other circuitry that allow the bowl fill control system 216 to write various data commands thereto that cause the bowl fill valve 236, alarm circuit 243, or display 159 to act as desired.
• the bowl fill control system 216 increments a flush cycle error count.
• the flush cycle error count is a variable stored in the memory 206.
• the bowl fill control system 216 determines whether the flush cycle error count has reached a predefined threshold value stored in the memory 206. If the flush cycle error count has reached the threshold as determined in box 336, then the bowl fill control system 216 proceeds to box 339 in which an alarm is triggered and/or a message is generated and transmitted to a remote device over the network 219 (FIG. 3) by way of the data communications interface 169 (FIG. 3). In this respect, remote individuals such as municipal government officials may be alerted to the existence of the leak and the resulting waste of water.
• the bowl fill control system 216 proceeds to box 366 in which it is determined whether the flush cycle 100 has ended. This may be determined, for example, if the inlet pressure sensor 229 does not detect any pressure at the bowl fill valve 236 which indicates that the fill valve 123 has closed, thereby indicating the end of the flush cycle 100. Alternatively, the tank level sensor 223 may detect that the water level in the toilet tank 120 has reached its maximum height, thereby indicating that the flush cycle 100 has ended.
• the bowl fill control system 216 determines whether the end of the flush cycle 100 has occurred. This may be determined, for example, by detecting whether the inlet pressure sensor 229 senses pressure due to the fact that the fill valve 123 is open. In this respect, the bowl fill control system 216 may intermittently cause the bowl fill valve 236 to close for a brief period of time to determine whether the inlet pressure sensor 229 detects a pressure head at the inlet of the bowl fill valve 236 as was described, for example, in box 376 above.
• the rim 489 may comprise a structure place on top of the toilet bowl 483 such as, for example, a toilet seat or other structure.
• the "rim" of the toilet bowl 483 is defined herein as either the actual upper rim of the bowl 483 itself or any structures placed on top of the toilet bowl 483 that act in place of the actual rim of the toilet bowl 483 such as a toilet seat, etc., upon which the support 466 may be placed.
• the user may add water to the toilet bowl 483 to ensure that the level of water is at its highest point. This is because the water level may be lower than its highest point due to evaporation or a malfunctioning fill valve, etc. Thereafter, the user may initiate a flush cycle by flushing the toilet of which the toilet bowl 483 is a part, thereby causing the float 459 to fall with the falling level of the water 486 in the toilet bowl 483.
• the stem 456 falls correspondingly with the fall of the float 459. The stem 456 may fall until the stop 476 comes into contact with the top of the sleeve 463.
• the bowl level sensor 506b comprises a water level sensor that includes a tube 516 that is inserted into the water 486 in the toilet bowl 483 before a flush cycle is commenced.
• the pressure of the water 486 applies pressure to the air within the tube 516 which in turn applies pressure to a diaphragm of the bowl level sensor 506b.
• a corresponding electrical signal is generated and is communicated back to the automated bowl fill system 140a.
• the bowl level sensor 506b may be plugged into the automated bowl fill system 140a, for example, when a calibration of the automated bowl fill system 140a is deemed desirable.
• wireless communication may be employed between the bowl level sensor 506b and the automated bowl fill system 140a.
• the bowl level sensor 506b may be attached to the support 466 in a manner similar to the toilet bowl water level gauge 450 as described with reference to FIG. 5.
• the end of the flush cycle 100 may be determined by detecting whether the water level within the toilet tank 120 has reached its maximum height.
• a water flow meter may be employed at the water inlet of the tank that detects when the fill valve has shut off the water, thereby indicating the end of the flush cycle, or other metering sensors may be employed.
• the user may press the push button 156 at the time that the flush cycle ends to indicate the end of the flush cycle.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Hydrology & Water Resources (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Water Supply & Treatment (AREA)
• Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
• Sanitary Device For Flush Toilet (AREA)
• Level Indicators Using A Float (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=36777722

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (4)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2006
  • 2006-01-11 WO PCT/US2006/000871 patent/WO2006083507A2/en active Application Filing
  • 2006-01-11 EP EP06717999A patent/EP1848863A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2006-01-11 AU AU2006211599A patent/AU2006211599A1/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events