Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Optical proximity sensor based toilet with fill tube proximity level sensing
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Application No.: US15337154Application Date: 2016-10-28
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Publication No.: US09939307B2Publication Date: 2018-04-10
- Inventor: David R. Hall , Dan Allen , Jared Reynolds , Joshua Larsen , Travis Niederhauser , Terrece Pearman
- Applicant: David R. Hall , Dan Allen , Jared Reynolds , Joshua Larsen , Travis Niederhauser , Terrece Pearman
- Main IPC: E03D1/00
- IPC: E03D1/00 ; G01F23/22 ; G05D7/06 ; G01N33/00 ; G01F23/26 ; A61B5/021 ; A61B5/00 ; G01F23/292 ; A61B5/20 ; E03D11/02 ; A61B10/00

Abstract:
The present invention is directed to a toilet that includes a slanted fill tube with an optical proximity sensor positioned on or within the inner surface of the fill tube. The optical proximity sensor includes an incoherent light source and a photodiode. The optical proximity sensor as disclosed herein detects small changes in volumes added to a toilet bowl. Consequently, small volumes of excrement that are deposited in the toilet bowl by a user may be detected with greater accuracy. In some embodiments, information about the volume of urine or feces deposited into the toilet bowl is recorded and calculated by a processor. Other sensors, including a toilet bowl water level sensor and a gas sensor may collect data in combination with the optical proximity sensor to provide more complete information about the user's health.
Public/Granted literature
- US20170198464A1 Optical Proximity Sensor Based Toilet with Fill Tube Proximity Level Sensing Public/Granted day:2017-07-13
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