US20110191950A1

US20110191950A1 - Sanitary toilet seat

Info

Publication number: US20110191950A1
Application number: US12/703,773
Authority: US
Inventors: Lin-Ho Liu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-02-11
Filing date: 2010-02-11
Publication date: 2011-08-11

Abstract

An energy saving and intelligent electronic sanitary seat comprises a hinge base, a seat portion, a temperature controlling unit, a germicidal device, a control unit, a sensing unit, a hydroelectric unit and a thermoelectric unit. The seat portion includes an upper and lower seat plates. Said germicidal device consists of a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) which can emit ultraviolet light, a ventilation system and a photocatalytic layer. Said sensing unit comprises of two infrared sensors and two pressure monitoring devices. The hydroelectric unit consists of a first and second hydroelectric generators provided respectively about an inlet and outlet of a water tank of a toilet.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a sanitary device, more specifically, a sanitary toilet seat which can be mounted onto a water closet.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART

A water closet or a flush toilet is a common sanitary device for disposing human waste. Conventional flush toilet consists of a toilet bowl, a tank and a toilet seat. When using the toilet, the seat is lowered for supporting the bottom of the user. The toilet seat is usually made of plastic, thus under cold weather user will feel unpleasant chill sensation by sitting on the plastic toilet seat. To eliminate said defect, electronic or computerized toilet seat has been introduced, the seat is supplied with electricity to heat the toilet seat. However, without possibility to detect human presence, the toilet seat has to be heated continuously, which cause the waste of the energy. Besides than the energy waste, toilet seat is usually considered as a medium for transmitting diseases, especially for those in public service. Therefore, to provide a sanitary toilet seat which possesses hygiene and energy saving features has become two objectives of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To achieve foregoing objectives, an energy saving electronic sanitary toilet seat is realized by having a toilet seat incorporating a temperature controlling unit, a germicidal device, and a hydroelectric unit. The temperature controlling unit is controlled by a control unit which connects to a sensing unit. Said temperature controlling unit maintains the toilet seat in a minimum temperature when is not used and the sensing unit is an infrared sensor that can activate the temperature controlling unit through the control unit when sensing the approach of user, heating the seat in a short period to avoid unnecessary waste of energy. The heat generated by said temperature controlling unit to warm the toilet seat when is not used can be transformed into electricity through a thermoelectric unit. Further a hydroelectric unit is provided inside the water tank of the toilet to produce power when flushing the toilet. Electricity generated by said thermoelectric unit and hydroelectric unit is stored in an electric power accumulator to reduce power consumption of the present invention.
As for the hygienic purpose, the germicidal device comprises of multiples ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UVA LEDs), a ventilation device and a photocatalytic layer; the UVA LEDs emit ultraviolet light to sterilize hazardous germs, and said germicidal effect is improved by the photocatalytic layer applied within the ventilation device, thus external air is drawn into the system passing said photocatalytic layer and discharging sterile air, generating circulation cycle to eliminate germs and bacteria efficiently.
Comparing with prior art, advantages of the present invention are listed as following:

- 1. Temperature controlling unit operated by a control unit can maintain toilet seat in an adequate temperature, avoiding overheating which burns the user.
- 2. UVA LEDs and photocatalytic layer applied within said ventilation system provide dual-sterilizing effect, reducing germs and bacteria to eliminate surface cross infection.
- 3. The infrared sensor can detect human's approach and pressure monitoring device can determine whether the seat is actually utilized. Both sensors assist the control unit and allow the toilet seat to function more accurately.
- 4. The present invention include can generate alternative power using a hydroelectric unit and a thermoelectric unit to transform the flushing water and heat that warms the toilet seat into valuable energy and achieving energy saving.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sanitary seat according to the preferred embodiment provided on a toilet.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of said sanitary seat according to the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the present invention from a side perspective.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the present invention from a front perspective.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a first hydroelectric generator of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of said first hydroelectric generator.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view demonstrating function of the present invention when refilling the water tank.

FIG. 8 is another explanatory view demonstrating function of the present invention when flushing the water tank.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of the present invention form a side perspective to show the function thereof.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of said sanitary seat.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail hereinafter.
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, a sanitary seat comprises of a hinge base (1) having a first compartment (11) defined therein, attached onto a toilet (10); a seat portion (2) having a second and a third compartments (23, 24) jointed with said hinge base (1); a temperature controlling unit (3) is provided at the top or upper surface of an inner side of said second compartment (23); a germicidal device (4), provided within said third compartment (24); a control unit (5), connected electrically with said temperature controlling and germicidal devices (3, 4) is provided within said first compartment; a sensing unit (6), connected electrically with said control unit (5) is provided within said seat portion (2); a hydroelectric unit (7) connected electrically with said control unit (5) is provided within a water tank (20); and a thermoelectric unit (8), connected electrically with said control unit (5) is provided within said second compartment (23) and facing said temperature controlling unit (5).
Said seat portion (2) includes a top seat plate (21) and a bottom seat plate (22) mounted upon a transparent plate (223).
Said germicidal device (4) consists essentially of a plurality of Ultraviolet Light Emitting Diodes (UVA LEDs) (41) disposed within said third compartment (24) and facing the transparent plate (223); at least one ventilation device (42) is provided within said third compartment (24) for transmitting air into the seat portion (2); and a photocatalytic layer (43) which consists of photocatalysis is applied onto said ventilation device (42).
Said sensing unit (6) includes two infrared sensors (61) provided respectively on both ends of said first compartment (11) and two pressure monitoring devices (62) provided respectively about both ends of said seat portion (2) where are jointed with the hinge base (1).
Said hydroelectric unit (7) comprises of a first hydroelectric generator (71) provided at an inlet of the water tank (20) and a second hydroelectric generator (72) provided at an outlet thereof.
The temperature controlling unit (3) incorporated in said second compartment (23) can warm the toilet seat, relieving uncomfortable chilling sensation when used in a cold weather. The control unit (5) disposed within the first compartment (11) connected with said temperature controlling unit (3) can further maintain the seat temperature in a safe range to avoid overheating which can burn the skin of the user.
The UVA LEDs (41) and the ventilation system (42) incorporating said photocatalytic layer (43) of the germicidal device (4) producing a dual-sterilizing effect to sterilize the germs and bacteria resided on the toilet seat effectively, and eliminate possible surface cross infection.
The infrared sensor (61) can sense the human's approach by detecting the temperature, and said pressure sensor (62) sending signal to the control unit (5) to trigger the temperature controlling unit (3) as detecting a body weight. The cooperation of both sensors ensure the toilet seat be activated more accurately, reducing unnecessary waste of energy caused by misjudgment of the system.
Said temperature controlling unit (3) consumes huge amount of energy to maintain the seat (2) at a predetermined temperature, thus said toilet seat provides further a hydroelectric unit (7) to generate alternative energy when refilling and flushing the water within the tank (20) of the toilet (10) to reduce total consumption of the energy.
Said hydroelectric unit (7) generates electricity through differential of water level. However, the water level of the water tank (20) is usually maintained in a stationary state when the toilet is not used. Therefore, to obtain extra energy, a thermoelectric unit (8) is provided within said second compartment (23), transforming the heat from temperature controlling unit (3) into electricity to reduce the energy consumption further.
For providing energy to actuate each device of the present invention, the control unit (5) includes a power cable (51) whose one end connected electrically with the control unit (5) and another end is exposed from said hinge base (1) to connect a mains supply (M).
Said control unit (5) can further connect with an electric power accumulator (52) which can store the electricity generated by the hydroelectric (7) and thermoelectric units (8). Said electric power accumulator (52) is a battery or a super capacity. With said power accumulator (52), the toilet seat can still function during a power failure or to protect the device from a power surge. Type of power accumulator (52) depends on the size of the seat portion (2). For a seat having larger size, the battery is preferably to be the accumulator; as for a smaller one, said super capacity is recommended.
The temperature controlling unit (3) may be a resistance heater, a carbon fiber electric cord, or an infrared heating tube. The selection can be made according to the requested seat size and heating rate.
Said temperature controlling unit (3) is sheathed with a heat resisting sleeve (31). The sleeve (31) can spread the heat evenly to ht seat portion (2) and prevent it from overheated and melted caused by the temperature controlling unit (3).
A metallic heat dissipating plate (81) is attached at a bottom of said thermoelectric unit (8). It is known that efficient heat radiating rate improves the electricity generating efficiency. Therefore, by the installation of said heat dissipating plate (81), the recycling energy is increased.
Said thermoelectric unit (8) can be a thermoelectric board made of semi conductor or a dual-metallic thermoelectric board. The selection can be made depending type of temperature controlling unit (3) is utilized for achieving maximum efficiency. Allowing the present invention being energy saving.
The hinge base (1) consists of a hinge recess (12) for jointing the seat portion (2) and a substrate (13) for receiving the control unit (5). Said hinge recess (12) and substrate (13) form a waterproof casing to prevent the electronic device within from damage caused by water or moisture. Furthermore, the hinge base (1) provides a support to stabilize said seat portion (2).
A plurality of frontal air pores (221) are defined on a frontal side of an inner rim of the seat portion (2) and a plurality of rear air pores (222) are defined on a rear side of side inner rim. Said sir pores (222) are air inlet to allow external air being sucked into the seat portion for sterilizing purpose while the frontal air pores (221) are defined to discharge clean air.
Plurality light emitting diodes (41) which can emit ultraviolet light are provided respectively about said frontal air pores (221) and rear air pores (222) to sterilize germs or bacteria contained in the air. Furthermore, with the photocatalytic layer (43) applied, sterilization effect of said ventilation device (42) is improved.
Each of said frontal and rear air pore (221, 222) is engaged with a waterproof film (44) to resist entry of water to the seat portion (2), damaging the electronic device within.
A traditional lid (9) is mounted onto said seat portion (2) to cover said seat portion (2) when is not used, and to avoid bad odor fulfilled the restroom.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the first hydroelectric generator (71) comprises of a casing (73), a rotating wheel (74) provided axially within said casing (73), a plurality of permanent magnets (75) stacked up along said wheel (74), a rotor (76) disposed axially inside said rotating wheel (74), a cap (77) for sealing said wheel and a frame (78) for positioning the casing (73).
Said first hydroelectric generator (71) is provided about an inlet of the water tank (20) and is activated to generate electric energy through the liquid flow when refilling the water tank (20), providing as an additional power source to the present invention.
The second hydroelectric generator (72) comprises of a casing (73), a rotating wheel (74) provided axially within said casing (73), a plurality of permanent magnets (75) stacked up inside said wheel (74), a rotor (76) disposed axially inside said rotating wheel (74), a cap (77) for sealing said wheel and a frame (78) for positioning the casing (73). Both first and second hydroelectric generators (71, 72) share the same structure, thus no additional detail drawing for the second generator (72) is shown. However, the second hydroelectric generator (72) is provided reversely within the water tank (20) relative to the first generator (71) to generate electric power through the liquid flow when flushing the toilet (10). With said first and second hydroelectric generators (71, 72), additional energy can be produced each time when the toilet is used.
Said pressure monitoring device (62) is an angular transducer. Said angular transducer can detect the change of the position of an axis of the seat portion (2) for determining whether the toilet seat has been lowered to be used and activating said control unit (5). The pressure monitoring device (62) can be set away from where the temperature controlling unit (3) is provided, thus any malfunction or damage caused by high temperature is avoided.
The complete function of the toilet seat is shown in FIGS. 7 through 10. The main power source for actuating said toilet seat is provided through the power cable (51) which connects to the mains supply (51). Each discharging and refilling of the water tank (20) also actuate the first and second hydroelectric generators (71, 72) to generate alternative power and charge an electric accumulator (52) to reduce the main consumption of the device.
As the temperature controlling unit (3) is heated, said thermoelectric unit (8) which is attached below may also transform the heat into electricity and charge said electric accumulator (52) to save more energy.
The temperature controlling unit (3) is maintained in a predetermined standby temperature (T1) to preserve energy; said temperature controlling unit (3) is activated as both the infrared sensor (61) and pressure monitoring device (62) are actuated. Once said devices are activated by detecting human presence, the temperature controlling unit (3) is heated up to reach a required temperature (T2) set by the user. The activation of said infrared sensor (61) or pressure monitoring device (62) individually won't trigger the device to avoid misjudging the action of human presence.
As said pressure monitoring device (62) detects no pressure is applied and said hydroelectric device (7) is activated, the heat up of said temperature controlling unit (3) is terminated, allowing temperature to drop to the standby temperature (T1). A time period (S) can be set to deactivate the temperature controlling unit (3) after pressure monitoring device (62) detects no human presence in case that user might forget to flush the toilet after used.
The germicidal device (4) is also triggered by the control unit (5) as said pressure monitoring device (62) detects no pressure is applied thereon and said hydroelectric device (7) is activated.
The ventilation system (42) sucks the air into said third compartment (24) through rear air pores (222) and multiple UVA LEDs (41) arranged at rear side of said pores (222) emit ultraviolet light to eliminate germs and bacteria resided within the air for the first time, and the inner wall of said third compartment (24) includes a layer of photocatalytic layer (43) to perform another sterilizing procedure. Afterward, the air is inducted to the frontal air pores (221) disposed at another end of the seat portion (2) and sterilized by multiples UVA LEDs (41) arranged at frontal side of pores (221) and discharged to the outside of the seat portion (2).
Said UVA LEDs (41) not only can sterilize germs and bacteria contained in the air, but also can perform sterilization to the upper portion of toilet bowl through said transparent plate (223). Said germicidal device (4) is deactivated as said pressure monitoring device (62) detecting the lift up of the seat portion (2) to avoid energy wastage.
The blow produced by said ventilation system (42) also increases the dissipating rate of the heat dissipating plate (81) and create greater temperature difference between the temperature controlling unit (3) and plate (81). Said temperature difference allows thermoelectric unit (8) to generate alternative energy.
The present invention has been described via the detailed illustration of the preferred embodiment. Those skilled in the art can derive variations from the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the preferred embodiment shall not limit the scope of the present invention defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A sanitary toilet seat comprises of:

A hinge base having a first compartment defined therein;

A seat portion having a second and a third compartments jointed with said hinge base;

A temperature controlling unit is provided at a top of an inner side of said second compartment;

A germicidal device provided within said third compartment;

A control unit connected electrically with said temperature controlling and germicidal devices is provided within said first compartment;

A sensing unit connected electrically with said control unit is provided within said seat portion;

A hydroelectric unit connected electrically with said control unit is provided within a water tank; and

A thermoelectric unit connected electrically with said control unit is provided within said second compartment, facing said temperature controlling unit;

Said seat portion includes a top seat plate and a bottom seat plate mounted on a transparent plate;

Said germicidal device consists essentially of a plurality of ultraviolet Light Emitting Diodes (LED) disposed within said third compartment and facing the transparent plate; at least one ventilation device provided within said third compartment for transmitting air into the seat portion; and a photocatalytic layer applied onto said ventilation device;

Said sensing unit includes two infrared sensors provided respectively on both ends of said first compartment and two pressure monitoring devices provided respectively about both ends of said seat portion where are jointed with the hinge base;

Said hydroelectric unit comprises of a first hydroelectric generator provided at an inlet of the water tank and a second hydroelectric generator provided at an outlet of said water tank.

2. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control unit further includes a power cable whose one end connected electrically with the control unit and another end is exposed from said hinge base to connect a mains supply.

3. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control unit is further connected with an electric power accumulator which storing the electricity generated by the hydroelectric and thermoelectric units.

4. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 3, wherein said electric power accumulator is a battery or a super capacity.

5. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said temperature controlling unit is a resistance heater, a carbon fiber electric cord, or an infrared heating tube.

6. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein a heat resisting sleeve is provided onto said temperature controlling unit.

7. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein a metallic heat dissipating plate is attached at a bottom of said thermoelectric unit.

8. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said thermoelectric unit is a thermoelectric board made of semi conductor.

9. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said thermoelectric unit is a dual-metallic thermoelectric board.

10. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said hinge base consists of a hinge recess for jointing the seat portion and a substrate for receiving the control unit.

11. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of frontal air pores are defined on a frontal side of an inner rim of the seat portion and a plurality of rear air pores are defined on a rear side of side inner rim.

12. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 11, wherein each frontal and rear air pore is engaged with a waterproof film to avoid water entering inside of the seat portion.

13. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein a lid is mounted onto said seat portion.

14. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first hydroelectric generator comprises of a casing, a rotating wheel provided axially within said casing, a plurality of permanent magnets stacked up inside said wheel, a rotor disposed axially inside said rotating wheel, a cap for sealing said wheel and a frame for positioning the casing.

15. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first hydroelectric generator comprises of a casing, a rotating wheel provided axially within said casing, a plurality of permanent magnets stacked up inside said wheel, a rotor disposed axially inside said rotating wheel, a cap for sealing said wheel and a frame for positioning the casing.

16. The sanitary toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pressure monitoring device is an angular transducer.