US20210207352A1

US20210207352A1 - Semi-automatic toilet seat

Info

Publication number: US20210207352A1
Application number: US16/733,864
Authority: US
Inventors: Soo hwan KIM
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-01-03
Filing date: 2020-01-03
Publication date: 2021-07-08

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a semi-automatic toilet seat that is the improvement in a general toilet seat consisting of a lid and a seat part, the semi-automatic toilet seat is configured such that the seat part includes: a contact sensor provided on a lower surface of the seat part to detect a user's sitting state; a motor configured to be operated to close the lid from an opened state; and a controller configured such that when the contact sensor detects that the user's sitting state is released, the controller operates the motor to close the lid from the opened state and operates the solenoid so that water is supplied to the toilet to flush the toilet. Accordingly, the lid is automatically closed and the toilet is automatically flushed just by a movement that a user rises from the seat part.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates generally to a toilet seat consisting of a lid and a seat part and, more particularly, to a semi-automatic toilet seat configured such that a lid is automatically closed and a toilet is automatically flushed.

Description of the Related Art

Generally, a manual toilet seat is configured such that a user must close a lid after the use of the toilet and press a flush button to complete the entire process of the toilet, which may be inconvenient for the user. Further, when the user accidentally leaves the toilet without lowering the lid or pressing the flush button, a next user may feel displeasure and a restroom may become unsanitary.
In order to solve the above problems, Korean Patent No. 10-0804307 ‘Flushing system having automatic toilet cover closing function and flushing method’ (Feb. 11, 2008) (hereinafter, ‘related art’) has been disclosed. The related art proposes a system in which convenience functions are added to a basic bidet device, so there is a limit in extending and applying the system to a general toilet seat.
Not only that, the related art is configured such that a lid is automatically closed on the premise of operation of a flush button, so at least the flush button must be manually operated. Further, when the user presses the flush button in a sitting state, but the flush is not performed as described in the related art, the user can recognize the situation as a failure, thus necessity of application or preference of the system may be reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present disclosure has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the related art, and the present disclosure is intended to propose the improvement in a general toilet seat consisting of a lid and a seat part, and to propose a semi-automatic toilet seat that is configured such that a lid is automatically closed and a toilet is automatically flushed just by a movement that a user rises from a seat part.
In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a semi-automatic toilet seat including a seat part placed on a toilet, a lid rotatably coupled onto the seat part, and a solenoid configured to open and cut-off water supply to the toilet, wherein the seat part includes: a contact sensor that is provided on a lower surface of the seat part that is brought into contact with the toilet to detect a user's sitting state; a motor provided in the seat part, and configured to be operated to close the lid from an opened state; and a controller provided in the seat part, and configured such that when the contact sensor detects that the user's sitting state is released, the controller operates the motor to close the lid from the opened state and operates the solenoid so that water is supplied to the toilet to flush the toilet.
The contact sensor may also serve as one of a plurality of buffer pads that may be provided by being distributed on the lower surface of the seat part.
The controller may be configured to operate the solenoid and to release operation of the motor simultaneously.
The seat part may be provided with a closing detection sensor therein to detect closing of the lid, and the controller may operate the solenoid when the closing detection sensor detects closing of the lid.
As described above, the semi-automatically toilet seat according to the present disclosure is configured such that the closing of the lid and the flushing of the toilet are automatically performed just by the movement that the user rises from the seat part. Accordingly, when the user wants to use the toilet, the user just simply opens the lid for the first time, and then subsequent operations are automatically performed, whereby the user can conveniently use the toilet.
Further, the present disclosure can propose the semi-automatic improved toilet seat that is suitable to be used as a substitute for the general toilet seat, unlike the conventional bidet device. That is, the semi-automatic toilet seat of the present disclosure is meaningful as an alternative to a toilet seat for a user who does not need the bidet device and feels displeasure to the bidet device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a semi-automatic toilet seat according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is mounted to a toilet;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the semi-automatic toilet seat in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a contact sensor that is a component of the semi-automatic toilet seat in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation process of the semi-automatic toilet seat in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A semi-automatic toilet seat 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a seat part 110 placed on a toilet 1 and a lid 120 coupled onto the seat part 110 to be rotatable, as shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the seat part 110 is provided with a plurality of buffer pads 130, which are provided by being distributed on a lower surface of the seat part 110 that is brought into contact with the toilet 1. One of the buffer pads 130 also serves as a contact sensor 131. That is, the contact sensor 131 functions as the buffer pad, and as shown in FIG. 3, the contact sensor 131 is configured such that, as a spring 134 is provided between an upper cover 132 and a lower cover 133 and the spring 134 is compressed under vertical compression, a pin 135 on the lower cover 133 comes into be in contact with a switch 136 provided in the upper cover 132 and presses the upper cover 132, thereby switching on.
It is preferable that a proper capacity of the spring 134 required for operating the switch 136, that is, a proper force is from 3 kgf to 5 kgf. A relatively weak spring may allow the switch 136 to be operated only by minor movement or the seat part 110's weight, and a relatively strong spring may allow the switch 136 not to detect a sitting state of the user when lightweight user sits on the seat part 110.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a motor 140 is provided inside one side of a rear portion of the seat part 110. The motor 140 is connected to a hinge shaft 121 of the lid 120 by the media of a gear train 141 connected to a motor shaft, so that an lid 120 is closed from an opened state when the motor 140 is operated. Since the motor 140 is operated usually to allow the lid 120 to be close from a perpendicularly opened state, a motor having relatively small capacity and power may be used as the motor 140.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a printed circuit board (PCB, 150) functioning as a controller is provided inside the seat part 110. The PCB 150 is electrically connected with the contact sensor 131, and is configured to detect the sitting state and a released sitting state of the user through the contact sensor 131. Further, the PCB 150 is electrically connected with the motor 140, and is configured to operate the motor 140 so that the lid 120 is closed from the opened state.
Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 1, a solenoid 160 is provided in a water tank 2 that is mounted to the rear of the semi-automatic toilet seat 100 on the toilet 1, and is electrically connected to the PCB 150 in the seat part 110. The solenoid 160 is connected with a water stopper 3 by the media of a chain. Accordingly, when the PCB 150 operates the solenoid 160 to lift the water stopper 3, water in the water tank 2 is supplied to the toilet 1 through a drain 2 a to flush the toilet 1.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a limit sensor 170 is provided inside the seat part 110 as a closing detection sensor by being adjacent to the hinge shaft 121 of the lid 120. In response, a limit bar 122 is provided at the hinge shaft 121, and is configured to act on the limit sensor 170 when closing of the lid 120 is completed, so that the PCB 150 may detect the completion of the closing of the lid 120.
Hereinafter, an operation process of the semi-automatic toilet seat 100 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 4. First, when the lid 120 in a closed state is opened by the user, the limit sensor 170 is turned to an OFF state due to rotation and separation of the limit bar 122 (S1).
Then, when the user sits on the seat 100, the contact sensor 131 that is provided on the lower surface of the seat part 110 is turned to an ON state (S2), and then the contact sensor 131 is turned to the OFF state again as the user completes the use of the toilet and rises from the seat 100 (S3). The PCB 150 drives the motor 140 to close the lid 120 when the OFF state of the contact sensor 131 is detected (S4).
When closing of the lid 120 is completed, the limit sensor 170 is operated by approach or contact of the hinge shaft 121 (S5), and then the PCB 150 stops driving of the motor 140 and operates the solenoid 160 simultaneously to flush the toilet (S6).
Finally, the PCB 150 releases the operation of the solenoid 160 to complete all operations of the semi-automatic toilet seat 100.
Meanwhile, the above-described semi-automatic toilet seat 100 has been described for illustrative purposes, but the scope and spirit of the present disclosure are not limited to the above description.
In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is defined only by the accompanying claims and their equivalents if appropriate.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A semi-automatic toilet seat comprising:

a seat part placed on a toilet;

a lid rotatably coupled onto the seat part; and

a solenoid that is configured to open and cut-off water supply to the toilet,

wherein the seat part comprises:

a contact sensor that is provided on a lower surface of the seat part that is brought into contact with the toilet to detect a user's sitting state;

a motor provided in the seat part, and configured to be operated to close the lid from an opened state; and

a controller provided in the seat part, and configured such that when the contact sensor detects that the user's sitting state is released, the controller operates the motor to close the lid from the opened state and operates the solenoid so that water is supplied to the toilet to flush the toilet.

2. The semi-automatic toilet seat of claim 1, wherein the contact sensor also serves as one of a plurality of buffer pads that are provided by being distributed on the lower surface of the seat part.

3. The semi-automatic toilet seat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to operate the solenoid and to release operation of the motor simultaneously.

4. The semi-automatic toilet seat of claim 1, wherein the seat part is provided with a closing detection sensor therein to detect closing of the lid, and

the controller operates the solenoid when the closing detection sensor detects the closing of the lid.