U.S. patent application number 15/205802 was filed with the patent office on 2016-11-03 for toilet seat.
The applicant listed for this patent is B-O-LANE COMFORTECH CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Sheng-Chi LIN, Hui-Chuan LIU, Shao-Yu PENG.
Application Number | 20160316978 15/205802 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 57205600 |
Filed Date | 2016-11-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160316978 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
PENG; Shao-Yu ; et
al. |
November 3, 2016 |
TOILET SEAT
Abstract
A toilet seat includes a seat unit, a sprayer device, a
user-operating unit and a control device. The seat unit includes a
housing, and a seat member having front and rear portions and
pivotally connected to the housing at the rear portion. The sprayer
device is mounted to the seat unit. The user-operating unit is
mounted in a middle part of the front portion, and includes a
sensor unit to generate a motion signal in response to being
touched by a user, and a light emitting unit to emit light for
indicating a position of the sensor unit. The control device is
mounted in the housing, is electrically connected to the sensor
unit for receiving the motion signal therefrom, and is to control
the sprayer device to spray water in response to receiving the
motion signal.
Inventors: |
PENG; Shao-Yu; (Changhua
County, TW) ; LIU; Hui-Chuan; (Changhua County,
TW) ; LIN; Sheng-Chi; (Tainan City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
B-O-LANE COMFORTECH CO., LTD. |
Changhua County |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
57205600 |
Appl. No.: |
15/205802 |
Filed: |
July 8, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13672823 |
Nov 9, 2012 |
|
|
|
15205802 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47K 13/30 20130101;
E03D 9/08 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A47K 13/30 20060101
A47K013/30; E03D 9/08 20060101 E03D009/08 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 30, 2011 |
TW |
100143960 |
Claims
1. A toilet seat comprising: a seat unit including a housing, and a
seat member that has front and rear portions and that is pivotally
connected to said housing at said rear portion; a sprayer device
mounted to said seat unit; a user-operating unit mounted in a
middle part of said front portion of said seat member, and
including a sensor unit configured to generate a motion signal in
response to being touched by a user, and a light emitting unit
configured to emit light for indicating a position of said sensor
unit; and a control device mounted in said housing, electrically
connected to said sensor unit for receiving the motion signal
therefrom, and configured to control said sprayer device to spray
water in response to receiving the motion signal.
2. The toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control
device includes: a driving module for driving said sprayer device;
and a control module electrically connected to said sensor unit for
receiving the motion signal, and programmed to control operation of
said driving module according to the motion signal.
3. The toilet seat as claimed in claim 2, wherein said control
module is programmed to execute a plurality of default control
modes for controlling said driving module, the default control
modes corresponding respectively to different numbers of times of
receipt of the motion signal from said sensor unit within a
predetermined time period.
4. The toilet seat as claimed in claim 3, wherein one of the
default control modes of said control module is to control said
driving module for driving said sprayer device to spray water.
5. The toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said light
emitting unit surrounds said sensor unit.
6. The toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said light
emitting unit is disposed on said sensor unit.
7. The toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said seat member
has a top surface on which said sensor unit is disposed, and said
sensor unit has a height relative to said top surface of said seat
member less than 5 mm.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This is a continuation-in-part (CIP) of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/672,823, filed on Nov. 9, 2012, and
abandoned as of the filing date of this application.
FIELD
[0002] The disclosure relates to a toilet seat, more particularly
to a toilet seat capable of sensing a motion of a user so as to
spray water accordingly.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional toilet seat 1 disclosed
in Taiwanese Patent Application Publication No. 201011143 includes
a seat member 11, a sprayer device 12 mounted under a rear portion
of the seat member 11, two heaters 13 disposed in the seat member
11 for warming up the seat member 11, and a control device 14
including a plurality of buttons 141 for driving the sprayer device
12 to spray water as well as for controlling amount and temperature
of the water sprayed from the sprayer device 12.
[0004] The control device 14 is mounted at one of lateral sides of
the seat member 11, and thus, the area occupied by the conventional
toilet seat 1 is relatively large. To reduce the area occupied by
the conventional toilet seat 1, the control device 14 is replaced
by another control device 14' that is separate from the
conventional toilet seat 1.
[0005] However, it is inconvenient to provide a receiving space for
accommodating the control device 14'. Further, an external power
supply for the control device 14' is also required, thus resulting
in additional manufacturing cost for the conventional toilet seat
1.
SUMMARY
[0006] Therefore, the object of the present disclosure is to
provide a toilet seat capable of alleviating the above drawbacks of
the prior art.
[0007] According to the present disclosure, a toilet seat includes
a seat unit, a sprayer device, a user-operating unit and a control
device. The seat unit includes a housing, and a seat member that
has front and rear portions and that is pivotally connected to the
housing at the rear portion. The sprayer device is mounted to the
seat unit. The user-operating unit is mounted in a middle part of
the front portion, and includes a sensor unit configured to
generate a motion signal in response to being touched by a user,
and a light emitting unit configured to emit light for indicating a
position of the sensor unit. The control device is mounted in the
housing, is electrically connected to the sensor unit for receiving
the motion signal therefrom, and is configured to control the
sprayer device to spray water in response to receiving the motion
signal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will
become apparent in the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings,
of which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional toilet seat
disclosed in Taiwanese Patent Application Publication No.
201011143;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a toilet
seat according to the present disclosure, where a sprayer device of
the toilet seat is at a retracted position;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the embodiment, where the
sprayer device is at an operative position;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the embodiment;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a sectional view for illustrating a light emitting
unit surrounding a sensor unit according to the embodiment;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a sectional view for illustrating the light
emitting unit disposed on the sensor unit according to another
embodiment of this disclosure;
[0015] FIG. 7 is a sectional view for illustrating the light
emitting unit and the sensor unit being flush with a seat member of
the toilet seat according to still another embodiment of this
disclosure; and
[0016] FIG. 8 is a schematic top view for illustrating a user
sitting on the toilet seat of the embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, an embodiment of a toilet seat
according to the present disclosure is shown. The toilet seat
includes a seat unit 2, a sprayer device 3, a user-operating unit 4
and a control device 5. In one embodiment, the toilet seat is a
bidet toilet seat.
[0018] The seat unit 2 includes a housing 21, a cover 23 pivotally
connected to the housing 21, and a seat member 22 having front and
rear portions 221, 222. The seat member 22 is pivotally connected
to the housing 21 at the rear portion 222.
[0019] In this embodiment, the sprayer device 3 is mounted under
the rear portion 222 of the seat member 22 for spraying water. As
shown in FIG. 2, the sprayer device 3 includes a first nozzle 31
and a second nozzle 32 having a length greater than that of the
first nozzle 31. Each of the first and second nozzles 31, 32 is
movable between a retracted position, where the first/second nozzle
31, 32 is retracted under the rear portion 222 of the seat member
22 (see FIG. 2), and an operative position, where the first/second
nozzle 31, 32 is exposed from the seat member 22 (see FIG. 3). For
example, the first nozzle 31 is a family nozzle for washing an area
around a user's anus, and the second nozzle 32 is a bidet nozzle
designed for women.
[0020] The user-operating unit 4 is mounted in a middle part of the
front portion 221 of the seat member 22, and includes a sensor unit
41 and a light emitting unit 42. The sensor unit 41 is configured
to generate a motion signal in response to being touched by a user.
The light emitting unit 42 is configured to emit light for
indicating a position of the sensor unit 41. The light emitting
unit 42 surrounds the sensor unit 41. The seat member 22 has a top
surface 2210 on which the sensor unit 41 is disposed, and the
sensor unit 41 may be flush with the seat member 22 as shown in
FIG. 7, or has a height relative to the top surface 2210 of the
seat member 22 less than 5 mm. In one embodiment, as shown in FIG.
5, the height of the sensor unit 41 relative to the top surface
2210 of the seat member 22 ranges approximately from 2 mm to 3 mm.
In one embodiment, the light emitting unit 42 may be disposed
directly on the sensor unit 41 as depicted in FIG. 6.
[0021] The control device 5 is mounted in the housing 21, and
includes a control module 51 and a driving module 52. The control
module 51 is electrically connected to the sensor unit 41 for
receiving the motion signal, and is programmed to control operation
of the driving module 52 in response to receiving the motion
signal. The driving module 52 is controlled by the control module
51, and drives the sprayer device 3 to spray water. In one
embodiment, the control device 5 is further electrically connected
to the light emitting unit 42.
[0022] In one embodiment, the control module 51 is programmed to
execute a plurality of default control modes for controlling the
driving module 52. The default control modes correspond
respectively to different numbers of times of receipt of the motion
signal from the sensor unit 41 within a predetermined time period
(e.g., 0.5 seconds).
[0023] The driving module 52 drives the sprayer device 3 as
controlled by the control module 51 to spray water according to one
of the default control modes.
[0024] For example, when receiving the motion signal from the
sensor unit 41 once within 0.5 seconds, the control module 51 may
control the driving module 52 to drive the first nozzle 31 to move
from the retracted position (FIG. 2) to the operative position
(FIG. 3). Additionally, the second nozzle 32 may be driven to move
from the retracted position to the operative position when the
control module 51 receives the motion signal twice within 0.5
seconds. In one embodiment, the control device 5 further controls
an amount of water to be sprayed out by the first and second
nozzles 31, 32. For example, after one of the first and second
nozzles 31, 32 is moved to the operative position, when the control
module 51 further receives the motion signal twice within another
0.5 seconds, said one of the first and second nozzles 31, 32 may be
driven to spray a small amount of water. Similarly, said one of the
first and second nozzles 31, 32 may be driven to spray a large
amount of water when the control module 51 further receives the
motion signal by three times within another 0.5 seconds after said
one of the first and second nozzles 31, 32 is moved to the
operative position. It should be noted that the number of times of
receipt of the motion signal and the predetermined time period can
be varied as desired, and are not limited to the disclosure
herein.
[0025] As shown in FIG. 8, the sensor unit 41 is mounted in the
middle part of the front portion 221 of the seat member 22, and is
thus located between thighs of the user without being concealed by
the user when the user sits on the seat member 22. In this way, the
user can be aware of the position of the sensor unit 41 through
indication of the light emitted from the light emitting unit 42,
and touch the sensor unit 41 to generate the motion signal. The
control module 51 then receives the motion signal and executes one
of the default control modes for controlling the driving module 52
to successively drive the sprayer device 3 to spray water. Since
the middle part of the front portion 221 of the seat member 22 is
not covered by the user sitting on the seat member 22, the user can
simply recognize the position of the sensor unit 41 and touch the
sensor unit 41 and can thereby operate the sprayer device 3 without
turning his head and raising his hand.
[0026] To sum up, the toilet seat of the present disclosure
provides a single sensor unit 41 that is integrated in the seat
member 22 to enable operation of the sprayer device 3 by simple
touch actions of the user. Further, area and space occupied by the
user-operating unit 4 are relatively small. Additionally, the light
emitting unit 42 that surrounds or is disposed on the sensor unit
41 enables intuitively indication of the position of the sensor
unit 41 even in a dark environment.
[0027] In the description above, for the purposes of explanation,
numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a
thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent,
however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other
embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific
details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout
this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," an
embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth
means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may
be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further
appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes
grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description
thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding
in the understanding of various inventive aspects.
[0028] While the disclosure has been described in connection with
what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that
this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is
intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit
and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all
such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
* * * * *