Field of the invention
[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic urinal flushing system.
Background of the invention
[0002] Historically, urinals were flushed in the same way as toilet pans. That is, a cistern
was provided and a mechanical actuator was used to actuate the cistern when a user
had finished at the urinal. Since urinals are universally installed in public conveniences,
places of work, and places frequented by the general public such as hotels and clubs,
rather than in the home, urinals are used by members of the general public who feel
no special obligation towards the premises and the maintenance of cleanliness in those
premises. Therefore the regular operation of user actuated flushing cisterns could
not be guaranteed with the usual result of a strong smell of dried urine.
[0003] In the last decade or so in order to overcome such problems automatic systems for
the flushing of urinals have been installed and these have provided many advantages.
Included amongst the advantages are the elimination of the problem of smell and, particularly
since the advent of AIDS, an increased perception of hygiene since all users do not
have to come into contact with a mechanical flushing actuator. In the simplest form
these automatic flushing urinals operated on a time basis and flushed at regular time
intervals irrespective of actual use. This therefore wasted substantial amounts of
water. In order to overcome this problem it has been known to install a remote sensing
system which is intended to detect the presence of a user at the urinal and thereby
limit the times of flushing to times immediately after the detection of a user.
[0004] Such relatively sophisticated systems suffer from a number of problems. These include
the cost of a solenoid valve which controls the flushing operation. The power requirements
of the solenoid valve which must be held open for the duration of the flush, dictate
that the power be supplied by a 240 volt AC mains supply. This applies whether the
valve is 240 volt AC or whether it is 12 volt DC (in which case an expensive transformer
(and rectifier) are required). This therefore necessitates the provision of two separate
trades (plumbers and electricians) at the installation, especially on new building
sites where trade demarcations are more rigidly enforced. Also the concerns of management
about safety are heightened since there is a fear of use of 240 volt AC power in conjunction
with water and metal pipes as potentially constituting a safety hazard. All these
factors contribute substantially to the cost of installation, the cost of maintenance
of such systems, and the reluctance to install same.
[0005] It is the object of the present invention to provide an automatic urinal flushing
system which has both a low manufactured cost and a low installation cost.
Summary of the invention
[0006] According to the present invention, there is disclosed an automatic urinal flushing
system for flushing one or more urinals installed together in a gentlemen's toilet,
said system comprising:
a cistern having a flush pipe connected to said urinal(s), an inlet pipe connected
to a mains water supply, a float operated inlet valve connected to said inlet pipe
to set the maximum level of water within the cistern, and a flush valve connected
to said flush pipe and operable by a mechanically actuated mechanism;
an ultrasonic distance sensor mountable adjacent said urinal to detect the presence
of a urinal user within a predetermined range;
an electrically operable mechanical actuator mountable adjacent said cistern to actuate
said mechanism; and
an electronic control circuit receiving an input from said sensor, providing an output
signal to said electrically operable mechanical actuator, and having a stored control
program whereby in response to one or more inputs from said sensor the time of said
output signal is determined in accordance with said stored control program.
Brief description of the drawings
[0007] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the
accompanying drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art urinal installation;
Fig. 2 is a similar view of another prior art urinal installation;
Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of the automatic urinal flushing system of the
preferred embodiment; and
Fig. 4 is a schematic side elevation of the installation of the arrangement of Fig.
3.
Detailed description of the preferred embodiment
[0008] Fig. 1 shows a prior art urinal installation in which a gentlemen's bathroom 1 is
provided with three individual stall urinals 2 each of which is supplied with flushing
water via concealed piping 4. The piping 4 is directly connected to a mains water
supply 5 via a solenoid valve 6 which is connected directly to the 240 volt AC mains
7.
[0009] Each of the urinals 2 is provided with a corresponding infrared sensor 8 which is
commonly mounted at chest height, or similar, and generally central relative to each
urinal. Each sensor 8 is connected by concealed wiring 9 to a control unit 10 which
is in turn connected to the solenoid valve 6.
[0010] Traditional practice is for a maximum of three single stall urinals 2 to be supplied
by a single solenoid valve 6. Therefore if more than three urinals 2 are provided
in a given installation, it is necessary to have more than one solenoid valve 6 and
its associated equipment.
[0011] The above described prior art arrangement suffers from the disadvantage that the
three single stalls are supplied by the one valve 6 in order to reduce installation
costs. But this increases water usage since all three stalls are flushed even if only
one is used. Since one stall has a required flush volume of approximately 2 litres,
significant amounts of water can be wasted.
[0012] Fig. 2 shows another prior art urinal installation in which like items to those shown
in Fig. 1 are allocated like designation numbers. In Fig. 2, a bathroom 30 is provided
with three slab urinals 32 each of which has a spreader pipe 33 that is individually
supplied with flushing water via a corresponding cistern 31. The flush is controlled
by a solenoid valve 36 which is schematically illustrated as being in the flush pipe
connected between the cistern 31 and spreader pipe 33.
[0013] One advantage of the cistern 31 is that the solenoid valve 36 need not be so expensive
as to include a flow reversal protection valve since the mains supply is protected
by the inlet valve (not illustrated but conventional) of the cistern 31.
[0014] The slab urinals 32 require a flushing volume of approximately 2 litres for each
600mm of urinal length. There is also a problem in using the valve 6 or 36 to control
the flush volume since in fact the valve time of opening does not directly control
the volume. Instead the volume is determined in large part by the constriction to
flow presented by the pipework 4 including the spreader pipes 33. Thus in general
it is necessary for each valve 6, 36 to be set up to open for a different time (generally
in the range of 5-10 seconds) for each installation.
[0015] Further problems with the above prior art installations are as follows.
[0016] Firstly, the infrared sensors 8, being directly located in full view of the user
of the urinal, represent a tempting target for vandalism. Such sensors 8 are commonly
blocked by chewing gum and like substances which thereby easily renders them inoperative.
In addition, the bathrooms 1, 30 in modern times are supplied with hot air dryers
12 and the heat generated by the use of such dryers often results in false triggering
of the infrared sensors 8.
[0017] The solenoid valve 6, 36 (and its mounting bracket) is itself relatively expensive,
typically having a purchase price of approximately $80. Either it, or its supply transformer,
is generally directly wired into the 240 volt AC mains supply of the building. Therefore
the wiring of the solenoid valve 6, 36 requires the presence of an electrical tradesmen
on site at substantially the same time as the other installation is completed by a
plumber.
[0018] In addition, the infrared sensors 8 are susceptible to being triggered by persons
walking by, for example walking through the doorway adjacent the hot air dryer 12
and passing directly to stalls (not illustrated) containing lavatory pans. In attempts
to prevent such false triggering, the sensors 8 are provided with a lens arrangement
which enables the beam direction etc to be set, thereby increasing the cost and installation
complexity of the overall system.
[0019] It is also known to overcome the problem of false triggering by infrared sensors
8 by using microwave devices, however these are much more expensive and therefore
again increase the cost of the installation.
[0020] Fig. 3 shows a preferred embodiment of the automatic urinal flushing system according
to the invention. The system includes a substantially conventional cistern 14 having
a flush pipe 15 connected to the concealed piping 4 as before. The cistern 14 also
includes a substantially conventional flush valve 16, which is actuated mechanically
by lifting to operate the flushing action, and an inlet pipe 17 having a conventional
float operated inlet valve 18 which determines the height of water within the cistern
14. The inlet pipe 17 is supplied from the mains water supply 5. The preferred form
of cistern and actuating mechanism are those described in Australian Patents Nos 673,959
and 673,292.
[0021] Located immediately above the cistern 14 is an electrically operated actuator 19
which in its preferred form is a door lock actuator from an automobile. As a consequence
it operates at 12 Volts DC and is of low manufactured cost and high reliability. The
electric actuator 19 is positioned immediately above the flush valve 16 and is operable
on supply of a pulse of energy (typically 2A or less for a duration of 500mSec or
less) which therefore momentarily lifts the flush valve 16. Thereafter the flushing
water maintains the flush valve 16 in its raised position until the water has substantially
drained from the cistern 14. As a consequence of this arrangement, the electrical
energy consumed to initiate the flush is low and the electrical energy consumed to
maintain the flush for the desired duration of the flush is nil.
[0022] Preferably, the electric actuator 19 takes the form of a small DC electric motor,
a gearbox and a rack and pinion mechanism. The moving rack initiates the flushing
action. Preferably the rack moves against a spring which provides a restoring force.
Alternatively, the cost of the spring can be avoided and a reverse polarity pulse
applied to the motor to re-set the actuator 19.
[0023] The electric actuator 19 is connected to, and controlled by, a control unit 20 to
which is connected one or more ultrasonic sensors 28. Again the ultrasonic sensors
28 are known from automotive applications where they are used as range finders at
the rear of vehicles such as trucks which are intended to reverse into a loading bay.
As with the actuator 19, the sensors 28 have a low manufactured cost and high reliability.
The sensors 28 are used to provide the driver of the vehicle with an indication as
to the distance between the moving vehicle and the stationary loading bay. As indicated
in Fig. 3, the ultrasonic sensor 28 operates by sending out one or more ultrasonic
outgoing pulses 21 which are then reflected from an object so as to create an incoming
echo pulse 22.
[0024] The control unit 20 is supplied with low current (eg 500 mA or less) from a low cost
encapsulated battery recharging pack 23 which is simply plugged into an existing 240
volt AC power point 24 by the plumber. Therefore no electrician is required on site
at the time of installation. Because of the low power to the electric actuator 19,
the low cost encapsulated battery recharging pack 23 is able to be utilised as the
supply of electric energy.
[0025] Alternatively, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the control unit 20 can be
supplied with energy from a solar cell 25 which derives its energy from the lighting
provided within the bathroom 1. In the event that a solar cell 25 is used, the control
unit 20 is provided with a small storage battery (not illustrated) to provide sufficient
energy for a flush and is recharged by the solar cell 25 between flushes.
[0026] As indicated in Fig. 4, the ultrasonic sensors 28 are preferably located at approximately
ankle height immediately below each individual urinal 2.
[0027] The overall arrangement provides a number of advantages.
[0028] Firstly, the sensors 28 are very difficult to see and therefore are not expected
to come to the notice of vandals.
[0029] Secondly, the cistern 14 is able to have its internal level set at either 2, 4 or
6 litres flush volume. As a result each individual urinal 2 can have a corresponding
cistern 14 (and because of the low overall cost of the arrangement this becomes feasible
from an installation cost, it certainly being the most economical in terms of water
usage). Or each pair of urinals 2 can share a cistern 14. The other possibility is
for the one cistern 8 to supply three individual urinals 2. This is indicated in Fig.
4 by the three different water heights illustrated within the cistern 14.
[0030] In addition, the control unit 20 can be arranged so that any detection of a person
for a period less than, say, 10 seconds is not regarded as a positive detection of
a person using a urinal. This in large part overcomes the problem of false triggering.
Thus the control unit 20 is not inadvertently triggered by persons walking past the
urinal but not using them. Further, the ultrasonic sensors 28, being independent of
any heat, are not falsely triggered by heat sources other than humans, such as a hot
air dryer 12. An alternative arrangement, not illustrated, is to mount the sensors
28 in the ceiling and direct same downwardly towards the step (or similar) on which
the user stands to urinate.
[0031] The above described arrangement provides a number of very substantial advantages.
Firstly, the manufactured cost of the components of the system is very low since pre-existing
units such as the battery recharging pack 23, the electric actuator 19 and the ultrasonic
sensor(s) 28 are able to be used, the cistern 14 is a high volume production article
of low cost, and the expensive solenoid valve 6 is avoided. As a consequence the manufactured
cost of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2 (excluding the solar cell 25) is very
substantially reduced compared with the manufactured cost of the solenoid valve arrangements
illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.
[0032] Further, on installation, only a plumber is required and therefore only a single
trade is required to be supplied and coordinated, compared with two in the prior art.
[0033] Thirdly, the incidence of vandalism is expected to be much less since the ultrasonic
sensors 28 are quite unobtrusive and are not thought to present a target to vandals.
[0034] The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention and modifications,
obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto without departing from the
scope of the present invention.
1. An automatic urinal flushing system for flushing one or more urinals installed together
in a gentlemen's toilet, said system comprising:
a cistern having a flush pipe connected to said urinal(s), an inlet pipe connected
to a mains water supply, a float operated inlet valve connected to said inlet pipe
to set the maximum level of water within the cistern, and a flush valve connected
to said flush pipe and operable by a mechanically actuated mechanism;
an ultrasonic distance sensor mountable adjacent said urinal to detect the presence
of a urinal user within a predetermined range;
an electrically operable mechanical actuator mountable adjacent said cistern to actuate
said mechanism; and
an electronic control circuit receiving an input from said sensor, providing an output
signal to said electrically operable mechanical actuator, and having a stored control
program whereby in response to one or more inputs from said sensor the time of said
output signal is determined in accordance with said stored control program.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ultrasonic distance sensor and said
electrically operable mechanical actuator are automotive components operable from
a 12 volt DC supply.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said electrically operated mechanical actuator
comprises a DC electric motor, a gearbox, and a rack and pinion mechanism to convert
rotary mechanical motion into linear mechanical motion.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said electronic control circuit, said sensor,
and said electrically operated mechanical actuator are supplied with power from an
encapsulated battery recharging pack.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said electronic control circuit includes
a battery and said ultrasonic distance sensor, said electrically operable mechanical
actuator, said electric control circuit and said battery are supplied with electrical
energy from a solar cell receiving light from the gentlemen's toilet.
6. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ultrasonic distance sensor is mountable
at substantially ankle height relative to the user of said urinal.
7. The system as claimed in claims 1 wherein said ultrasonic distance sensor is mountable
in the ceiling directly above said urinal.
8. The system as claimed in claim 1 including a plurality of urinals each supplied from
said flush pipe.
9. The system as claimed in claim 8 wherein said number of urinals is three.
10. The system as claimed in claim 1 and including a plurality of urinals and a corresponding
plurality of ultrasonic distance sensors.