Periodic Flush Patents (Class 4/303)
  • Patent number: 9909293
    Abstract: A portable toilet particularly suited to be a roll-out toilet positions a toilet with its holding tank at a rear wall, a sink at an opposed front wall, a urinal on one of the side walls and an access door through the opposing sidewall to provide access to the enclosure formed by the, front, rear and side walls. By connecting the drain from the sink to the urinal so that the water draining from the sink must pass through the urinal and then pass from the urinal to a toilet holding tank via a drain line connecting the urinal to a toilet holding tank the sink drain water is collected and will tend to wash and thereby clean the urinal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Inventors: Ken Winter, Roger Winter
  • Publication number: 20140304902
    Abstract: The smaller volumes of water currently required to flush toilets and urinals may be insufficient to clear the fixtures and the drainage lines to which they are connected of waste and other undesirable materials, which can build up over a period of flushes or non-use. A flush valve control device programmed or otherwise configured to provide a selectable, periodic heavier flush volume of water after a predetermined number of low volume flushes and/or after a predetermined period of inactivity of the toilet or urinal can provide for sufficient drainage line carry-out of waste and prevent undesirable buildup of minerals, etc. on the inside surfaces of the fixtures and drainage pipes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2014
    Publication date: October 16, 2014
    Applicant: AS IP Holdco, LLC
    Inventor: Frank Seggio
  • Publication number: 20080256695
    Abstract: A waterless urinal has a fixture including a backsplash and side walls joining a bowl at the bottom. Mounted on the top of the fixture is a fluid reservoir, a valve and a controller. The controller periodically opens the valve to release a quantity of a cleansing sealant from the reservoir onto the non-wetted surfaces of the fixture. The cleansing sealant cleans the non-wetted surfaces and then flows into the bowl where it collects to replenish the trap seal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2007
    Publication date: October 23, 2008
    Inventor: James C. Allen
  • Patent number: 6948194
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a toilet cleaning device which is capable of cleaning a toilet stool by supplying cleaning water in an appropriate quantity corresponding to the state of usage by a user, which is provided with a self-diagnosis function for diagnosing cleaning water stoppage or the like, and which has a simple constitution so that maintenance can be performed easily. The output of a Doppler sensor 11 is amplified by an amp 31, and a frequency spectrum is determined by an FFT calculation portion 32. A flow rate is determined by conversion in a flow rate calculation portion 33 on the basis of the frequency spectrum. A controller 34 operates other devices on the basis of the flow rate calculated by the flow rate calculation portion 33 and the operational state of a cleaning instruction button 16. Cleaning water supply valve 36 is opened and closed in accordance with instructions from the controller 34.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2005
    Assignee: Toto, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kentaro Todoroki, Kuniaki Shinohara, Toshio Koguro, Yuichi Furuta, Mie Ikushima
  • Patent number: 6795982
    Abstract: A flush toilet comprises a toilet body, a water supply pipe connected to supply wash water, a discharge port connected to discharge wash water, a valve disposed between the water supply pipe and the discharge port, a valve switching device connected to switch the valve, a spring operably connected to drive the valve switching device, a mechanical timer and a starter operably connected to supply the spring with strain energy. The spring releases the strain energy accumulated in it to drive the valve switching device, and the mechanical timer consumes a part of the strain energy released from the spring to regulate duration of the operation of the spring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2004
    Assignee: Toto Ltd.
    Inventors: Shimbara Noboru, Tsukada Ryoichi, Watanabe Kazuyuki, Hirakawa Tomohiro, Uchimura Yoshinobu
  • Patent number: 6598245
    Abstract: An automatic water feed mechanism and method is provided by equipping a lavatory with a two dimensional sensor array such as a camera unit for monitoring a target area that a user may enter. An infrared emitter and an infrared detector can also be activated at low light levels. A two dimensional image signal can be processed and compared with a stored reference signal for activating the release of water. At a low ambient light, the infrared emitter unit can be activated to emit infrared rays which can then be detected when reflected by a user by the infrared detector. Such a detection can provide an alternative release of water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2003
    Assignee: San-Ei Faucet Mfg. Co., LTD
    Inventor: Akira Nishioka
  • Patent number: 6589440
    Abstract: A waterless urinal employs a sealing liquid comprising 4-chloro-3-methylphenol in an amount effective to act as a biocide and a compound selected from the group consisting of (1) branched aliphatic alcohols with C12 to C24 carbon chain lengths, (2) a mix of the branched aliphatic alcohols and linear aliphatic alcohols with C10 to C18 carbon chain lengths, (3) a mix of the branched aliphatic alcohols and linear aliphatic fatty acids with C14 to C18 carbon chain lengths, and (4) a mix of the branched aliphatic alcohols, linear aliphatic alcohols with C10 to C18 carbon chain lengths, and linear aliphatic fatty acids with C14 to C18 carbon chain lengths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2003
    Inventor: John Atwill
  • Patent number: 4918762
    Abstract: The conductivity of the flushing water in the two siphons is measured by means of two electrodes (16, 17, 18, 19) in each siphon. Whenever the conductivity exceeds a predetermined limit, the flushing operation is triggered after a delay time predetermined by an electronic control device. If the two urinals are used at the same time, one of them is blocked by means of an electronic circuit (30) while the other is flushing so that both urinals are prevented from flushing simultaneously. This has the advantage that the same diameter of pipe can be used for the main water supply line as in a single-urinal installation. Whenever the conductivity of the flushing water in the siphon drops below a certain minimum or exceeds a certain maximum after a predetermined number of flushes or a predetermined length of time, flushing is interrupted by means of electronic circuits (28, 29). Such trouble is displayed on the front panel of the control unit by LED's.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 1988
    Date of Patent: April 24, 1990
    Assignee: Bieri Pumpenbau AG
    Inventor: Fritz Uhlmann
  • Patent number: 4667350
    Abstract: This invention relates to a lavatory hopper flushing apparatus, particularly, a lavatory hopper flushing apparatus comprising a sensor unit capable of detecting the use of any one of a plurality of lavatory hoppers arranged side by side, and providing a detection signal upon the detection of the use of any one of the lavatory hoppers; a control unit capable of being actuated by the detection signal; and a water supply unit capable of being driven by the control unit so as to flush all the lavatory hoppers simultaneously; wherein the control unit capable of being actuated by the detection signal given by a sensor unit and driving a water supply unit includes a counter control unit which has a counting circuit that counts the frequency of the detection signal and which provides an output signal when the count of the detection signals reaches a predetermined number, and an output control unit which provides an output signal to actuate the water supply unit, upon the reception of the output signal given by the co
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 1986
    Date of Patent: May 26, 1987
    Assignee: Toto Ltd.
    Inventors: Takao Ikenaga, Toshifumi Shigematsu, Tatsumi Hamanaka, Manabu Hirahara
  • Patent number: RE42840
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a toilet cleaning device which is capable of cleaning a toilet stool by supplying cleaning water in an appropriate quantity corresponding to the state of usage by a user, which is provided with a self-diagnosis function for diagnosing cleaning water stoppage or the like, and which has a simple constitution so that maintenance can be performed easily. The output of a Doppler sensor 11 is amplified by an amp 31, and a frequency spectrum is determined by an FFT calculation portion 32. A flow rate is determined by conversion in a flow rate calculation portion 33 on the basis of the frequency spectrum. A controller 34 operates other devices on the basis of the flow rate calculated by the flow rate calculation portion 33 and the operational state of a cleaning instruction button 16. Cleaning water supply valve 36 is opened and closed in accordance with instructions from the controller 34.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Toto, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kentaro Todoroki, Kuniaki Shinohara, Toshio Koguro, Yuichi Furuta, Mie Ikushima