Health seat for toilets and bidets

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11536712-B2
Application number	US-201916425473-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 29, 2019
Priority date	May 31, 2018
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

An intelligent toilet that includes a toilet base having a bowl, a seat assembly comprising a seat, and a urine collection system integrated with the seat assembly, wherein the urine collection system includes an analyzer that is configured to test urine from a user and provide output health data of the user.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An intelligent toilet, comprising:
a toilet base having a bowl;
a seat assembly comprising a seat; and
a urine collection system at least partially integrated with the seat assembly, wherein the urine collection system includes:
a mount including a receiving aperture, the receiving aperture configured to receive a test strip therethrough for capturing urine from a user; and
an analyzer that is configured to test the urine from the user and provide health data of the user.

2. The intelligent toilet of claim 1 , wherein the seat assembly comprises a base that is coupled to the toilet base, the urine collection system is integrated into the base of the seat assembly, the mount comprises an arm that is moveable within the bowl between a use position and a non-use position, and the receiving aperture is disposed in the arm.

3. The intelligent toilet of claim 2 , further comprising a cleaning device that cleans at least a portion of the arm during a cleaning cycle, wherein the cleaning device comprises at least one of:
a fluid emitter that emits a cleaning fluid over at least the portion of the arm during the cleaning cycle; and
an ultraviolet light emitter that emits ultraviolet light onto at least the portion of the arm during the cleaning cycle.

4. The intelligent toilet of claim 3 , wherein the arm is in the non-use position during the cleaning cycle, the arm nests with a recess in the base of the seat assembly in the non-use position, the cleaning device includes both the fluid emitter and the ultraviolet light emitter, and both the fluid emitter and the ultraviolet light emitter are located in the base of the seat assembly.

5. The intelligent toilet of claim 2 , wherein the use position includes a first use position, which is predetermined for female users, and a second use position, which is predetermined for male users, and the intelligent toilet further comprises an identification system that identifies a gender of the user through at least one of a fingerprint, biometric data, and a user input from an external device.

6. The intelligent toilet of claim 5 , further comprising:
a fingerprint scanner located on one of the toilet base and the seat assembly for identifying the user from the fingerprint; and
a controller configured to communicate with the fingerprint scanner, the analyzer, and the external device through a network so that the health data of the user can be received by the external device.

7. The intelligent toilet of claim 2 , further comprising a bidet wand located adjacent to the arm, wherein the arm is telescopic.

8. The intelligent toilet of claim 2 , further comprising a bidet wand that extends from a rear part of the bowl toward a central part of the bowl, wherein the arm extends from a side of the bowl toward the central part of the bowl.

9. The intelligent toilet of claim 1 , wherein the seat includes a notch for detachably receiving the mount of the urine collection system, the mount includes the receiving aperture, and the mount complements the seat when the mount is coupled to the seat in the notch.

10. The intelligent toilet of claim 9 , wherein the base of the seat assembly includes an inlet opening for receiving the test strip, and the analyzer is located in the base of the seat assembly.

11. The intelligent toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a foot platform extending from a lower front of the toilet base, wherein the foot platform comprises at least one of a foot warmer comprising a heating element, a heart rate sensor that measures a heart rate of the user, or a scale that measures a weight of the user.

12. The intelligent toilet of claim 2 , wherein the arm is rotatably coupled to the base, and wherein the receiving aperture is disposed in an end surface of a distal end of the arm relative to a pivot end of the arm.

13. The intelligent toilet of claim 11 , further comprising all of the foot warmer, the heart rate sensor, and the scale, wherein the intelligent toilet further comprises a controller, including a microprocessor that controls operation of the foot warmer, receives a first input signal from the heart rate sensor in response to the measured heart rate, and receives a second input signal from the scale in response to the measured weight.

14. The intelligent toilet of claim 13 , further comprising a display disposed on the toilet base or the platform, wherein the display is configured to display the measured heart rate and the measured weight in response to the first and second input signals.

15. The intelligent toilet of claim 13 , wherein the controller communicates with an external device through a network so that the first and second input signals are received by the external device.

16. The intelligent toilet of claim 1 , wherein the analyzer is configured to analyze urine captured on a test strip located in the seat assembly for collecting a sample of urine from a user.

17. The intelligent toilet of claim 1 , further comprising:
a posture module comprising a sensor that measures and outputs a signal of a posture of the user when seated on the seat; and
a control module that receives the signal and compares the measured posture to a threshold range, so that a first posture control signal is emitted in response to the measured posture being within the threshold range and a second posture control signal is emitted in response to the measured posture being outside of the threshold range.

18. The intelligent toilet of claim 17 , wherein the sensor is a distance sensor coupled to the lid so that in an open position of the lid, the distance sensor measures a distance to the user and communicates the distance to the control module.

19. The intelligent toilet of claim 18 , further comprising a speaker that emits a first sound in response to the first posture control signal and emits a second sound in response to the second posture control signal, wherein the first sound is music and the second sound is an alert.

20. The intelligent toilet of claim 17 , further comprising a speaker that is silent in response to the first posture control signal and emits a sound in response to the second posture control signal.

21. The intelligent toilet of claim 1 , wherein the seat assembly comprises a base that couples the seat to the toilet base, wherein in the non-use position, the arm nests within a recess in a lower wall of the base.

22. The intelligent toilet of claim 9 , wherein the notch comprises a recessed area in an upper surface of the seat.

Assignees

• Kohler Co

Inventors

• Tan Luncheak
• Chen Chinghua

Classifications

• E03D5/022

  Operating automatically (E03D5/10 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01N33/493 Primary

  urine · CPC title

• E03D9/00

  Sanitary or other accessories for lavatories (hand tools for cleaning the toilet bowl A47K11/10; seats or covers for closets A47K13/00; body supports, other than seats for closets A47K17/02; devices for preventing contamination of drinking-water pipes E03C1/10 ){; Devices for cleaning or disinfecting the toilet room or the toilet bowl; Devices for eliminating smells (cleaning, disinfecting or deodorising the seat A47K13/30)} · CPC title

• E03D9/08

  Devices in the bowl producing upwardly-directed sprays; Modifications of the bowl for use with such devices (showers A47K3/28; bathing devices for special therapeutic or hygienic purposes A61H33/00, for specific parts of the body A61H35/00 ){; Bidets; Combinations of bowls with urinals or bidets; Hot-air or other devices mounted in or on the bowl, urinal or bidet for cleaning or disinfecting} · CPC title

• G01N1/10

  in the liquid or fluent state {(burettes, pipettes B01L3/02; sampling of ground water E02D1/06; metering by volume of fluids or fluent solid material G01F11/00, G01F13/00)} · CPC title