Autonomous waste collection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12426747-B2
Application number	US-202217679987-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2022
Priority date	Feb 26, 2021
Publication date	Sep 30, 2025
Grant date	Sep 30, 2025

Abstract

An autonomous toilet may include a waste receptacle having a receptacle opening, a seat extending at least partially around the receptacle opening, the seat being configured to support a user of the autonomous toilet, a plurality of driven wheels configured to urge the autonomous toilet across a surface, one or more sensors configured to sense one or more conditions of a surrounding environment, and a controller communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors and the plurality of driven wheels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An autonomous toilet comprising:
a waste receptacle having a receptacle opening;
a lid movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively close the receptacle opening;
a seat extending at least partially around the receptacle opening, the seat being configured to support a user of the autonomous toilet;
a plurality of driven wheels configured to urge the autonomous toilet across a surface within an environment;
one or more sensors configured to sense one or more conditions of the environment; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors and the plurality of driven wheels, the controller being configured to cause the driven wheels to rotate to navigate the autonomous toilet within the environment to a user location, wherein:
the lid is caused to automatically transition from the closed position to the open position in response to the autonomous toilet reaching the user location; and
the lid is caused to automatically transition from the open position to the closed position before leaving the user location.

2. The autonomous toilet of claim 1 , further comprising one or more communication devices configured to be communicatively coupled to a remote device, wherein the one or more communication devices are configured to receive a summon request from the remote device and, in response to receiving the summon request, the controller causes the plurality of driven wheels to navigate the autonomous toilet to the user location.

3. The autonomous toilet of claim 1 further comprising a secondary storage receptacle selectively fluidly coupled to the waste receptacle.

4. The autonomous toilet of claim 1 further comprising at least a portion of a coupling system configured to fluidly couple the autonomous toilet to a water supply.

5. The autonomous toilet of claim 1 further comprising one or more retractable handles configured to transition between an extended position and a retracted position, the retractable handles being configured to automatically transition from the retracted position to the extended position in response to the autonomous toilet reaching the user location.

6. The autonomous toilet of claim 1 further comprising one or more stabilizers configured to transition between a deployed position and a storage position, the stabilizers being configured to automatically transition from the storage position to the deployed position in response to the autonomous toilet reaching the user location.

7. The autonomous toilet of claim 1 further comprising a fluid reservoir configured to provide fluid to the waste receptacle.

8. The autonomous toilet of claim 1 further comprising a disposable liner disposed within the waste receptacle.

9. The autonomous toilet of claim 1 further comprising a drain stem configured to fluidly couple to a fixed toilet to transfer waste stored in the waste receptacle.

10. An autonomous toilet system comprising:
a docking station; and
an autonomous toilet configured to engage the docking station, the autonomous toilet including:
a waste receptacle having a receptacle opening;
a lid movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively close the receptacle opening;
a seat extending at least partially around the receptacle opening, the seat being configured to support a user of the autonomous toilet;
a plurality of driven wheels configured to urge the autonomous toilet across a surface within an environment;
one or more sensors configured to sense one or more conditions of the environment; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors and the plurality of driven wheels, the controller being configured to cause the driven wheels to rotate to navigate the autonomous toilet within the environment to a user location, wherein:
the lid is caused to automatically transition from the closed position to the open position in response to the autonomous toilet reaching the user location; and
the lid is caused to automatically transition from the open position to the closed position before leaving the user location.

11. The autonomous toilet system of claim 10 , wherein the docking station is configured to charge one or more batteries of the autonomous toilet.

12. The autonomous toilet system of claim 10 , wherein the docking station includes a drain adapter, the drain adapter being configured to be fluidly coupled to a drain.

13. The autonomous toilet system of claim 12 , wherein the drain adapter includes a movable cover.

14. The autonomous toilet system of claim 13 , wherein the autonomous toilet is configured to cause the movable cover to transition to an open position.

15. The autonomous toilet system of claim 10 , wherein the autonomous toilet further comprises one or more communication devices configured to be communicatively coupled to a remote device and, wherein, the one or more communication devices are configured to receive a summon request from the remote device and, in response to receiving the summon request, the controller causes the plurality of driven wheels to navigate the autonomous toilet to the user location.

16. The autonomous toilet system of claim 10 , wherein the autonomous toilet includes a secondary storage receptacle selectively fluidly coupled to the waste receptacle.

17. The autonomous toilet system of claim 10 further comprising a coupling system configured to fluidly couple the autonomous toilet to a water supply.

18. The autonomous toilet system of claim 17 , wherein the docking station includes a supply side of the coupling system, the supply side having a first threaded coupling fluidly coupled to the water supply and the autonomous toilet includes a toilet side of the coupling system, the toilet side having a second threaded coupling configured to threadably couple to the first threaded coupling.

19. The autonomous toilet system of claim 18 , wherein the second threaded coupling includes a geared outer surface.

20. The autonomous toilet system of claim 19 , wherein the supply side includes a drive gear coupled to a motor, the drive gear being configured to mate with the geared outer surface of the second threaded coupling.

21. The autonomous toilet system of claim 10 , wherein the autonomous toilet includes one or more retractable handles configured to transition between an extended position and a retracted position, the retractable handles being configured to automatically transition from the retracted position to the extended position in response to the autonomous toilet reaching the user location.

22. The autonomous toilet system of claim 10 , wherein the autonomous toilet includes one or more stabilizers configured to transition between a deployed position and a storage position, the stabilizers being configured to automatically transition from the storage position to the deployed position in response to the autonomous toilet reaching the user location.

23. The autonomous toilet system of claim 10 , wherein the autonomous toilet includes a fluid reservoir configured to provide fluid to the waste receptacle.

Assignees

• Battelle Memorial Institute

Inventors

• Prescott James
• Haubert Thomas D
• Smith Krista I A
• Sweeney Andrew V
• Dejarme Lindy Espina

Classifications

• E03D7/00

  Wheeled lavatories (wheeled closets without flushing A47K11/00; construction of land vehicles B62) · CPC title

• A47K11/04

  Room closets; Chairs with toilet conveniences or specially adapted for use with toilets, e.g. night chairs {; Closets for children, also with signalling means, e.g. with a music box, or the like} · CPC title

• A47K11/026 Primary

  with continuous tubular film for receiving faeces · CPC title

• A47K11/02 Primary

  Dry closets, e.g. incinerator closets · CPC title