Content Detection Toilet Flush Valve

Abstract

A toilet assembly is provided which includes a flush valve assembly. The flush valve assembly includes a valve inlet fluidly coupled to a water source inlet pipe, a valve outlet fluidly coupled to the vacuum breaker, a solenoid flush valve, and a power source. The flush valve assembly further includes a first sensor configured to collect and transmit a first set of data corresponding to a user presence at the toilet assembly; a second sensor configured to collect and transmit a second set of data corresponding to contents of a toilet bowl; and a controller configured to determine whether a user is present based on the first set of data, determine a status of the toilet assembly based on the second set of data, and transmit a third set of data corresponding to a status of the toilet assembly to a computing device.

1 . A toilet assembly comprising:
 a toilet bowl fluidly coupled to a trapway; and   a flush valve assembly comprising:
 a valve inlet fluidly coupled to a water source inlet pipe, 
 a valve outlet fluidly coupled to the toilet bowl, 
 a solenoid flush valve, 
 a power source, 
 a first sensor configured to collect a first set of data corresponding to a user presence at the toilet assembly and configured to transmit a first signal comprising the first set of data; 
 a second sensor configured to collect a second set of data corresponding to contents of the toilet bowl and configured to transmit a second signal comprising the second set of data; 
 a controller electrically coupled with the power source, the first sensor, the second sensor, and the solenoid flush valve, wherein the controller is configured to be in remote communication with a computing device, and wherein the controller is configured to: 
 receive the first and second signals, 
 determine whether a user is present at the toilet assembly based on the first set of data in the first signal, 
 determine a status of the toilet assembly based on the second set of data in the second signal, and 
 transmit a third signal to the computing device, the third signal comprising a third set of data corresponding to a status of the toilet assembly. 
   
     
     
         2 . The toilet assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a flush valve cap, wherein the first sensor, the second sensor, the controller, and/or the power source of the flush valve assembly are integrated with the flush valve cap. 
     
     
         3 . The toilet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the first sensor comprises an infrared (IR) sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The toilet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the second sensor comprises an optical light or laser time-of-flight (ToF) sensor. 
     
     
         5 . The toilet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the second sensor comprises an ultrasonic time-of-flight (ToF) sensor. 
     
     
         6 . The toilet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the status of the toilet assembly comprises a clogged status, and the third set of data corresponds to the clogged status. 
     
     
         7 . The toilet assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to generate an alert upon receiving the third set of data corresponding to the clogged status. 
     
     
         8 . The toilet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether to initiate a toilet flush based on the first and/or second set of data. 
     
     
         9 . The toilet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a volume of the toilet flush based on the second set of data. 
     
     
         10 . The toilet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the second set of data comprises data corresponding to a water level of the toilet bowl. 
     
     
         11 . The toilet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the second set of data comprises a first portion of data corresponding to solid contents and a second portion of data corresponding to liquid contents. 
     
     
         12 . The toilet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to cause the second sensor to collect the second set of data in response to a determination by the controller that a user is no longer present at the toilet assembly. 
     
     
         13 . A flush valve assembly comprising:
 a solenoid flush valve;   a power source;   a first sensor configured to collect a first set of data corresponding to a user presence at a toilet assembly and configured to transmit a first signal comprising the first set of data;   a second sensor configured to collect a second set of data corresponding to contents of a toilet bowl of the toilet assembly and configured to transmit a second signal comprising the second set of data; and   a controller electrically coupled with the power source, the first sensor, the second sensor, and the solenoid flush valve, wherein the controller is configured to be in remote communication with a computing device, and wherein the controller is configured to:
 receive the first and second signals, 
 determine whether a user is present at the toilet assembly based on the first set of data in the first signal; 
 determine a status of the toilet assembly based on the second set of data in the second signal, and 
 transmit a third signal to the computing device, the third signal comprising a third set of data corresponding to a status of the toilet assembly. 
   
     
     
         14 . The flush valve assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the first sensor comprises an infrared (IR) sensor. 
     
     
         15 . The flush valve assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the second sensor comprises an optical light or laser time-of-flight (ToF) sensor. 
     
     
         16 . The flush valve assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the status of the toilet assembly comprises a clogged status, and the third set of data corresponds to the clogged status. 
     
     
         17 . The flush valve assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the controller is configured to generate an alert upon receiving the third set of data corresponding to the clogged status. 
     
     
         18 . The flush valve assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether to initiate a toilet flush based on the first and/or second set of data. 
     
     
         19 . The flush valve assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a volume of the toilet flush based on the second set of data. 
     
     
         20 . The flush valve assembly of  claim 13 . wherein the second set of data comprises a first portion of data corresponding to solid contents and a second portion of data corresponding to liquid contents.