Electronic Public Toilet System

The invention relates to an indigenous unmanned automated portable public toilet system

Background of invention

Public sanitation and its related facilities are always drawing an emphatic interrogation mark in front of the society at large. Public toilets, though in abundance at every nook and corner, are turning as abominations owing to their lack of monitoring and deficient cleaning mechanisms making them impossible for public use. The manpower requirements and the lack of accountability are also serious issues facing the public sanitation front. Poor sanitation facilities are in turn giving rise to serious health and environmental issues in many regions. Many initiatives in the public sanitation front came and left as they were caught in the clutches of several issues such as lack of cleanliness, lack of sustained water supply, improper drainage facilities, lack of manpower for maintenance etc. The context for such an invention was the urge to create a paradigm shift in the public sanitation scenario through effective deployment of technology convergence to address basic human needs.

Object of invention

The object of the current invention is to provide a public sanitation facility with the aid of technological features. The invention houses several automated features such as self-cleaning, water conservation, power conservation & remote accessibility. The present invention has risen from the objective of developing a user- friendly and cost-effective system within a simple construction. The invention is positioned to eradicate the inherent problems that exist in the public sanitation front.

Statement of invention

The object is achieved by the design of a system through which Information, Communication and other Engineering Technologies are applied for solving many of the inherent issues of public sanitation. Through this invention, an indigenous unmanned automated portable public toilet system has been developed. This plug and play toilet has been designed by convergence of multiple appropriate technologies. This innovative product has the facilities for automated payment collection, door opening system, flushing, and cleaning. Water conservation through technology is one of the main advantages of this invention. General Packet Radio Service controls are also used for controlling the unit from a remote location. Unit is fabricated using steel as the main component to prevent rusting and other environmental damages. A total advertisement space of 200 square feet is also provided in the unit. Accordingly in one aspect of the present invention, it is provided with automated toilet with unmanned payment collection, automatic water filling, sewage disposal, self cleaning of floor and closet etc. The automatic sliding door opens automatically using an actuator, when a user puts coins in the coin validator. The automated floor washing, unit with nozzles attached to it installed in the toilet floor; cleans the dust and dirt by pumping out water through the nozzles.

Automated Valve Mechanism, used to open and close water channels for toilet flushing and floor washing. Automatic Closet washing system, powerful automatic self washing mechanism is there in the unit to keep the toilet always clean. Closet can be either wall hanging or Indian style.

There are two automatic wash mechanisms; Pre- flush system and after-use flush system. This pre-flush system will flush 250 to 500 ml of water to wet the closet surface, which will help to clean the closet easily. After-use flush, will flush the toilet with 4 liters of water, even if the user forgets to flush the toilet manually after use.

Micro-Controller Based Circuitry used in this invention, co¬ordinate all the functionalities through a firmware burned in to a microcontroller. Mechanical Design adopted in this invention is very compact, elegant and strong.

Remote access, General Packet Radio Service Connectivity through GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network is established in the system. A remote server authenticated with it can be used to know the health status of the invention. Through GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network, updates such as water level condition, payment clearance; check the amount of coins inserted by the user etc are updated. Remote shutdown is also a feature of this application Sewage treatment and water recycling is achieved by a membrane bio-reactor tank installed underneath the toilet. The features of the tank include compact design, automated operation and remote management, eco friendly and almost zero sludge output.

All these titling mechanisms are the novel features of this invention, which are realized using electronic, electrical and electro¬mechanical operating means; as well as the merits of mobile technology.

Detailed description of the invention

The invention will be explained by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings 1 to 9 which diagrammatically illustrate embodiment of the invention

FIG 1: is an isometric view of the invention

FIG 2: is an isometric rear view of the invention

FIG 3: is an isometric view of the structural design of the invention

FIG 4: is an isometric view of the structural design for coin validator box with indicators and the automatic door

FIG 5: is an isometric view of the panel board

FIG 6: is an isometric diagram of plumbing

FIG 7: is an isometric view of the motorised valve mechanism

FIG 8: is an isometric view showing the electrical appliances inside the cabin

FIG 9: is an isometric view showing mechanical design of automatic sliding door
Consider the case of a user waiting outside the unit. The unit in its idle and normal state will have the automatic sliding door 1 closed and two outdoor display indicators lighted up. A green led will be ON for conveying the message to "Insert Coins" 4 in the coin validator box 2 and status indicator 8 as green to indicate "Toilet Vacant".

A user has to put coins in the coin validator 3 in order to get into the Toilet. Consider that the machine is set up to accept 2Rs/transaction. If the user puts a IRs coin, and waits, the voice interactive system 31 will alert the user with a message as "Please enter remaining amount". Then the user will put another IRs coin. The system will accept the transaction and the automatic sliding door 1 will be activated to slide open. Then, "Insert Coins" 4 led will turn off, "Ready to use" 5 green led will be turned on and the status indicator 8 will be red to indicate "Busy". Also the indoor ceiling light 36 and indoor Ad panel lights 38 will be turned on. The coin validator 3 will be in disabled state which means, it will not accept coins from another user when the system is busy. The user can now enter into the front area 13. Then only the automatic sliding door 1 will get closed. If he waits there without opening the toilet door 9, another voice message will be activated as "Please enter the toilet". Now the user enters the toilet and manually locks the toilet door 9 from inside. The Passive Infrared sensor 37 installed inside the toilet will sense a human body movement and triggers the controller 14 in the panel board. The controller 14 will trigger the motorised valve 60 connected to the toilet flush to activate the pre-flushing, and by doing so, 250 to 500ml of water will be used to wet the closet 11 surface. At the same time, "Ready to use" 5 green led will be turned off , "Toilet in Use" 6 led will turn on in the outdoor coin validator box 2, exhaust fan will switched on and the indoor voice interactive system 31 will switch to FM Radio mode pre-tuned to some local FM Radio station. The user can use the toilet for 25minutes. During the using hours, he can use the flush switch 34 to flush the toilet. The system can be designed to accept five flushes for every user. Each time when the switch is pressed, the controller 14 will activate the motorised valve 60 to flush the closet 11 with 1 litres of water. If he finds the toilet floor unclean, he can alert the system by pressing the floor washing switch 35 which can be installed inside one of the interior panels 32. This alert will be registered by the controller 14 for further processes. If, even after the usage time, he stays inside the toilet, the voice interactive system 31 will be switched on and the message "Your allotted time is over" will be activated. Now he will open the toilet door 9 and enters the front area 13. The controller will sense the status of door switch 64 and the Passive Infrared Sensor 37 to confirm his exit from the toilet. Then the controller 14 will activate the motorised valve 60 to power flush the closet 11 with 4 litres of water. At the same time, the automatic sliding door 1 will be activated to slide open and will close after 10 seconds. If he couldn't walk out within that time, the door open exit switch 53 can be pushed to open the automatic sliding door 1. There can also be an emergency exit mechanical handle installed nearby the toilet door 9 to manually pull the automatic sliding door 1 open. After his exit, the controller 14 will check if five users had alerted the toilet floor unclean situation through depressing floor washing switch 35, and if so, the controller 14 will activate the motorised valve 61 and water pump 62 connected along with the floor washing mechanism 12. The floor washing mechanism 12 will take up to 5 litres of water. The system will then check for water level in the water tank 10. If the controller 14 finds the water level too low, further transactions will not be permitted, also the status indicator 8 will be turned off along with all the indicators in the coin validator box 2 except "water low" 7 red led. The water low condition will be updated to the remote server through the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) Modem 27. The system will return to the normal state only after the water tank 10 is filled up to the normal level.

Referring the drawings there is shown the "electronic public toilet system". The system includes the mechanical structural framework, plumbing and sanitation framework, electro-mechanical sections, electrical parts and appliances and electronics development.
Fig 3 shows the mechanical structural framework. The whole mechanical structures can be made out of Cold Rolled Steel passed through anti rusting processes and 7 tank powder coating. The whole unit rests on mainly four iron pillars- Front Pillar-L assembly 17, Front Pillar-R assembly 18, Back Pillar-L assembly 15, Back Pillar-R assembly 16 and a Base 19. The four pillars can be screwed to the basement. The basement 66 can be of size 2.7m x 1.5m. Four cross bars on the basement side can be used to hold the pillars in position. The cross bars are connected together with two cross rib base supports. Upon the cross bars and cross ribs, a closet support structure can be mounted. The closet assembly 11 can be mounted to that closet support. The closet can be of Stainless Steel Indian water type. The base 19 can mounted upon the above mentioned stricture. The base 19 can also be of Stainless Steel or fibre material. The floor washing mechanism 12 can also be attached with the base. At the top, the support for water tank 10 can be given by four Tank support pillars 21 on four sides. The main tank support can be given by three cross ribs 22. The panel board assembly 24 can be mounted onto the structure through the panel mounting plate 23 fixed on the rear stiffeners 33. Interior panel boards 32 are mounted on the three sides, right, left and rear to cover up the whole unit. The boards can be either of Stainless steel or fibre type. The toilet door 9 can be fixed to the Front Pillar-R assembly 18. The front-area 13 ad frame 82 can have five supports that are to be mounted to the Front Pillar-L assembly 17 and Front Pillar-R assembly 18. Four outdoor Ad panels can be mounted to the structure- such as two front area Ad panels 72, 73 and two side Ad panels 51, 83.

Fig 9 shows the automatic sliding door 1 mechanism mounted to the Front Pillar-R assembly 18 and the Back Pillar-R assembly 15. The automatic sliding door 1 will provide the access to the front area 13. The front area can be confined by Ad panels 72, 73 on its two sides, one side has the toilet door 9 and the other side has the automatic sliding door 1. The sliding mechanism can be made using Stainless Steel bars and the door mounting frame 81 can be of cold rolled steel. Stainless steel bearings are provided at the top 78 and bottom 79 for the ease of movement of the door through the frame 81. The main parts include two magnetic switches and a 12V DC automotive motor. Two magnetic switches, one will sense 74 the open condition of door and the other will sense 75 the closed condition of door. A door stopper 80 can be provided at the rear end of the frame to prevent the door from hitting the magnetic sensor 74. These two magnetic switches 74, 75 convey the status of door to the controller 14. The open and close of the door can be realised using rack and pinion method. The shaft of a 12V DC motor 76 can be coupled with a motor gear 77 that can be used as the pinion. The pinion can be designed as in need of its coupling with the rack. The controller will change the polarity of the dc motor that in turn changes the direction of the movement of door.

Fig 8 shows the placement of other accessories installed in the invention. The ceiling can be realised using fibre panels. Three 230V AC Led indoor lights 38 having inbuilt drivers are mounted in the ceiling for illuminating the Ad panels. Another 230V AC Led light 36 can be mounted at the centre of the ceiling panel to illuminate the toilet's interior. For the exhaust, 230V AC fresh air fan 39 can be mounted on the interior back panel 65. The above mentioned lights will be triggered on by the controller 14 and the relay assembly 50. The exhaust fan 39 can be triggered on by the controller 14 only when the Passive Infrared Sensor 37 senses a human movement inside the unit. The Status Indicator 8 can be mounted on the Front Pillar-R assembly 18 as in Fig 1 Inside the status indicator 8, Led matrix can be used to indicate the Busy/ Free status of the toilet. It consists of 81 Red and 81 Green Leds arranged in square matrix form. Exterior Ad panel illumination can be done using two outdoor 5W CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) for Left and Right Ad panels 40, 52 and six 5W CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) for Front Ads panels 82.
Fig 7 shows the motorised valve mechanism. Two units of the same mechanism are used in the invention for the toilet flush 60 and for floor washing 61 units. A 1 14 inch brass type ball valve 67 unit for controlling water flow can be altered by removing its handle and a valve gear 42 can be welded to the spindle. As in the figure, the altered ball valve 67 can be mounted on the base mounting plate 46. A motor mounting plate 47 can also be attached along with a sensor mounting clamp 49. The sensor mounting clamp 49 has a slot sensor 44 attached to its one end. The slot sensor 44 can be basically an Infra Red type with a transmitter and receiver arranged in a modular form. A sensor plate 43 can be mounted on the valve gear 42. The sensor plate 43 when rotated, will sweep in between the transmitter- receiver module of the slot sensor 44. The sensor plate 43 can be designed with a ninety degree cut on its two opposite quadrants. Its movement across the slot sensor 44 will give a feedback about the ball valve 67 opened or closed position, to the controller. The rotating motion can be realised using a 12V DC automotive motor 45. The shaft of the said motor can be coupled to a motor gear 48. The two gears, the valve gear 42 and the motor gear 48 are driven using a chain 68. The motorised valve for toilet flush 60 can be mounted on to the UPS-Valve bed assembly 69 and for the floor wash; it can be mounted on to the Pump-valve bed assembly 70.

Fig 6 shows the plumbing diagram and fittings used in the invention. A water tank 10 with a capacity of 500 litres can be used. Two floating sensors 57, 58 are installed in the tank as shown in figure. The sensors are of magnetic type, which gives outputs depending on the water level in the tank. The sensor 58 in the lower side of the tank will give feedback signal to the controller when the water level goes below that specific level. That level will be considered as a water low condition by the firmware. Also the sensor output from the upper side 57 of the tank will be considered as a full tank condition by firmware.

These conditions will be processed further to control the water flow into the tank through the inlet pipe 55. The inlet pipe 55 can be connected to a water supply from the authorities. An optional water pump can be connected in between the water supply and inlet pipe 55 and the pump can be switched on or off using the above mentioned conditions. An overflow outlet pipe 54 can also be connected to the water tank 10. Also an air intake pipe 56 can be connected that will be positioned above the tank level. All the pipe connections to the units used in the invention are connected with this air intake pipe 56. A 1 V" inch ball valve 59 can be connected to control the water flow. The water flow can be split to toilet flush system and floor washing system. For the toilet flush system 60 a motorised valve can be connected before the toilet 11. The main controller board 14 will trigger on and off the motorised valve 60 to flush the toilet. The toilet flush will be activated at the time of pre- flush, after-flush and upon depressing flush switch 34 by the user.

The floor washing mechanism 12 can be realised using water channels arranged along the four sides of the unit's floor with nozzles directed towards the toilet 11. Water can be forced out through these nozzles to clean out the dirt in the floor. The motorised valve 61 for the floor wash unit will be triggered on by the controller 14 and the relay assembly 50. At the mean time, a 1/2 Horse Power mono block water pump 62 is also activated. The water pump 62 can be connected in between the motorised valve 61 and the floor washing mechanism 12. By activating the motorised valve 61 and the water pump 62, the floor can be washed out clean by this technique. A user can activate this system using the floor washing switch 35 mounted on the Front Pillar-L assembly 15. The firmware in the controller 14 can be designed to activate floor washing after registering depression of the floor washing switch 35 from five different users. The water pump 62 and the motorised valve 61 can be mounted on to the Pump- valve bed assembly 70.

Fig 2 shows the placement of panel board assembly 24 in the main structure. The assembly can be mounted on to the panel board mounting plate in the rear vertical stiffeners 33. A service door with a cam lock facility can be provided for the access to the panel board.

Fig 5 shows the placement of various electrical and electronics modules in the panel board assembly 24. The modules include printed circuit boards for main controller board 14, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) modem 27, voice interactive system and FM Module 31, the power supply unit - SMPS 25 (Switching Mode Power Supply), power supply adapter 30, UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) outlet 28, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 26, and ELCB 29 (Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker). The unit works in 230V AC Mains. The regulated 12V and 5V DC supply are taken from the 450W SMPS 25 (Switching Mode Power Supply), outputs. The main control board 14 comprises of PIC16f877A microcontroller from Microchip and additional components required for its operation.

Fig 4 shows the coin validator box 2 with the coin validator 3, and the display indicators 4,5,6,7. The coin validator box 2 can be mounted to the Front Pillar-R assembly 18. The coin validator 3, can be powered up by 12V DC, has 6 digital channels to configure the coin denomination etc. It can be connected to the controller 14 using 10-wired bus. The display indicators used are 10mm Red 4, 5 and 10mm Green 6, 7 Leds. The Leds are mounted on Reflective Type Led holders and are threaded into the coin validator box. Cables having gauge 7/36 can be used to connect the display indicators 4,5,6,7 to the controller 14.

The controller 14 has a firmware burned to it. The firmware can be based on an algorithm for the working of the invention. All the switching and timing are controlled by this firmware. In the initial stage, the firmware checks for the water level condition of the tank 10 using the outputs from floating sensors 57, 58. If the water tank 10 has enough water, the coin validator 3 will be activated. Unless the validator is activated, it won't accept coins from users. As described under the Basic Working, the status indicators will be activated and the process continues. After a user exits from the unit, the health level would be updated to the server along with other details.

The invention has a remote connectivity to its server through GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network. For the purpose, a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module) from any service provider can be used with the GSM (Global System for Mobile
Communications) modem 27. The SIM card should be registered with GRPS connectivity. The firmware in the controller can be designed to send a string of data with health status to its server through socket communication. The server will be configured with a static internet protocol, port and a web application to receive the data and process it. The application in the server can shutdown this unit remotely in case of any unexpected situations.

According to the invention, the voice interactive system and FM radio module 31 can be used to add more customer interaction. The voice interactive system 31 can have pre recorded voice messages in global language and regional languages also. The FM radio module can be pre-tuned to any of the locally available FM radio bands. Indoor speakers 41 and Outdoor speakers 63 with baffles are arranged to convey these messages to the customers. The FM radio can be allotted to Indoor Speakers 41 only. Other messages from the voice interactive system 31 will be switched by the controller 14 between the speakers with respect to its message and priority.

The LCD display 26 can be employed to display messages and some parameter values in real time. The messages are meant only for a service personal. The LCD display 26 will show the signal strength of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) modem 27, connection status and other messages hardcoded in the firmware to convey the statuses.

The sewage outlet from the toilet is connected to a membrane bio reactor tank for waste treatment and water recycling. The bio reactor tank is approved by State Pollution Control Board. The advantages of the unit include eco friendly, automated, reduced sludge output, compact design, ability to handle highly concentrated effluents, reliable discharge levels and no chemicals required etc.

Earthing can be provided for the invention; fine grained dehnit bind with water and sheath the earthing electrode with it. This sheathing can be conductive and enlarges the surface of the earthing electrode. Corresponding to the length of the earth rod, a diameter of greater than 10cm, up to 8m depth, a hole can be drilled. Earth rod, G1 pipe, 1.5m length is dipped, pound the mass at intervals of 0.5m filling level, remaining half meter with natural earth.

Claims

1. We claim An electronic public toilet system wherein automated toilet with unmanned payment collection, automatic water filling, sewage disposal, self cleaning of floor and closet and provided with a automatic sliding door opens automatically using an actuator, when a user puts coins in the coin validator and the automated floor washing, unit with nozzles attached to it installed in the toilet floor; cleans the dust and dirt by pumping out water through the nozzles.

2. An electronic public toilet system as claimed in claim 1 wherein Automated Valve Mechanism, used to open and close water channels for automatic self toilet flushing and floor washing to keep the toilet always clean.

3. An electronic public toilet system as claimed in claims 1 to 2 wherein a pre-flush system will flush 250 to 500 ml of water to wet the closet surface, which will help to clean the closet easily and a after-use flush, will flush the toilet with 4 liters of water, even if the user forgets to flush the toilet manually after use.

4. An electronic public toilet1 system as claimed in claims lto 3 wherein Micro-Controller Based Circuitry used in this invention, co¬ordinate all the functionalities through a firmware burned in to a microcontroller.

5. An electronic public toilet system as claimed in claims lto 4 wherein Remote access, General Packet Radio Service Connectivity through GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network is established and remote server authenticated with it can be used to know the health status of the invention.

6. An electronic public toilet system as claimed in claims 1 to 5 wherein GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network updates water level condition, payment clearance; check the amount of coins inserted by the user are updated and facilitates remote shutdown .

7. An electronic public toilet system as claimed in claims 1 to 6 wherein Sewage treatment and water recycling is achieved by a membrane bio-reactor tank installed underneath the toilet.

8. An electronic public toilet system as claimed in claims 1 to 6 wherein bio-reactor tank installed underneath the toilet featuring compact design, automated operation and remote management, eco friendly and almost zero sludge output.

9. An electronic public toilet system, as claimed in claims 1 to 8 substantially as herein described.

10. An electronic public toilet system substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.