Granted Patent B2

US 8,984,675 · App. 11/846,925 · Granted Mar 24, 2015

Abstract

Claims (61)

1. A waste handling system comprising:

a plurality of toilets;

a plurality of toilet control modules, each said toilet control module being independently associated with a respective one of said toilets such that each said toilet control module is able to independently control a flushing operation of its associated said toilet;

a waste holding tank in communication with each of said toilets;

a first sensor associated with said waste holding tank that is configured to indicate a first fill status of said waste holding tank;

a plurality of second sensors each associated with a respective toilet of said toilets and configured to identify a type for said respective toilet of the plurality of toilets;

an adapter system for interfacing said first sensor to each of said toilet control modules, said adapter system including:

an interface module that receives signals from the first sensor that indicate the first fill status of the waste holding tank;

a control module that:

determines a number and type of the plurality of toilets being used with the system based on input from the plurality of second sensors;

generates a control signal based on said first fill status, wherein each said toilet is independently controlled by its respective said toilet control module such that each said toilet control module is able to restrict a flush capability of its respective said toilet based on said control signal, irrespective of an operation of any other ones of said toilets, and further such that flushing of any one or more of said toilets may be initiated regardless if any other one of said toilets is being simultaneously flushed;

the control module being configured to use the interface module to visually indicate:

a first condition where a level of waste in the waste holding tank is below a first predetermined level, and during which all of the toilets are allowed to flush;

a second condition where the level of waste in the waste holding tank has reached a substantially full level, but during which all of the toilets are still allowed to flush; and

a third condition in which a level of waste in the waste holding tank is above a predetermined upper level, indicating that the waste holding tank is full, and during which selected ones or more of the toilets are locked out to prevent flushing;

an isolation module that isolates said interface module and said control module from at least one of voltage and current fluctuations that are external to the adapter.

2. The waste handling system of claim 1 , wherein said control module of said adapter system compares said first fill status to a predetermined shut-off fill status to determine and indicate when said waste holding tank is full.

3. The waste handling system of claim 2 , wherein said adapter system further comprises a first light-emitting device wherein said control module indicates that said waste holding tank is full by illuminating said first light-emitting device.

4. The waste handling system of claim 3 , wherein said interface module of said adapter system receives signals from a second sensor associated with said holding tank that indicate a second fill status of said waste holding tank, and wherein said control module compares said second fill status to a predetermined notification fill status that indicates that said waste holding tank is becoming full.

5. The waste handling system of claim 4 , further comprising a second light-emitting device, wherein said control module indicates that said waste holding tank is becoming full by illuminating said second light-emitting device.

6. The waste handling system of claim 5 , further comprising a third light-emitting device associated with said adapter system, wherein said third light-emitting device is active in response to said isolation module electrically communicating with at least one of said toilet control module and said first sensor.

7. The waste handling system of claim 6 , wherein said first, second, and third light-emitting devices comprise light-emitting diodes.

8. The waste handling system of claim 1 , wherein said isolation module comprises an isolator circuit.

9. The waste handling system of claim 1 wherein said interface module indicates a predetermined current from said first sensor.

10. The waste handling system of claim 9 , wherein said control module bases said restriction on a variation in said current from said interface module based on said first sensor signal.

11. The waste handling system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of adapters systems each being independently associated with a respective one of said toilets and a respective one of said toilet control modules, wherein each of said plurality of adapter systems receive signals from said first sensor and generates control signals based on said signals and said toilet control modules respond to said control signals to independently control a flushing action of its associated said toilet.

12. A toilet control system comprising:

a plurality of toilets each including respective toilet control modules that independently control flush operations of their respective said toilets, to thus enable any selected one or more of said plurality of toilets to be flushed while any other one or more non-selected ones of said plurality of toilets are disabled from flushing, and further such that operation of any one or more selected ones of said plurality of toilets may occur regardless if flushing is already occurring with any other one or more of said toilets;

a holding tank that fills based on said flush operations;

a first sensor that generates a first signal indicative of a current fill status of said holding tank;

a plurality of second sensors each associated with a respective toilet of said toilets and configured to identify a type for said respective toilet of the plurality of toilets;

an adapter comprising:

an interface module that receives said first signal;

a control module that:

determines a type and number of the plurality of toilets being used by the system based on input from the plurality of second sensors;

compares said fill status to a predetermined shut-off fill status that indicates that said holding tank is substantially full and that halts said flush operations based on said comparison, by independently sending a control signal to one or more of said toilet control modules;

the control module being configured to use the interface module to visually indicate:

a first condition where a level of waste in the holding tank is below a first predetermined level, and during which all of the toilets are allowed to flush;

a second condition where the level of waste in the holding tank has reached a substantially full level, but during which all of the toilets are still allowed to flush; and

a third condition in which a level of waste in the waste holding tank is above a predetermined upper level, indicating that the waste holding tank is full, and during which selected ones or more of the toilets are locked out to prevent flushing; and

an isolation module that isolates said adapter from at least one of voltage and current fluctuations between said toilet control modules and said adapter.

13. The toilet control system of claim 12 , further comprising a second sensor, wherein said interface module receives signals from a second sensor associated with said holding tank that indicate a second fill status of said holding tank, and wherein said control module compares said second fill status to a predetermined notification fill status that indicates that said holding tank is becoming full.

14. The toilet control system of claim 12 , further comprising a light-emitting device, wherein said light-emitting device is active based on said isolation module electrically communicating with at least one of said toilet control modules and said first sensor.

15. The toilet control system of claim 12 , wherein said isolation module comprises a plurality of isolator circuits that isolate said adapter from said control modules, wherein said isolator circuits comprise at least one of an optical isolator, an optocoupler, a photocoupler, a photo metal oxide semiconductor (photo MOS), a capacitive isolator, and an inductive isolator.

16. A method for controlling a toilet system comprising:

providing each of a plurality of toilets with an independently controllable toilet control module that is configured to assist in controlling a flushing operating of its associated said toilet;

providing a plurality of sensors each associated with a respective toilet and configured to identify a type for said respective toilet;

independently controlling respective flush operations of a plurality of toilets such that any of said toilets may be flushed regardless if a flushing action is already occurring with any other one or more of said toilets;

filling a holding tank based on said flush operations;

generating a first signal that indicates a current fill status of said holding tank;

comparing said fill status to a predetermined shut-off fill status that indicates that said holding tank is substantially full;

using a control module to:

determine a type and number of the plurality of toilets being connected to the system with input from the plurality of sensors;

generate control signals that are applied independently to each of said toilet control modules, to halt said flush operations of at least a subplurality of selected ones of said plurality of toilets based on said comparison;

visually indicate:

a first condition where a level of waste in the holding tank is below a first predetermined level, and during which all of the toilets are allowed to flush;

a second condition where the level of waste in the holding tank has reached a substantially full level, but during which all of the toilets are still allowed to flush; and

a third condition in which a level of waste in the waste holding tank is above a predetermined upper level, indicating that the waste holding tank is full, and during which selected ones or more of the toilets are locked out to prevent flushing; and

isolating at least one of voltage and current fluctuations within the toilet system.

17. The toilet control system of claim 12 , wherein the holding tank is a waste holding tank positioned remote relative to each toilet of the plurality of toilets.

18. The toilet control system of claim 17 , wherein the waste holding tank is in fluid communication with each toilet of the plurality of toilets.

Assignments (10)