Patent Description:
Patients who were bedridden for a long time and could not get out of bed to take care of their excrement, in the past, needed caregivers or family members to assist in cleaning up. The common practice was to use diapers. Diapers are normally changed as soon as being contaminated, then clean diapers are put on after patients are washed and wiped. However, most patients at first would resist diapering, with the feeling of uncomfortable and disrespect.

To deal with the problems above, a device has been developed that can automatically clean up after detecting excrement, without the assistance of others. A common disadvantage of such a device is that it requires a specific bed. Holes need to be made in the mattress to allow the lines/wires/tubes to pass through the mattress to connect with the cleaning device and to ensure that excrement can be detected and cleaned. <CIT> discloses an automatic excrement disposal device that does not require holes in the mattress. However, such a device still has many problems, which is mainly the complicated and bulky structural configuration, inconvenient for cleaning.

Thus, it is necessary to develop a device with a simpler structure, which could accurately detect and drive the device for cleaning on conventional beds, in addition to the need for special mattresses.

<CIT> discloses a device according to the preamble of claim <NUM>. The object of the invention is achieved by a device with the features of claim <NUM>.

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide an excrement cleaning device in a modular structural design tended to simplify the overall assembly process to facilitate cleaning and relevant maintenance.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides an excrement cleaning device connected to a processing device, comprising a body made of hard material and a cup body made of soft material. The body comprises a base, a support base, a flushing member, and a cleaning member. The base is provided with a flushing port, a suction inlet, a hot air port, and a cleaning port. The flushing port is connected to the processing device through a flushing water tube. The suction inlet is connected to the processing device through an excrement tube. The hot air port is connected to the processing device through a hot air tube. The cleaning port is connected to the processing device through a cleaning water tube. The support base is longitudinally formed at a rear end of the base. At least one water outlet is provided at the top of the support base. The flushing member is extendingly disposed at the base and is connected to the flushing port. The cleaning member is embedded in the support base. One end of the cleaning member is connected to the cleaning port while the other end is connected to the water outlet. One side of the cup body is disposed at the body while the other side comprises a cup opening. A periphery of the cup opening is provided with a lip in contact with hip of user. A sheet body of the lip extends outward to form a hip enclosing area corresponding to the hip. The sheet body is configured to be a soft silicone sheet. The flushing member comprises a tube base, a hose, and a nozzle. The tube base is bent upward at an angle from the bottom of the main body. One end of the hose is connected to the tube base. The nozzle is connected to the other end of the hose. Wherein, the hardness of the tube base and the nozzle is greater than the hardness of the hose, which allows water pressure through the tube base to the hose to shake the nozzle for increasing cleaning range.

Thus, compared with the complicated structural configuration of conventional excrement cleaning devices, the present disclosure applies a simple two-pieces modular structural design, which could set the cup body made of soft material with the sheet body on the body made of hard material to form a cup body structural configuration covering the hip of wearer.

The present disclosure provides a new type of water spray head, which increases the flushing range of the excrement cleaning device and improves the effect of cleaning.

By arranging a hose between the nozzle and the rigid tube base having a bent configuration, a water pressure through the tube base to the hose would shake the nozzle for increasing the cleaning (spraying) range.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for cleaning excrements with the excrement cleaning device. Through this method, the excrement cleaning device can be cleaned at the same time as the user is cleaned to achieve a truly automatic excrement cleaning device that is self-care-free for the user.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for cleaning excrements with an excrement cleaning device first makes the excrement cleaning device to be in a negative pressure state, then two times of flushing and three times of cleaning are performed in order under the negative pressure state, followed by air-jetting the tubes and finally releasing the negative pressure state to dry the excrement cleaning device.

The features of the exemplary embodiments believed to be novel and the elements and/or the steps characteristic of the exemplary embodiments are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The Figures are for illustration purposes only and are not drawn to scale. The exemplary embodiments, both as to organization and method of operation, may best be understood by reference to the detailed description which follows taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:.

The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are shown. This present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a system architecture applying an excrement cleaning device of the present disclosure. <FIG> is an exploded schematic diagram of the excrement cleaning device of an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a schematic diagram from another perspective of <FIG>. In this embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, an excrement cleaning device <NUM> connected to a processing device <NUM> is provided. The excrement cleaning device can be worn by user and is provided with a sensor to detect whether excrement is present. The processing device <NUM> comprises a suction device <NUM>, a water supply device <NUM>, and a hot air device <NUM>, which are respectively connected to the excrement cleaning device <NUM> through tubes. The processing device is driven by the sensor (not shown) of the excrement cleaning device <NUM>, and after the discharged excrement is collected into the excrement bucket <NUM> through the suction device <NUM>, cleaning operations such as washing and drying are performed.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, according to one embodiment, an excrement cleaning device <NUM> comprises a body <NUM> made of hard material and a cup body <NUM> made of soft material. The body <NUM> comprises a base <NUM>, a support base <NUM>, a flushing member <NUM>, and a cleaning member <NUM>. The base <NUM> comprises a flushing port <NUM>, a suction inlet <NUM>, a hot air port <NUM>, and a cleaning port <NUM>. The flushing port <NUM> is connected to the processing device <NUM> (water supply device <NUM>) through a flushing water tube <NUM>. The suction inlet <NUM> is connected to the processing device <NUM> (suction device <NUM>) through an excrement tube <NUM>. The hot air port <NUM> is connected to the processing device <NUM> (hot air device <NUM>) through a hot air tube <NUM>. The cleaning port <NUM> is connected to the processing device <NUM> (water supply device <NUM>) through a cleaning water tube <NUM>. The support base <NUM> is longitudinally formed at a rear end of the base <NUM>, and the top of the support base <NUM> comprises at least one water outlet <NUM>. The flushing member <NUM> is extendingly disposed at the base <NUM> and is connected to the flushing port <NUM>. The cleaning member <NUM> is embedded in the support base <NUM>, one end of the cleaning member <NUM> is connected to the cleaning port <NUM>, while the other end is connected to the water outlet <NUM>. One side of the cup body <NUM> is disposed at the body <NUM> while the other side comprises a cup opening <NUM>. A periphery of the cup opening <NUM> is provided with a lip <NUM> in contact with hip of user. A sheet body <NUM> of the lip <NUM> extends outward to form a hip enclosing area corresponding to the hip.

The excrement cleaning device <NUM> further comprises a weight sensor <NUM> and a pair of optical sensors <NUM> for sensing excrement. The weight sensor <NUM> is disposed in the support base <NUM>, and the pair of optical sensors <NUM> are respectively disposed on two sidewalls of the cup body <NUM> below the lip <NUM>.

The cup body <NUM> and the body <NUM> form a configuration with a curved hip enclosing area. The support base <NUM> can be used as the main fulcrum, and the sheet body <NUM> can increase the friction and dispersion pressure between the hip and the excrement cleaning device <NUM>, so it would be more stable when wearing and practicing the excrement cleaning device <NUM> and there is no need to worry about the dislocation of the cup body <NUM> as the user turning over or moving. Besides, a front end of the cup body <NUM> can be extended to cover the male genitals, or other independent urine cleaning devices can be used in combination.

It should be noted that the material of the support base <NUM> is relatively hard compared to that of the cup body <NUM>. The sheet body <NUM> is essentially a soft silicone sheet, the size of which can be changed according to the size of the wearer's hip, as wearing an appropriately sized product improves comfort. Besides, the cup body <NUM> is provided with at least one supplementary pressure air inlet <NUM> close to a front end of the base <NUM>. When the suction device <NUM> starts the suction to collect the air with the excrement into the excrement bucket <NUM>, the supplementary pressure air inlet <NUM> would introduce external air into the cup body <NUM>. In this way, in addition to forming a negative pressure state inside the cup body <NUM>, the inflow of external air would form a wind pressure to generate a forward airflow, which is beneficial for the suction device <NUM> to suck the excrement into the excrement bucket <NUM>. Thus, there would be no issues of the leakage of odorous gas and the overflow of the excrement.

Since the support base <NUM> and the base <NUM> are arranged at a right angle of nearly <NUM> degrees, so when the user is in bed, the side view of the body <NUM> would be L-shaped, the support base <NUM> would be placed on the mattress stably, and the tube connected to the base <NUM> would be disposed at the inner thigh and the groin of the user. Thus, tubes connecting the excrement cleaning device and the processing device would no longer need to pass through the mattress, and the wearing comfort and the using flexibility would be greatly improved.

In actual practice, the entire excrement cleaning device is combined with a wearable trousers fabric (not shown) to facilitate wearing and fixing. The weight sensor <NUM> and the optical sensor <NUM> are respectively electrically connected to the processing device <NUM> for sensing excrement and driving the processing device <NUM>. When excrement falls from the anus, it would be detected by the optical sensors <NUM> on two sides first, then the excrement would fall to an inner wall of the support base <NUM> and be detected by the weight sensor <NUM>. The dual sensor design improves detection accuracy. Wire grooves are provided in the trouser fabric to hold or guide the electrical wires between the sensor and the processing device. Since the wiring techniques of electrical connection are known to those skilled in the art, it would not be described herein.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of the excrement cleaning device of another embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> is an exploded schematic diagram of a quick-release joint of <FIG>. To improve the convenience of tube disassembly and assembly, the excrement cleaning device may further comprise a quick-release joint <NUM>. Compared with the previous embodiment, when the cleaning device is to be disassembled, it is necessary to disassemble the communicating tubes piece by piece. With the quick-release joint <NUM>, the tubes connected between the excrement cleaning device <NUM> and the processing device can be quickly disassembled and assembled.

In this embodiment, the quick-release joint <NUM> is fixedly connected to the flushing water tube <NUM>, the excrement tube <NUM>, the hot air tube <NUM>, and the cleaning water tube <NUM>, and is disposed at the bottom of the base <NUM> to form a buckle mechanism <NUM>. The buckle mechanism <NUM> enables the quick-release joint <NUM> to be attached to and detached from the body <NUM>.

The quick-release joint <NUM> comprises a plurality of communication ports <NUM>. The diameter of the communication ports <NUM> respectively corresponds to the diameter of the connected flushing water tube <NUM>, the excrement tube <NUM>, the hot air tube <NUM>, and the cleaning water tube <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the buckle mechanism <NUM> comprises a connecting base <NUM>, a housing <NUM>, and a pair of detent components <NUM>. The plurality of communication ports <NUM> pass through the connecting base <NUM>. The pair of detent components <NUM> are disposed on two sides of the quick-release joint <NUM> and are covered by the housing <NUM>.

Each of the detent components <NUM> comprises a first detent member <NUM>, a second detent member <NUM>, a button <NUM>, a baffle <NUM>, and a spring <NUM>. One end of the first detent member <NUM> is disposed on the bottom surface of the base <NUM> and extends downward, and the other end comprises a first hook <NUM>. The button <NUM> is disposed in the through hole <NUM> of the housing <NUM>, and one side surface of the button <NUM> is exposed outside of the housing <NUM>. The second detent member <NUM> is disposed in the housing <NUM>, one end of the second detent member <NUM> is disposed at a position of the button <NUM> corresponding to the first detent member <NUM> and extends upwards, and the other end comprises a second hook <NUM> engaged with the first hook <NUM>. The baffle <NUM> is disposed on the bottom surface of the connecting base <NUM> and extends downward. The spring <NUM> is disposed between the button <NUM> and the baffle <NUM>, one end of the spring <NUM> abuts against the other side of the button <NUM> (inside the housing <NUM>), and the other end abuts against the baffle <NUM>. By applying an external force to the side surface of the button <NUM> exposed outside of the housing <NUM>, the spring <NUM> can be pushed to pivot the second hook <NUM> to unhook the first hook <NUM>.

To put it simply, when the connection between the excrement cleaning device and the processing device is to be dismantled, it is only necessary to press the button <NUM> to separate the base <NUM> from the quick-release joint <NUM>.

Thus, compared with the conventional configuration which is quite complex, the present disclosure applies a simple two-piece modular configuration, so that the cup body having the cup opening and the sheet body are disposed on the body to form a cup-shaped configuration which covers the wearer. The quick-release joint <NUM> allows the tube connected between the excrement cleaning device <NUM> and the processing device to be quickly detached and assembled.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a flushing member of an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> is another schematic diagram of <FIG>. In this embodiment, the flushing member <NUM> comprises a tube base <NUM>, a hose <NUM>, and a nozzle <NUM>. The tube base <NUM> is disposed at the bottom of the body, and is bent and extended at an angle after reaching a height. Thus, the tube base <NUM> is extended toward to the suction inlet (<NUM>). One end of the hose <NUM> is sleeved and connected to the tube base <NUM> and the other end of the hose (<NUM>) is extending toward to the suction inlet (<NUM>), and the nozzle <NUM> is connected to the other end of the hose <NUM>. The hose <NUM> is made of flexible material, and the hardness of the tube base <NUM> and the nozzle <NUM> is much greater than the hardness of the hose <NUM>. When the water supply device delivers water to the flushing member <NUM>, a water pressure through the tube base <NUM> to the hose <NUM> would shake the nozzle <NUM> for increasing the cleaning range.

In one embodiment, a surface of the nozzle <NUM> is provided with a plurality of spray holes <NUM>, which spray water toward the hip of user. In addition to the original water distribution area of the plurality of spray holes <NUM> as the first flushing area A1, the actual spraying range of the nozzle <NUM> would additionally cover a second flushing area A2 as the water pressure shakes the hose <NUM>. Especially in the state of negative pressure suction, the inhaled air flow would allow the nozzle <NUM> to shake severely, the second flushing area A2 hence would be further expanded.

Besides, as shown in <FIG> with <FIG>, the height of the nozzle <NUM> on a horizontal plane is higher than that of the supplementary pressure air inlet <NUM>. So, when the suction device is activated, external air would be sucked by the suction device to form an airflow, and the flowing airflow would form an air pressure P. When the height of the spray holes <NUM> is higher than a surface of the wind pressure P, the spraying would not be affected, and the excrement would not contaminate the nozzle <NUM> during the flushing process with water. Even if it is contaminated, the nozzle <NUM> can be removed at any time for cleaning or replacement.

<FIG> is a flow chart of a method for cleaning excrements with the aforementioned excrement cleaning device of the present disclosure. For a better understanding of the present disclosure, the following descriptions are provided with flowcharts and processing steps. The method for cleaning excrements with the excrement cleaning device comprises the following steps in order:.

S800: When the excrement cleaning device senses excrement, the cup body would enter a negative pressure state.

S801: The flushing member flushes for a first predetermined time, and the cleaning member cleans for a second predetermined time.

S802: Pause for a first waiting time, and the cleaning member continues to clean for the second predetermined time again.

S803: Pause for a second waiting time, the cleaning member continues to flush for the first predetermined time, and the cleaning member continues to clean for the second predetermined time.

S804: Air-jet the flushing water tube and the cleaning water tube with a third predetermined time to discharge residual water vapor.

S805: Pause for a third waiting time to release the negative pressure state, and dry the excrement cleaning device with a fourth predetermined time.

In one embodiment, the first predetermined time or the second predetermined time may be between <NUM> and <NUM> seconds, the first waiting time or the second waiting time may be between <NUM> and <NUM> seconds, the third predetermined time is between <NUM> and <NUM> seconds, the third waiting time is between <NUM> and <NUM> seconds, and the fourth predetermined time is between <NUM> and <NUM> seconds. The aforementioned time in seconds could be changed according to preferences or actual application requirements.

The flushing refers to the action of the flushing member spraying water on organs of user, and the cleaning refers to the water outlet cleaning wall surfaces of the excrement cleaning device. It is worth noting that the cleaning method of the present disclosure does not simply increase the cleaning effect through multiple flushing, but performs adaptive switching cleaning for the process of human excretion. In this way, the sticky excrement can be flushed reliably, and the subsequent cleaning operation for the excrement cleaning device can be completed.

The present disclosure provides a cleaning method for excrements with an excrement cleaning device, which firstly brings the excrement cleaning device into a negative pressure state, then perform two flushes and three washes in order followed by air-jetting the tubes under the negative pressure, and finally release the negative pressure state to dry the excrement cleaning device for excellent cleaning.

Claim 1:
Device (<NUM>) for cleaning excrement, the device being adapted to be connected to a processing device (<NUM>) and comprising:
a body (<NUM>) made of hard material, comprising:
a base (<NUM>) comprising
a flushing port (<NUM>) being connected to the processing device (<NUM>) through a flushing water tube (<NUM>);
a suction inlet (<NUM>) being connected to the processing device (<NUM>) through an excrement tube (<NUM>);
a hot air port (<NUM>) being connected to the processing device (<NUM>) through a hot air tube (<NUM>); and
a cleaning port (<NUM>) being connected to the processing device (<NUM>) through a cleaning water tube (<NUM>);
a support base (<NUM>) longitudinally formed at a rear end of the base (<NUM>), at least one water outlet (<NUM>) being provided at the top of the support base (<NUM>);
a flushing member (<NUM>) extendingly disposed at the base (<NUM>) and connected to the flushing port (<NUM>); and
a cleaning member (<NUM>) embedded in the support base (<NUM>) wherein one end of the cleaning member (<NUM>) being connected to the cleaning port (<NUM>) and the other end of the cleaning member (<NUM>) being connected to the water outlet (<NUM>); and
a cup body (<NUM>) made of soft material, one side of which being disposed at the body (<NUM>) and the other side of the cup body (<NUM>) comprising a cup opening (<NUM>), a periphery of the cup opening (<NUM>) being provided with a lip (<NUM>) in contact with hip of a person, a sheet body (<NUM>) of the lip (<NUM>) extending outward to form a hip enclosing area corresponding to the hip, the sheet body (<NUM>) being configured to be a soft silicone sheet;
characterized in that
the flushing member (<NUM>) comprises:
a tube base (<NUM>) bent upward at an angle from the bottom of the body (<NUM>) and extended toward to the suction inlet (<NUM>);
a hose (<NUM>), one end of the hose (<NUM>) is connected to the tube base (<NUM>) and the other end of the hose (<NUM>) is extending toward to the suction inlet (<NUM>); and
a nozzle (<NUM>) connected to the other end of the hose (<NUM>);
wherein the hardness of the tube base (<NUM>) and the nozzle (<NUM>) are greater than the hardness of the hose (<NUM>), which allows water pressure through the tube base (<NUM>) to the hose (<NUM>) to shake the nozzle (<NUM>) for increasing cleaning range.