Patent ID: 12220092

MODES OF THE INVENTION

Since various modifications may be made to the present disclosure and the present disclosure may have various embodiments, particular embodiments are illustrated in the drawings, and the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

However, it is not intended to limit the present disclosure to the particular embodiments described below, and all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present disclosure should be construed as belonging to the present disclosure.

For terms used in the present disclosure, general terms that are currently widely used have been selected wherever possible while considering functions in the present disclosure, but the terms may vary according to intentions of those of ordinary skill in the art, precedents, the emergence of new technologies, and the like.

Also, in particular cases, some terms may have been arbitrarily chosen by the applicant, and in such cases, the meaning of the terms will be described in detail in the corresponding part of the description of the disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical or scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains. Terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be construed as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and are not to be construed in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Therefore, the terms used in the present disclosure should be defined on the basis of the meaning of the terms and the content throughout the present disclosure, instead of being defined simply on the basis of the names of the terms.

In the application, terms such as “include” or “have” should be understood as indicating the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof and not excluding the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof in advance.

Also, terms such as “device” and “module” used herein refer to a unit of processing at least one function or operation, and the unit may be implemented using hardware or software or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software.

Terms including ordinals such as “first” and “second” may be used to describe various components, but the terms are only used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component, and the components are not limited by the term “first,” “second,” or the like. For example, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and likewise, a second component may be referred to as a first component without departing from the scope of rights of the present disclosure.

The term “and/or” includes a combination of a plurality of associated listed items or any one item among the plurality of associated listed items. That is, the term “and/or” may simultaneously correspond to both items or correspond to only one of the two items.

When it is mentioned that a certain component is “connected” or “linked” to another component, although the certain component may be directly connected or linked to the other component, it should be understood that another component may be present therebetween. On the other hand, when it is mentioned that a certain component is “directly connected” or “directly linked” to another component, it should be understood that other components are not present therebetween.

Hereinafter, a toilet cover allowing an inside of a toilet to be checked according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference toFIGS.4and5.

FIG.4is a perspective view of a toilet cover according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, andFIG.5is a detailed configuration diagram illustrating configurations of a first transparent hole including a convex lens and a second transparent hole including a concave lens, which are transparent holes of the toilet cover according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

First, referring toFIG.4, in the present embodiment, for convenience of description, a configuration in which a first transparent hole10including a convex lens15and a second transparent hole20including a concave lens25are simultaneously provided in a toilet cover30will be described as an example. However, it should be noted that, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, a configuration in which only the first transparent hole10including the convex lens15is formed in the toilet cover30and a configuration in which only the second transparent hole20including the concave lens25is formed in the toilet cover30are both possible according to a user's choice. That is, in the present disclosure, the configuration in which only the first transparent hole10including the convex lens15is formed in the toilet cover30, the configuration in which only the second transparent hole20including the concave lens25is formed in the toilet cover30, and the configuration in which the first transparent hole10including the convex lens15and the second transparent hole20including the concave lens25are both formed in the toilet cover30are all possible.

Also, the first transparent hole10and the second transparent hole20may each be formed to have a diameter in a range of 2 cm to 5 cm, but the diameter may be formed larger or smaller according to various factors such as the structure of a toilet and a toilet cover to which the first transparent hole10and the second transparent hole20are applied, trends, a user's preferences, convenience of manufacturing, and the like.

A power switch110, a light source152, and a light receiver154which are indicated by dotted lines inFIG.4are illustrated as being provided at an inner side of the toilet cover30, and an approach sensor130also indicated by dotted lines is illustrated as being embedded in a front of a toilet seat40. Specific configurations and functions thereof will be described below.

Also, the toilet cover30and the toilet seat40, which are configurations of the present disclosure, may be applied to the conventional general toilet covers that are currently in use, and in order to more clearly distinguish distinct configurations of the present disclosure, description of configurations of general toilet covers and toilet seats, for example, configurations such as materials, connection structures, shapes, and the like, will be omitted.

Referring toFIG.5, the first transparent hole10according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is formed by penetrating the toilet cover30, then filled with a material that is easily moldable and transparent, such as transparent acrylic and transparent polycarbonate, and includes a colored cellophane sheet12and the convex lens15therein. Here, the colored cellophane sheet12is for filtering color in order to reduce disgust in terms of sight in a case in which a residue, such as excreta or vomit, is present inside the toilet, and thus the colored cellophane sheet12may be provided to be attached onto the transparent material, inserted into a middle of the transparent material, or provided to be attached to a lower portion of the transparent material, or color may be added to the transparent material itself to form a colored transparent hole. That is, any configuration may be applied as long as it is possible to filter the color of excreta inside the toilet when the inside of the toilet is viewed through the transparent hole.

Meanwhile, although the inside of the toilet can be checked only through the transparent hole filled with the transparent material, in the case in which the convex lens is added according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the transparent hole may be configured as a small hole, and a residue inside the toilet can be accurately checked without viewing the entire residue inside the toilet.

Here, in the case of the first transparent hole10to which the convex lens15is added, since the first transparent hole10is for checking in detail whether a residue is present in the toilet, the first transparent hole10may be positioned at an upper end of a drain hole where a residue is most likely to be present.

Meanwhile, referring back toFIG.5, like the first through-hole10, the second transparent hole20according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is formed by penetrating the toilet cover30, then filled with a material that is easily moldable and transparent, such as transparent acrylic and transparent polycarbonate, and includes a colored cellophane sheet12and the concave lens25therein. Here, like the colored cellophane sheet12of the first through-hole10, the colored cellophane sheet12is for filtering color in order to reduce disgust in terms of sight in a case in which a residue, such as excreta or vomit, is present inside the toilet, and thus the colored cellophane sheet12may be provided to be attached onto the transparent material, inserted into a middle of the transparent material, or provided to be attached to a lower portion of the transparent material, or color may be added to the transparent material itself to form a colored transparent hole. That is, any configuration may be applied as long as it is possible to filter the color of excreta inside the toilet when the inside of the toilet is viewed through the transparent hole.

Meanwhile, although the inside of the toilet can be checked only through the transparent hole filled with the transparent material, in the case in which the concave lens25is added according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the transparent hole may be configured as a small hole, and the overall situation of a residue inside the toilet can be checked without viewing the entire residue inside the toilet.

Here, in the case of the second transparent hole20to which the concave lens25is added, since the second transparent hole20is for checking a residue in the entire toilet, the second transparent hole20may be positioned at a middle of the toilet cover30where it is possible to view the entire toilet.

According to the present disclosure described above, by the first transparent hole10and the second transparent hole20, there is an advantageous effect that whether a residue is present in the toilet can be checked through the transparent holes of the toilet cover without opening the toilet cover or performing an additional operation.

Also, according to the present disclosure described above, by a colored transparent hole coated with a specific color being formed in the toilet cover or a colored cellophane sheet being attached to a transparent hole of the toilet cover, there is an advantageous effect that a color of a residue present inside the toilet can be changed to reduce disgust towards seeing the corresponding residue.

Hereinafter, a toilet residue alarm apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference toFIG.6.

FIG.6is a block diagram of a toilet residue alarm apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG.6, the toilet residue alarm apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes the power switch110, a power supply device120, the approach sensor130, a detection switch140, a residue sensor150, and an alarm device160.

First, the power switch110may be configured as a push button switch or the like that is turned on while pressed, but the toilet residue alarm apparatus may be configured to exclude the power switch110. That is, in a case in which the toilet residue alarm apparatus provided at the toilet cover according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is configured to always receive power from an indoor power terminal, the toilet residue alarm apparatus may be configured to detect an approach of a user at all times.

However, since the inside of the toilet can be visually checked immediately when the toilet cover is open, the toilet residue alarm apparatus according to the present disclosure presumes that the toilet cover is closed. The toilet residue alarm apparatus being configured to operate while the toilet cover is closed is also desirable in terms of reducing the power consumption.

Therefore, in one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, by the power switch110being configured as a push button switch and provided on an inner side of a leading end of the toilet cover30, the power switch110provided at the leading end of the toilet cover30is configured to be turned on only while in contact with the toilet seat40and pressed due to the toilet cover30being closed.

While being turned on as above, the power switch110applies a turn-on signal to the power supply device120so that the power supply device120supplies power to the approach sensor130.

The power supply device120may be configured to always receive power from an indoor power terminal. In this case, since a permissible range of power consumption is high, there is an advantageous effect that a degree of freedom in designing additional components of the toilet residue alarm apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is high.

Meanwhile, the power supply device120may be configured as a portable power source such as a battery. In this case, since the wiring of the toilet residue alarm apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is simplified, and the indoor power terminal becomes unnecessary, there is an advantageous effect that, due to less space constraints, a degree of freedom of installation increases.

Meanwhile, in a case in which the toilet residue alarm apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is applied to outdoor toilets where power supply is not smooth and management, such as frequently replacing the battery, is not easy, the toilet residue alarm apparatus may be configured to use power of power generation equipment such as a solar panel.

For example, the approach sensor130is configured as an infrared sensor or the like and is provided at a leading end of the toilet seat40to detect an approach of a person from the front of the toilet and, when an approach of a person is detected, generate a detection signal and apply the generated detection signal to the detection switch140. Here, the detection signal applied from the approach sensor130may serve as a turn-on signal of the detection switch140and turn on the detection switch140, thus allowing power to be supplied from the power supply device120to the residue sensor150.

The detection switch140is configured as a transistor or the like and is turned on due to the detection signal from the approach sensor130to supply power from the power supply device120to the residue sensor150.

The residue sensor150may include the light source152and the light receiver154and may be configured as a type of turbidity sensor. For example, as illustrated inFIG.4, the light source152that consists of two light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is provided at an inner side of the toilet cover30, and the light receiver154is provided in between the two LEDs so that a secretion detection signal is generated according to a signal indicating that light emitted from the light source152is reflected from water or a residue in the toilet and then received by the light receiver154. That is, in a case in which there are no secretions, the entire light emitted from the light source152is reflected from a surface of water in the toilet such that the amount of received light is large, but in a case in which secretions are present, some of the light emitted from the light source152is absorbed by the secretions such that the amount of received light decreases. Therefore, when the amount of light received by the light receiver154is less than or equal to a predetermined amount, the residue sensor150detects that a residue is present in the toilet and generates a residue detection signal. Here, the toilet residue alarm apparatus may further include a signal amplifier (not illustrated) as necessary, and the residue detection signal serves as a switching signal that turns on the alarm device160.

The alarm device160is configured as at least any one of a visual alarm device such as an LED and an aural alarm device such as a buzzer. When the residue detection signal is applied from the residue sensor150to the alarm device160, the alarm device160is turned on and emits light and/or generates an alarm sound.

In the present disclosure, an example in which the toilet cover is implemented using a simple circuit such as an LED, a buzzer, an infrared sensor, or a transistor in order to implement the toilet cover with a low-cost, simple configuration has been described. However, according to the requested quality, the toilet cover may be implemented with a configuration that includes a programmed system controller, which can implement the toilet cover by further reflecting requests from a user, and provides guidance text through a display device and provides a voice alarm according to a detected signal.

According to the present disclosure described above, there is an advantageous effect that, in a case in which a residue is present inside the toilet, by detecting the residue and providing an alarm to a user visually and/or aurally, the user can be aware of the disgusting matter inside the toilet without directly checking the inside of the toilet.

The above-given description of the embodiments is provided to allow anyone of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains to use or carry out the present disclosure. Various modifications of the embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art of the present disclosure.

Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments proposed herein and should be construed to have the widest possible range that is consistent with the principles and novel features proposed herein. Also, the term “exemplary” is used herein to signify that the embodiments are provided as examples and provided for illustrative purposes only.

Therefore, the exemplary embodiments illustrated and described herein may be changed, altered, and modified in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, especially, the essential characteristics thereof. That is, since details disclosed and described herein are only for the description of the appended claims, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, the scope of the present disclosure can be specified only by the appended claims.