Patent ID: 8230531

Claim:
A flush toilet comprising: a main body defining a housing that includes a bowl; a macerator unit in communication with the bowl, and disposed within the housing of the toilet to form an integral portion of the toilet, the macerator unit operative for processing waste received from the bowl; a holding tank for receiving the waste from the macerator unit; a level sensor positioned within the holding tank to sense a level of the waste within the holding tank and to indicate when the holding tank is at a substantially full level; a controller for controlling operation of the macerator unit, the controller further being in communication with the sensor; a user interface for communicating with the controller to enable a user to control at least one function of the toilet, the user interface including a visual indicator; a current sensing device in communication with the controller for sensing a current drawn by the macerator unit and providing; a first signal to the controller indicative of an operational condition of the macerator unit in which a current being drawn by the macerator unit during operation of the macerator unit is below a predetermined current range; wherein the controller, in response to receipt of the first signal, is operative to discontinue power to the macerator to reduce a level of overall noise associated with a flushing operation of the toilet; a second signal to the controller indicative of an operational condition of the macerator unit in which a current being drawn by the macerator unit during operation of the macerator unit is above the predetermined current range; and wherein the controller, in response to receipt of the second signal, further is adapted to: discontinue power to the macerator unit; illuminate the visual indicator to indicate a failure condition for the macerator unit; and to prevent flushing of the toilet subsequent to the sensing of the second signal; and wherein the controller is configured to implement a limited flush mode once a signal is received from the sensor indicating that the holding tank is substantially full, the limited flush mode inhibiting normal operation of the toilet, but still allowing a predefined limited number of additional flushes of the flush toilet in response to a predetermined command entered at the user interface.