TOILET MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND TECHNIQUES

• US 20150177917A1
• Filed: 03/03/2015
• Published: 06/25/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Edo Vincent Hoekstra
• Original Assignee: Edo Vincent Hoekstra
• Inventors: Hoekstra, Edo Vincent
• Application Number:
  US14/637,325
• Publication Number:
  US 20150177917A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E03D 5/105 touchless, e.g. using sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/00 Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism healthcare informatics G16H
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/18 for washing or drying persons
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/009 User recognition or proximity detection
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty

Abstract

Toilet management systems provide information about toilet units. Users, such as visitors and maintenance personnel, may consult an application on their mobile phone, tablet, or webpage to view metrics about a series of toilets, for example in a line of stalls or among multiple portable toilets at a sporting event. The user can determine condition and availability of each toilet, and even reserve the most favorable toilet via a reservation system. The mobile device or webpage can graphically display recommendations to the user, as well as such comparative metrics as the toilet with the longest time since last occupancy, toilet with least cumulative occupants, cumulative time of occupancy, duration of previous visit, cumulative environmental load of previous visits, and qualitative experience of previous toilet visitors. Toilet metrics may be displayed on visual dials, gauges, indicators, pie-chart, bar, bubble, and histogram indicators, numerical indicators, color lights, arrows, sounds, and timeline displays.

Claims

1. A toilet management system comprising:

a toilet monitoring component for monitoring toilet unit information for each of multiple toilet units;

a reporting component for reporting the toilet unit information to a user;

an interface for communicating to the user via one of an indicator, an email, a text message, a webpage, and a smart phone application;

a user interface to display a recommendation to the user indicating which of the multiple toilet units to use based on the toilet unit information;

wherein the reporting component combines and consolidates the toilet unit information from the multiple toilet units and generates the recommendation to the user regarding which toilet unit to use based on at least a quantitative measurement or a qualitative assessment of each toilet unit of the multiple toilet units; and

wherein the reporting component provides the toilet unit information to the user interface to display the recommendation.

2. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the reporting component provides an amount of time elapsed since a last occupancy of a toilet unit to the user interface for display.

3. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the reporting component provides a number of occupants of a toilet unit since a last maintenance or cleaning to the user interface for display.

4. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the reporting component provides a longest time since a last occupancy of a toilet unit to the user interface for display.

5. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the reporting component provides a least number of occupants of a toilet unit to the user interface for display.

6. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the reporting component provides a minimum cumulative time a toilet unit has been occupied to the user interface for display.

7. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the reporting component provides a minimum duration of a previous toilet visit of a toilet unit to the user interface for display.

8. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the reporting component provides a minimum cumulative environmental load of a previous toilet visit of a toilet unit to the user interface for display.

9. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the reporting component provides a highest qualitative experience of a previous toilet visitor expressed by a visitor feedback system to the user interface for display.

10. The toilet management system of claim 9, wherein the visitor feedback system solicits a like versus unlike or a +1 versus −

1 vote or social media rating to a toilet unit or to a previous toilet visit.

11. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the user interface displays the toilet unit information via a visual dial or a gauge.

12. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the user interface displays the toilet unit information via a comparative indicators selected from the group consisting of a pie chart, a bar chart, a bubble graph, a histogram, colored lights, and colored icons.

13. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the user interface displays the toilet unit information via a numerical indicator.

14. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the user interface displays the toilet unit information via an arrow or pointer.

15. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the user interface displays the toilet unit information via a sound indicator.

16. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the user interface displays the toilet unit information via a timeline display.

17. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the user interface displays the toilet unit information at individual toilet units.

18. The toilet management system of claim 1 further comprising an optimizer to provide optimization solutions for toilet unit usage or maintenance based on the toilet unit information and based on defined rules including business rules, economic rules, and efficiency rules.

19. The toilet management system of claim 1, wherein the reporting component derives an expected toilet occupancy based on toilet unit usage information and recommends cleaning, maintenance, toilet unit availability, toilet unit desirability, or male-female distributions of toilet units based on the expected toilet occupancy.

20. The toilet management system of claim 1, further comprising a reservation component configured to accept a request from a future toilet unit visitor to reserve one of the toilet units based on the recommendation, and configured to reserve the toilet unit based on the request.