Hand washing unit
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A hand washing and rinsing unit for a wash basin comprising:
- a water dispenser;
a liquid soap dispenser;
a proximity sensor for detecting a user'"'"'s hand or hands in a position to receive soap and/or water from the water and soap dispensers and outputting a hands present signal indicative thereof; and
a controller configured so as to cause the unit to operate in a waiting mode and in an active mode,wherein, when the unit is in said waiting mode, the controller is continuously in a state in which it is responsive to the occurrence of a hands present signal to cause;
(a) the water dispenser to dispense a quantity of water onto a user'"'"'s hand or hands for wetting thereof, and(b) enter the unit into said active mode, and,when the unit is in said active mode, the controller;
(a) establishes a last soap test window after said dispensing of a quantity of water, and(b) is responsive to the occurrence of a hands present signal in said last soap test window, to cause the soap dispenser to dispense soap onto the user'"'"'s hand or hands and record a valid handwash event.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A handwash station comprises a wall mounted cabinet which contains soap and water dispensing means, a proximity sensor and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry controls the dispensing of soap and water in response to signals from the proximity sensor. A count of valid handwashes is incremented only if a user'"'"'s hand is detected by the proximity sensor at certain key points. The key points comprise at least the start of a last soap dispensing step and the start of a last rinsing water dispensing step. Differential valid handwash count values are stored periodically by the processing circuitry and can be downloaded to a central station for analysis.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A hand washing and rinsing unit for a wash basin comprising:
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a water dispenser; a liquid soap dispenser; a proximity sensor for detecting a user'"'"'s hand or hands in a position to receive soap and/or water from the water and soap dispensers and outputting a hands present signal indicative thereof; and a controller configured so as to cause the unit to operate in a waiting mode and in an active mode, wherein, when the unit is in said waiting mode, the controller is continuously in a state in which it is responsive to the occurrence of a hands present signal to cause; (a) the water dispenser to dispense a quantity of water onto a user'"'"'s hand or hands for wetting thereof, and (b) enter the unit into said active mode, and, when the unit is in said active mode, the controller; (a) establishes a last soap test window after said dispensing of a quantity of water, and (b) is responsive to the occurrence of a hands present signal in said last soap test window, to cause the soap dispenser to dispense soap onto the user'"'"'s hand or hands and record a valid handwash event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A handwashing system including:
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a hand washing and rinsing unit for a wash basin comprising; a water dispenser; a liquid soap dispenser; a proximity sensor for detecting a user'"'"'s hand or hands in a position to receive soap and/or water from the water and soap dispensers and outputting a hands present signal indicative thereof; electronic input means for enabling a user to enter a user ID code; and a controller configured so as to cause the unit to operate in a waiting mode and in an active mode, wherein, when the unit is in said waiting mode, the controller is continuously in a state in which it is responsive to the occurrence of a hands present signal to cause; (a) the water dispenser to dispense a quantity of water onto a user'"'"'s hand or hands for wetting thereof, and (b) enter the unit into said active mode, and, when the unit is in said active mode, the controller; (a) establishes a last soap test window after said dispensing of a quantity of water and (b) is responsive to the occurrence of a hands present signal in said last soap test window, to cause the soap dispenser to dispense soap onto the user'"'"'s hand or hands and record a valid handwash event, a remote computer, and a communications link between the unit and the remote computer, wherein input user ID codes are communicated to the remote computer form the unit via the communications link together with information regarding whether the user completed a valid hand wash event. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A hand washing and rinsing system including:
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a hand washing and rinsing unit for a wash basin comprising; a water dispenser; a liquid soap dispenser; a memory; and a controller configured to control the dispensing of water and soap by said dispensers, wherein the controller is configured to; record valid hand wash events, establish a plurality of sequential monitoring periods of equal length, and store the number of handwash events recorded in each said monitoring period in said memory. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A handwash station comprising:
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a controllable soap dispenser; a controllable water dispenser; a counter for counting handwashes; a sensor for detecting a hand in using relation to the station; and a controller responsive to said sensor and operable to control the soap and water dispensers according to a predetermined cycle, said cycle including at least a soap dispensing step and a rinsing water dispensing step, and to establish a test window at the start of each soap and water dispensing step of said cycle, wherein the controller is configured such that the counter is incremented by the controller only if the sensor outputs a signal indicating the presence of a hand during each of said test windows. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A hand washing and rinsing unit for mounting to a wall comprising:
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a housing having a back wall; a water dispenser in the housing; a liquid soap dispenser in the housing; and at least one mounting arm projecting rearwards from said back wall. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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Specification