Hands free system for lifting and lowering a toilet seat
First Claim
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1. An apparatus configured to lift and lower a seat assembly of a toilet, the apparatus comprising:
- a base including a first slot and a second slot spaced apart from one another to correspond to a distance between mounting holes of the toilet to receive existing mounting bolts of the seat assembly; and
a case having a front wall a pair of opposing side walls substantially perpendicular to the front wall, and a bottom wall substantially perpendicular to the front and side walls,wherein the case comprises;
a passive infrared sensor (PIR) that outputs a detection signal in response to motion;
a lever;
a coupler;
a motor, wherein the lever is coupled to a shaft of the motor via the coupler;
a direction control unit that applies a motor supply voltage to drive the shaft in one of a clockwise or counterclockwise direction in response to the detection signal; and
a battery to provide power to the apparatuswherein the base is adjacent the bottom wall of the case and positioned such that the first slot is disposed to the left of one of the side walls and the second slot is disposed to the right of the opposing side wall.
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Abstract
An apparatus configured to lift and lower a seat assembly of a toilet includes a case that is configured to be mounted to the toilet using mounting bolts of the seat assembly. The case includes a passive infrared sensor (PIR) that outputs a detection signal in response to motion, a motor having a lever coupled to the shaft of the motor via a coupler, a direction control unit that applies a motor supply voltage to drive the shaft of the motor in one of a clockwise or counterclockwise direction in response to the detection signal, and a battery to provide power to the apparatus.
26 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus configured to lift and lower a seat assembly of a toilet, the apparatus comprising:
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a base including a first slot and a second slot spaced apart from one another to correspond to a distance between mounting holes of the toilet to receive existing mounting bolts of the seat assembly; and a case having a front wall a pair of opposing side walls substantially perpendicular to the front wall, and a bottom wall substantially perpendicular to the front and side walls, wherein the case comprises; a passive infrared sensor (PIR) that outputs a detection signal in response to motion; a lever; a coupler; a motor, wherein the lever is coupled to a shaft of the motor via the coupler; a direction control unit that applies a motor supply voltage to drive the shaft in one of a clockwise or counterclockwise direction in response to the detection signal; and a battery to provide power to the apparatus wherein the base is adjacent the bottom wall of the case and positioned such that the first slot is disposed to the left of one of the side walls and the second slot is disposed to the right of the opposing side wall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus configured to lift and lower a toilet seat, the apparatus comprising:
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a case that is configured to be mounted to a toilet using mounting bolts of a seat assembly of the toilet, wherein the case comprises; a first passive infrared sensor (PIR) that outputs a first detection signal in response to motion; a second PIR that outputs a second detection signal in response to motion; a lever; a coupler; a motor;
wherein the lever is coupled to a shaft of the motor via the coupler; anda direction control unit that applies a motor supply voltage to drive the shaft of the motor in one of a clockwise or counterclockwise direction in response to both of the detection signals, wherein the direction control unit triggers the shaft to rotate in one of the clockwise or counterclockwise direction upon detecting that the first and second detection signals have occurred in succession within a first period and triggers the shaft to rotate in the other direction upon determining that the second and first detection signals have occurred in succession within a second period different from the first period. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification