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Automatic water feed method in lavatory using artificial retina sensor and automatic water feed mechanism in lavatory using artificial retina sensor

  • US 6,671,890 B2
  • Filed: 12/14/2001
  • Issued: 01/06/2004
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2000
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A system for providing automatic control of water to a lavatory appliance upon sensing a user, comprising:

  • a lavatory appliance for delivering water to a user;

    a control valve for controlling the flow of water through the lavatory appliance;

    a sensor for acquiring two dimensional images of the region of discharge of the lavatory appliance, the sensor including a two dimensional array of pixels, the two dimensional images being composed of the output of the pixels;

    an optimizing unit for receiving the two dimensional images from the sensor and generating acquired images, the acquired images being composed of the output of the pixels, the output of the pixels being optimized to one of two values based on a binary processing;

    a first memory unit for storing a first acquired image from the optimizing unit;

    a second memory unit for storing a second acquired image from the optimizing unit, the second acquired image being acquired after the first acquired image is acquired; and

    a comparison unit for comparing the first acquired image in the first memory unit with the second acquired image in the second memory unit to determine a number of pixel value changes for corresponding pixels of the first and second acquired images indicating movement of the user, whereby the control valve is activated when the number of pixel value changes is within a predetermined range.

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