Millimeter Wave Radar Detection

This application claims the benefit of priority to: Chinese Patent Application No. 202410781197.0 filed in the Chinese Intellectual Property Office on Jun. 18, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present application relates to automated water dispensing in bathroom devices.

Line of sight sensors and capacitive sensors may be used in bathroom devices to detect user presence or gestures and control the operation of the device. Establishing line of sight limits the placement of these sensors. Similarly, capacitance sensors require physical contact to detect movement. Placement of these types of sensors are therefore limited.

The automatic flushing device for male urination currently mainly uses infrared technology: the device emits infrared light, and when it encounters a human body, the reflected energy returns to the receiving window. The processor determines the presence or absence of the human body based on the reflected light. If a person approaches and leaves for a period of time, it is considered that male urination is done, and the solenoid valve is activated to flush the water. The main drawbacks of this technology are the need for transmitting and receiving windows, the need to reserve installation positions on walls or in the urinal ceramics, increasing product costs and manual installation and maintenance costs. In areas with strong ambient light or user wearing black clothes, the sensing range is short, and in severe cases, it does not activate to flush.

A technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide presence or gesture sensing in a bathroom device from a hidden sensor.

The present disclosure provides an apparatus including: a vitreous body including a user-facing side opposite to a fixture-facing side; a water outlet coupled to the user-facing side of the vitreous body; a microwave radar sensor coupled to the fixture-facing side of the vitreous body; and a control unit configured to receive sensor data from the microwave radar sensor and generate a command to provide water to the water outlet in response to the sensor data from the microwave radar sensor.

The microwave radar sensor is an anonymous sensor design with several advantages. The microwave radar sensor provides a urinal flushing and handsfree faucet operation that includes no optical window, plate, or other sensor interface. Thus, the solution is free of optical window contamination and ambient light interference. One type and size of sensor may fit all different shapes of urinals across product lines. In comparison to existing sensor faceplate or sensor windows on the urinal ceramics, it is easy to manufacture with lower cost due to no esthetic requirement and easy to be attached to the ceramics.

Moreover, such an easy installation may also be further realized with the sensor is integrated with the valve or vitreous material of the urinal. In addition, this solution provides smart water conservation without trap way or drainpipe clogging issues.

The present disclosure further includes: a main valve configured to selectively provide the water to the water outlet in response to the command from the control unit.

The present disclosure further includes: a supply valve configured to provide a safety shutoff to the main valve.

The present disclosure further includes: a power supply configured to provide power to the control unit and/or the microwave radar sensor. The power supply may include a first battery for the control unit. The power supply may include a second battery for the microwave radar sensor.

The present disclosure further includes at least one embodiment where the vitreous body is integrated in a sink, and the water outlet is a faucet of the sink. In these embodiments the microwave radar sensor is configured to detect movement in a target area in proximity to the faucet.

The present disclosure further includes at least one embodiment where the vitreous body is integrated in a urinal, and the water outlet is configured to flush the urinal. In these embodiments the microwave radar sensor is configured to detect movement in a target area on the user-facing side of the urinal. The movement may be a urine stream having a duration. The command to provide water to the water outlet may have a time period proportional to the duration of the urine stream.

The present disclosure provides a method for operation of an apparatus having a vitreous body having a fixture side and a user side, the method including: receiving sensor data from a microwave radar sensor at the fixture side of the vitreous body; comparing the sensor data to a threshold; and activating a water outlet on the user side of the vitreous body in response to the comparison.

The present disclosure further includes determining a duration from the sensor data, wherein the duration is compared to the threshold. The threshold may be a position threshold.

The control system according to the present disclosure has the beneficial effect that user gestures may be narrowly detected through a solid body (e.g., lavatory or urinal). Further, in the case of a urinal, the urine stream may be detected, and an appropriate flush volume or time period may be selected in response to the detected urine stream.

To make those skilled in the art to better understand the solutions in the present disclosure, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure are clearly and completely described hereinafter with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be apparent that the described embodiments are merely some rather than all embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those having ordinary skills in the art without going through any creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

The terms “first”, “second”, “third” and the like in the specification, claims and drawings of the present disclosure are used to distinguish different objects, and are not used to describe a specific sequence. Furthermore, those terms “including” and “provided with” and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, processes, methods, apparatuses, products, or devices including a series of steps or units are not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally include steps or units not listed, or optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or devices.

By way of introduction, a microwave radar sensor emits electromagnetic wave signals and receives electromagnetic wave echo signals reflected by objects. Millimeter wave radar sensor with FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) technology is a high-precision radar ranging technology that generates an intermediate frequency signal with target distance and signal strength after mixing the microwave transmitted wave with the reflected wave of the object through a radio frequency (RF) circuit. The intermediate frequency signal is processed to obtain the distance, intensity, and speed of the objects. Based on these behavioral characteristics of targets, the sensor identifies the urination and users approaching the urinal, by which it detects the duration of urination and controls the amount of water flushed to achieve water-saving.

The microwave radar sensoris configured to detect the presence of one or more objects or motion of one or more objects. The microwave radar sensormay be included in a control device according to the following embodiments. The microwave radar sensorincludes a millimeter wave sensor module, a microcontroller unit (MCU), and a mixer. In some examples, the control device may further include a solenoid valve or other type of valve, and at least one power supply or power supply circuit. The valve and the power supply may be the main valveand input valveas described in the present disclosure. The power supply may be the power supplyas described in the present disclosure. In one example, millimeter wave control unit, the microwave operating frequency can be selected as either 24 GHz or 60/77 GHz, with no frequency restrictions. In an embodiment, the microwave operating frequency is desirably selected as 60/77 GHz so that the sensormay more accurately detect the object. The millimeter wave sensor control device is anonymous from users behind the back wall of the urinal or lavatory ceramic. In other words, the millimeter wave sensor control device is not visible to a user standing in front of the urinal or lavatory. By using the microwave radar sensor, there is no need to reserve installation positions on walls or in the urinal ceramics for the sensor because the transmission signals emitted by the sensor and the echo signals reflected by the objects may penetrate the back wall of the urinal or the lavatory ceramic.

The basic process of microwave ranging, and speed measurement is summarized according to the following. The transmission antenna (Tx chirp) of the millimeter wave sensor module transmits millimeter wave signal. The receiving antenna of the millimeter wave sensor module receives reflected waves (Rx chirp) when there is a user in the range. The emitted wave and reflected wave are mixed in the mixerof the sensorto generate an intermediate frequency signal in the millimeter wave sensor. The MCUof the millimeter wave sensor performs fast Fourier transform (FFT) operation on the intermediate frequency signal to obtain the distance, intensity, and velocity information of the objects (e.g., users and urine streams). Based on the characteristics of radar signals, when a person approaches or leaves or when urination starts and ends may be identified.

is a urinalaccording to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. The urinalincludes a bowl, an inner portion, an outer portion, and a water outlet. Additional, different or fewer components may be included.

The urinalmay be substantially formed as a vitreous body. An example manufacturing technique for vitreous bodies is described herein. The vitreous body may include a front portion (e.g., user-facing side), which is opposite to a rear portion (e.g., fixture facing side) in certain embodiments. The urinalmay include the water outlet on the front portion and above the bowl. The bowl, which may be referred to as a basin or reservoir, is defined by a bowl surface that forms part of the front portion of the urinal.

The urinalmay also include a trapway connected to the bowland for fluidly coupling the bowlto a sewer or drain pipe at an outlet port. An inner portionof the urinal extends upwardly from the bowl. The urinalfurther includes a first side portionand a second side portionlocated opposite the first side portion. According to the exemplary embodiment shown, the urinalis symmetrical about an x-z plane extending through the middle of the urinal, such that the first side portionis the mirror image of the second side portion. The urinalfurther includes an upper portion and a rear portion. The urinalis configured to be coupled to, for example, a wall of a building at the rear portion (i.e., the urinalis configured as a wall-hung urinal). It should be appreciated, however, that the urinalmay be configured as a floor-mounted urinal, according to other exemplary embodiments. The bowlmay also include, or otherwise be coupled to, a sump that extends to the trapway.

One example technique for manufacturing or otherwise forming the urinalmay include a series of steps. In a first step, a mold having the basic shape and structure of the urinalis filled with liquid clay slip. The mold is oriented such that the rear portion is located on the bottom of the mold with the front portion oriented in an upward direction above the rear portion. In a second step, the liquid clay slip may set up in the cast to form the various solid cast walls of the urinal. In a third step, some components of the mold are removed (e.g., funnels for directing liquid slip into the mold, pins, etc.) and the mold is tilted at an angle relative to horizontal, such that the remaining liquid slip drains. In a fourth step, the mold may be laid flat with a back piece of the mold removed, such that various forming operations can be performed on the urinal(e.g., holes punched, radii formed, etc.). In a fifth step, the mold may be flipped back over to remove the other parts of the mold from the urinal. Additionally, the various parting lines and edges of the urinalmay be removed or smoothed. In a seventh step, the urinalis dried for a period of time. In an eighth step, the urinalmay be sprayed with glaze and then baked in a kiln to form the urinal.

illustrate the control system for improvements according to the present disclosure.is an example wall installation for a control system for the urinalaccording to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. The control system, or at least a portion thereof, is installed, mounted, or otherwise coupled to components within the wall. The urinalmay be mounted to the wall. In this way the urinalmay not include any components of the control system. In some examples, the sensoris mounted to the urinal, and in other examples, the sensor is mounted to the wall.

The control system includes a power supply, a control unit, a main valve, and a sensor. Optionally, an input valvemay connect the main valveto a water supply. Additional, different or fewer components may be included.

The sensormay be a microwave radar sensor. The microwave radar sensor emits electromagnetic wave signals and receives electromagnetic wave echo signals reflected by objects. In the first embodiment, one example frequency for the emitted electromagnetic waves is 24 GHz (i.e., wavelength of approximately 12.5 millimeters). The microwave radar sensor is configured to detect the presence of one or more objects or motion of one or more objects. The microwave radar sensor emits microwaves that may travel through a variety of media including both air and solid objects. The vitreous body of the urinalis a solid body through which microwaves of the microwave radar sensor can travel. The microwave radar sensor may be minimally affected by external factors such as temperature, humidity, noise, airflow, light, scale, and residue. The microwave radar sensor may be configured to distinguish between water and open space.

The microwave radar sensor may continuously send out microwave signals through one or more transmitters. The microwave signals reflect, or otherwise return, based on the objects in the vicinity or detection range of the microwave radar sensor. Through analysis of the return signals through one or more antenna or receivers, it can be determined the motion and/or position of the objects in the vicinity of the microwave radar sensor. The sensormay generate sensor data in response to the return signals that indicate the timing of the received signals. Different objects have different reflection characteristics for electromagnetic waves. The response time of the detection of the electromagnetic waves by the sensormay be low (e.g., less than 0.5 seconds).

The microwave radar sensormay include a circuit board (e.g., printed circuit board) having a predetermined arrangement of the one or more transmitters and one or more receivers. The sensormay compare the received signals and calculate, based on the predetermined arrangement of the one or more receivers whether objects in the detection range of the microwave radar sensor have moved.

As noted above, the MCUof the millimeter wave sensorperforms fast Fourier transform (FFT) operation on the intermediate frequency signal to obtain the distance, intensity, and velocity information of the objects (e.g., users and urine steams). Based on the characteristics of radar signals, when a person approaches or leaves or when urination starts and ends may be identified. The emitted wave and reflected wave are mixed in the mixerto generate an intermediate frequency signal in the millimeter wave sensor.

Specifically, the intermediate frequency signal is an electrical signal having a frequency and an intensity (e.g., an amplitude). The frequency of the intermediate frequency signal ranges from several-hundred Hz to about 5 KHz. The frequency of the intermediate frequency signal has a mathematical relationship with a distance between the sensorand the object (e.g., users or urine steams). The frequency of the intermediate frequency signal also has a mathematical relationship with a velocity of the motion of the object based on the Principle of Doppler (e.g., the Doppler shift). The object in motion with respect to the sensorresults in a change in the frequency of the waves generated by the sensor. Thus, the start time and the end time of the urine may be determined based on the frequency of the intermediate frequency signal. The frequency of the intermediate frequency signal increases when the distance between the sensorand the object increases.

The intensity of the intermediate frequency signal indicates a probability of the presence of the object. This is because, when the echo signal is reflected by the object, the echo signal contains energy having a value. The probability of the presence of the object increases when the intensity of intermediate frequency signal increases.

When the intensity of intermediate frequency signal is smaller than a predetermined intensity, the MCUwill determine that the intermediate frequency signal is an invalid signal.

The frequency and the intensity (e.g., the amplitude) of the intermediate frequency signal may be determined by using the FFT operation. Specifically, the MCUof the millimeter wave sensor performs the A/D sampling. The changes in the frequency and the amplitude of the intermediate frequency signal correspond to the change in the voltage of the intermediate frequency signal. Thus, the voltages of the intermediate frequency signal may be sampled. Then, the MCUof the millimeter wave sensor performs the FFT operation on the intermediate frequency signal (e.g., the sampled voltages of the intermediate frequency signal) to obtain the frequency and the intensity (e.g., the amplitude) of the intermediate frequency signal so as to obtain the distance, intensity, angle, and/or velocity information of the objects (e.g., users and urine steams).

In an ideal state, during the time difference, a reflected wave is formed by the object reflecting the transmission wave and has substantially the same wave shape as the transmission wave. In this embodiment, the reflected wave is in a linear shape, and thus the MCUmay perform the FFT operation more easily.

There is a frequency difference (i.e., the frequency of the intermediate frequency signal) between the transmission wave and the reflected wave.

The sensormay be coupled to the fixture-facing side (e.g., front portion) of the vitreous body. One example, object in the detection range of the sensoris a urine stream S, as shown in, that the user is depositing in the bowlof the urinal. In other words, as the user urinates into the bowl, the sensordetect the presence of the urine stream S or motion of the urine stream S. The detection range may extend horizontally to the extent of the bowl. The detection range may extend vertically to a predetermined height along the inner portionof the urinal. The urine stream S may also reflect the electromagnetic waves in a single and uniform relative motion speed. The sensorand/or the control unitmay identify the urine stream S based on this characteristic.

The control unitis configured to receive sensor data from the sensorand generate a command to provide water to the water outletin response to the sensor data from the sensor. Water from the water outletflushes or rinses the urinal. The sensoror the control unitmay analyze the sensor data to determine the duration of the urine stream S. The control unitmay determine a timer period for the water outletto release water based on the duration of the water stream S. For example, for every 10 seconds of the duration of the urine stream S, the control unitactivates the water outletto release water for 1 second. Other ratios or proportions may be used.

In some examples, the control unitmay analyze the sensor data indicative of the reflected electromagnetic waves to identify one or more characteristics of the object. In this way, the control unitmay distinguish liquids from solids, e.g., human body from urine.

The main valveis configured to selectively provide the water to the water outletin response to the command from the control unit. The main valvemay include a solenoid, a diverter, or another type of gate configured to selectively connect a plumbing system to the water outlet.

The plumbing system may include one or more pipes or hoses to connect the main valveto the water outletand the main valveto a water supply through an input valve. The input valveis one example of a supply valve configured to provide a safety shutoff to the main valve. Other types of valves are possible. As shown in, the plumbing system includes a first path(e.g., first pipe or hose) to connect the water supply (e.g., utility line, line-pressure water, water tank, recycled water, grey water, or other source) to the input valve, a second path(e.g., second pipe or hose) to connect the input valveto the main valve, and a third path(e.g., second pipe or hose) to connect the main valveto the water outlet. A portion of the plumbing system, as designated by pathmay be internal to the urinal.

The control system further includes an electrical system. For example, the power supplyis configured to provide power to the control unit and/or the sensor. The power supplymay be electrically coupled to AC power for example for the house or building in which the urinalis installed. Example AC power includes 110 Volts/60 Hertz and 220 Volts/50 Hertz. The power supplymay be electrically coupled to a DC power source such as one or more batteries.

The power supplymay include a first battery for the control unit. The power supplymay include a second battery for the sensor. A single battery may provide power to both the control unitand the sensor.

is an example internal installation for a control system for the urinalaccording to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example of, the control system, or at least a portion thereof, is installed, mounted, or otherwise coupled to components within the urinal. The urinalmay be mounted to the wallor be supported apart from the wall. The urinalincludes substantial portions of the control system including two or more of the power supply, the control unit, the main valve, and the sensor. Optionally, the input valvemay connect the main valveto a water supply internally or externally to the urinal. The urinalmay include a cavity include the main valve, the control unit, the power supply, and the sensor. A cover may conceal a rear portion of the urinalincluding the cavity. In this way, the urinalmay include only a power port or connection to provide power to the power supplyand/or a water port or connection to provide water to the input valveor the main valve. In some examples, the power supplyincludes one or more batteries. In this example, the urinal may include a water port or connection. Thus, all components of the control system may be internal and only the water port or connection is external to the urinal. Additional, different or fewer components may be included.

In some examples, the flushing function of the water outletof the urinalmay also be performed by an override switch. The override switch may be mounted on the urinal or adjacent to the urinal(e.g., on the wall). The override switch may be triggered by a physical depress, infrared induction, capacitive touch, etc.

illustrate example wall placement for a urinal and example sensor placement withing the urinal according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

A urinalis illustrated including a sensorplaced or mounted in a millimeter wave sensor area. That is, the sensormay be mounted behind the urinalin the millimeter wave sensor area. A variety of relative distances may be used for the millimeter wave sensor area. As shown in, the millimeter wave sensor area may be defined by a width (W) and a height (H). The width (W) may be defined as a predetermined proportion of a width (W) of the urinal (e.g., Wis middle 50% of W). The height (H) may be defined as a predetermined proportion of a height (H) of the urinal or an inner surface cavity of the urinal (e.g., His middle 50% of H).

In some examples, the MM wave sensor module is installed in the center and behind the urinal ceramic wall, with a height below the flushing nozzle (e.g., the water outlet). The sensorand the water outlet are substantially disposed in a vertical line. Such an arrangement may result in a highest signal-to-noise ratio of the urine speed detection and may reduce the interferences caused by the water outlet, which is usually made of a metal material, to the transmission waves and/or the reflected waves (e.g., the MM wave emission and echo signal angle).

In some examples, the sensor is disposed above a front tip of the ceramic bowl of the urinal. Such an arrangement may result in a highest signal-to-noise ratio of the urine speed detection and may prevent the interferences caused by the flooding in the bowl(e.g., when the bowlis clogged) to the transmission waves and/or the reflected waves (e.g., the MM wave emission and echo signal angle).