RE: Sat on a Toilet Sensor ?

["Marcus Warrington" <marcus.warrington@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Stephen



Yes I've seen these, and initially I was going to use one as a manual
on/off switch behind toilet wall. In the spirit of the group I'd rather
it was automated than a manual decision. When we have guests I don't
want to have to explain that if they're going for a number two then they
need to touch the wall in specific place.... much better if I can just
scare the s**t out of them by having a fan start sucking air out of the
bowl as soon as they sit down :-)



I don't think the QProx would work in this case as a proximity detector
because it would have to be mounted behind an 18mm thick MDF panel
(behind the toilet) and the person is still likely to be at least 5-6
inches away...



Marcus

________________________________

From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Stephen McGarry
Sent: 11 July 2007 11:44
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Sat on a Toilet Sensor ?



Seem an ideal use for the Qprox proximity switch ICs i.e QT110
see www.qprox.com or
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/displayProduct.jsp?sku=9775722
<http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/displayProduct.jsp?sku=9775722>
These chips can use a hidden metal plate inside the cistern box to
detect the persons
body when near it (can sense upto 6" away)

HTH
Stephen

Marcus Warrington wrote:
>
>
> OK.. I need some ideas for a little problem I have.
>
> I am currently refitting our bathroom and I need a way of activating a
> fan but ONLY when some is SAT on the toilet. The fan is a "pan
fan"
that
> extracts air from the toilet bowel to prevent.. err.. smells..
pervading
> the room. I did a mini bulk buy of these a few years ago.. which
reminds
> me, Kevin.. I still have yours in a box somewhere.. let me know your
> address and I'll get them sent to you!
>
> My first thought was a PIR but that would be difficult to restrict to
> only "sitting" on the toilet i.e. it would detect if someone
reached
> down and lifted up the seat , or maybe even some one standing there to
> pee etc.
>
> Next thought was use an ultrasonic sensor mounted on the wall behind
the
> toilet bowel (the cistern is concealed in the wall) and adjusted to
> point down at a 45 degree angle so that it covered the rear half of
the
> toilet. Problem is I'm not too sure how "focused" the beam
can be made
> on these devices.
>
> Another thought was to use a stress sensor (or weight sensor ?) on the
> toilet bowel. In some ways this would be the ideal since it would not
> rely on proximity to trigger. Problem is I have no idea what I'm
looking
> for, how much they are, how easy they are to integrate with a relay
etc
>
> Anyone got any ideas ?
>
> Marcus
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>





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