ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,554,014, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to Sloan Valve Co. (Franklin Park, Ill.).
"Determining restroom occupancy" was invented by Xiaoxiong Mo (Lexington, Mass.), Sheng Deng (Lexington, Mass.) and Charles Mo (Lexington, Mass.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Techniques for determining bathroom occupancy are disclosed herein. In this regard, one or more sensors may determine whether a plumbing fixture is in use. When a plumbing fixture is in use, the one or more sensors may trigger a visual cue that indicates that the plumbing fixture is in use. Additionally, the one or more sensors may send (e.g., transmit) information indicating that th...