Apparatus for detecting a seated condition of a toilet seat

摘要

Apparatus for detecting whether or not a human 2 is seated on a toilet seat 1 comprises a capacitive proximity sensor having at least one conductor arranged inside the toilet seat and means for determining presence or absence based on changes in sensor capacitance, wherein the sensor output is compared with separate threshold levels respectively representing presence and absence of a person on the seat in order to provide the sensor with hysteresis. Means are provided to change the threshold levels in response to changes in environmental parameters.