Sloan

Sloan and Wi-Charge collaborate to create a wirelessly-powered sensor flushometer.

″The commercial restroom of the future is technologically advanced — with always-on, connected devices that lower maintenance costs and give customers a consistently great experience. Long-range wireless power from Wi-Charge will greatly simplify the installation, monitoring and maintenance of large-scale commercial restrooms.″

Jim Allen, President and CEO of Sloan Valve.

Commercial restrooms are full of battery-operated devices: touchless faucets, flush valves, and soap dispensers, just to name a few.

These touch-free devices are attractive for sanitary reasons. They run on batteries because routing power cables in public bathrooms is a complex undertaking. It’s a water-rich environment and electricity does not mix well with water. When facility managers retrofit existing bathrooms with battery-operated devices, they use batteries to avoid having to rip up and re-tile the walls to run the cables.

But batteries need to be replaced or recharged. In an airport with thousands of devices, battery-operated devices mean endless replacements, service outages and service costs. Sloan partnered with Wi-Charge to demonstrate a wirelessly-powered automatic flush valve. Powered by IR light, it does not include batteries and therefore batteries never need to be replaced.

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Wi-Charge power receiver

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Modified Sloan flushometer

Below is a video from CES 2020 where Ori Mor, VP R&D for Wi-Charge is showcasing this joint demo.