Toilet Seat Down or Up? With this trick, you’re guaranteed to always have the toilet seat down.
My family and I recently returned from a vacation. We went on a cruise – our first one. And, our experience was great. I highly recommend going on a cruise – much more affordable than Disneyland, that’s for sure.
There are other benefits too, but what I want to highlight today is an ingenious Poka-Yoke method for Toilets.
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Have you ever been yelled at by your spouse or significant other for keeping the toilet lid up? Did you ever wish that there was a device that prevented you from making a mistake such as not placing the toilet lid down?
Well, the Poka-Yoke approach I found on the Carnival Cruise cabin eliminates that defect (it’ll prevent being yelled at).
Notice the toilet below in our cruise cabin. Do you see the toilet knob to flush?
In order to flush this toilet, you must place the toilet lid down because the flush handle is behind it. In other words, to flush, you have to place the toilet down.
This Poka-Yoke approach works and is incredibly simple.
Seems to have missed the mark in mistake proofing; rather this engineering is likely to leave more than just an upturned seat for the next unsuspecting visitor.
Back to the drawing board, perhaps collocating the door release with the flushing mechanism will ensure the job gets done after the duty is done.
It’s a simple solution, and will work 99% of the time. If you are sharing a cabin, then there is no way you would want to “leave” stuff in the toilet for your spouse/kids etc. to see. And if you’re on your own – well who cares? Locating the flush behind the lid is easy in mechanical terms, as the water tank is located in the wall behind the lid. But trying to link the flush to the door release is messy, costly and if it breaks down – well you can’t flush the toilet.
This approach prevents the spread of germs on the ship. When you leave the lid up, germs get sprayed into the air. Google the studies. In short, this is a very smart design concept for a cruise ship.