American Standard receives patents for Humanity Award
Plumbing manufacturer recognized by United States Patent and Trademark Office for innovative sanitation solution.
American Standard has been honored with a Patents for Humanity award from the U.S. Commerce Department’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for inventing the hygienic SaTo toilet pan technology.
American Standard invented the SaTo (derived from Safe Toilet) sanitary toilet pan in 2013 to help reduce disease transmission and improve sanitation facilities and quality of life in Bangladesh. The SaTo toilet pan uses ingeniously simple mechanical and water seals with a trap-door mechanism to close off pit latrines from the open air, thereby preventing flying insects from spreading pathogens from contact with human waste. The Company’s engineering team that designed the SaTo pan consisted of Jim McHale, Ph.D., Daigo Ishiyama, and Greg Gatarz.