Patent Grant
9045887
The following definitions and background information will help make this description clearer and easier to understand so that a reader can appreciate why a mechanical trap toilet can meet numerous technical standards, or their functional intent, required by the Uniform Plumbing Code.
Air Gap
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Standard A 112.1.2.-1991 defines an air-gap as an unobstructed vertical distance through open atmosphere between the lowest opening from a pipe supplying water from a water supply to a toilet bowl and the highest level in the bowl to which water or waste may rise. The minimum ASME requirement is 50 mm (≈2 inches). The European Union's equivalent minimum dimension is 20 mm (≈0.8 inch).
Artificial Test Media
Test media acceptable to the ASME are used by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Operators (IAPMO), toilet-rating laboratories, manufacturers, and inventors to determine the ability of a toilet to expel solids from a toilet bowl in laboratory drain lines. They include standardized polyethylene balls. Toto of USA pioneered the use of condoms of standard capacity filled with tofu of standard weight, also known as sausages.
American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME)
The ASME is a professional organization which defines the physical, functional, and health requirements of the Uniform Plumbing Code. A rating agency such as the IAPMO is used to determine if a given toilet can legally be offered with the latter's rating for sale in many US states and Canada.
Conflicts Caused by Water Shortages
Political disputes and warfare have occurred due to water shortages. They are exemplified by the following broadcast on Public Service Television (PBS), “Your Majesty, Jordan has had great relations with Israel? Can you imagine going to war with Israel for any reason?” The late King Hussein replied, “Yes, water.”
Conventional Toilets
Conventional toilets that may currently legally be offered for sale for residential and business use in the United States are of two kinds, (1) those characterized by siphon waste passageways, and (2) those characterized by wash-down waste passageways.
Corrosion
Corrosion includes erosion, pits, crevasses, etc., due to numerous corrosive acids and alkalis acting on most metals, plastics, and elastomers.
Drain Lines
Drain lines are pipes that slope from a toilet to a septic tank, a sewer that discharges into a waste treatment plant, or a receptacle in a laboratory. Ideally, gravity, augmented by automated pumps, water toilets, and water from sources other than toilets can propel, i.e., carry, human waste to a waste treatment plant. Toilet manufacturers and inventors use laboratory drain lines, which are seamless and from which about a third of the uppermost structure has been removed, so that laboratory personnel can see, measure, and report drain line carry with artificial test media, as described below.
Drain Line Carry
Drain line carry is the ability of a given toilet to propel human waste (1) to a septic tank, (2) to a sewer, or (3) to propel artificial test media from the toilet to a receptacle in a laboratory. Laboratory personnel measure drain line carry to determine whether the toilet can legally be offered for sale in a business or residence. Since solid human waste varies from person to person and over time, it is not readily possible to measure how well it carries. Consequently, the ASME has devised a laboratory measuring method, defined in Section 8.8 of their Standard A 112. 19.2-2003, which depends on laboratory personnel being able to see and measure how well 100 standard polypropylene balls carry in an seamless pipe which has an inside diameter of 100 mm (4 inches) and a straight run that inclines downward at a 2% angle from the toilet. To be legal to sell a toilet for use in a residence or business with an ASME rating, the toilet must be able to carry the balls a minimum average distance of 12.2 meters (40 feet) with no more than 6 liters (1.6 gallons) of water. Toilets that exhibit greater carrying power in a laboratory drain line are prized (A) because they can lower the private costs of maintaining standard drain lines, and (B) because they can lower the costs of maintaining, repairing sewers, upgrading sewers and sewage plants, and to combat odor. For example, combating odor can cost San Francisco alone $100 million during a 5-year period. San Francisco may have to pump 8.5 million pounds of bleach into its sewers to combat odors, and thereby further damage its own sewers and sewage treatment plants. Repairing or enlarging a sewage treatment plant for a city as large as San Francisco can cost billions of dollars.
Dual-Flush Toilet
A toilet that permits a person to use less water for urine than solid human waste.
Flush
A flush is an action that will evacuate the contents of a toilet bowl into an adjoining drain-line.
Flushometer Valve
A valve that controls passage of pressurized water to a toilet bowl.
Frustum-Shaped Bowl
A bowl having an inside surface without concavities or convexities and inclined so that human waste is less likely to adhere to the surface and more readily detached with less rinse water.
Full Flush
The ability of a given toilet to flush an adjoining drain line. To earn an IAPMO rating a full flush must be able to carry 100 standard polypropylene test balls an average of at least 12.2 meters (40 feet) in an adjoining drain line that slopes downward from the toilet at an angle of 2%. If it cannot, the toilet may not legally be offered for sale in a residence or business.
Free Fall
Downward movement of bowl contents from a bowl via a waste passageway into an adjoining drain line under no force other that of gravity, there being no thrust or drag other than that of the bowl.
Gallon
One U.S. Gallon is equivalent to 3.78 liters.
International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Operators-IAPMO
A for-profit corporation, headquartered in Ontario, Calif., which rates whether a new toilet brand meets ASME standards. If it does, it receives an IAPMO rating. The market for IAPMO rated toilets and toilets that meet other stringent standards is large, at least ten times greater than that for RV, boat, etc., toilets. For example, at least three or four companies that sell siphon toilets gross more than three billion US dollars a year and thereby have cash flows so large that American Standard Brands sold its toilets at a loss for ten years. According to verbal communication with an ASME engineer and an IAPMO official, inventors and makers periodically submit mechanical trap toilets to IAPMO. As of 2008, no mechanical trap toilet received an IAPMO rating, which is needed in order to be legally offered for sale as a residential or business toilet.
Laboratory Drain Line
A drain line, in a private or for-profit laboratory, used by inventors and testing authorities for observing the ability of a toilet to carry simulated human waste, such as ASME-rated balls, but never solid human waste, towards, or into a receptacle.
Maintenance Costs of Wasting Water
On-going costs for maintenance, labor, and replacement of upstream and downstream infrastructures due to inefficiencies in water usage. These costs for one large city can exceed hundreds of millions of dollars. The cumulative costs of oil, gas, coal, and energy substitutes needed to pump water to toilets sometimes hundreds of miles away, and from toilets, are vast. Such costs and health and welfare losses to air, water, and row crop pollution by electric pumps, leaks, and effluents are all increasing.
Mechanical-Trap Toilet
A toilet that has a trap or valve that can be opened and closed mechanically against a bottom outlet of a toilet bowl for allowing or preventing the contents of the bowl from exiting the toilet.
Psychological Costs of Wasting Water
The psychological costs include mental anguish by wasting water. Such psychological detriments can include losing one's neighborhood to a water reservoir or a wastewater treatment plant or losing opportunities to enjoy pristine terrain, such as valleys, streams, rivers, and countryside. These losses can affect current and unborn generations.
Rebates
Rebates are payments by water districts in the United States to encourage those who own toilets to replace them with ones that use less water. In addition, some water districts and cities, such as the London, England, exchange tens of thousands of more water-saving toilets to avoid having to borrow and having to spend billions to build new water reservoirs or waste treatment plants or to enlarge old ones.
Reduced Flush
A reduced flush is a flush which can expel urine with or without toilet tissue from a toilet bowl but not feces.
Rinse
A rinse is an attempt to use water to detach adherent toilet tissue, or solid human waste, from the inside of a toilet bowl.
Siphon and Wash-Down Toilet History
Since the invention of siphon and wash-down toilets about 200 years ago, apparently no significant sanitary toilet authority, or agency, such as today's IAPMO, which protects the health of consumers using toilets and how well the toilets function, has certified a mechanical trap toilet for use in a residence or business, at least as of 2008.
Spillway
An opening in an upper part of a toilet bowl that permits an over-flowing toilet bowl to discharge into a bathroom. The top of the spillway is the lowest part of Air Gap that can prevent human waste from coming in contact with water outlets.
Staggered Flush and Drain Line Carry
A staggered flush is a method for enhancing drain line carry using flush water to urge solid human waste, the above mentioned ball, or tofu-filled condoms, from behind while they are moving in a drain line. This enhancement employs the principle that it takes less energy to keep an object in motion than to re-start it once it has come to rest.
Toilet Advocates
Toilet Advocates are politically powerful ecological interest groups that seek to influence the federal government to enact laws that encourage ever-more water saving toilet technology. In 1992 they persuaded Congress to mandate that a full flush may not use more than 6.0 liters (1.6 gallons). Other politically powerful toilet advocates include departments of city, state, and federal governments, plus local and regional water districts responsible for financing the construction and maintenance of numerous new water reservoirs and waste treatment plants needed by burgeoning urban populations. Toilet advocates also include influential public-interest organizations, such as the California Urban Water Council, the Sierra Club, a variety of green organizations, and the water-conservation arms of U.S. cities, states, and federal governments. The list also includes the federal government itself and numerous city and state governments that must pay for toilet water used by numerous millions of civil servants, students, citizens, and armed personnel. Studies show that regulation of toilets by the United States Government in an attempt to save water, despite objections of makers, plumbers, etc., has had significant adverse impacts on the functional efficiency of conventional toilets.
Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC)
The UPC defines minimum functional and material attributes of toilets that can legally be offered for sale in the US. IAPMO the UPC for numerous plumbing jurisdictions in Canada and many U.S. states. A committee composed of IAPMO officials, ASME engineers, representatives of toilet companies, toilet jurisdictions, etc., updates the UPC bi-yearly to reflect new plumbing developments. A maker who wishes to receive a rating for a toilet may submit Interim Guide Criteria to the committee charged with updating the UPC. The maker's criteria should include enough detailed instructions to the UPC Interim Guide Committee how an IAPMO laboratory can test and prove to the satisfaction of the committee that the maker's proposed toilet and its innovation toilet are worthy of further consideration. If the Interim Guide Criteria committee is satisfied, the maker must submit a model of the toilet for rigorous laboratory testing by IAPMO, or an affiliated laboratory. Should the toilet passes all required tests, the committee instructs IAPMO to permit the maker to offer it for sale with its rating in any state, province, or water district that honors the rating.
IAPMO informs us it has tested numerous mechanical trap toilets but as of 2008, none have earned its rating.
Urine
Urine is highly complex aqueous solution of organic chemicals that can corrode many man-made materials.
Volume Of Water Per Person Per Day
A volume of water per person per day is the water used by a specific toilet to satisfy the toilet needs of an average person. Medical science and the toilet industry assume the average person defecates once and urinates four times a day. The average toilet in the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe uses at least 30 liters (8 gallons) per person per day. Some conventional dual-flush toilets use 18 liters (4 gallons).
Waste Passageway
A waste passageway is the part of a toilet between the bottom outlet of a bowl and an adjoining drain line. (1) Normally water in the bottom of the bowl of a siphon and wash-down toilet can prevent potentially toxic and explosive gases from entering bathrooms from adjoining drain lines. However, the water can evaporate and, furthermore, it cannot prevent sewage from backing up from the drain line and, (2) A rotational mechanical trap, which is normally hermetically sealed against the bottom outlet of the bowl, prevents potentially toxic and explosive mixtures of sewer gases from entering a bathroom from an adjoining drain line. It can prevent some sewage from backing up into the bathroom. In contrast, the waste passageways of siphon and wash-down toilets are less than optimal.
Wet Spot Or Plash
A quantity of water in a toilet bowl which is wide or deep enough to slow the momentum of falling feces is called a wet spot, puddle, or plash. It can prevent feces from sticking to the bowl, or it may permit them to stick less firmly so that they can be more readily be rinsed off. The UPC requires that a wet spot should have a surface area equal to, or greater than, 123×100 mm (5×4 inches) and be 50 mm (2 inches) or more deep.
Viton
Viton is a trademark for an extremely resilient and corrosion resistant elastomer, made and a sold by du Pont.
Water Seal
As mentioned, a water seal occurs when the quantity of water in a toilet bowl is sufficient to prevent volatile sewer gases, at atmospheric pressure, from rising into a bathroom. Furthermore, significant pressure or suction in an adjoining drain line can undo a water seal in conventional toilets, so that those nearby are no longer protected from sewer gases. However, water seals are less than optimal.
Mechanical Trap Toilets
Grech et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,361, filed Mar. 29, 2005, show a conventional mechanical trap toilet which can expel human waste only a few inches from its bowl, into a black-water holding tank under the floor of an RV, or a few inches into a lake or sea from a boat. Its ability to carry human waste further than a few inches is less than optimal.
Water Outlets
Prior-art toilets almost exclusively have a plurality of water outlets, each of which is oriented to rinse toilet bowls with pressurized water in roughly the same direction, usually clockwise. For example, O'Malley et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,229, filed Dec. 25, 2001, shows a toilet bowl which has at least two water outlets which rinse in the same direction. Huffman et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,544, filed Feb. 10, 1995, show water outlets that rinse in the same and opposite directions. Heinze, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,696, filed Sep. 20, 1983, shows one or more multi-channel water outlets that rinse a bowl in three directions, forward, rearward, and downward. Ament, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,167, filed Jun. 5, 1990, shows pressurized water flowing in opposite directions within the rim of a toilet. Brower, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,124, filed Jun. 23, 1992, shows a toilet bowl rinsed by rotating water outlets. Nakamura et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,138, filed Nov. 14, 2000, show an upper part of a toilet bowl shaped so that pressurized water rinses the bowl in opposite directions. Hargraves, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,718, filed Feb. 28, 1978, shows complex multi-channel high pressure nozzles. Grech et al., supra, show two water outlets. One outlet automatically jets pressurized water along a ledge (20) on one side of an upper part of a bowl in one direction. Then, the water flows over the edge of the ledge to rinse a remainder of the bowl. The other water outlet automatically rinses a second ledge and the other side of the bowl in a similar manner. However, the water outlets do not efficiently rinse an area of toilet above the ledge. Consequently they cannot pass the Surface Wash Test of ASME Standard A 112.19.2-2003, Sec. 8.6, that requires the bowl be rinsed to one inch (25 ml) below the outlets. The outlets are widely separated at the rear of the toilet; consequently they cannot rinse the rear of the bowl, where, due to the parallel bi-lobed shape of the human buttocks, feces are more apt to adhere. Consequently, the configuration of the toilet bowl and its water outlets, taught by Grech et al., supra, are less than optimal.
Spillways
Schnitzler, in Swiss Pat. No. CH10222, filed Mar. 13, 1898, and Kimble, in U.S. Pat. No. 988,787, filed Apr. 4, 1911, both show toilets having spillways in upper parts of bowls. The spillways can help prevent human waste from overflowing onto floors. However, the spillways are too close to water outlets to meet ASME Standard A 112.1.2-1991. This requires that there be a sufficiently wide unobstructed air gap between water in a toilet and water entering from a water supply to prevent contamination of the drinking water if there is negative pressure in the conduit that delivers drinkable water to the toilet.
Economic and Ecologic Costs of Toilet Water
Prior-art flush toilets currently use 28% of water used indoors in the U.S. Water reservoirs are required to store water so that there is enough on hand for towns and cities when needed. Waste treatment plants are required for sterilizing sewage and used indoor water. Reservoirs and waste treatment plants can be vast in area and frequently cost one or more billion dollars each. Many citizens do not want them in their neighborhood. Toilets in U.S. commercial buildings use about 1.2 billion gallons (4.6 billion liters) of water a day, the equivalent of the capacity of 48 full-sized water reservoirs a year. It can cost as much to enlarge a water storage reservoir as to build one. E.g., it cost approximately US $2 billion to build the Eastside Reservoir to double the storage capacity for the Metropolitan Water District of a Southern California. City and regional water agencies normally borrow the initial money from state governments to build or enlarge water reservoirs and waste treatment plants to accommodate burgeoning urban populations. The state governments in turn borrow from the Federal Government. Eventually, taxpayers must repay not only the borrowed billions but interest that can bring their total debt to three times the money borrowed. Current toilets are less than optimal for reducing these financial burdens.
The present waste disposal system can be implemented in numerous ways, such as in a toilet, or an equivalent waste disposal. Various aspects are described below.
In accordance with one aspect, a toilet bowl has a bottom outlet. A sealing ring surrounds the bowl near the bottom outlet. A rotational saucer-shaped seal is positioned adjacent the bottom outlet at the entrance to a waste passageway. The saucer can be pivoted upward against the sealing ring to hermetically seal the bottom outlet of the bowl. The saucer can be pivoted downward to permit bowl contents to free fall via the waste passageway into an adjoining drain line. An automated two-stage staggered-flush carries human waste or 100 standard balls more efficiently in the adjoining drain line. All parts exposed to urine, feces, or corrosive gas are made of, or coated, by materials resistant to corrosion by the urine, feces, and gas. Moving parts are advantageously mounted with loose tolerances so that they can be operated and the saucer can be opened and closed 75,000 times without losing its ability to pass an array of other ASME tests.
Accordingly, several advantages of one or more aspects of the present toilet are as follows: (a) it provides a staggered flush that improves drain line carry, (b) it has no need for a water seal, (c) the bottom outlet of the bowl and the waste passageway are much wider than those of a
siphon toilet so the bowl and waste passageway are correspondingly more unlikely to clog, (5) it can't contaminate drinking water, (6) the bowl is unlikely to over flow onto a bathroom, (7) it can meet or surpass all of the historical health and functional advantages of siphon and wash-down toilets, and (8) it is more ecological because it uses much less water per-person-per-day. Furthermore, for all but very small children, a maker can customize the toilet comfortably to seat a customer of any height and weight, or customer subset, by omitting gasket 45 in
Further advantages of various aspects will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and accompanying drawings.
Structures and Connections—
As shown in
A gasket 45 is sandwiched between an upper support structure 24 and a flange 44 of a waste passageway 34. Waste passageway 34 is an integral part of the lower structure.
A bowl 26 is an integral part of the upper support structure. As shown in
As shown in
Reinforcing ribs 38, shown in
A saucer-pivoting shaft 90 extends from the right and left sides of upper support structure 24. Shaft 90 is connected to a plate 49. Plate 49 passes forward from sight under a saucer-shaped valve element 46. Plate 49 and valve element or saucer 46 are shown in their fully up, closed positions. Shaft 90 emerges (not shown) from the right and left sides of upper support structure 24. It is surrounded, in order, from inside out, by a hermetic radial seal 96, a support bushing 100, and a gasket 94.
Shaft 90 is connected to a hub 132. An arm 130 extends radially from the hub. The distal or free end of arm 130 is connected to one end of a coil spring 50. The other end of spring 50 is connected to a wall as also shown in
A second arm 108 (
A timing wheel 82 is connected to a timing belt 81, as shown in
In one embodiment, bottom outlet 32 was about 3.25 inches wide, considerably wider than siphon toilets and, when open, thereby much less likely to clog. When closed, it can (1) retain water, urine, solid human waste, and artificial test media in the bowl, and (2) prevent potentially volatile toxic or explosive mixtures of gases from entering a bathroom from an adjoining drain line. In one embodiment, the trap has the general shape of a saucer.
One embodiment was able to carry 100 test plastic balls an average distance of more than 12 meters (40 feet) with 1.0 to 2.0 liters of water. Another embodiment was able to carry 100 balls in excess of 18.3 meters (60 feet) with 1.0 to 2.0 liters (0.3 to 0.5 gallon) with a staggered flush.
Structures and Connections—
Bowl 26 is an integral part of upper support structure 24. The bottom of bowl 26 protrudes downward through structure 24.
Structure 24 sits on and is connected to lower support structure 22. Structure 24 sits on the floor or ground 23 (
Bowl 26 (
Shaft 90 is connected to plate 49. Plate 49 is connected to stud 140 (
Electric controls 76 and a flushometer valve 54 are located within an accessory compartment 56 (
As show in
As shown in
Structures and Connections—
As shown in
Valve 54 is connected to water feed 52 which is connected to a source of pressurized water, which is suitable for drinking. Valve 54 contains a diaphragm (not shown). The diaphragm is connected to a push rod 80. Rod 80 is connected to a push button 78, which is located on top of the toilet, adjacent to buttons 72 and 74. Manually depressing button 78 depresses rod 80 and manually opens valve 54.
Valve 54 is connected to water conduits 60. Conduits 60 run forward on the outside of both sides of bowl 26. At least two of conduits 60 enter the bowl from opposite directions adjacent each other. Conduits 60 end inside of the bowl as water outlets 62. Outlets 62 point in opposite directions the inside of bowl 26.
Spillway 64 is provided in an upper front part of bowl 26. There is sufficient distance between spillway 64 and outlets 62 to permit bowl contents to flow out of the bowl without coming into contact with outlets 62 or, in the event of a drop in water pressure, being sucked into drinking water. Anti-splash ledge 66 is connected to the bottom of spillway 64 to prevent turbulent rinse water from leaving the bowl.
Water conduits 60 end as adjacent water outlets 62 that point in opposite directions so that they can rinse areas of the bowl below, between, and beyond the outlets. This creates turbulence towards the front and rear mid-lines of the bowl where, due to the bi-lobed configuration of the human buttock, feces are prone to adhere.
Rigid plate 134 (
Plate 49 and saucer 46 are shown pivoted clockwise, fully closed, upward, so that the peripheral part of saucer 46 is hermetically compressed against sealing ring 48.
As shown in
Structures and Connections—
A sprocket on a drive motor (not shown) is connected to a notched timing belt 81 (
Arm 108 (
The right end of arm 114 is rotationally attached to a wall 77. The other end of arm 114 is free. Roller 115 is connected the outside of arm 114. An adjusting screw 120 is welded to arm 114. Screw 120 is connected to bracket spring 122. Bracket spring 122 is connected to bracket 124. Bracket 124 is fastened to wall 77. Spring 111 urges arm 114 upwards against roller 109 on arm 108 and a rear end of trigger 102 upward. An electric switch 126 is connected to a wall 77 and to electric control 76 (
Structures and Connections—
Main spring 50 can be any mechanical, pneumatic, or magnet spring that opens the saucer fast enough to permit bowl contents to free fall into an adjoining drain line. In one embodiment, spring 50 was a coil spring. The speed with which spring 50 snaps open depends on the inertia of the above multi-part mechanism for opening saucer 46 and on the strength of spring 50. In one embodiment, saucer 46 snapped open within half of a second.
Roller 109 is connected to an inside lower part of arm 108. The free end of arm 114 is formed as catch 116. Roller 109 is engaged in catch 116. Trigger-centering spring 110 is connected to trigger 102 and to arm 108. Spring 50 urges trigger 102 to rotate to a position that is roughly at a 90° angle to arm 108.
Structures and Connections—
Structures and Connections—
Consequently the toilet is ready (1) to expel urine or (2) solid human waste to a sewer, or (3) to test its ability to carry 100 test balls, or sausages, aka condoms filled with tofu in an adjoining laboratory drain line.
Expelling Urine to a Sewer—
Electric control 76 (
Depression of button 72 also actuates electric control to start motor 79 to rotate clockwise until saucer 46 is fully open as follows: Clockwise rotation of motor 79 rotates timing belt 81 clockwise. Clockwise rotation of belt 81 rotates wheel 82 clockwise. Continued clockwise rotation of wheel 82 causes cam 84 to depress roller 115. This depresses the front end of arm 114. This disengages catch 87 on arm 86 from catch 112 (
Rotation of hub 132 rotates key 91 on saucer pivoting shaft 90 counter clockwise and snaps arm 108 counter-clockwise to a roughly horizontal position (
Further clockwise rotation of wheel 82 by motor 79 closes saucer 46 as follows: (1) Wheel 82 rotates arm 84 clockwise. (2) Clockwise rotation of arm 84 depresses roller 115 on arm 114. (3) Depression of arm 114 engages catch 87 on arm 86 with catch 112 on trigger 102 and presses the rear end of trigger 102 against bracket spring 122 so that the saucer is fully closed, as shown in
Expelling Solid Waste—Creation of Plash and Staggered Flush—
Since there is normally no water in the bowl, a wet spot or plash of water is first required to cushion falling feces to prevent them from unduly adhering to the bowl. In one embodiment, there may be a 1.00 liter (0.25 gallon) plash. It is about 85 mm (3.45 inches) deep and has a surface area of about 140 mm by 165 mm (5.75 by 6.75 inches). This embodiment exceeds minimum ASME standards for wet spots.
To create the plash a user depresses manual push button 74, which (
If this does not suit a user, the user can create a larger one as follows: The user depresses button 78 (
When ready to expel solid human waste to a sewer, the user depresses button 74 again to actuate a staggered or two-part flush, as also shown in
Concurrently motor 79 rotates the timing belt and timing wheel 82 clockwise until saucer 46 has opened to its fully down position, as described. Opening saucer 46 permits the plash and the first part of the flush, plus the solid human waste, to free fall into the adjoining drain line.
As further indicated in
Releasing the second quantity of water into the drain line while the solid human waste is still moving carries the solid waste further than if both quantities of water were to enter the drain line together.
The saucer automatically closes as described in detail above. The operation for expelling solid human waste to a sewer with a staggered flush is terminated. The toilet is ready for the next user.
Since bowl 26 progressively narrows from top to bottom, the free-falling feces, toilet tissue, urine, and wet spot converge so that their total diameter becomes considerably less than that of passageway 34. Consequently, they are unlikely to adhere to waste passageway 34.
Testing Toilet to Carry ASME-Rated Plastic Balls in Laboratory Drain Line with Staggered Flush
To test the toilet, a tester inserts 100 plastic balls into the normally empty bowl and actuates button 74. Motor 70 opens the saucer, as described, so that the balls free-fall into an adjoining laboratory drain line. While the saucer is open, valve 54 opens for about 750 milliseconds to release a predetermined amount of water into the drain line to impart more momentum to the balls. After about a 750 millisecond delay, while the balls are moving in the drain line, motor 70 re-opens valve 54 for about 1.5 seconds to release pressurized water into the drain line to impart additional momentum, and, thus greater carry to the balls. Then valve 54 closes and saucer 46 closes to its normal closed vertically upright position. The motor stops so that the operation is terminated and the toilet is immediately available for additional operations.
As mentioned, the ASME standard states that toilets that may be legally offered for sale in residences and business with an IAPMO rating in the US and Canada on condition they can carry 100 balls an average of 12.2 meters (40 feet), or more, with 6.0 liters (1.6 gallons) or less of water.
One embodiment can carry 100 balls in excess of 18.3 meters (60 feet) with about 1.00 to 2.00 liters (0.3 to 0.5 gallon) of water. Apparently, no prior-art toilet carried this number of balls so far with less than 6.0 liters (1.6 gallons).
Per-Person-Per-Day Water Consumption
Some dual-flush siphon and wash-down toilets use as much as 18 liters (4.76 gallons) per-person-per-day when conventionally used. Most single-flush siphon toilets, when used as recommended by their makers and most single flush wash-down toilets use up to 30.0 liters (8.0 gallons) per person per day. In contrast, one embodiment of my toilet uses about 9.8 liters (2.6 gallons) per day per person when used as recommended.
Accordingly the reader will appreciate various aspects of the present invention have several advantages such as water efficiency and cleanliness. For example, the steep-sided bowl, having none of the conventional convexities and concavities helps prevent feces from adhering to the bowl. Opposing water outlets rinse the bowl most turbulently where feces are more prone to adhere. Thus, the outlets are more water efficient and the bowl more likely to remain clean. Furthermore, urine adherent to the bowl can be rinsed into the drain line with about 250 ml (0.07 gallon) of water.
The saucer is normally hermetically compressed against the bowl, so that the contents of the bowl remain in the bowl and sewer gases remain in the sewer. One embodiment has a saucer that has been tested and opened and then hermetically closed about 75,000 times.
The saucer opens with sufficient rapidity that urine, feces, and or toilet tissue in the bowl can free fall into an adjoining drain line. Thus, unlike current indoor toilets, a wet spot is not necessary when a user merely urinates.
If the toilet is provided in a public bathroom, a laser beam can be directed across the bathroom's doorway so that, whenever a user leaves without flushing, the interruption of the beam will automatically trigger the above operation for flushing solid waste.
The manual push button can be repeatedly actuated to release up to seven liters of water in the bowl to flush toilet tissue that may come rest in the drain line adjoining a business if the drain line is not regularly be flushed by showers, dish washers, clothes washers, sinks, etc., as are drain lines adjoining residences. (Toilets use less than 30% of water used indoors in residences.)
Although the above description contains many details, these details should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention, since they are merely illustrative examples of some of the embodiments. Many additional embodiments are possible. For example, the drive motor can be directly connected to the timing-wheel assembly, thus eliminating the need for and expense of a timing belt. In one embodiment, the toilet can utilize a battery capable of powering several thousand automated flushes during a power outage or in buildings not provided with electric power. The battery can automatically be recharged from the same power source that powers electric controls 76 so that the battery remains charged.
For buyers whose wet spot needs are accommodated by 1 liter (0.25-gallon) of water, a maker can dispense with the manual push button, the manual push rod, and the diaphragm in valve 54, thereby reducing its manufacturing costs.
The waste passageway and lower support structure can be up to about 300 mm (12 inches) taller. A manufacture can sell such tall toilets to burgeoning populations for whom today's toilets are uncomfortably low and to myriads of people afflicted with a wide variety of painful disabilities that hamper them when they sit on conventional toilets.
A variety of shock absorbers can be used to dampen an upward thrust of arm 108 and thereby prevent the main spring from shocking and damaging moving parts which open and close the saucer. This will extend the useful life of these parts.
In lieu of a fluoro-elastomer, the sealing ring can be made of a variety other resilient materials, such as varieties of rubber or equivalent polymers that can be compressed many times and promptly rebound to their pre-compression state. Instead of the saucer compressing the point of an apex, in another embodiment it can compress a resilient fold.
The seat, rim, and cover can be conventionally sloped for initial buyer acceptance. In various embodiments the seat, bowl, and waste passageway can be made of a variety of corrosion resistant materials which include, but are not limited to, vitreous china, plastics, metals, or anodized aluminum coated with PTFE.
The weight of a toilet is important to makers, distributors, plumbers, and handy owners. The bowl, upper support, waste passageway, and lower support structure can be made of light corrosive-resistant plastics, or anodized aluminum coated with PTFE. This will reduce the weight of some embodiments of the present invention to about half that of current indoor toilets.
The bowl and waste passageway can be made of vitreous china, the surface of which has a finish which repels urine, so that no rinsing of urine is required. Such a finish permits saving of about 250 ml (0.07 gallon) of water each time a male uses the toilet for urination alone.
Thus, the scope is determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
This application is a continuation application and claims priority from a U.S. utility patent application, Ser. No. 13/066,891, filed Apr. 26, 2011, entitled “Mechanical Trap Toilet and Staggered Drain Carry,” abandoned, which in turn was a continuation-in-part of the application entitled “Mechanical Sealable Rapid-Opening Stagger-Flush Residential Toilet,” Ser. No. 12/151,015, filed May 2, 2008, abandoned.
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| 4246666 | Stansbury, Jr. | Jan 1981 | A |
| 5007117 | Oldfelt et al. | Apr 1991 | A |
| 5570477 | Rodriguez | Nov 1996 | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20120246817 A1 | Oct 2012 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13066891 | Apr 2011 | US |
| Child | 13244359 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12151015 | May 2008 | US |
| Child | 13066891 | US |
