Patent Application
20140283292
Generally, this invention relates to the class of inventions known as Baths, Closets, Sinks and Spittoons. More specifically, this invention belongs to the sub-classes of inventions relating to urinals, flush water closets with plural receptacles, and flush water closets with splash guards and water baffles
Plumbing fixtures used within modern water closets are little changed from their predecessors of a hundred years ago. The term “water closet” is often used for describing the room in which such a fixture is located. Alternately, the room may be called a lavatory, a bathroom, or a restroom. The fixture, itself, may be called a toilet, commode, stool, or other like name. Modern conceptions of cleanliness, hygiene, and water conservations are ill-served by these fixtures, which are ubiquitous in almost every home in western society.
During male urination, substantial splash is created, contaminating the rim, side, and seat of the toilet bowl, as well as the walls and floor of the water closet. This is more than just an aesthetic mess. Urination contamination can cause objectionable odor, ruin the floor and sub-floor of the water closet, and become a breeding ground for bacteria. The problem of male urination is exacerbated by both the very young and very old.
During the potty-training process, young males have limited accuracy. When they first learn to urinate while standing, this can cause substantial urination contamination during each trip to the bathroom. Since young boys may urinate as much as every two hours, on average, while awake, young males who are just learning to urinate standing up can often create a substantial mess in a relatively short amount of time.
When men age, accuracy problems can once again cause substantial messes in a relatively short amount of time. Many elderly men suffer from hand tremors, whether caused by strokes, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, alcoholism, or the normal effects of aging. As men age, their accuracy when urinating starts resembling that of young boys, again, creating a substantial mess in a relatively short amount of time.
Additionally, urination wastes a substantial amount of water. Whether male or female, when a person flushes a standard commode after urinating, far more water is used than really needed. As evidenced by flushless urinals, urine goes down a drain all by itself. Urine can be disposed of using far less water than a standard commode.
The need for water conservation is widely recognized and has become an issue to many localities and consumers. Limited resources, drought, water pollution, and rising populations have led to water shortages in many areas of the world. Recently, relatively water-rich cities like Indianapolis, Ind., have had to impose austere water conservation regimes, after witnessing its primary reservoir of water diminish by a foot per day for several weeks during the summer of 2012. The problem has been recognized to the extent that many communities, especially in California, Nevada, Arizona, and the Middle East, have water usage limits, even imposing penalties on those who exceed their daily allocation. Some cities, such as Las Vegas, are now using “gray water” in a separately piped system to flush toilets, water grass, and run fountains. Other communities are recycling waste water back into the fresh water supply.
As stated previously, toilets are ubiquitous in western society. Most homes have more than one commode, and most of the toilets in residential America are still not of the low-flow variety. According to the American Water Works Association Research Foundation, toilets are the largest single source of water consumption, accounting for more than 25% of residential water usage. Old toilets use up to 4 gallons per flush. The average residential toilet in new construction consumes about 1 gallon per flush. This means that each person is wasting between, on average, 8 and 24 gallons, per day, flushing urination down the toilet. Clearly, there is room for substantial water savings. Most water closet installation use standard size commodes. The water closet width, from side to side, is only one to two feet wider than the commode. This complicates any improvement, because a solution to the splash and water usage problems cannot take up appreciably more room than current commodes.
Substantial prior art exists that attempts to solve the problems of cleanliness, hygiene, and water consumption. Although there are many inventions related to these topics, to date, none of the inventions has met with any sort of market acceptance. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,566, by named inventor Geisel (“Geisel '566”), entitled “Water conserving urination system,” issued on Apr. 15, 2003. Geisel '566 discloses a hand-held urinal, intended for both men and women, that has a tube that is supposed to be threaded under the water-line of the toilet bowl, and through the toilet trap, so that one can urinate without flushing the toilet. First, the length of tube required for such an invention would tend to deform, substantially reducing its capacity. Additionally, the urine going through the tube's water trap would act just like the toilet's water trap, meaning that an amount of urine would always be trapped at the low part of the invention (Geisel '566 FIG. 2 before 26). Geisel '566 tries to overcome this by using a funnel to pour extra water down the urinal. More importantly, everytime the tube is retracted, substantial toilet water would be splashed, contaminating the user and the surroundings.
Another invention which attempted to reduce water usage is U.S. Pat. No. 8,001,625, by named inventor Tillman (“Tillman '625”), issued Aug. 23, 2011. Tillman 625 teaches a bi-furcated toilet bowl, with a urinal receptacle built at the front, with a normal bowl in the rear. Tillman '625 has several problems. First, it would tend to exacerbate the splash from standing male urination, because the males would be aiming for the small, front basin. Second, because of the narrow design of the tube leading the urine to the rear of the water trap, and the shape of the tube, a substantial amount of urine would become trapped in the invention. Left over a week-end, or in use over time, this configuration will breed bacteria and create an objectionable smell.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,062, by named inventor Fulbright (“Fulbright '062”), entitled “Lifting apparatus for toilet seat” issued on Jan. 9, 1979, is representative of systems attempting to create a barrier to urine splash. Fulbright '062 discloses a spring loaded apparatus containing a retractable splash shield connected to the toilet seat and the rim of the toilet bowl. The connection of the splash shield allows for frontal access to the bowl by a male while shielding the back and sides of the toilet bowl. While the shield is in place, the toilet seat cannot be used. Clearly, this is not a market-friendly or practical choice, if it needs to be put, in situ, before each male urination. Additionally, the shield leaves open the front half of the toilet bowl, which is still subject to substantial splash. In fact, most splash barriers possess this same problem: they only prevent splash toward the back-half of the toilet bowl. This provides very little protection against very young males, very old males, and males who urinate in the night without turning on the light. As a result, Fulbright '062 is an imperfect invention which does not satisfy the market need.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,776 by named inventor Sarjeant (“Sarjeant '776”), entitled “Collapsible splash shield for toilet,” issued on Sep. 14, 1982, is another representation of systems attempting to create a barrier to urine splash. Sarjeant '776 teaches, a collapsible, nested splash guard. The splash guard is comprised of a plurality of nested segments. When the toilet seat is down, the nested segments are in the toilet bowl, with the innermost segments assembled in nested relation with one another and normally arranged in a collapsed storage position within the bowl of the toilet when the seat of the toilet is in the lowered position. The innermost of the nested segments is connected to the toilet seat. When the toilet seat is lifted to the raised position, the innermost segment is lifted upward by the toilet seat from within the bowl. The nested segments move, with respect to one another, making a half-shell type enclosure, to prevent splashing. Like other splash guards, this invention only protects the rear portion of the toilet. Additionally, due to its size and position within the toilet bowl when the seat is down, this invention would likely be fouled quite often.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,925 by named inventor Frank Blaha (“Blaha '925”), entitled “Retractable urinal for toilet seat,” issued Jan. 11, 1994, discloses a collapsible urinal. The lower part is connected to a toilet seat. The upper part is connected a support ring, which, in turn, is connected to a handle. By raising the handle, the upper part raises, creating a urination tunnel. The invention is imperfect, because it would tend to get fouled, and would make using the toilet, in a sitting position, difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,263 by named inventor Edward Chang (“Chang '263”), entitled Portable urinal apparatus,” issued Jun. 11, 2002, discloses a hand-held urinal apparatus that can be placed in the toilet. In one embodiment, Chang '263 teaches a urinal on a rigid pole, which a male holds in one hand, while urinating. One end of the invention receives urine and funnels it into a rigid tube. The other end of the rigid tube is placed in the water. Another embodiment of Chang '263 discloses the urinal being attached into a plumbing fitting within the vitreous enamel of the commode. The urinal, itself, is mounted on the wall, next to the commode. Both embodiments of this invention have significant drawbacks. The handheld urinal on the end of a rigid pole would still create significant splash, because the pole could not be sized for both boys and men. Either the boys or the men will be urinating at a distance from the urinal. Additionally, part of the pole is apparently intended to go in the toilet water, meaning that it will drip toilet water when it is removed. The plumbed and wall-mounted embodiment is impractical, because there isn't room in most residential water closets to place such a urinal.
The last piece of representative prior art that will be discussed within this application is U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,676, by named inventor Victoria Whitman, entitled, “Urinal attachment for toilet,” issued on Sep. 23, 1986, which discloses a hand-held urinal apparatus. The apparatus looks like an inverted bleach bottle, and mounts, small side pointing down, to the toilet rim. The invention is sized and designed for boys, and is not really practical for men, due to its size.
In spite of the ample prior art, no suitable solution exists for urination splash and water conservation. For splash, most of the prior art is splash guards, which are difficult to put in place, dirty, and limit the ability to use the toilet in a seated position. Various urinal adapters exist, but they either take up too much space, are intended only for boys, or create their own splash hazards. What the market seeks is a solution that can fit in a current water closet, reduces or eliminates urination splash, reduces water usage, is hygienic, and can be used by both men and women.
The present invention improves upon the current prior art, in several important aspects. The present invention is a small, hand-held urinal, that eliminates splash and uses much less water than either a traditional or low-flow toilet. The present invention comes in two main embodiments. The first embodiment integrates the present invention into a new commode or toilet. The second embodiment is a retro-fit of the present invention for currently existing toilets or commodes.
In the primary or first embodiment, the present invention is integrated into a new toilet or commode. The present invention is a hand-held urinal constructed from a plastic funnel and some plastic drain tubing. The water intake is usually on the left-hand side of most standard toilets, so the present invention is plumbed for the left side of the toilet. The toilet would be fabricated in a normal fashion from vitreous enamel or other standard material. A plumbing fitting would be added to the toilet, and would be connected to a pipe, inside the toilet, containing its own small, water trap. This pipe would employ below the main water trap, directly in the sewer down pipe. The drain tube from the hand-held urinal would connect to the fitting, with standard plumbing threads, allowing urine to flow into the sewage pipe. The funnel would have a spring-loaded lid that could securely seal the funnel when not in use. Because the funnel is relatively small compared with most of the prior art, the funnel could be hung, easily, on a hook on the wall or the toilet tank. The invention would have a second piece, a rinsing wand that could be used to rinse out the hand-held urinal. The rinsing wand would be plumbed to the left of the toilet, also, using a standard plumbing splitter from the fresh water feed into the toilet. The rinsing wand could clean the hand-held urinal, removing any urine or residue, while using only a few ounces of water.
The alternative embodiment of the current invention is intended for pre-existing toilets. The hand-held urinal would still be connected to drain tubing. The drain tubing would empty directly into the toilet bowl, through a drain-end. The drain-end would be mounted either to the toilet seat, itself, or to the rim of the toilet, depending on the mounting hardware. The drain-end would be formed from high-memory plastic, so that if it was compressed by the toilet seat, when the seat was down, it would open back up when the seat was raised. The hand-held urinal wand would still come with a spring-loaded lid and a rinsing wand. This embodiment would use a shorter length of drain tubing.
Both embodiments share two significant attributes. First, the funnel for both models would be shaped and sized for use by both males and females. Second, the plastic parts, including the funnel, funnel lid, and tubing, would be made from anti-microbial plastic
This description does not limit the invention, but rather illustrates its general principles of operation. Examples are illustrated with the accompanying drawings. A variety of drawings are offered, showing the present invention incorporated into two primary embodiments.
