EP0356691B1 - Sanitary compartment for public use - Google Patents

Abstract

A public sanitary cubicle comprises a sanitary room with a lavatory pan accessible via a door and a technical room separated therefrom by a partition and containing the means necessary for the supply, disposal and cleaning of the sanitary room and, in particular, a cleaning implement for the lavatory pan which can be brought into the sanitary room by a support arm for the cleaning, phase, as well as a drain. For rapid and effective cleaning the support arm carries a plurality of spray nozzles connected to a high pressure water source, whereof at least two are directed from above in different angular positions onto the lavatory pan and two or more are directed onto the sanitary room floor inclined towards the drain.

Description

The invention relates to a sanitary cell for public purposes, consisting of a sanitary room accessible through a door with a toilet bowl and a technical room separated therefrom by a partition, which contains the facilities necessary for the supply, disposal and cleaning of the sanitary room, such as after moving the partition or a part of the same for the cleaning phase by means of a bracket in the sanitary room bringable cleaning device for the toilet bowl, and has a drain.

Sanitary cells of the abovementioned construction have recently been set up in large cities in heavily frequented places. They are designed as a kind of room cell and mostly consist of a reinforced concrete body with a tub-like base and a roof. The interior of the room cell is divided into two rooms, namely the sanitary room and the technical room, at least the sanitary room is provided with its own inner wall construction, e.g. made of stainless steel, aluminum or plastic, in order to meet the hygienic requirements. The sanitary room is provided with a toilet bowl, a wash basin, possibly also with a mirror, shelves or the like and is equipped with a door, usually a sliding door, which closes a cutout in the room cell. All functional parts for supply, disposal and cleaning are arranged in the technical room. This technical room has a separate access door for maintenance and repair purposes.

Sanitary cells of this type are accessible by inserting a coin, whereby the lock of the outer door is opened and, if necessary, certain functional parts, such as water flushing, air suction, etc. are started. If the user leaves the sanitary room, the door is closed again and additionally locked and a cleaning process is automatically started, in particular with a proper cleaning of the toilet bowl, the floor and possibly the washbasin. The cleaning cycle may also include a drying process in order to offer the subsequent user a clean and dry sanitary room. After the cleaning process has been completed, the lock is automatically released so that the lock on the outer door can be opened again after the coin has been inserted. Sanitary cells of this type are directly connected to the sewage system on the outlet side, so that they can be operated as an autonomous sanitary unit in normal operation without maintenance.

The main problem with such sanitary cells is the proper cleaning of the sanitary room, in particular the entire toilet bowl and the floor of the sanitary room, whereby not only faeces and paper from the toilet bowl must be removed without leaving any residue, but also dirt that has entered the sanitary room, objects left behind or thrown away, such as paper handkerchiefs, packaging, etc. Such a public sanitary cell will only be accepted by the public if it is hygienically cleaned in every respect. Various systems are known for cleaning.

In a first type (DE-A-33 22 356), the sanitary room and the technical room are arranged concentrically to one another, with all functional parts between the outer shell and the inner shell surrounding the sanitary room. For cleaning, water channels from the outer shell are led into the sanitary room, the water being distributed both into the toilet bowl, the wash basin and over the lower area of the inner wall. The water only trickles over the walls and the bowl. It is clear that intensive cleaning, in particular removal of adhering dirt or even objects, is not possible with this type of water supply. Finally, the conventional design of the toilet bowl with siphon does not meet the requirements due to the considerable risk of clogging.

In another known type, mechanical cleaning is carried out instead of or simply in addition to water purification. It is known from DE-C-30 22 788 to arrange several sanitary rooms around a technology center and in turn to accommodate a type of robot in it. The individual sanitary rooms are designed as rotatable cabins and are rotated with their through opening in front of the technical room for the cleaning phase so that the robot's cleaning arm can be moved into the cabin. In this position, the toilet bowl, which is open on the rear, is directly connected to the drain in the technical room.

The robot can be equipped with various cleaning tools (brushes, scrapers, water nozzles, etc.), with coarse dirt and coarse particles first being removed from the toilet bowl in subsequent work cycles and then cleaned. With this design of the robot, the toilet bowl can also be cleaned on the outside, possibly also the floor and walls of the cabin. However, this cleaning process is extremely time-consuming, since it consists of several cleaning cycles in succession. The cleaning robot itself is also structurally complex and, due to its large number of functions, is naturally also susceptible to malfunctions.

In another known embodiment (EP-A-0 109 469), the complete toilet bowl is pivoted backwards into the technical room during the cleaning phase, so that large parts fall out by gravity or are removed with a roller brush during the subsequent cleaning process. Sufficient cleaning of the outside of the bowl, but above all of the sanitary room itself, is lacking here. A similar design (EP-A-0 059 134) also provides for a roller brush housed in the technical room, which, after part of the partition between the sanitary room and the technical room has been moved away can enter the sanitary room and can be controlled in terms of movement by means of two mutually perpendicular telescopic arms in such a way that they coat the toilet bowl on the outside and on the top and inside and at least in the front part. Here, too, dirty water and coarse particles get into the drain in the technical room in that the toilet bowl is largely open on the back towards the drain. The floor should be cleaned by a water pipe installed in the sanitary room, the floor being connected to the drain via a drain.

In this embodiment, the cleaning of the entire outer wall of the toilet bowl and the floor and possibly the lower region of the side walls is inadequate or not possible at all.

From US-A-2 605 478 a cleaning device for a sanitary cell is known which can be moved by means of a swivel arm over the toilet bowl and has nozzles for cleaning both the toilet bowl and the floor by means of a cleaning liquid. However, the cleaning device is arranged within the sanitary room and is therefore freely accessible to a user of the sanitary cell, so that there is a risk of damage to the cleaning device. In addition, the drain of the toilet bowl according to US-A-2 605 478 can easily become blocked, especially when larger objects such as beverage cans or other packaging are thrown into the toilet bowl. In this case, further use and cleaning of the toilet bowl is not possible.

Starting from the prior art according to EP-A-0 059 134, the invention has for its object to provide a sanitary cell in which an effective and complete cleaning of the entire toilet bowl and all other polluting areas of the sanitary room is possible with little technical effort.

This object is achieved in that a plurality of spray nozzles connected to a pressurized water source is arranged on the support arm, at least two of which are at different angles from above are directed towards the toilet bowl and two or more are directed towards the floor of the sanitary room which is inclined to the drain, and that the toilet bowl has a backwards inclined floor and a rear wall which can be moved away during the cleaning phase to allow a large-area drainage towards the drain, the rear wall of the toilet bowl for the cleaning phase can be moved from the use position into the cleaning position by means of the movement of the support arm.

In the training according to the invention, the cleaning takes place exclusively with pressurized water. With the help of pressurized water, especially if it hits the surfaces to be cleaned at a steep angle, not only simple but also adhering dirt can be easily removed, but also large parts and heavy objects can be removed from the toilet bowl or across the inclined floor Wash away towards the drain. Flawless cleaning of the inside and outside of the toilet bowl as well as the floor of the sanitary room and possibly the lower area of the side walls can easily be ensured by an appropriate number, arrangement and alignment of the spray nozzles. There are also no mechanical brushes that are known to get dirty themselves, especially with increasing time, and to re-enter dirt that may have been removed into the sanitary room.

The arrangement of a toilet bowl, the bottom of which is inclined backwards and the rear wall of which can be moved away during the cleaning phase, allows a large-area drain towards the drain can be achieved, whereby an effective and reliable cleaning of the toilet bowl is possible. The rear wall of the toilet bowl for the cleaning phase is moved from the use position into the cleaning position by means of the movement of the support arm. The opening of the toilet bowl to the rear is done directly by the movement of the cleaning device, so that there is an inevitability here and no separate drive and control devices are necessary, which could also give rise to malfunctions.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the support arm has at least one spray nozzle directed towards the outer wall of the toilet bowl. It is also advantageous if the support arm has two or more spray nozzles, the jet cone of which is at least partially directed onto the lower region of the side walls of the sanitary room. It is also advantageous if the support arm has at least one spray nozzle directed towards the drain in the direction of the drain, so that any coarse particles that may be lying in the lock are also led away into the drain.

In a further preferred embodiment it is provided that the spray nozzles are oriented so that the water striking the surface to be cleaned supports the removal of the dirty water and the contaminants towards the drain.

With this training, not only the dirty water is carried away, but also coarse parts and larger objects are washed into the technical room and the drain.

In order to effectively detect all areas to be cleaned and to continue to effectively support the washing away of coarse parts, it is provided that at least some of the spray nozzles, in particular the spray nozzles directed to the floor of the sanitary room, during the cleaning phase are angle adjustable. For example, the spray nozzles directed towards the floor of the sanitary room are adjustable in the direction of the drain. The jet cone of the spray nozzle is guided in an arc over the floor, so that not only stubbornly adhering dirt, but also coarse particles are effectively washed away.

In terms of design, the aforementioned embodiment can be realized in that the angle-adjustable spray nozzles are seated on one or more supports which are articulated on the support arm via a driven linkage. For example, a hydraulic cylinder arranged on the support arm and acting on the handlebar linkage can serve as the drive.

According to a further preferred embodiment it is provided that the support arm has at least part of its length a downwardly open hood, below which at least the spray nozzles directed from above onto the toilet bowl are arranged and which comes close to the contour of the toilet bowl.

By this measure it is avoided that the irregular contour of the toilet bowl under high pressure and partially uncontrollably reflecting cleaning water is sprayed into the sanitary room, in particular upwards, which could also remove dirt particles etc. With regular surfaces, such as the floor, there is no risk of uncontrolled splashing, which is why there is no need for a hood.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention it is provided in the arrangement of a floor drain connected to the drain in the technical space in the sanitary room that the floor drain can be closed by means of a flap which can be moved into the open position for the cleaning phase by means of the support arm. With the flap there is initially an odor trap. In addition, the floor drain can flow directly into the drain. For the cleaning phase, the flap is automatically opened by being able to be moved into the open position, for example via an actuator on the support arm and during its movement into the sanitary room. No separate drive and control devices are therefore necessary, so that a functionally reliable structure is provided. The flap can be closed by the return movement of the support arm, but preferably under gravity.

An advantageous embodiment is realized in that the rear wall of the toilet bowl is pivotally mounted on the floor in the region of the rear drain edge and can be moved from the upward use position into a downward inclined cleaning position in the technical room.

In this way, the rear wall of the toilet bowl can also be easily sprayed and cleaned, especially if its slope towards the rear is the same as that of the bottom of the toilet bowl. If necessary, a coarse screen can be arranged below the drainage edge of the rear wall, which is inclined to the rear, and above the drain to hold back coarse material that is removed from the equipment room from time to time.

In a preferred embodiment it is provided that the flap for the floor drain and the rear wall of the toilet bowl can be moved into the opening or cleaning position by means of a single actuator on the support arm.

This design provides a particularly simple positive control of the flap for the floor drain and the rear wall of the toilet bowl in connection with the movement of the cleaning device, this positive coupling being able to take place in a purely mechanical and thus robust and reliable manner.

The support arm can expediently be pivoted by means of a drive from an approximately upright position in the technical room into a horizontal position in the sanitary room, in which its free end extends into the area of the door. A hydraulic motor is preferably used as the drive.

Finally, according to a further embodiment it is provided that the walls of the sanitary room are formed by an essentially cylindrical cabin which is rotatably mounted in the sanitary cell on a vertical axis and which has a passage opening to the door of the sanitary cell and which can be rotated for the cleaning phase in such a way that the passage opening points to the technical room.

This known design (DE-C-30 22 778) in conjunction with the design of the cleaning device according to the invention has the advantage that there is a large passage opening for the support arm with the spray nozzles, so that in particular also a plurality of spray nozzles transversely to the pivoting plane of the support arm can be present.

• Figur 1 einen Vertikalschnitt einer schematisch gezeichneten Sanitärzelle während der Reinigungsphase;
• Figur 2 einen Horizontalschnitt II - II gemäß Figur 1 nach der Reinigungsphase;
• Figur 3 eine vergrößerte Ansicht des Reinigungsgerätes während der Reinigungsphase und
• Figur 4 eine Draufsicht auf das Reinigungsgerät gemäß Figur 3.

The invention is described below using an exemplary embodiment shown in the drawing. The drawing shows:

• 1 shows a vertical section of a schematically drawn sanitary cell during the cleaning phase;
• 2 shows a horizontal section II - II according to FIG. 1 after the cleaning phase;
• Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the cleaning device during the cleaning phase and
• FIG. 4 shows a top view of the cleaning device according to FIG. 3.

The sanitary cell 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 consists of a room cell 2, z. B. made of reinforced concrete, a tub 3, optionally also made of reinforced concrete, and a ceiling 4 with a skylight 5. On one narrow side, the room cell 2 has an access opening 6 through a sliding door 7 mounted in the interior of the room cell, for example, by Coin slot can be opened, is closed.

The sanitary cell 1 has a sanitary room 9 and a technical room 10, which (see FIG. 2) are divided by a partition 8. The partition 8 is part of a cabin 11, which is closed at the bottom by a fixed floor 12 and is inserted into the room cell 2 so as to be rotatable about an axis 13. The cabin 11 has a gate-like opening 14 which, in the position of use, is approximately aligned with the access opening 6 (FIG. 2) and can be brought into the position shown in FIG. 1 for the cleaning phase by rotating the cabin 11, in which position it has a passage opening to the technical room 10 forms.

On the tub 3 and inside the sanitary room 9, a toilet bowl 15 is installed in a stationary manner, the inner surface or bottom of which is inclined to a drain 16 in the technical room 10. The toilet bowl 15 has a rear wall 18 which is pivotally mounted in the region of the rear drain edge 17 of the floor and which, from an approximately vertical position in which it closes the toilet bowl to the rear during use, into a position inclined towards the drain 16 during the cleaning phase is pivotable.

The fixed floor 12 is inclined to the drain 16 in the technical room 10 and has a floor drain 19 which opens into the drain 16. The floor drain 19 is closed by a flap 20 during use, which is in the Cleaning phase can pivot into the position shown in Figure 1.

The sanitary cell 1 has a cleaning device 21, which is normally accommodated in the technical room 10 (FIG. 2) and can be moved through the opening 14 into the cabin 11 or the sanitary room 9 for the cleaning phase. For this purpose, the cleaning device 21 is pivotally mounted about a pivot axis 22 in the technical room 10 and by means of a drive 23, for. B. a hydraulic motor, can be pivoted via an endless drive 24 from an approximately upright position in the technical room 10 into an approximately horizontal position during the cleaning phase in the sanitary room 9. The hydraulic motor 23 is supplied by a hydraulic unit 25, which is likewise accommodated in the technical room 10.

The cleaning device 21 is shown in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. It has a support arm 26 in the form of an angle arm, which in the cleaning phase extends approximately to the wall of the cabin 11 opposite the opening 14. It overlaps the toilet bowl 15 and is designed in this area as a hood 27, the lower edge 28 of which is approximately flush with the upper edge 29 of the toilet bowl 15, while cantilevering forward over the toilet bowl.

Outside the hood 27, cleaning nozzles 32, 33, 34 and 35 are arranged in pairs on transverse pipes 30, which are connected to a common line 31, of which the cleaning nozzles 32, 33 into the interior of the toilet bowl, the cleaning nozzles 34 on the the rear wall 18 of the toilet bowl 15 folded back and the cleaning nozzles 35 are directed into the drain 16 in the technical room 10. The toilet bowl can of course have a flush rim 36 in the usual way, through which water is fed into the toilet bowl in a first rinsing stage.

In the area protruding forward of the toilet bowl 15, the support arm has further cleaning nozzles which are arranged on a common support 37 and can be adjusted in angle by means of the latter. For this purpose, the carrier 37 is attached to a parallelogram linkage 38 with two arms 39, 40, of which one arm 40 acts as a link and is actuated by a hydraulic cylinder 41 on the support arm 26. Again, at least in pairs, there are cleaning nozzles 42, 43 which are directed onto the inclined floor 12 and the side walls of the cabin 11, and cleaning nozzles 44, 45 which are directed towards the outside of the toilet bowl 15. By adjusting the carrier 37, the cleaning nozzles 42, 43 can be moved from front to back in the direction of the floor drain 19, while the cleaning nozzles 44, 45 spray the toilet bowl at changing angles. All cleaning nozzles 32 to 35 and 42 to 45 are connected to a source of pressurized water, e.g. B. connected to the local water network.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, an angle lever 46 sits on the pivot bearing 17 of the rear wall 18 of the toilet bowl 15, on one arm 47 of which an actuator 49 acts on the support arm 26 via a stop 48, while the other arm 50 engages in a link 51 on which the Flap 20 for the floor drain 19 is attached. In the position of use (shown in dashed lines in FIG. 3), that is to say when the rear wall 18 is approximately vertical, the arm 47 projects upwards. If the cleaning device 21 is pivoted into the cabin 11, the actuator 49 presses the arm 47 and thus at the same time the rear wall 18 downwards, while the arm 50 projecting downwards is raised and the link 51 pivots forward, as a result of which the flap 20, the closes under gravity, is pivoted into the open position. When swiveling the Cleaning device in the technical room, rear wall 18 and flap 20 move in the opposite direction.

Claims (16)

1. Sanitary cubicle for public use, comprising a sanitary area (9) accessible by a door (7) and having a lavatory pan (15) and a technical area (10) subdivised therefrom by a partition (8) and which contains the means necessary for the supply, disposal and cleaning of the sanitary area (9), such as a cleaning appliance (21) for the lavatory pan (15) which can be brought into the sanitary area (9) by means of a support arm (26) for the cleaning phase after moving away the partition (8) or part thereof, as well as an outflow pipe (16), characterized in that on the support arm (26) is provided a plurality of spray nozzles (32 to 35, 42 to 45) connected to a high pressure water source and whereof at least two are directed from above in different angular positions onto the lavatory pan (15) and two or more are directed onto the floor (12) of the sanitary area (9) inclined towards the outflow pipe (16) and that the lavatory pan (15) has a rearwardly inclined base and a rear wall (18) which can be moved away in the cleaning phase for freeing a large-surface drain in the direction of the outflow pipe (16), the rear wall (18) of the lavatory pan (15) being movable from the use into the cleaning position for the cleaning phase by the movement of the support arm (26).
2. Sanitary cubicle according to claim 1, characterized in that the support arm (26) has at least one spray nozzle (44, 45) directed onto the outer wall of the lavatory pan (15).
3. Sanitary cubicle according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the support arm (26) has two or more spray nozzles, whose spray cone is at least partly directed onto the lower region of the side walls of the sanitary area (9).
4. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the support arm (26) has at least one spray nozzle (35) directed onto the floor of the technical area (10) and directed towards the outflow pipe (16).
5. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the spray nozzles (42 to 45) are oriented in such a way that the water striking the surface (12) to be cleaned assists the removal of the dirty water and the contaminants to the outflow pipe (16).
6. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least part of the spray nozzles (42 to 45) and in particular the spray nozzles (42, 43) directed onto the floor of the sanitary area (9) can undergo angular adjustement during the cleaning phase.
7. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the spray nozzles (42, 43) directed onto the floor (12) of the sanitary area (9) are angularly adjustable in the direction of the outflow pipe (16).
8. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the angularly adjustable spray nozzles (42 to 45) are located on one or more supports (37), which are articulated to the support arm (26) by means of a driven steering linkage (38).
9. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that over at least part of its length the support arm (26) has a downwardly open hood (27), below which are positioned at least the spray nozzles (32 to 34) which are directed from above onto the lavatory pan (15) and extends up to close to the contour of said lavatory pan (15).
10. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 9 with a floor drain (19) located in the sanitary area and connected to the outflow pipe in the technical area, characterized in that the floor drain (19) can be closed by means of a flap (20), which can be moved into the open position for the cleaning phase by means of the support arm (26).
11. Sanitary cubicle according to claim 10, characterized in that the flap (20) can be moved into the open position by means of a control member (49) on the support arm (26) during its movement into the sanitary area (9).
12. Sanitary cubicle according to claims 10 or 11, characterized in that the flap (20) closes under the action of gravity.
13. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the rear wall (18) of the lavatory pan (15) is pivotably mounted on its base in the vicinity of the rear draining edge and can be moved out of the upwardly directed use position into a cleaning position inclined downwards towards the outflow pipe (16) in the technical area (10).
14. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the flap (20) for the floor drain (19) and the rear wall (18) of the lavatory pan (15) can be moved into the open or cleaning position by means of a single control member (49) on the support arm (26).
15. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the support arm (26) can be pivoted by means of a drive (22, 23) out of an approximately upright position in the technical area (10) into a horizontal position in the sanitary area (9) and in which its free end extends into the vicinity of the door (7).
16. Sanitary cubicle according to one of the claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the wall of the sanitary area (9) is formed by a substantially cylindrical cabin (11) mounted in rotary manner on a vertical shaft (13) in the sanitary cubicle (1) and which towards the door (7) of the sanitary cubicle (1) has a through opening (14) and which can be rotated for the cleaning phase in such a way that the through opening is directed towards the technical area (10).

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