Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
  • A47K11/00—Closets without flushing; Urinals without flushing; Chamber pots; Chairs with toilet conveniences or specially adapted for use with toilets
  • A47K11/02—Dry closets, e.g. incinerator closets
  • A47K11/023—Incinerator closets
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02A—TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02A50/00—TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE in human health protection, e.g. against extreme weather
  • Y02A50/30—Against vector-borne diseases, e.g. mosquito-borne, fly-borne, tick-borne or waterborne diseases whose impact is exacerbated by climate change

Definitions

• This invention relates to an improved method of waste disposal to be used with toilets that cannot be connected to sewer drains and particularly to be used with dry toilets with disposable bowl lining material.
• incinerating toilets use an extemal source of energy to heat the waste, evaporate all the liquid waste and burn the rernaining solid waste. Disadvantages are the high initial cost, the high operating cost and the use restriction imposed by the incinerating cycles.
• sterilizing toilets use extemal energy to evaporate urine and heat the feces to kill the bacteria but require the inconvenience of frequent manual clean out for disposal elsewhere.
• Composting toilets store the waste in an aerated chamber and use aerobic bacteria to digest or oxidise the waste over a long time period.
• the cost and inconvenience of disposing of toilet waste at the toilet site can be greatly improved by the present invention which is particularly apphcable to lined toilets and which provides means by which all the solid toilet waste can be incinerated economically without the use of extemal energy.
• the present invention is a process which includes the following steps:
• This process can be accomplished by apparatus of relatively small proportions which would be suitable for installation in residential premises.
• the process can also be applied to portable toilets but the absence of chimney vents would require that the incineration be done elsewhere.
• this waste disposal process can be described more in detail by reference to a lined toilet such as described in UK patent application GB 2288194 A.
• This type of toilet has a bowl lined with thin sheet material which is renewed each time the toilet is used.
• the sheet material could be polyethylene which bu s easily and has a heat value of 46,500 kilojoules per kilogram. This value is greater than coal or fuel oil and is three times higher than dry feces or paper.
• the process of 'flushing' this toilet causes retention of the solid waste within the liner material and allows most of the liquid waste to drain away and be collected separately.
• the present invention provides for a pump which receives the soiled liner sheet containing the solid waste. This pump forces the waste material into the bottom of a solid waste container and when doing so cuts and crumples the plastic film so that the resulting wad of plastic sheet and waste contains air spaces and air passages.
• the crumpled plastic continues to drain any free liquid into a receptor located beneath the solid waste container.
• the solid waste container is separated from the liquid receptor by a particle filter which allows only the essentially liquid material to pass through. Subsequent 'flushing' cycles force the previously drained waste material higher up into the container where in a fixed toilet installation (as opposed to portable toilets) provision can be made for the container walls to be perforated and to be surrounded by a duct through which drying air can flow and be vented through a chimney to the outside atmosphere.
• the toilet can be used without interruption even during incineration intervals.
• the polyethylene liner provides the higher heat value to sustain the process in the presence of moist waste. Polyethylene by itself bu s cleanly without residue or noxious gases. Once ignited the burning will proceed down the waste container to a level where air has been excluded or where the moisture content is too great. Any lumps of moist material not consumed would be left on the top of the remaining waste where the optimum drying conditions would ensure complete combustion at the next firing cycle.
• the solid waste container could preferably be tall and relatively narrow in section to maximise the surface area exposed to the drying air.
• a container 0.15 metre in diameter and 2.0 metre high would have enough volume to contain the solid toilet waste output of a family of three for three months before removal or burning was required. It is normal for moist toilet waste to biologically decompose. In the absence of air anaerobic bacteria would release unpleasantly smelling gases that would be undesirable even if vented to the outside atmosphere. However, the air passages created by the crumpled liner material or any other aerating additive would encourage digestion by aerobic bacteria the products of which are not objectionable. As drying decreases the moisture content, the biological activity will also decrease.
• the liquid waste that drains into the lower receptacle is mostly urine which is normally a sterile liquid containing harmless compounds and salts but it could be contaminated by bacteria from the feces. Urine would normally be discharged without treatment into a sewer drain or dry well but if the circumstances require it could be sterilized by chemicals or by ultra violet radiation before discharge.
• a waste system for toilets comprising, a lower container adapted to receive liquid waste, the lower container having means for draining the liquid waste, an upper container adapted to receive solid waste, the upper container having means for the passage of air through the container, a toilet drain pipe connected to the upper container, the upper container being mostly above the level of the toilet drain pipe connection and the lower container being mostly below the level of the toilet drain pipe connection, a particle filter interposed between the intemal volume of the upper container and the internal volume of the lower container, the filter being dimensioned to allow the passage of the liquid waste into the lower container and to contain the solid waste in the upper container, a pump within the toilet drain pipe to force the solid waste into the lowermost portion of the upper container where it can drain without wetting previously drained material, means for adding to the waste a sheet material of relatively high fuel value which when crumpled or serrated by the pumping action increases the aerated surface of the solid waste within the upper container and a means to incinerate the solid waste within
• the container, the particle filter and the connection to the toilet drain pipe can be fabricated from thin combustible materials and which when manufactured lies flat but when in use expands to contain the incoming toilet waste.
• This disposable container can also be provided with a lowermost spout with an openable seal to assist the removal of the liquid waste, an upper vent with an integral chemical filter to prevent the escape of odorous chemicals while allowing the ingress of air and a soluble chemical biocide packaged into the lower liquid portion to maintain sterile conditions.
• Figure 1 is a side view of a lined, dry toilet exposing a section through the waste pump with the piston in the closed position:
• Figure 2 is as figure 1 but with the piston partly retracted;
• Figure 3 is as figure 1 but with the piston fully retracted;
• Figure 4 is section view of the side of the waste holding incinerator container,
• Figure 5 is a side view of a lined, dry toilet exposing a section through the waste pump and an attached disposable waste container
• Figure 6 is as figure 5 but showing a method of removing the disposable waste container
• Figure 7 is an end section view of the disposable waste container
• Figure 8 is an end section view showing a disposable waste container of an alternative type of construction.
• a lined toilet shown in Figure 1 has a bowl 15 which is lined with plastic sheet 16 which is shown emerging from the bowl's exit aperture 17 and entering into a pump housing 18 where the end of the plastic sheet 16 is pinched closed by the pressure of a piston 19 against an opposing surface on the pump housing 18.
• a slope at the bottom of the bowl 15 and a slope at bottom of the exit aperture 17 cause liquid waste to drain down and accumulate in the plastic sheet 16 near the piston 19 whereas solid waste which does not flow readily is retained in another part of the plastic sheet 16 in the centre of the bowl 15.
• FIG 2 the flushing cycle has started and the piston 19 has partly retracted thus releasing the pinched end of the plastic sheet 16 and allowing the liquid waste to drain into the bottom of the pump housing 18 where the it can flow along the bottom of a drain pipe 20.
• Figure 3 shows the piston 19 fully retracted thus leaving the pump housing 18 open to receive the soiled plastic sheet 16 containing any solid toilet waste without the liquid waste which has already drained from within the plastic sheet 16.
• the piston 19 is advanced to close the open pump housing 18 and force the soiled plastic sheet 16 containing the solid waste into the drain pipe 20 and simultaneously forcing the waste from previous flushing cycles further along the drain pipe 20.
• a clean portion of the plastic sheet 16 is again pinched closed and simultaneously a cutter 21 at the end of the piston severs the soiled portion of the plastic sheet 16 from the clean portion.
• the drainpipe 20 extends from the end ofthe pump housing 18 over a particle filter 22 through which the liquid waste drains into a lower container 23 and from there through an optional sterilizing device 24 before entering the discharge pipe 25.
• the plastic sheet 16 containing the solid waste is progressively pushed along the drain pipe 20 which bends upward into a solid waste container 26.
• the upper portion of the container walls 27 are made of metal mesh which exposes the waste sheet material 16 to the air within a duct 28 which surrounds the solid waste container 26. Air enters the duct 28 through lower ports 29 and passes out the top through a chimney 30 to the outside atmosphere.
• the waste material within the container 26 gets progressively drier as it is pushed upwards toward the top.
• the waste sheet material 16 When dry enough to support combustion the waste sheet material 16 can be ignited manually through a port 31 in the duct or it could be ignited automatically by an ignition device 32 triggered by a sensor.
• FIG. 5 & 6 A lined toilet intended for portable use is shown in Figures 5 & 6 where the pump housing 18 is connected directly to a disposable waste container 35 which is divided into an upper compartment 36 to contain the soiled sheet material 16 together with the solid waste and a lower 5 compartment 37 to contain the liquid waste.
• the upper compartment 36 is separated from the lower compartment 37 by a particle filter 38 which allows only the essentially liquid waste to pass into the lower compartment 37.
• the disposable waste container 35 is connected to the pump housing 18 by means of an extendable sleeve 39 which is clamped around the outside of the pump housing 18. The weight of the container 35 with its contents is supported on bracket
• the handle 45 facilitates the manual lifting of the container 35 for disposal elsewhere. Before disposal by incineration the liquid waste can be drained from the lower compartment 37
• the lower compartment 37 can also contain a biocide chemical which will keep the accumulated liquid waste 48 sterile.
• the upper compartment 36 may be provided with an air vent 47 into which is sealed a filter to prevent the escape of smells or contaminated particles. The air vent 47 could assist the disposal of the container 35 by allowing its volume to be reduce by squeezing and would also discourage odor producing anaerobic 0 bacteria.
• the disposable container 35 can be manufactured from flat thermoplastic sheets the seams of which are heat sealed together to form the compartments 36 and 37 and the sleeve 39 as well as the small passages that form particle filter 38.
• the flat plastic container will expand in use to contain the waste as shown in cross section in Figure 7.
• the particle filter 38 could be provided in the form of a textile sheet 49 also heat sealed into the disposable container 35.
• the textile sheet particle filter 49 has more surface area than the thermoformed particle filter 38 and would be less likely to become clogged.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Non-Flushing Toilets (AREA)
• Treatment Of Sludge (AREA)
• Processing Of Solid Wastes (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=10778763

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1995
  • 1995-08-04 GB GB9515997A patent/GB2304127A/en not_active Withdrawn
• 1996
  • 1996-07-26 WO PCT/US1996/012308 patent/WO1997005815A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1996-07-26 AU AU67141/96A patent/AU711354B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1996-07-26 EP EP96927263A patent/EP0841866A4/de not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events