EP2035631B1

EP2035631B1 - Sanitary installation unit

Info

Publication number: EP2035631B1
Application number: EP07765912.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Vesa Lappalainen; Teemu Ylänen
Original assignee: Evac Oy
Current assignee: Evac Oy
Priority date: 2006-07-03
Filing date: 2007-06-12
Publication date: 2016-08-03
Anticipated expiration: 2027-06-12
Also published as: FI120414B; EP2035631A1; FI20065469A; FI20065469A0; WO2008003824A1; JP5453088B2; JP2009541625A; CN101479433A; CN101479433B; KR101382022B1; KR20090037911A

Description

Technical field

The invention relates to a sanitary installation unit for a sanitary room, which sanitary installation unit is arranged to connect a toilet bowl of a vacuum toilet unit to a vacuum sewer system, which vacuum toilet unit comprises said toilet bowl, a discharge valve, a water valve and a control unit, which sanitary installation unit comprises a fire-resistant plate, which has a first side intended to be installed towards the toilet bowl and a second side opposite the first side, and which sanitary room is provided with a fire resistant wall with an opening, against which the toilet bowl is arranged to be mounted according to the preamble of claim 1.

Background art

In connection with sanitary rooms, particularly on vessels such as marine vessels, oil rigs, aircraft, trains and the like, the toilet bowl of a vacuum toilet unit usually is installed against a wall of the sanitary room or space. The vital components of the vacuum toilet unit, such as the discharge valve, the water valve and the control unit, are often mounted within a shell surrounding the toilet bowl (on the side of the sanitary room), whereby an opening is provided in the wall in order to provide for access and connections to these components for maintenance, repair or replacement purposes from a service space outside said sanitary room or space.
As such vessels normally are subject to fire safety regulations, the opening between the sanitary room and the service space and other adjacent areas of such vessels constitutes a risk. Separate box like enclosures or housings fastened to the back side (opposite the sanitary room) of the wall, the wall normally in a case like this being fire-resistant, have been used. These, however, require additional space, which is of limited supply in such vessels. Furthermore, the enclosure has to be removed and replaced in its entirety in order to allow any kind of measures related to the above mentioned components.
EP 0 818 589 A2 discloses a sanitary installation unit according to the preamble of claim 1. The unit provides a vacuum toilet system where access to serviceable part of the vacuum toilet unit is provided by a cumbersome removal of the shell or part of the shell of the vacuum toilet unit from the side of the sanitary room in which the vacuum toilet unit is located.
US 4,936,064 discloses fireproof and reinforced panels for closing structural openings within building structures such as those between rooms, floors and ceilings through which essential-service hardware penetrates. The panels are fixed to the building structures by high-temperature adhesive and additional mechanical fasteners.

Summary of the invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a sanitary installation unit, which avoids the above mentioned problems and provides an easily installable, practical unit that also ensures an appropriate fire-resistance. These objects are attained by a sanitary installation unit according to claim 1.
The basic idea of the invention is to provide a fire-resistant closure to the opening in the wall of the sanitary room, which closure also may provide support for at least some of the vital components and the thereto related connections of the vacuum toilet unit. To this effect the fire-resistant plate of the sanitary installation unit includes a discharge connection, which passes through the fire-resistant plate and which has a first end on the first side of the fire-resistant plate and a second end on the second side of the fire-resistant plate. The water valve and the control unit are attached to the second side of the fire-resistant plate.
The sanitary room is to be understood as e.g. a cabin, a separated bathroom or toilet, or other corresponding space. The vacuum toilet unit and toilet bowl are to be understood as also comprising a urinal or the like.
The discharge valve may advantageously be attached to the first side or the second side of the fire-resistant plate as found appropriate for the prevailing circumstances and the vacuum sewer system in question. Practically this means that almost all vital components, i.e. the discharge valve, the water valve and the control unit, with appropriate connections, together may form a compact replacement set, which readily can be installed, maintained and replaced.
The appropriate connections, such as water connections and vacuum connections, have to be provided and, when necessary, passed through the fire-resistant plate. The connections that pass through the fire-resistant plate are advantageously of steel or other fire-resistant material and form an integral or fixed part of the fire-resistant plate.
By arranging two or more of said components on the second side of the fire-resistant plate said two or more components may benefit from the protection of the fire-resistant plate in a case of fire in the sanitary room. In addition this also provides direct access to said components without removal of the fire-resistant plate.
The fire-resistant plate advantageously comprises a solid steel plate, which is provided with a fire-resistant insulation. This provides for simple and inexpensive manufacture. The plate may of course be of any other corresponding material providing appropriate rigidity and fire-resistance in itself.
The sanitary installation unit comprising the fire-resistant plate provides an advantageous arrangement to be installed in an opening in the fire-resistant wall of the sanitary room in that the fire-resistant plate is provided for closing said opening in order to provide a fire-resistant seal between the sanitary room and a service space outside the fire-resistant wall of the sanitary room. Preferably the toilet bowl of the vacuum toilet unit is arranged to be mounted on the floor of the sanitary room and against said opening or onto the fire-resistant wall of the sanitary room and against said opening, whereby said opening is arranged to provide access to the vacuum toilet unit from the service space.
The further advantageous features of the present invention are given in claims 2-7.

Brief description of drawings

In the following the invention will be described, by example only, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which

Fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention,
Fig. 2 illustrates the embodiment of Fig. 1 installed into a wall of a sanitary room, and
Fig. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description

The present invention relates to a sanitary installation unit 1 intended to be used in connection with a vacuum toilet unit comprising a toilet bowl 8 (Fig. 2) and wherein the unit comprises a discharge valve 5, a water valve 6 and a control unit 4. The vacuum toilet unit is intended to be used aboard a marine vessel and installed in sanitary room aboard said vessel. It is clear that the present invention may be applied as well in land based installations, as in trains, buildings, or the like, whereby the same benefits are achieved.
The function and operation of a vacuum sewer system including a vacuum toilet unit is considered to be known by a person skilled in the art and is therefore not described in detail in this connection.
Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention where the sanitary installation unit is generally indicated with reference numeral 1. The sanitary installation unit 1 comprises a fire-resistant plate 2, in this embodiment exemplified as a metal plate 21 provided with a fire-resistant insulation 22. The plate has a surrounding flange 23, by which it may be fastened to a fire-resistant wall or other support as explained in more detail below in connection with Fig. 2. The fire-resistant plate 2 has a first side 24 intended to be installed towards the toilet bowl 8 (Fig. 2) and a second side 25 opposite the first side 24. Further, the fire-resistant plate 2 includes a discharge connection 3 passing through the fire-resistant plate and having a first end 31 on the first side 24 of the fire-resistant plate 2 and a second end 32 on the second side 25 of the fire-resistant plate 2. The discharge connection 3 is made of steel or other fire-resistant material and forms an integral or fixed part of the fire-resistant plate 2.
In this embodiment the discharge valve 5 is attached to the discharge connection 3 on the first side 24 of the fire-resistant plate 2. The water valve 6 and the control unit 4 are attached to the fire-resistant plate 2 on the second side 25 of the same.
The vacuum installation unit 1 is provided with a first vacuum connection 71 connecting the discharge connection 3, from behind the discharge valve 5 in the flow direction of sewage (indicated by a block arrow), with the control unit 4 and a second vacuum connection 72 connecting the control unit 4 with the discharge valve 5. As the control unit 4 and the discharge valve 5 in this embodiment are on opposite sides of the fire-resistant plate 2, the first vacuum connection 71 and the second vacuum connection 72 pass through the fire-resistant plate 2. The vacuum connections that pass through the fire-resistant plate are made of steel or other fire-resistant material and form integral or fixed parts of the fire-resistant plate.
The discharge valve 5 in this embodiment is a vacuum operated discharge valve, whereby the necessary vacuum is tapped from just behind the discharge valve in the flow direction of sewage (indicated by a block arrow), led to the control unit 4, which then directs said vacuum to the discharge valve 5 for opening the same when the flush sequence is initiated. The control unit 4 is provided with an activating means (not shown).
A third vacuum connection 73 is provided between the control unit 4 and the water valve 6. Further, the vacuum installation unit 2 is provided with a water connection 61 between the water valve 6 and the toilet bowl 8 (Fig. 2), which water connection 61 passes through the fire-resistant plate 2, as the water valve 6 and the toilet bowl in this embodiment are on opposite sides of the fire-resistant plate 2. The water connection that passes through the fire-resistant plate is made of steel or other fire-resistant material and forms an integral or fixed part of the fire-resistant plate.
The vacuum available in the control unit 4 (discussed above) is also used to operate the water valve 6.
Fig. 2 illustrates the embodiment of Fig. 1 of the sanitary installation unit 1 being installed into an opening 40 in a fire-resistant wall 30 of a sanitary room 20. On the other side of, or outside the fire-resistant wall 30 of the sanitary room 20, there is a service space indicated by reference numeral 50. Further, the same reference numerals are used for the corresponding elements as in connection with Fig. 1 and are not discussed in detail in this connection.
In addition, the water connection 61 from the water valve 6 is shown to pass through the fire-resistant plate 2 and to connect to a water distribution means 62 arranged in connection with the toilet bowl 8 for providing base water and flush water to the toilet bowl 8. Further, the toilet bowl 8 is shown to be enclosed by a shell 9 and provided with a lid 10. The first end 31 of the discharge connection 3 is provided with an adapting means 33 for connection with the outlet 81 of the toilet bowl 8. The second end 32 of the discharge connection 3 is arranged to be connected with a vacuum sewer pipe of the vacuum sewer system. As known per se vacuum for the vacuum sewer system is generated by a vacuum generation means. The flow direction of sewage is indicated by a block arrow.
The fire-resistant plate 2 and the fire-resistant insulation 22 are dimensioned so that when the sanitary installation unit 1 is installed in the opening 40 in the fire-resistant wall 30, the sanitary installation unit 1 provides a sealed fire-resistant wall 30 between the sanitary room 20 and the service space 50 on the other side of the fire-resistant wall 30. The fire-resistant plate 2 may be fastened to the fire-resistant wall 30 by e.g. bolts or screws (not shown) arranged in the surrounding flange 23.
In the installation shown in Fig. 2, any necessary measures such as maintenance, repair or replacement, to the control unit 4 and the water valve 6 may be carried out without removing the sanitary installation unit 1. If e.g. the discharge valve 5 needs to be serviced or replaced, the fire-resistant plate 2 may be unfastened and removed from the opening 40 in the fire-resistant wall 30, whereby the whole set-up or module, including the fire-resistant plate 2, the discharge connection 3, the control unit 4, the discharge valve 5, the water valve 6, and the respective connections may easily lifted out by detaching the water connection 61 from the water distribution means 62 and the adapting means 33 from the outlet 81 of the toilet bowl 8. A new module or a module with serviced, repaired or replaced parts may be as easily re-installed in a corresponding manner.
Fig. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment the same reference numerals are used for the corresponding elements as in the embodiment of Fig. 1, and are therefore not discussed in detail in this connection.
The main difference is that the discharge valve 5 is attached to the second end 32 of the discharge connection 3, i.e. it is located on the second side 25 of the fire resistant plate 2. This also means that the first vacuum connection 71 between the discharge connection 3 and the control unit 4 as well as the second vacuum connection 72 between the control unit 4 and the discharge valve 5 do not pass through the fire-resistant plate 2. The first vacuum connection 71 is, however, also connected to the discharge connection 3 behind the discharge valve 5 in the flow direction of sewage (indicated by a block arrow) as described in connection with Fig. 1.
This embodiment provides access also to the discharge valve 5 and its connections without removal of the fire-resistant plate 2. In other respects the installation principle corresponds to what is described in connection with Fig. 2. This would also apply to any other modifications made to the arrangement of the components and their respective connections.
The basic purposes of the vacuum installation unit 1 are: to function as a fire-insulation between the sanitary room and the outside service space at the location of (or opening for) the vacuum toilet unit; to function as a support for the components of the vacuum toilet unit; and to function as a support and lead-through for the appropriate connections required for a vacuum toilet unit installation.
The description and drawings are only intended to clarify the basic idea of the invention. The arrangement of the different components and their respective connections in relation to the fire-resistant plate may thus be chosen as desired in accordance with the appended claims. The discharge valve may e.g. also be an electrically operated disc valve. The invention may thus vary within the scope of the ensuing claims.

Claims

Sanitary installation unit for a sanitary room (20), which sanitary installation unit (1) is arranged to connect a toilet bowl of a vacuum toilet unit to a vacuum sewer system, which vacuum toilet unit comprises said toilet bowl (8), which sanitary installation unit (1) comprises a discharge valve (5), a water valve (6), a control unit (4) and a plate (2), which has a first side (24) intended to be installed towards the toilet bowl (8) and a second side (25) opposite the first side, which sanitary room (20) may be provided with a fire resistant wall (30) with an opening (40), against which the toilet bowl (8) is arranged to be mounted, and the fire-resistant plate (2) includes a discharge connection (3), which passes through the plate (2) and which has a first end (31) on the first side (24) of the (2) and a second end (32) on the second side (25) of the plate (2), characterised in that the plate (2) is a fire-resistant plate (2), in that the water valve (6) and the control unit (4) are attached to the second side (25) of the fire-resistant plate (2), and in that fire-resistant plate (2) is arranged to be installed in said opening (40) of the fire-resistant wall (30) in order to provide a fire-resistant seal between the sanitary room (20) and a service space (50) outside the fire-resistant wall (30) and that the fire-resistant plate (20) is arranged to be removed from said opening (40) in order to provide access to the vacuum toilet unit from the service space (50).
Sanitary installation unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the discharge valve (5) is attached to the discharge connection (3) on the first side (24) of the fire-resistant plate (2), and in that the discharge connection (3) is made of steel or other fire-resistant material and forms an integral part of the fire-resistant plate (2).
Sanitary installation unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the discharge valve (5) is attached to the discharge connection (3) on the second side (25) of the fire-resistant plate (2), and in that the discharge connection (3) is made of steel or other fire-resistant material and forms an integral part of the fire-resistant plate (2).
Sanitary installation unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the fire-resistant plate (2) includes a water connection (61) which passes through the fire-resistant plate (2), and in that the water connection (61) is made of steel or other fire-resistant material and forms an integral part of the fire-resistant plate (2).
Sanitary installation unit according to claim 2, characterised in that the fire-resistant plate comprises a vacuum connection (71,72) which passes through the fire-resistant plate (2), and in that the vacuum connection (71,72) is made of steel or other fire-resistant material and forms an integral part of the fire-resistant plate (2).
Sanitary installation unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the fire-resistant plate (2) comprises a solid steel plate (21) provided with a fire-resistant insulation (22).
Sanitary installation unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the toilet bowl (8) of the vacuum toilet unit is arranged to be mounted on a floor of the sanitary room (20) and against said opening (40) or onto the fire-resistant wall (30) of the sanitary room (20) and against said opening (4).