EP3656934A1

EP3656934A1 - Two-channel toilet for the removal of sewer gases

Info

Publication number: EP3656934A1
Application number: EP19744442.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: José María PÉREZ ALFRANCA
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-01-24
Filing date: 2019-01-23
Publication date: 2020-05-27
Also published as: ES2673424A1; WO2019145582A1; EP3656934A4; CN111630231A

Abstract

Two-way rear connection sleeve for the extraction of gases from a toilet that has two connections in front: a main one (12) connectable to a toilet siphon and another secondary connection (11) forthe elimination of gases, while behind It has a single common connection (13) that can join to a discharge (7), where the length of the sleeve is such that it allows the formation of a cohesive and efficient water column, in the secondary connection (11) for the gases, it is possible to provide a one-way check valve (18) or in its absence a plug and in the secondary connection (11) an external hose (9) is connectable. The object of the invention is also a toilet on which said two-way sleeve is assembled, which has a power group (8) connectable to the sleeve via an external hose (9) or the toilet has a second pipe (15).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention belongs to the toilet sector. The purpose is the simultaneous elimination of faecal gases during defecation, with two clear objects: complete effectiveness and water saving.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The 1775 Alexander Cumming patented a horizontal S-shaped pipe, which, interposed in a downward hydraulic flow, seals the pipes preventing the return of potential underlying gases. If we break down the S into two 180° elbows or bends each (Fig. 1), we get a first 180° vertical U-shaped elbow and a second inverted U-shaped one. Linking both elbows makes up the 360° of the siphon.
A liquid (water) flowing from left to right would be retained in the first elbow forming a water trap, the level of which would be determined by the height of the second elbow. The water level remains stable because its excess spills into the second elbow. The water trap level seals the first elbow preventing the back-flow of the underlying gases.
Cumming's design has another advantage. If the water flow is sufficiently intense, a plunger is formed in the downward branch of the second elbow which, attracted by gravity, generates a retrograde or siphon suction effect that in turn drags the contents of the first elbow, being able to empty the entire system.
Alexander Cumming's device placed in a toilet (Fig. 1) and connected to the discharge (7) prevents the back-flow of the gases from the sewer through the seal of the water trap and further drags the solid and liquid stools into the discharge (7). The water discharge flushes the double U system by the aforementioned siphon effect, leaving a water trap level that acts as a hydraulic check valve for the underlying gases.
In this way, the double U-shaped design provides two qualities: 1.- Back-flow preventer seal for sewage gases: and 2.- Depletion of the system contents when this is filled with a sufficient amount of water. This latter effect is based on "gravity" and the "cohesive force" of the liquids.
In a conventional toilet (Fig. 1), the siphon has two parts. The first 270° form a single part (2) with the front receptacle or pan (6),
To this part or toilet bowl (2), usually made of ceramic, another one involving the remaining 90° (3) must be added. This is a free, usually synthetic, part that serves as an adjustment and junction between the toilet bowl and the discharge (7), sealing the siphon.
The importance of the free part, or rear connection sleeve (3) to the discharge (7), is that here the cohesive water column is formed which, dragged by "gravity", generates the suction necessary to flush the system, emptying the pan (6) and the siphon water trap.
An ordinary toilet ortoilet bowl (2) (Fig. 1) consists of: 1.- A concave front container or pan (6) to receive the detritus, with its swing-out seat with its lid; 2.- A horizontal double U-shaped siphon of two differing branches: the 270° water trap and the 90° rod-shaped rear sleeve (3); and 3.- A water source, for example a tank or cistern (1), which releases the necessary amount of liquid to activate the system. The tank is connected to the main network through a float valve or gauger (4), and to the pan (6) through a conical discharge valve (5).
To ensure an efficient function, the toilet must meet four requirements:

1. The double U siphon must have differing branches. Thus the rear elbow rises above the water trap level of the front elbow, while its downward branch or rod-shaped sleeve (3) goes beyond the lower part thereof, before connecting to the discharge (7),
2. the discharge of water from the cistern or tank (1) to the toilet bowl pan (6) must be carried out in a certain amount and time, so that the excess liquid is capable of forming the cohesive column that when falling towards the discharge (7) drags the entire contents of the toilet bowl, i.e., of the pan and the trap.
3. The weight of this water plunger (section and length of the descending water column) must exceed the retrograde waters, i.e., water and faeces, to be able to drag them. This affects the design of the rear connection sleeve (7), which must have a certain section and length.
4. The water piston stops pushing when the air enters the system, so the fourth requirement is that the cohesion of the liquid be maintained, which implies the need for an absolute absence of gas inside.

In a classic cistern or tank (1), the amount and time of water discharge are important. The time interval is about 4 seconds. If the discharge is slower, a cohesive water column does not form, nor therefore the expected suction effect. The successive designs have reduced the initial 20 liters to the current 4-8 liters. Despite this, toilets consume more than 30% of domestic water. Any additional improvement should take this datum into consideration. This saving is so important today that Bill Gates has subsidised a toilet intended for the third world that works without any water contribution.
In short: a common toilet (Fig. 1) consists of:

a. Water tank (1) that loads by means of a connection to the water network, regulated by a float valve or gauger (4). A large conical drain valve (5) discharges the contents into the pan (6).
b. Toilet bowl, or toilet itself (2), composed of a front concave container or pan (6) and the upper three-quarters (270°) of the siphon.
c. Rear connection sleeve (3) that connects to the discharge (7).

Other less common models are not part of our study.
It seems incorrect to call a toilet an odourless lavatory, because, although it prevents the back-flow of gases from the sewer, it does not eliminate the gases that are released with defecation. Many solutions have been proposed for this, but the most common one is to extract the polluted air from the bathroom either forcedly or passively.
Faecal gases are a mixture of: a/ ingested air: mainly oxygen and nitrogen; b/ a small amount of flammable gases that result from organic fermentation such as methane and hydrogen; c/ a heterogeneous group of gases that provide their characteristic odour such as hydrogen sulphide, indole, eschatol and carbonyl and butyric acids.
To these gases, suspended particles are added that are actually faecal matter composed of 50% bacteria.
Gases and particles give the toilet its scatological connotation so historically it is confined outside the usual environment. Today they tend to be integrated into the domestic and urban spheres, so it seems more necessary than ever to eliminate these gases and particles completely and economically, not only due to their organoleptic properties but also as a hygienic-sanitary necessity. This is where we consider that our project is not only viable and efficient but easy to execute and convenient for health.
So we have important reasons to eliminate faecal gases at their source, i.e., in the initial receptacle or toilet bowl pan. To achieve this, different models and systems generally located in the toilet seat have been proposed. The captured gases are treated in different ways: filtered, sent outside or even to the discharge by another or by the same pipe as the stools. Our model falls within this latter concept: that of the elimination of faecal gases at the same time and along the same pathway as faeces.
We have found several proposals for this latter concept, which we can summarise in two: E03D9/04 and US20090307831A1 . The former presents a suction system in the toilet seat, leading the gases to an inverted siphon. The second is the same but with a conventional siphon. The rest of the models do more or less the same, but none of them, including the two referred to, considers the integrity of the four mechanisms that make the siphon work. Plunger formation and fluid cohesion are vital for gravity to create the necessary suction to empty the system. The injection of gas into the liquid column reduces its cohesiveness, weakening or canceling retrograde suction. In the best of cases, this defect could be compensated by considerably increasing the discharge. The alteration of the siphon mechanism that all these models, without exception, produce is what has prevented any of them from becoming popular and that is the basis of the difference of the one now presented. We propose the complete elimination of faecal gases without altering the siphon mechanism at all or increasing water consumption.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

A conventional toilet (Fig. 1) is a device or toilet bowl (2) in which the liquid and solid detritus deposited in a concave receptacle or pan (6) is sent to the discharge (7) through a double U siphon pipe.
Next to the device there is a seat with its lid and a water tank (1) that activates the system. Water passes from the tank (1) to the pan (6), from here to the siphon, and from the siphon with its rear connection sleeve (3) to the discharge (7).
The movement of water flushes the system provided that the appropriate conditions are given in terms of volume, time and cohesiveness, i.e., a minimum of water (4-8 liters), a maximum of time (4-5 sec) and the absolute absence of air.
The object of the invention is the simultaneous elimination of faecal gases along with the stools. For this, the gases must be captured at their source, that is, in the pan (6) or concavity of the toilet bowl. From here they must be guided to the discharge (7) without altering the siphon mechanism. To achieve this, gas and water must follow different pathways. This preserves the cohesiveness of the column of the liquid, allowing the adequate suction effect of the siphon.
If liquids and gases cannot be mixed, the only possible solution is the duplication of the pathways, which implies a new accessory pipe for the gases. Duplicity can be done in the toilet bowl, in the rear connection sleeve or in both. This offers three possibilities:

1. In front, in the toilet bowl (Fig. 3), a new pipe (14) parallel to the bowl, opens into the upper part of the toilet bowl leading the gases to the upward branch of the first U of the siphon, just below the water level of the trap.
2. Behind (Fig. 2), the connection sleeve doubles (20). Although the concept of duplicity is common, models 1 and 2 differ in their operation, so two varieties are generated so far: the front double siphon trap (Fig. 3) and the double rear sleeve (20) (Fig. 2).
3. We consider a third model (Fig. 4) which combines the preceding two for the case in which the new front pipe (15) does not reach the level of the siphon water trap. Avoiding the water valve forces to duplicate the route along the entire run. Thus, the pipe will be formed by the gas route of the toilet bowl (15), a check valve (18) and a double-span rear sleeve (20). Thus, the continuous two-way toilet is configured (Fig. 4).

The double siphon trap model (Fig. 3) achieves the elimination of gases to the discharge by duplicating Alexander Cumming's design in the first elbow of the siphon. Here the second elbow and the connecting sleeve are preserved. The water level of the trap acts as a permanent check valve for both the pan (6) and the accessory gas pipe (14).
The double pathway: pan (6) and accessory gas pipe (14) start at the upper part of the toilet bowl. All the contents are directed to the upward branch of the first U, remaining below the level of the water trap. The gases released here rise towards the second U and from here to the discharge (7).
In this model the separation of gases and liquids is carried out by a micro-computer (17) that stops the function of the power group (8) during the brief instants of the discharge. The decrease of the level in the pan produced by the discharge compensates for the pause in suction during same. When the level reaches the minimum, the group is reactivated and gas evacuation continues.
The computer has sensors that indicate the time point of discharge. A suitable point for them is the gauger (Fig. 1 (4)). Here (Fig. 3) the check valves (18) are only supplementary. We have not found a background art for this double siphon trap.
2.- Behind (Fig. 2), the two-way rear sleeve (20) links to a conventional power group (8) that sucks in and expels the gases from the fixed part of the seat, where the activation button can be placed.
The new double rear connection sleeve (20) sends the gases to the discharge (7) without mixing them with the water. The gases suctioned from behind and below the seat are sent by an external hose (9) to the secondary or smaller mouth (11) of the double sleeve (20) and will reach the discharge (7) outside of the waterway.
The double span of the rear connection sleeve (20) is the distinctive character with respect to any other prior model. The new sleeve maintains the 90° that complete the 360 of the siphon, as well as the traditional connections: a front one (12) that joins it to the toilet bowl and through which water and detritus circulate, and another rear one by which it joins the discharge (13). This pathway preserves the function of the siphon as in any other classic model. However, the sleeve has another secondary pathway eccentric or concentric with the main one, which is connected to the external hose (9) and which brings the gases from the pan through a new auxiliary connection (11). The rear connection (13) is common for solids, liquids and gases. The main pathway for liquids and solids thus maintains sufficient length so that the necessary cohesive column of water that dredges the system is formed. The gases will be evacuated beyond this critical point. The common connection (13) adapts the sleeve to any discharge.
Accordingly, the double rear connection sleeve (20) has a single connection to join to the discharge (13), but two independent ones in front; one for standard-sized liquids and detritus (12) and another smaller or secondary one for gases (11). It is in the latter where a one-way check valve (18) is also located or in its absence a plug.
This new sleeve can thereby be used in a conventional toilet. In this case the plug is essential, thus leaving the secondary gas pipe out of service.
Through the connection for gases (11) the sleeve can be adapted to any extractor group, incorporating the check valve (18). The placement of the power group (8) at the rear part of the seat seems, if not essential, at least most convenient.
3.- If the accessory gas pipe of the ceramic toilet bowl (Fig. 4) is above or above the water level of the siphon trap or outside it, the latter ceases to act as a check valve for the gas pipe (15).
Here it will be necessary to add a check valve (18) and a double-span rear connection sleeve (20). This third model is thus composed of a secondary route in the toilet bowl (15) and another one in the rear connection sleeve (20). This continuous two-way toilet configures a double pathway that runs along the entire route, from the upper edge of the toilet bowl to the discharge.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

We present three toilet models based on the two-way concept for the simultaneous elimination of faecal gases during defecation. The splitting of the pathway can be in the toilet bowl (Fig. 3), in the rear connection sleeve (Fig. 2) with the discharge or in both (Fig. 4).
The splitting in the rear connection sleeve (Fig. 2) is a double eccentric or concentric rod-shaped parallel pipe (20): 90° elbow followed by a downward branch that connects to the discharge (7).
This new rear sleeve (20) has a double front connection to join to the siphon (12) and the pipe that provides the gases (11), and a single rear connection (13) that connects to the discharge (7).
The main pathway that leads to solid and liquid detritus is similar to that of any other conventional sleeve, with a length in the descending branch capable of housing a cohesive and efficient column of water that generates the suction necessary to empty the system.
The secondary pathway for the gases, eccentric or concentric, is parallel and independent with respect to the main one and releases the gas once it has passed beyond the latter.
The sleeve has in front a standard connection for the toilet bowl siphon (12) and another smaller one for the gas pipe (11). In the latter there is a one-way check valve (18) or in its absence a plug.
Both pathways have a single and common connection (13) with the discharge (7).
The splitting in the toilet bowl (Fig. 3) consists of a secondary pipe (14) and parallel to the main one that make up pan and siphon. This secondary pipe for gases opens, like the pan, in the upper part of the toilet bowl and ends in the upward branch of the first U of the siphon, below the level of the water trap. Here, the rest of the siphon and the rear connection sleeve are conventional. A micro-computer (17) briefly interrupts the flow of gases during the discharge to avoid mixing gases and liquids. This brief suspension in the suction is compensated by the own flushing of the siphon. When the water level reaches the minimum the suction system is reactivated.
The programmer needs sensors that tell it the point which the discharge is at. The tank gauger (4) can house one of these sensors.
The splitting of both sections (Fig. 4) is necessary when in front the secondary gas pipe (15) of the toilet bowl does not reach the siphon or is external to prevent reflux, a one-way valve (18) and a double rear sleeve (20) are added, which completes the splitting along the entire run.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1: Schematic representation of a conventional toilet. Three parts: water tank (1); toilet bowl or toilet itself (2); and rear connection sleeve (3). The tank or cistern houses a float or gauger filling system (4) and a conical discharge valve (5).
The toilet bowl (2) is a part, usually ceramic, composed of a concave receptacle or pan (6) and the upper three-quarters of the siphon.
The rear connection sleeve (3), usually synthetic, is a free rod-shaped part that provides the final 90° of the siphon and serves, with its downward branch, as a connection between the toilet bowl (2) and the discharge (7).
Figure 2: Toilet with double-span rear connection sleeve. The power group (8) is preferably located at the rear part of the seat, where the gases are captured. From here they are sent through an external hose (9) to the double-span sleeve (20) and from here to the discharge (7). These parts are joined by connections (10 and 11). The double sleeve joins in front to the siphon by means of a standard connection (12) and behind to the discharge by means of a single common connection (13) for gases, liquids and solids.
In summary, the new sleeve (20) is configured with a double span, concentric in this figure, and 3 connections: two forward ones forthe toilet bowl (12) and the gases (11), and a common one behind (13) with the discharge.
In the connection for gases (11) an anti-reflux valve (18) is placed or in its absence a plug. The power group (8) captures and drives the faecal gases from the seat to the discharge without affecting the siphon mechanism.
Figure 3: Toilet with double trap siphon where the water trap of the first elbow receives two pathways: that of the pan (6) with water and faeces, and that of the gases (14).
This is done in the upward branch of the first U, below its water level, which behaves for both as a check valve.
The power group (8) is located at the rear part of the seat and the rechargeable battery (16), the micro-computer (17) and an anti-reflux valve (18) can be seen. This group captures the gases from behind and below the seat and sends them to the second branch of the U below the water level.
From here they pass to the second part of the siphon and to the discharge (7). The microcomputer (17) controls the entire process
Figure 4: Continuous two-way toilet. The gas pathway (15) is outside the siphon trap, remaining in continuity with a two-way rear sleeve similar to that of Fig. 2 (20). An anti-reflux valve (18) is needed here.
Figure 5: Common example of horizontal arrangement of power group (8) with rechargeable battery (16), micro-computer (17), filter (19), motor (21) with blades (22), anti-reflux valve (18) and outlet connection (10).

Claims

DOUBLE SIPHON TRAP TOILET (Fig. 3) which has two parallel pathways: a conventional one for detritus and a secondary one (14) for gases, which joins in the upward branch of the first U of the siphon, just below the water level of the siphon trap. This level of water acts as a hydraulic seal that prevents the back-flow of sewage gases for both routes.
DOUBLE SIPHON TRAP TOILET (Fig. 3) which according to Claim 1 is connected to an electromechanical group (8) that sucks the gases from behind and below the seat and sends them to the rear part of the siphon trap just below its water level.
DOUBLE SIPHON TRAP TOILET (Fig. 3) which according to Claims 1, and 2 has a micro-computer (17) and sensors that indicate the moment which the discharge is at.
TOILET SEAT WITH TWO-WAY REAR SLEEVE (Fig. 2) in which the connection sleeve to the discharge (20) has a double span: a main one for solid and liquid stools and a secondary one for gases.
Two-way rear connection sleeve (Fig. 2) which according to Claim 4 has two connections in front: a main one forthe siphon (12) and a secondary one forthe gases (11). Behind, it has a single common connection (13) with which it joins to the discharge (7).
Two-way rear connection sleeve (Fig. 2) which according to Claims 4 and 5 maintains in its two pathways sufficient length for the formation of the cohesive and efficient water column.
Two-way rear connection sleeve (Fig. 2) which according to Claims 4, 5 and 6 houses in its connection for gases (11) a one-way check valve (18) or in its absence a plug.
TWO-WAY REAR CONNECTION SLEEVE (Fig. 4) which combines the two preceding models in the event that gas pipe in the toilet bowl (15) does not reach the siphon or is even outside it. Here the toilet (15) route must be completed with a two-way rear connection sleeve (20), with its corresponding one-way check valve (18).