US20090235445A1

US20090235445A1 - External urinal for portable toilets

Info

Publication number: US20090235445A1
Application number: US12/378,009
Authority: US
Inventors: Adam Goldstein
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-03-24
Filing date: 2009-02-10
Publication date: 2009-09-24
Also published as: WO2009120256A2; WO2009120256A3

Abstract

One embodiment of a basin mounted to an external wall of a base portable toilet. A drain pipe is attached to the basin and passes through a hole in the base portable toilet then attaches to a hole in the waste tank. Other embodiments are described and shown.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority benefit to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/070,481, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to toilets and sanitary facilities in general, and to non plumbed, toilet assemblies in particular.
2. Background
Portable toilet assemblies are commonly used at outdoor recreational events, parks, concerts, sporting events, and wherever toilets are needed in locations without proper plumbing. Other portable toilet designs have both a standard toilet and several have an additional urinal inside the housing of the portable toilet assembly. This allows both males and females to relieve themselves in a sanitary environment. Often however the number of people in need of these facilities greatly exceeds the number of facilities available at a given time causing people to wait uncomfortably in long lines or even relieve themselves in non sanitary environments.
Several types of portable urinals were designed to provide facilities for urination only. These designs create a single facility for urination but require the extra expense and set up time of an extra portable toilet assembly
What is needed is an embodiment that can increase the number of people whom can use a single portable toilet assembly at the same time with minimal extra expense.

SUMMARY

The external urinal embodiment of this invention comprises of a urine receiving basin mounting to the external wall of a base portable toilet and draining into the base portable toilet's waste tank.

DRAWINGS—FIGURES

In the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes.

FIG. 1A-B shows the external urinal attached to a single wall of a base portable toilet.

FIG. 2A-B shows the external urinal with a concave basin in the wall of a base portable toilet.

FIG. 3A-G shows various arrangements base portable toilets using multiple external urinals.

FIG. 4A-C shows various arrangements for privacy screens.

FIG. 5A details arrangement for basins.

FIG. 6A shows arrangement utilizing an external waste tank.

DRAWINGS—REFERENCE NUMERALS

20 Base portable toilet
22 Base portable toilet waste tank
24 Hole in base portable toilet external wall
26 Hole in base portable toilet waste tank
28 Basin
30 Drain pipe
34 Cap
36 Protection Screen
38 Cover
40 Mounting devices
42 Privacy screen
44 External waste tank
46 Privacy screen hinge

DETAILED DESCRIPTION—FIG A—FIRST EMBODIMENT

One embodiment of the external urinal is illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B (side angle views). The base portable toilet 20 includes a waste tank 22, toilet, and surrounding walls, floor, and ceiling. The external basin 28 is attached to an external wall of the base portable toilet 20 with mounting device(s) 40. A hole in the base portable toilet external wall 24 allows the drain pipe 30 to pass through the wall and then attach to the base portable toilet waste tank 22 at the hole in the portable toilet waste tank 26.
An optional protection screen 36 can be placed over the hole in the basin 28. An optional cap 34 can be placed over the hole in the basin 28 when not in use. An optional cover 38 can also be placed over the basin 28. An optional privacy screen 42 can also be attached to the base portable toilet 20 in several different size, shapes and positions.

OPERATION—FIG. 1A-B

The manner of attaching the external urinal may vary slightly depending on the size, shape, and construction of the base portable toilet 20 and the setup of the external urinal. A hole in the external wall 24 the same size as the outer dimension of the drain pipe 30 is drilled in the base portable. Another hole the same size is drilled in the base portable toilet waste tank 26. The external urinal is then attached to the external wall of the base portable toilet 20 with the mounting devices 40. The drain pipe 30 attaches to the basin 28 outlet and passes through the hole in the base portable toilet external wall 24. The other end of the drain pipe 30 is attached to the base portable toilet waste tank 22 at the hole in the portable toilet waste tank 26.
Optional privacy screens 42, protection screens 36, and cover 38 can also be utilized.
The manner of the using the external urinal is the same as using a standard urinal. The user will walk up to the external basin 28 and urinate into the basin. The urine will pass through the basin outlet into the drain pipe 30 and then deposit in the base portable toilet waste tank 22.

FIG. 2—ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 2A and 2B (side angle views) show the external basin 28 inserted into the wall of the base portable toilet 20. Instead of having the external basin 28 protruding from the wall, the wall is molded with a concave (could also be convex) external basin 28 formed into the wall itself. For existing base portable toilets 20 the external basin 28 could also be inserted into the external wall by cutting a hole 24 the size and shape of the basin. This molded basin 28 will include the hole in the base portable toilet external wall 24. The molded shape could include a ridge or cover around the upper edge of the basin 28 to prohibit precipitation from running down the wall of the base portable toilet 20 into the external basin 28. The drain pipe 30 will attach to the basin outlet and continue to the hole in the base portable toilet waste tank 26. The manner of attaching the drain pipe 30 would be the same as in FIG. 1. If the basin is molded into the portable toilet wall there would be no need to attach the basin to the base portable toilet wall with mounting devices 40. The manner of using this embodiment of the external urinal is identical to that of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A-G—ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 3A (side angle view) shows base portable toilets 20 set up side by side with space between them for one external urinal on the right or left side wall. An external urinal is attached to one side wall of each base portable toilet 20. Privacy screens 42 can be set up on either side of the external urinal area.
FIG. 3B (front view) shows base portable toilets 20 set up side by side with space between them for two external urinals, one on each side wall. This is the same design as FIG. 3A except urinals are place on both side walls of the base portable toilet 20. The first and last units may only have one external urinal.
FIG. 3C (back view) shows base portable toilets 20 set up side by side with no space between each unit. External urinals are attached to the back wall of each base portable toilet 20.
FIG. 3D (top view) shows base portable toilets 20 set up side by side with space between them for one or two external urinals and an external urinal attached to the back wall. This is a combination of the arrangements in FIGS. 3B and 3C.
FIG. 3E (top view) shows the base portable toilets 20 organized into a square (a rectangle or any polygonal shape would suffice) with no space between each unit. The base portable toilet's 20 door faces outward from the center of the square and on the back wall of the unit an external urinal is installed. A gap is left open in the square for users to enter the inside of the shape to use one of the external urinals. The corner units of base portable toilets 20 can be turned to maximize efficiency forming an octagon shape. Any size or type of polynomial could be used instead of a square, rectangle or octagon. This arrangement could also be used with spaces between the base portable toilets 20 for one or two external urinals to be placed on the side walls as well with a back wall privacy screen 42. For larger sized polynomials additional base portable toilets 20 with external urinals attached to all sides could be placed in the center of the polynomial as displayed in FIG. 3F (top angle view).
FIG. 3G (top angle view) shows four base portable toilets 20 set up with each units back corners touching the unit on each sides back corner. The arrangement creates a shape similar to a plus sign with a void in the middle. External urinals are then attached to the left and right side walls of the base portable toilet 20.

FIG. 4A-E ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 4A (side angle view) shows a privacy screen 42 attached to the front side wall of the base portable toilet 20.
FIG. 4B (front view) shows a privacy screen 42 hinged to the base wall of a base portable toilet 20. The optional privacy screen hinge 46 can be attached directly to the walls of the base portable toilet 20 or as pictured in the figure the hinge 46 can attach to a static privacy screen that is then attached to the base wall. Instead of having hinges on both sides, a single hinged privacy screen could be attached to just one side.
FIG. 4C (top view) shows an additional privacy screen 42 attached between two base portable toilets 20 back walls. This type of privacy screen 42 could be a solid material that attaches to both toilets, or could be a flexible material that attaches to one base toilet and rolls or folds out to attach onto the second base toilet.
A privacy screen 42 could also attach to an arced or straight pole that connects between the two top corners of the base portable toilet 20. The privacy screen 42 can either be made of a flexible material that slides along the pole similar to a shower curtain or a more rigid material could also be used in an accordion style. The privacy screen 42 could also be made of strips of material allowing users to walk through the screen and have it close behind them.
A privacy screen 42 could also attach to a pole attached to the upper corner or elsewhere on the base portable toilet 20 wall. The privacy screen then hangs down from this pole. This can be used in multiple locations to provide the desired level of privacy. The poles could be hinged so they can collapse for easier transportation.

FIG. 5A ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 5A shows a basin 28 attached to the base portable toilet 20 wall in a manner that allows the user to use the external urinal with their back facing the public area.
An optional cover 38 can be installed over the top portion of the basin 28. This cover 38 is to help prevent rain or other forms of precipitation from entering the external urinal. This cover could have a flat top or even molded to hold a drink cup.
Another shape for the basin 28 is designed to have flexible or hinged edges that can fold, allowing the basin to flatten against the wall of the base portable toilet 20. This would be beneficial for transportation, allowing the external urinal to stay attached to the base portable toilets 20 when they are placed on a truck or trailer with minimal space between each toilet.

FIG. 6A ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 6A shows an external waste tank 44 which is placed vertically under the external urinal. The basin 28 can be directly attached to the external waste tank 44 with the basin outlet opening into the external waste tank. The external waste tank 44 can be placed next to or attached to the base portable toilet 20.

ADVANTAGES

From the descriptions above, a number of advantages of some embodiments of the external urinal become evident:

- (a) By doubling, tripling, or quadrupling the number of users whom can use a single base portable toilet at one time the wait time to use a portable toilet will be greatly reduced. Users will have more time to enjoy and spend money at the location or event they are interested in without spending time in unpleasant lines.
- (b) The external urinal will be easily installed and easily detached from the external walls of base units for quick setup, tear down, and transportation. This will enable a single portable toilet to be used by multiple people with just slightly more time than it takes to set up an individual portable toilet. For new construction of base units it will also be possible to mold a concave (or convex) external urinal in the outside wall(s) of base units eliminating any extra set up.
- (c) The different ways to organize base portable toilets with external urinals can create the sense of a partitioned restroom facility providing the necessary amount of privacy without the time and cost of setting up rigid construction.

CONCLUSIONS, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

Accordingly, the reader will see that the external urinal of the various embodiments can be used to create extra capacity from a single base portable toilet helping to reduce lines for portable restrooms. Furthermore, the external urinal has the additional advantages that:

- it can be installed and removed from the base portable toilets without requiring the manufacturer to modify the base portable toilets current design;
- it contains few parts to connect and disconnect to allow quicker set-up and take down;
- it is small and light weight to allow more effective transportation; and
- it can be washed and sanitized more easily.

Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiment but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments. For example the external basin can have other shapes such as circular, oval, trapezoidal, triangular, concave, convex, collapsible, etc.; the external urinal can be connected to the base portable toilet in a variety of fashions such as rivets, key holes, bolts, adhesives, hooks, clasps, clamps, pins, velcro, latches, etc; the privacy screen(s) can have other shapes, sizes, materials, thickness, and connections; some parts may stay permanently attached to the base portable toilets other parts may be removed for transportation; the different parts may be made out of a variety of materials such as plastic, metal, vinyl, ceramic, fiberglass, or any type of composite, etc; the base portable toilets with attached external urinals can be arranged in a variety of patterns; the external urinals can be connected to any structure that has a waste tank, the external urinal can be independent when used with its own waste tank, etc.
Thus the scope of the embodiment should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.

Claims

1. A portable toilet comprising:

at least one wall defining an interior space, the wall having an interior side and an exterior side;

an internal receptacle for receiving waste within the interior space; and

an external receptacle for receiving waste on the exterior side of the at least one wall.

2. The portable toilet of claim 1, further comprising a waste storage tank.

3. The portable toilet of claim 1, wherein the at least one wall comprises a front wall having a door, a back wall opposite the front wall, and first and second side walls.

4. The portable toilet of claim 3, wherein the external receptacle is on the back wall.

5. The portable toilet of claim 3, wherein the external receptacle is on one of the side walls.

6. The portable toilet of claim 1, wherein the external receptacle is a urinal mounted to the exterior side of the at least one wall.

7. The portable toilet of claim 1, wherein the external receptacle is a recess formed in the exterior side of the at least one wall.

8. The portable toilet of claim 1, comprising at least two external receptacles on the exterior side of the at least one wall.

9. The portable toilet of claim 1, further comprising a privacy screen.

10. The portable toilet of claim 9, wherein the privacy screen is hinged.

11. The portable toilet of claim 1, wherein the external receptacle and the internal receptacle drain into a common waste storage tank.

11. The portable toilet of claim 1, wherein the external receptacle drains into an external waste storage tank and the internal receptacle drains into an internal waste storage tank.

12. The portable toilet of claim 1, in combination with at least one other portable toilet forming an array, the array defining a privacy area obscured from view, wherein the external receptacle is positioned in the privacy area.

13 A portable toilet apparatus comprising:

an enclosure formed of a front wall, a back wall, two side walls, a door, a roof and a floor, the enclosure bounding an interior space having an internal toilet therein;

a waste storage tank for collecting waste deposited in the interior toilet; and

an external urinal.

14. The portable toilet apparatus of claim 13, wherein the external urinal is on the back wall.

15. The portable toilet apparatus of claim 13, wherein the external urinal is on one of the side walls.

16. The portable toilet apparatus of claim 13, wherein the external urinal is a urinal mounted on the outside of one of the walls.

17. The portable toilet apparatus of claim 13, wherein the external urinal is a recess formed in one of the walls.

18. The portable toilet apparatus of claim 13, comprising at least two external urinals.

19. The portable toilet apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a privacy screen.

20. The portable toilet apparatus of claim 19, wherein the privacy screen is hinged.

21. The portable toilet apparatus of claim 13, wherein the external urinal drains into the waste storage tank.

22. The portable toilet apparatus of claim 13, wherein the external urinal drains into an external tank.

23. The portable toilet apparatus of claim 13, in combination with at least one other portable toilet forming an array, the array defining a privacy area obscured from view, wherein the external urinal is positioned in the privacy area.

24. A retrofit kit for adding an external urinal to a portable toilet, the retrofit kit comprising a receptacle for mounting to a wall of the portable toilet, at least one connector for attaching the receptacle to the wall of the portable toilet, and a conduit for draining the receptacle into a waste storage tank.