US20130298324A1

US20130298324A1 - Waterless Toilet System with Fece-Urine Separation, Odor and Vermin Seal, Thermal and Biological Disinfection, and Gas Ozonation

Info

Publication number: US20130298324A1
Application number: US13/467,020
Authority: US
Inventors: Peter A. Dreher
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-05-08
Filing date: 2012-05-08
Publication date: 2013-11-14

Abstract

A waterless toilet system with fece and urine separation, odor and vermin seal, thermal and biological disinfection, and gas ozonation includes a system of components. The feces and urine are kept separate by a ridge separating the urine bowl from the fece chute. The seat forms a temporary seal with the platform, and the lid forms a temporary seal with the seat when closed. The rest of the components are sealed to keep vermin outside and odors inside, with the exception of a gas vent hose with a screened opening. Biological disinfection is achieved with phage focused on human pathogens. Thermal disinfection of human pathogens is achieved by insulating the fece receptacle and containing metabolic heat. The air in the toilet is ozonated by electrical discharges from a hand operated device.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the field of sanitary equipment, and more particularly, waterless toilet systems that keep feces and urine separate. Our definition of ‘waterless toilet’ means that the toilet operates without the addition of external water i.e. the only water in the toilet is the water latent in the urine and feces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Two and a half billion people in the world in 2010 do not have toilets. They rely on open defecation and open urination and in some cases, they use open latrines. Small children exposed to the ubiquitous feces can get dysentery and die, in fact, 1.3 million do so each year. Mosquitoes, flies, bugs, birds, and rats feed on the open latrines and unburied feces, then spread the viruses and bacteria to people through bites, stings, and contact with the human food supply. Diseases worse than dysentery are spread this way, too, for example the deadly Cholera and Typhoid fever.
These poor people cannot afford toilets with plumbing, water, or chemical disinfectants. They have no electricity, piped water, or piped sewage disposal, and very little money. Even the waterless toilet of this invention is too expensive for these poor people and will require subsidies from aid agencies and charities. Most of these people live in dense, squatter, shanty suburbs of major cities. Though they will urinate on the ground inside or outside their wall-to-wall shanties, they often defecate in a bag and hurl it as far as they can (so called ‘flying toilets’). Where it lands is the problem. Though splattering on the roofs and walls of other shanties or on pathways is most common, occasionally it hits a pedestrian.
The goals of this Waterless Toilet System invention are several:

- 1. Prevent vermin from accessing the human feces and urine
- 2. Reduce bacteria and virus loading in the solid and liquid wastes
- 3. Reduce gas emissions and smell from the wastes
- 4. Use no external chemicals or electricity
- 5. Be ergonomic for adults and children
- 6. Be durable
- 7. Be very low cost

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is based on some assumptions.

- 1. Human feces contain typically 75% water.
- 2. Without the latent fece water, fece bacteria and viruses die or become dormant.
- 3. If the fece temperature rises above 104° F., the human disease causing bacteria (pathogens) die.
- 4. Human urine is sterile as it leaves the body, in most cases, and contains 1-10% urea.
- 5. Latent microorganisms in the human body urethra join the passing urine and subsequently convert most of that expelled urea to ammonia within 24 hours.
- 6. Ammonia is a powerful disinfectant that kills bacteria and viruses.

The invention is a waterless toilet that keeps urine and feces separate. The feces and urine are kept separate by a ridge separating the urine bowl from the fece chute. The waterless toilet of this invention has some additional important features. The first important feature is that the toilet system is sealed from the nearby environment when the lid is closed i.e when users are not defecating or urinating in it. This seal prevents vermin from entering the toilet system and spreading fece borne diseases. This seal prevents odorous gases from escaping the toilet system nearby. In summary, the invention is a waterless toilet that keeps feces separate from urine and is sealed against vermin ingress or egress and gas or odor release near the toilet when the lid is closed.
The toilet system seal is achieved several ways. Starting from the top, the Toilet Seat Lid, when closed, is temporarily sealed to the Toilet Seat by a gasket between the two. This gasket can be attached to the underside of the lid. The toilet seat lid is temporarily sealed between itself and the toilet seat.
The Toilet Seat (if moveable) is temporarily sealed between the Toilet Platform and Toilet Seat, when the seat is in the down position. The gasket can be attached to the seat (underside) or the toilet platform. Fundamentally, the toilet seat is temporarily sealed between the toilet platform and toilet seat. The gaskets for the seat and the lid can be made of rubber, foam rubber, fabric, polymeric or silicone solids or foam, etc.
The Impermeable Bag catching the feces is sealed to the toilet's Fece Chute by a clamp, tape, string, twist-ties, twine, or rubber band, etc, when in normal use. The clamp or band is removed when the bag is full. The full bag is removed from or pulled off the Fece Chute, and a new empty bag is mounted on the Fece Chute. The open end of the full bag is sealed by a zip-lock seal, twist-ties, tape, string, twine, rope, bands, Velcro, clamps, etc, or tying. The new bag is sealed to the Fece Chute by the clamp, tape, string, twist-ties, twine, or rubber band, etc. Fundamentally, the fece collection bag is temporarily sealed to the fece chute.
The Urine Bowl is temporarily sealed to the Urine Tank, which collects the urine, by a pipe or hose with appropriate friction or gasket fits, removable clamps, tape, string, twist-ties, twine, hose barbs, rubber seals, tape, or screw threads, etc. When the urine tank is full, the user opens the seal, lifts the urine bowl off the urine tank, and empties the tank. Basically, the urine receiving bowl or subsequent conduit are temporarily sealed to the urine collection tank.
When the user urinates, the urine flows down to the bottom of the Urination Bowl near the front of the toilet. The urine flows through the bottom hole to an attached pipe or hose that carries the urine to the Urine Tank. Every connection and component along this path is sealed to outside gases, liquids, and vermin. The connections are made with glue, adhesive tape, threaded fittings, friction or tight fittings, welding, caulk, plumbers putty, Teflon tape, etc.
The Fece Chute is sealed to the toilet platform by glue, welds, screws, bolts and nuts (with or without gaskets). Or the Fece Chute is integral to the toilet platform i.e. part of it.
When the user defecates, the feces fall through the Fece Chute to the bottom of the Fece Receptacle, preferably lined with a Fece Bag, or on top of the previous fece in the Fece Bag. If the feces do not fall directly to the Fece Bag, they will slide down the edge of the Fece Chute to the Fece Bag.
Because the bacteria will generate gases that might lift the Lid of the toilet, small hoses or pipes connected to the toilet system vent these gases from the toilet to the outdoors or a distance from the toilet. The distal ends of these hoses have mesh coverings or socks, whose edges are sealed to the hose. These mesh coverings keep out vermin e.g. bugs, fleas, flies, worms, mosquitoes, etc.
Two hoses aimed in opposite directions were chosen so that any wind would cause dry air to flow through the toilet chamber preferably the Fece Chute, and dry out the feces. The invention thereby de-waters the feces with evaporation and kills most of the bacteria and viruses in the feces. The surviving microorganisms are dormant for lack of water. The dead and dormant bacteria produce no smelly gas, hence the odor from the feces is reduced. Fundamentally, one or more conduits vent the gases inside the toilet to the outdoors or other distant locations. And, a mesh on the distal end of the conduits prevents the ingress of vermin.
The second important feature of our waterless toilet system invention is that the Fece Receptacle is thermally insulated and may have a solar heater. When fece bacteria eat sugars and proteins in feces, they generate metabolic heat. If that heat is prevented from escaping the fece receptacle, the temperature of the feces inside will rise. The temperature could rise above 104° F. and kill the human pathogens. The present invention prevents the heat from escaping the Fece Receptacle by thermally insulating the Fece Receptacle, thereby causing the temperature to rise inside above 104° F. and kill the pathogens in the feces. Fundamentally, the invention is a waterless toilet that keeps feces separate from urine and thermally insulates the fece receptacle.
The preferred insulation material for the Fece Receptacle is foamed polymer. It is lightweight, inexpensive, and appropriate to the temperature range. A thermal radiation reflecting material would keep the radiant heat inside the Fece Receptacle as well. The Fece Bag inside the Fece Receptacle is also insulated from the Fece Receptacle by an air gap. The top of the air gap is blocked from mixing with the exterior air, thereby reducing natural convection cooling and keeping the Fece Bag hot. In the preferred embodiment, the fece receptacle is thermally insulated by a foamed material and or a thermal radiation shield and or an air gap. And for the sake of fast, clean, and easy transporting, the fece receptacle is lined on the inside by a removable bag.
The solar heated Fece Receptacle option has two parameters: a) Solar Window type, and b) reflector-concentrator. The Solar Window type option refers to a window on the Fece Receptacle, most likely on the back side facing an exterior wall with an opening or window to the sun. The Solar Window on the Fece Receptacle is airtight and can have various transparencies to sunlight. It can range from sun wavelength, transparent glass or plastic to optically opaque material that absorbs the sun's radiation and heats up i.e. its temperature rises when the sun shines on it. The reflector-concentrator parameter is either some type of mirror or lens that aims additional light into the Solar Window. Fundamentally, the fece receptacle has a solar absorber or solar window. The invention also includes a solar reflector-concentrator or lens which directs additional sunlight onto the solar absorber or solar window.
The third important feature of the present invention is the use of phage, in particular bacteriophage, to kill and reduce human pathogenic (disease causing) organisms in particular bacteria in the feces in the toilet. These phages are specific to human pathogens, in particular bacteria like Vibrio (Cholera), Typhus (Typhoid Fever), Shigella, Clostridium, Salmonella, E. Coli, Bilharzia, etc. The invention is basically a waterless toilet that uses phage to kill micro-organisms in the feces. These phage can kill bacteria, protozoa, helminthes, and fungi that are toxic to humans or can decompose the combustible organic components of the feces, examples being E. Coli, Shigella, Salmonella, Vibrio (Cholera), Typhus, Clostridium, Bilharzias, etc.
These phages are more motile and effective in liquids than solids, which is good because the pathogens cause diarrhea. The phages are spread inside the toilet predominantly in the Fece Chute' and Urine Bowl at the factory. These phages survive dryness and dormancy. The phages are spread inside the Fece Bags at the factory, too.
The fourth important feature of the present invention is the Ozonator, which reduces odors inside the toilet. An Ozonator is any device that makes ozone in the air inside the toilet by making an electric arc in the air inside the toilet. The arc converts the O₂molecules into the highly reactive O₃radicals, which burn up the odorous gases in the toilet. Basically, the invention is a waterless toilet that uses an ozonator to deodorize the gases inside the toilet.
The Ozonator can be mounted on the Fece Chute or Urine Bowl near the top because most odors rise. The preferable embodiment is a hand operated Ozonator e.g. finger push or hand crank. These Ozonators typically impact a piezo-electric crystal that generates a high voltage which causes an electric arc. The user would operate the Ozonator before opening the Lid of the toilet, during defecation or urination, and after closing the Lid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the waterless toilet system according to the present invention with the seat lid in the up position.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the waterless toilet system according to the present invention with the seat lid in the up position.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the side of the waterless toilet system according to the present invention with the seat lid in the up position.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the side of a waterless toilet system according to the present invention showing the solar heating option.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The waterless toilet system with fece and urine separation, odor and vermin seal, biological disinfection, and gas ozonation can be described as a system of components. Referring to FIG. 1, an isometric view, the waterless toilet system has a Platform 10 with a sitting surface or Seat 20 approximately 19 inches above the ground. The user sits on this Seat 20 to defecate or urinate. Platform 10 is supported by the Legs 30. The Seat 20 and Platform 10 have an opening through which the user defecates and urinates. This opening has a hinged Lid 40 with a Gasket Seal 41 that makes the opening airtight when the Lid 40 is closed. Attached to the bottom of the Platform 10, is a Fece Chute 50 and a Urine bowl 60. Under the Urine bowl 60 is a Urine Tank 61. Under the Fece Chute 50 is a Fece Receptacle 70.
Referring to FIG. 2, a rear view, the Fece Chute 50 has two Gas Vent Hoses 51 on opposite sides. Each Gas Vent Hose 51 has a Mesh 54 on its distal end to keep out vermin. Each Mesh 54 has a Mesh Seal 55 that seals it to the distal end of each Gas Vent Hose 51. The Ozonator 80 is shown attached to the Fece Chute 50.
Referring to FIG. 3, a side sectional view, the Urine Bowl 60 has attached to its bottom a tube, pipe, or Conduit 62. Conduit 62 conveys urine into the top of Urine Tank 61 through Tank Gasket Seal 63. Fece Receptacle 70 has a Fece Bag 71 inside it. Fece Bag 71 is sealed to the Fece Chute 50 by a Rubber Band 72 or any other removable sealing device.
Referring to FIG. 4, a side sectional view of the Fece Receptacle 70, the Fece Receptacle 70 has an optional Solar Window 73 that will put heat on Fece Bag 71. Solar Window 73 has optional Solar Mirrors 74 that will direct additional light to Solar Window 73. Some of Solar Mirrors 74 have Hinges 75 so they can be pivoted to a vertical position at night to aid in thermal insulation or for compactness in traveling.
While only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that various modifications and changes could be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention disclosed.

Claims

1. A waterless toilet that keeps feces separate from urine and is sealed against vermin ingress or egress and gas or odor release near the toilet when the lid is closed.

2. Said toilet of claim 1, wherein the toilet seat is temporarily sealed between the toilet platform and toilet seat.

3. Said toilet of claim 1, wherein the toilet seat lid is temporarily sealed between itself and the toilet seat.

4. Said toilet of claim 1, wherein the fece collection bag is temporarily sealed to the fece chute.

5. Said toilet of claim 1, wherein the urine receiving bowl or subsequent conduit are temporarily sealed to the urine collection tank.

6. Said toilet of claim 1, wherein one or more conduits vent the gases inside the toilet to the outdoors or other distant locations.

7. Said conduits of claim 6, wherein a mesh on the distal end of the conduits prevents the ingress of vermin.

8. A waterless toilet that keeps feces separate from urine and thermally insulates the fece receptacle.

9. Said toilet of claim 8, wherein the fece receptacle is thermally insulated by a foamed material and or a thermal radiation shield and or an air gap.

10. Said toilet of claim 8, wherein the fece receptacle is lined on the inside by a removable bag.

11. Said toilet of claim 8, wherein the fece receptacle has a solar absorber or solar window.

12. Said fece receptacle of claim 11, wherein a solar reflector-concentrator or lens directs additional sunlight onto the solar absorber or solar window.

13. A waterless toilet that uses phage to kill micro-organisms in the feces.

14. Said phage of claim 13, which can kill bacteria, protozoa, helminthes, and fungi that are toxic to humans or can decompose the combustible organic components of the feces, examples being E. Coli, Shigella, Salmonella, Vibrio (Cholera), Typhus, Clostridium, Bilharzias, etc.

15. A waterless toilet that uses an ozonator to deodorize the gases inside the toilet.