WO2006029417A1

WO2006029417A1 - Transportable toilet

Info

Publication number: WO2006029417A1
Application number: PCT/ZA2005/000071
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christian George Frederick Richter
Original assignee: Richter Christian George Frede
Priority date: 2004-09-08
Filing date: 2005-05-20
Publication date: 2006-03-16
Also published as: ZA200409806B

Abstract

A transportable toilet (1) is provided having a cabin composed of at least two sections (2, 3, 12, 13, 14) whereof an operatively lower section (2, 13) has associated therewith a toilet bowl and waste collection facility (11) and an operatively upper section (3, 12) has associated therewith a roof (4). The upper and lower sections are generally telescopically collapsible so that, in the collapsed condition, one of the sections is substantially received within, and is surrounded by, the other of the sections. An intermediate section (14) may optionally be provided that operatively forms a vertical bridge between an upper edge of the lower section and a lower edge of the upper sectíon. The transportable toilet cabin is preferably configured so as to be manufactured from a single full height unit followed by severing the walls of the enclosure to form said upper and lower sections and any intermediate section.

Description

TRANSPORTABLE TOILET

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a transportable, generally freestanding, toilet capable of being relatively easily moved from one location to another typically for temporary use at a particular location.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Transportable toilets, particularly the so-called chemical toilets, have become widespread in use wherever temporary toilet facilities are required, very often as additional toilet facilities over and above those permanently associated with a particular venue. Such additional facilities are typically required at both indoor and outdoor public gatherings of a wide variety, or during peak periods at recreational facilities, as well as on building sites for use during building operations.

Existing transportable toilets generally comprise a moulded or fabricated enclosure or cabin (often referred to in the USA as a cabana but hereinafter referred to as a cabin) having a height adapted to accommodate a standing person with a roof, typically integral with the enclosure, and an access door. A toilet bowl and associated waste collection facility are associated with the bottom of the toilet.

These existing transportable toilets are generally bulky and somewhat awkward to handle for transport and storage purposes, particularly for loading and unloading onto or from a vehicle. This present state of development of transportable toilets has apparently been arrived at in spite of numerous different proposals for collapsible toilets. In these proposals the waste collection facility is typically removable from the cabin that is collapsible by folding or dismantling. Typical of such proposals is that described in United States patent 4,380,836 in Which two opposite side walls of the cabin are hinged centrally so that the cabin can be collapsed, concertina fashion, from front to back after removal of the floor and roof. An alternative style of collapsible transportable toilet is exemplified by that described in United States patent 6,407,256 that relates to a knockdown portable toilet. Other proposals have employed flexible walls with folding or otherwise collapsible frames.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a transportable toilet that better lends itself to transport and storage than the presently available type of transportable toilet indicated above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention there is provided a transportable toilet having a cabin housing a toilet bowl and waste collection facility in a bottom region thereof, the transportable toilet being characterized in that the cabin is composed of at least two sections in the generally vertical direction whereof an operatively lower section has associated therewith the toilet bowl and waste collection facility and an operatively upper section has associated therewith a roof, and wherein the upper and lower sections are generally telescopically collapsible so that, in the collapsed condition, one of the sections is substantially received within, and surrounded by, the other of the sections. Further features of the invention provide for the lower section to be received within the upper section in the collapsed condition of the cabin; for there to be an optional intermediate section that forms a vertical bridge between an upper edge of the lower section and a lower edge of the upper section; and for the cross-sectional size of the sections to decrease incrementally from that of the upper section to that of the lower section such that, in plan view, the outer periphery of the next lower section falls inside of the inner periphery of the super-jacent section, this construction resulting in an arrangement that enables the cabin to be moulded as a single full height unit followed by severing the walls of the cabin to form said upper and lower sections and any optional any intermediate section.

Still further features of the invention provide for the upper edge of the lower section and any intermediate section to have an inwardly directed peripheral channel formed integral with the moulding, such channel serving to reinforce the cross-sectional shape of the enclosure and serving also as a support for supporting, in the erected condition of the enclosure, an immediately super- jacent section of the cabin, preferably by way of clips or spring-loaded bolts or catches; for the cross-sectional shape of the cabin to include generally vertically extending channel formations serving to impart rigidity to the cabin; and for each section to have its own door section hingediy attached thereto and that may also be releasably attached, one to the other, for use in the erected condition.

The invention also provides, as an intermediate product, a cabin having an upper section, a lower section, and optionally an intermediate section wherein the cross-sectional shape and dimensions of the sections decrease incrementally from that of the upper section to that of the lower section such that, in plan view, the outer periphery of the next lower section falls inside of the inner periphery of the immediately super-jacent section. The invention still further provides a method of producing a cabin for a transportable toilet as defined above wherein said intermediate product is severed at the or each position where one section is joined to another so that the sections can then be moved one into the other telescopically.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood two different embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:-

Figure 1 is a perspective illustration of one embodiment of intermediate cabin of the invention showing doors in position simply for illustrative purposes;

Figure 2 is a perspective illustration of the same embodiment of cabin in the operative condition (with doors removed for illustrative purposes) in which the upper and lower sections have been separated and overlapped somewhat;

Figure 3 is a perspective illustration of the lower section with the upper section and access door removed for illustrative purposes;

Figure 4 is a perspective illustration of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 2 in the collapsed condition;

Figure 5 is a schematic sectional side view of the toilet; Figure 6 is a schematic sectional plan view of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a detailed cross-section showing the overlap between the upper and lower sections of the embodiment illustrated in

Figures 2 to 6 and illustrating one catch that serves to hold the sections on the erected condition;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention in the erected condition; and,

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 8 but showing the second embodiment of the invention in the collapsed condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 7, a transportable toilet, generally indicated by numeral (1), has a cabin that is composed of a lower section (2) and an upper section (3). In this embodiment of the invention the cabin is made as a one-piece intermediate plastics moulding, typically by a rotation moulding process, or, alternatively, as a glass fibre reinforced synthetic resin moulding. In either event the moulding preferably has an integral roof (4) and a front opening (5) for door sections (6).

The one-piece moulding has formed integral therewith a peripheral channel (7) approximately halfway up its height and the cross-sectional shape and, in this location, the size of the two sections of the moulding decreases incrementally from that of the upper section to that of the lower section. The result of this is that, in plan view, the outer periphery of the lower section falls fully inside of the inner periphery of the upper section. The arrangement is such that, when the upper section (3) is severed from the lower section (2) at the upper edge (9) of the channel (see Figure 3) in order to separate the two sections, and any necessary short portion of the wall is removed at the lower edge of the upper section, the upper section can be slid generally telescopically downwards over the lower section to result in the collapsed condition of the cabin that is illustrated in Figure 4.

Clips, in this case in the form of spring-loaded locking bolts (20), are attached to the inside of the upper end of the lower section (see particularly Figure7) so as to be engagable in cooperating holes passing through the corner regions (22) of the two sections so that, in the erected condition, the bolts pass through aligned holes in both sections. The locking bolts are arranged in oppositely directed pairs one of which is at the front and the other of which is at the back, and the two locking bolts are interconnected by a flexible tension element (23) that can be pulled upon in order to release the two locking bolts simultaneously.

Collapsing of the enclosure from the erected condition to the collapsed condition thus commences, in practice, with the disengagement of the locking bolts by pulling on both tension elements to release the bolts from the upper section followed by moving the upper section downwards over the lower section generally telescopically.

It will be understood that the channel (7) serves to reinforce the enclosure in its transverse dimension and, in this embodiment of the invention, vertically extending channel formations (10) (see Figure 6) are also formed in the walls of the enclosure to reinforce the sections on the vertical direction.

In this embodiment of the invention each of the sections has its own door section (6) and the door sections can be clipped together in the erected condition, if so required, to enable the door to be used as a single unit. Alternatively, the separate door sections could be used very much like a stable door.

Alternatively, the door sections could be flexible, such as of flexible plastic sheet or a woven fabric or screen and, indeed, one flexible door section that operatively closes both sections may have its upper end attached to the upper section and be configured to be rolled up in its inoperative position.

It will be quite apparent to those skilled in the art that the lower section has associated with it the required toilet bowl (11) and an associated waste collection facility that may be a simple bucket or may be chemical treatment facility with the entire facility being confined, in plan view, to the outer periphery of the lower section of the cabin.

The transportable toilet described above can thus be very easily erected and collapsed telescopically, as indicated, and, this being so, transport and storage thereof is greatly facilitated. It will be understood that, with the upper section fitting over the lower section, the interior of the toilet is protected from rain both in the operative and inoperative conditions.

Numerous variations may be made to the embodiment of the invention described above without departing from the scope hereof. In particular, and as shown in Figures 8 and 9, the degree of collapse of the enclosure can be increased by making the upper section (12) and lower section (13) of lesser height and introducing an intermediate section (14) with the three sections collapsing generally telescopically in substantially the same way.

Thus, in such an instance, the intermediate section would collapse over the lower section so as to surround it on the outside thereof, and the upper section would collapse over the intermediate section so as to surround it on the outside thereof. Numerous variations may be made to the embodiments of the invention described above without departing from the scope hereof. In particular the method of manufacture can be varied widejy and the enclosure need not necessarily be made of moulded plastics or reinforced synthetic resin material. It could be fabricated, for example.

The invention therefore provides an extremely simple aηd highly effective transportable toilet having enhanced manoeuvrability, transportablity and storage attributes.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A transportable toilet (1) having a cabin housing a toilet bowl and waste collection facility (11) in a bottom region thereof, the transportable toilet being characterised in that the cabin is composed of at least two sections (2, 3, 12, 13, 14) in the generally vertical direction whereof an operatively lower section (2, 13) has associated therewith the toilet bowl and waste collection facility and an operatively upper section (3, 12 one) has associated therewith a roof (4), and wherein the upper and lower sections are generally telescopically collapsible so that, in the collapsed condition, one of the sections is substantially received within, and surrounded by, the other of the sections.

2. A transportable toilet as claimed in claim 1 in which the lower section is received within the upper section in the collapsed condition of the cabin.

3. A transportable toilet as claimed in either one of claims 1 or 2 in which an intermediate section (14) is included that forms a vertical bridge between an upper edge of the lower section and a lower edge of the upper section.

4. A transportable toilet as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the cross-sectional size of the sections decreases incrementally from that of the upper section to that of the lower section such that, in plan view, the outer periphery of the next lower section falls inside of the inner periphery of the super-jacent section.

5. A transportable toilet as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the upper edge of the lower section and any intermediate section has an inwardly directed peripheral channel (7) formed integral with the moulding, such channel serving to reinforce the cross- sectional shape of the enclosure and serving also as a support for supporting, in the erected condition of the enclosure, an immediately super-jacent section of the cabin preferably by way of clips or spring- loaded bolts or catches (20).

6. A transportable toilet as claimed in claim 5 in which spring-loaded bolts or catches are arranged in oppositely directed pairs thereof in the region of opposite corners of the cabin with the bolts or catches of each pair being connected by a flexible cord (23) that can be pulled to release the pair of catches simultaneously.

7. A transportable toilet as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the cross-sectional shape of the sections of the cabin includes generally vertically extending channel formations (10) serving to impart rigidity to the cabin.

8. A transportable toilet as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which each section has its own door section (6) hingedly attached thereto and that may optionally be releasably attachable, one to the other, for use in the erected condition.

9. An intermediate product in the form of a cabin having an upper section, a lower section, and optionally an intermediate section wherein the cross-sectional shape and dimensions of the sections decrease incrementally from that of the upper section to that of the lower section such that, in plan view, the outer periphery of the next lower section falls inside of the inner periphery of the immediately super-jacent section.

10. A method of producing a cabin for a transportable toilet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the intermediate product claimed in claim 9 is severed at the or each position where one section is joined to another so that the sections can then be moved one into the other telescopically.