Toilet and waste storage system

Claim 2

A toilet and waste storage system which comprises: a toilet bowl having a bottom outlet; a conduit mounted to communicate with said outlet to receive waste from said bowl; a valve mounted between said outlet and said conduit; means to close said valve to prevent communication between said outlet and said conduit; means to open said valve to provide said communication between said outlet and said conduit; a storage tank; means to transfer waste in said conduit to said tank, said transfer means being in communication with said conduit and said tank and being constructed to initiate its transfer function in response to the completion of the operation of said means to close said valve; and a valved conduit system communicating with said bowl to provide a predetermined amount of flush water to the bowl, said valved conduit system being constructed to be operated, to provide the flushing water, by the operation of said means to open said valve between said outlet and said conduit.

Claim 3

The system of claim 1 and further including: heater means mounted on said tank to evaporate water from human waste in said tank; level-sensing means mounted in said tank to detect a predetermined minimum level of waste in the tank; and means operatable by said level-sensing means to effectuate operation of said heater means only when the height of the waste in the tank is sufficient to be detected by said level-sensing means.

Claim 4

The system of claim 1 wherein said transfer means includes: a motor; switch means controlling the operation of said motor; and means initiated by the operation of said means to close said valve to operate said switch means so as to operate said motor.

Claim 5

The system of claim 3 wherein: said valve is constructed and mounted for movement in a horizontal plane between a first position at which it closes communication between said outlet and said conduit and a second position at which it opens communication between said outlet and said conduit; said means to open said valve includes: a lever mounted for pivotal movement intermediate its ends to provide two legs; a foot pedal mounted on one of said legs; and a link connected to the other leg and to said valve, whereby pivotal movement of said lever by depressing said foot pedal moves said valve from its first position to its second position; and said valved conduit means includes: a hollow cylindrical housing with an opening adjacent each end; a piston in said housing for movement within the housing between the openings to provide first and second chambers; a rotary four-way valve having: a housing with two pairs of first and second ports with the pairs being in planes normal to each other and with the ports of each pair being at the same plane but on opposite sides of the housing; and a rotor turnable 90* about its axis between first and second positions and having arcuate passageways at the same transverse plane, whereby at the first position of the rotor the first ports of the pairs communicate with each other and the second ports of the pairs communicate with each other, whereas at the second position of the rotor the first port of one pair communicates with the second port of the other pair and the second port of said one pair communicates with the first port of said other pair; a conduit to communicate said first port of said one pair with a source of pressurized flush water; a conduit communicating said second port of said one pair with said toilet bowl; a conduit communicating said first port of said other pair with one of said openings of said cylindrical housing containing said piston; a conduit communicating said second port of said other pair with the other opening of said housing containing said piston; link means connected to said rotor, to turn it between said first and second positions upon each operation of said link means, and operated by each movement of said other leg of said lever when siad foot pedal is depressed or raised; and spring means connected to said other leg of said lever to raise said foot pedal after removal of force depressing said pedal.

Claim 6

The system of claim 4 and further including: a second lever mounted for pivotal movement intermediate its ends to provide two legs; a second foot pedal mounted on one of said legs of said second lever; and spring means connected to said other leg of said second lever to raise said second foot pedal after removal of force depressing said second pedal, said link means being connected to said other leg of said second lever to opeate said link means for turning said rotor with each movement of said second lever and said first and second levers being mounted adjacent each other and constructed so that during depression of said first pedal it engages and moves with it said one leg mounting said second pedal to depress said second pedal and to operate said link means to turn said rotor, but depression of said second pedal provides no concomitant depression of said first pedal and thus no opening of said valve between said outlet of said bowl and said first-mentioned conduit, whereby said valved conduit system without depression of said first pedal but by depression of said second pedal can function to provide the predetermined amount of flush water to the bowl without opening said valve between said bottom outlet of said bowl and said first-mentioned conduit.

Claim 7

The system of claim 5 and further including: first level-sensing means mounted in said tank to detect a predetermined minimum level of waste in the tank; and means operatable by said first level-sensing means to effectuate operation of said heater means only when the height of the waste in the tank is sufficient to be detected by said first level-sensing means.

Claim 8

The system of claim 6 wherein: said storage tank has an opening to provide said communication with said transfer means and that opening is at an elevation above the exit end of said first-mentioned conduit; said transfer means includes: macerator pump means operated by said motor; and conduit means connecting said pump means to said tank at its said opening and including a check valve to prevent flow of fluid toward said pump means from the direction of said tank; said means initiated by the operation of said means to close said valve to operate said switch means includes a rod connected to said link means for movement therwith to engage said switch means when said first pedal is raised; and said switch means when engaged by said rod permits operation of said motor for a predetermined period of time.

Claim 9

The system of claim 7 and further including: second level-sensing means mounted in said tank at a level above said first level-sensing means to detect a predeteRmined level of waste in the tank; and means operatable by said second level-sesning means to stop operation of said transfer means when the amount of waste in said tank reaches a predetermined maximum volume.

Claim 10

The system of claim 8 wherein said heater means includes separate heaters mounted at different elevations in said tank and said system further includes: separate temperature-sensing switch means associated with each of said separate heaters and mounted on said tank at said different elevations to detect excessive temperature at each elevation that occurs when the waste due to water removal substantially reduces rate of heat transfer from the heater; and separate circuit means for each heater and said associated temperature-sensing switch means to shut off that heater upon detection of excessive temperature adjacent to it.

Claim 11

The system of claim 8 and further including: a seocnd combination of the components specified except for said storage tank, said heater means, both of said level-sensing means and both of said means operatable by said level-sensing means, whereby a second transfer means receives waste from the second bowl and transfers it to said tank by operation of a second motor; and circuits controlling operation of each motor, each circuit containing a contact that is opened with and during operation of the other motor so that both transfer means can not operate at the same time.

Claim 12

The system of claim 1 wherein: said storage tank is below said conduit and said valve to provide gravity flow of waste from said bowl to said transfer means when said valve is open and gravity flow fo waste from said transfer means to said tank when said transfer means is operated; and said transfer means includes: a motor-operated valve between the exit end of said conduit and said tank; a second conduit communicating said motor-operated valve with said tank; a motor to operate said motor-operated valve; and means to provide power to said motor to open said motor-operated valve only after said means to close said valve between said first-mentioned conduit and said bowl has operated.

Claim 13

The system of claim 11 wherein: said valve between said bowl and said first-mentioned conduit is constructed and mounted for movement in a horizontal plane between a first position at which it closes communication between said outlet and said first-mentioned conduit and a second position at which it opens communication between said outlet and said first-mentioned conduit; said means to open said valve between said bowl and said first-mentioned conduit includes: a lever mounted for pivotal movement intermediate its ends to provide two legs; a foot pedal mounted on one of said legs; and a link connected to the other leg and to said first-mentioned valve, whereby pivotal movement of said lever by depressing said foot pedal moves said first-mentioned valve from its first position to its second position; and said valved conduit means includes: a hollow cylindrical housing with an opening adjacent each end; a piston in said housing for movement within the housing between the openings to provide first and second chambers; a rotary four-way valve having: a housing with two pairs of first and second ports with the pairs being in planes normal to each other and with the ports of each pair being at the same plane but on opposite sides of the housing; and a rotor turnable 90* about its axis between first and second positions and having arcuate passageways at the same transverse plane, whereby at the first position of the rotor the first ports of the pairs communicate with each other and the second ports of the pairs communicate with each other, whereas at the second position of the rotor the first port of one pair communicates with the second port of the other pair and the second port of said one pair communicates with the first port of said other pair; a conduit to communicaTe said first port of said one pair with a source of pressurized flush water; a conduit communicating said second port of said one pair with said toilet bowl; a conduit communicating said first port of said other pair with one of said openings of said cylindrical housing containing said piston; a conduit communicating said second port of said other pair with the other opening of said housing containing said piston; link means connected to said rotor, to turn it between said first and second positions upon each operation of said link means, and operated by each movement of said other leg of said lever when said foot pedal is depressed or raised; and spring means connected to said other leg of said lever to raise said foot pedal after removal of force depressing said pedal.

Claim 14

The system of claim 12 and further including: a second lever mounted for pivotal movement intermediate its ends to provide two legs; a second foot pedal mounted on one of said legs of said second lever; and spring means connected to said other leg of said second lever to raise said second foot pedal after removal of force depressing said second pedal, said link means being connected to said other leg of said second lever to operate said link means for turning said rotor with each movement of said second lever and said first and second levers being mounted adjacent each other and constructed so that during depression of said first pedal it engages and moves with it said one leg mounting said second pedal to depress said second pedal and to operate said link means to turn said rotor, but depression of said second pedal provides no concomitant depression of said first pedal and thus no opening of said valve between said outlet of said bowl and said first-mentioned conduit, whereby said valved conduit system without depression of said first pedal but by depression of said second pedal can function to provide the predetermined amount of flush water to the bowl without opening said valve between said bottom outlet of said bowl and said first-mentioned conduit.

Claim 15

The system of claim 13 and further including: first level-sensing means mounted in said tank to detect a predetermined minimum level of waste in the tank; means operatable by said first level-sensing means to effectuate operation of said heater means only when the height of the waste in the tank is sufficient to be detected by said first level-sensing means; said means to provide power to said motor that operates said motor-operated valve includes: switch means controlling the operation of said motor for said motor-operated valve; and a rod connected to said link means for movement therewith to engage said switch means when said first pedal is raised, so that said switch means when engaged by said rod permits operation of said motor for said motor-operated valve for a predetermined period of time ; second level-sensing means mounted in said tank at a level above said first level-sensing means to detect a predetermined level of waste in the tank; and means operatable by said second level-sensing means to stop operation of said transfer means when the amount of waste in said tank reaches a predetermined maximum volume.

Claim 16

The system of claim 1 wherein: said transfer means includes: a motor; switch means controlling the operation of said motor; and means initiated by the operation of said means to close said valve to operate said switch means so as to operate said motor; said valve is constructed and mounted for movement in a horizontal plane between a first position at which it closes communication between said outlet and said conduit and a second position at which it opens communication between said outlet and said conduit; said means to open said valve includes: a lever mounted for pivotal movement intermediate its ends to provide two legs; a foot pedal mounted on one of said legs; and a link connected to the other lEg and to said valve, whereby pivotal movement of said lever by depressing said foot pedal moves said valve from its first position to its second position; and said valved conduit means includes: a hollow cylindrical housing with an opening adjacent each end; a piston in said housing for movement within the housing between the openings to provide first and second chambers; a rotary four-way valve having: a housing with two pairs of first and second ports with the pairs being in planes normal to each other and with the ports of each pair being at the same plane but on opposite sides of the housing; and a rotor turnable 90* about its axis between first and second positions and having arcuate passage-ways at the same transverse plane, whereby at the first position of the rotor the first ports of the pairs communicate with each other and the second ports of the pairs communicate with each other, whereas at the second position of the rotor the first port of one pair communicates with the second port of the other pair and the second port of said one pair communicates with the first port of said other pair; a conduit to communicate said first port of said one pair with a source of pressurized flush water; a conduit communicating said second port of said one pair with said toilet bowl; a conduit communicating said first port of said other pair with one of said openings of said cylindrical housing containing said piston; a conduit communicating said second port of said other pair with the other opening of said housing containing said piston; link means connected to said rotor, to turn it between said first and second positions upon each operation of said link means, and operated by each movement of said other leg of said lever when said foot pedal is depressed or raised; and spring means connected to said other leg of said lever to raise said foot pedal after removal of force depressing said pedal, said system further including an assembly communicating with said bowl to provide an aqueous concentrate of disinfectant to the bowl during movement of said piston in one of its two directions of movement, said assembly comprising: an end assembly mounted on said housing to close one end of said housing, said end assembly being hollow to provide a third smaller chamber and including a diaphragm separating said third smaller chamber from the adjacent chamber in said housing and said end assembly further including two ports; a vessel for containing a supply of an aqueous concentrate of disinfectant; a second valved conduit communicating one of said ports of said housing of said end assembly with said vessel and including a check valve; and a third valved conduit communicating the other of said ports of said housing of said end assembly with said bowl and including a check valve, whereby the build-up of water pressure in the chamber of th housing between said piston and said diaphragm bows the diaphragm to force aqueous concentrate through said third valved conduit to said bowl and upon communication of that chamber with the bowl and movement of said piston toward said diaphragm said aqueous concentrate flows from said second valved conduit into said third chamber.

Claim 17

The system of claim 15 and further including: a second lever mounted for pivotal movement intermediate its ends to provide two legs; a second foot pedal mounted on one of said legs of said second lever; spring means connected to said other leg of said second lever to raise said second foot pedal after removal of force depressing said second pedal, said link means being connected to said other leg of said second lever to operate said link means for turning said rotor with each movement of said second lever and said first and second levers being mounted adjacent each other and constructed so that during depression of said first pedal it engages and moves with it said one leg mounting said second pedal to dePress said second pedal and to operate said link means to turn said rotor, but depression of said second pedal provides no concomitant depression of said first pedal and thus no opening of said valve between said outlet of said bowl and said first-mentioned conduit, whereby said valved conduit system without depression of said first pedal but by depression of said second pedal can function to provide the predetermined amount of flush water to the bowl without opening said valve between said bottom outlet of said bowl and said first-mentioned conduit; first level-sensing means mounted in said tank to detect a predetermined minimum level of waste in the tank; and means operatable by said first level-sensing means to effectuate operation of said heater means only when the height of the waste in the tank is sufficient to be detected by said first level-sensing means, and wherein: said storage tank has an opening to provide said communication with said transfer means and that opening is at an elevation above the exit end of said first-mentioned conduit; said transfer means includes: macerator pump means operated by said motor; and conduit means connecting said pump means to said tank at its said opening and including a check valve to prevent flow of fluid toward said pump means from the direction of said tank; said means initiated by the operation of said means to close said valve to operate said switch means includes a rod connected to said link means for movement therewith to engage said switch means when said first pedal is raised; and said switch means when engaged by said rod permits operation of said motor for a predetermined period of time.

Claim 18

A toilet and human waste storage system which comprises: a toilet bowl having a bottom outlet; a conduit mounted to communicate with said outlet to receive waste from said bowl; a valve mounted between said outlet and said conduit; means to close said valve to prevent communication between said outlet and said conduit; means to open said valve to provide said communication between said outlet and said conduit; a storage tank connected to said conduit; and a valved conduit system communicating with said bowl to provide a predetermined amount of flush water to the bowl, said valved conduit system being constructed to be operated, to provide the flushing water, by the operation of said means to open said valve between said outlet and said conduit, said valved conduit means includes: a hollow cylindrical housing with an opening adjacent each end; a piston in said housing for movement within the housing between the openings to provide first and second chambers; a rotary four-way valve having: a housing with two pairs of first and second ports with the pairs being in planes normal to each other and with the ports of each pair being at the same plane but on opposite sides of the housing; and a rotor turnable 90* about its axis between first and second positions and having arcuate passageways at the same transverse plane, whereby at the first position of the rotor the first ports of the pairs communicate with each other and the second ports of the pairs communicate with each other, whereas at the second position of the rotor the first port of one pair communicates with the second port of the other pair and the second port of said one pair communicates with the first port of said other pair; a conduit to communicate said first port of said one pair with a source of pressurized flush water; a conduit communicating said second port of said one pair with said toilet bowl; a conduit communicating said first port of said other pair with one of said openings of said cylindrical housing containing said piston; a conduit communicating said second port of said other pair with the other opening of said housing containing said piston; link means connected to said rotor, to turn it between said first and second Positions upon each operation of said link means, and operated by each movement of said other leg of said lever when said foot pedal is depressed or raised; and spring means connected to said other leg of said lever to raise said foot pedal after removal of force depressing said pedal.

Claim 19

A toilet and human waste storage system which comprises: a toilet bowl having a bottom outlet; a conduit mounted to communicate with said outlet to receive waste from said bowl; a valve mounted between said outlet and said conduit; means to close said valve to prevent communication between said outlet and said conduit; means to open said valve to provide said communication between said outlet and said conduit; a storage tank connected to said conduit; and a valved conduit system communicating with said bowl to provide a predetermined amount of flush water to the bowl, said valved conduit system being constructed to be operated, to provide the flushing water, by the operation of said means to open said valve between said outlet and said conduit, said valved conduit means includes: a hollow cylindrical housing with an opening adjacent each end; a piston in said housing for movement within the housing between the openings to provide first and second chambers; a rotary four-way valve having: a housing with two pairs of first and second ports with the pairs being in planes normal to each other and with the ports of each pair being at the same plane but on opposite sides of the housing; and a rotor turnable 90* about its axis between first and second positions and having arcuate passageways at the same transverse plane, whereby at the first position of the rotor the first ports of the pairs communicate with each other and the second ports of the pairs communicate with each other, whereas at the second position of the rotor the first port of one pair communicates with the second port of the other pair and the second port of said one pair communicates with the first port of said other pair; a conduit to communicate said first port of said one pair with a source of pressurized flush water; a conduit communicating said second port of said one pair with said toilet bowl; a conduit communicating said first port of said other pair with one of said openings of said cylindrical housing containing said piston; a conduit communicating said second port of said other pair with the other opening of said housing containing said piston; link means connected to said rotor, to turn it between said first and second Positions upon each operation of said link means, and operated by each movement of said other leg of said lever when said foot pedal is depressed or raised; and spring means connected to said other leg of said lever to raise said foot pedal after removal of force depressing said pedal.

Claim 20

The system of claim 17 wherein: said valve is constructed and mounted for movement in a horizontal plane between a first position at which it closes communication between said outlet and said conduit and a second position at which it opens communication between said outlet and said conduit; and said means to open said valve includes: a lever mounted for pivotal movement intermediate its ends to provide two legs; a foot pedal mounted on one of said legs; and a link connected to the other leg and to said valve, whereby pivotal movement of said lever by depressing said foot pedal moves said valve from its first position to its second position.

Claim 21

The system of claim 18 and further including an assembly communicating with said bowl to provide an aqueous concentrate of disinfectant to the bowl during movement of said piston in one of its two directions of movement, said assembly comprising: an end assembly mounted on said housing to close one end of said housing, said end assembly being hollow to provide a third smaller chamber and including a diaphragm separating said third smaller chamber from the adjacent chamber in said housing and said end assembly further including two ports; a vessel for containing a supply of an aqueous concentrate of disinfectant; a second valved conduit communicating one of said ports of said housing of said end assembly with said vessel and including a check valve; and a third valved conduit communicating the other of said ports of said housing of said end assembly with said bowl and including a check valve, whereby the build-up of water pressure in the chamber of the housing between said piston and said diaphragm bows the diaphragm to force aqueous concentrate through said third valved conduit to said bowl and upon communication of that chamber with the bowl and movement of said piston toward said diaphragm said aqueous concentrate flows from said second valved conduit into said third chamber.

Claim 22

The system of claim 19 and further including: a seocnd lever mounted for pivotal movement intermediate its ends to provide two legs; a seocnd foot pedal mounted on one of said legs of said second lever; and spring means connected to said other leg of said second lever to raise said second foot pedal after removal of force depressing said second pedal, said link means being connected to said other leg of said second lever to operate said link means for turning said rotor with each movement of said second lever and said first and second levers being mounted adjacent each other and constructed so that during depression of said first pedal it engages and moves with it said one leg mounting said second pedal to depress said second pedal and to operate said link means to turn said rotor, but depression of said second pedal provides no concomitant depression of said first pedal and thus no opening of said valve between said outlet of said bowl and said first-mentioned conduit, whereby said valved conduit system without depression of said first pedal but by depression of said second pedal can function to provide the predetermined amount of flush water to the bowl without opening said valve between said bottom outlet of said bowl and said first-mentioned conduit.

Claim 23

The system of claim 1 wherein said valve conduit system is also constructed to be operated, to provide the flushing water, by the operation of said means to close said valve between said outlet and said conduit.