AU698377B2

AU698377B2 - Cleanair - toilet seat

Info

Publication number: AU698377B2
Application number: AU42019/96A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Herbert Berger
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-02-01
Filing date: 1996-01-17
Publication date: 1998-10-29
Anticipated expiration: 2016-01-17
Also published as: AU4201996A

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Clean Air Toilet Seat The following is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: I C C C

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12 19Clllll I r 2 The invention relates to the venting of bathrooms and/or toilets, more specifically the item commonly referred to as the toilet, For most people defecation odours can be nauseating especially for other people. There have been many attempts to dispose of such odours, such as the most common of having a fan in the room in which the toilet is housed or indeed a fan unit attached to the toilet bowl itself which is then vented through the wall of the building, these proposals all had major disadvantages insomuch as the room first had to be filled with odours before they could have been exhausted, or as in the second case, where they had to have their own vent pipe installed which in hotels and high rise buildings was seldom possible. In all cases known to me after my patent search all ventilation systems had to be separately switched on. The cleanair toilet seat on the other hand vents odours into the sewer and the system is automatically switched on as soon as the toilet is used and is automatically turned off as soori as the toilet is no longer in use.

To assist in with the understanding of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show examples of the invention.

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C 4I V 4 Figure 1 shows a cleanair toilet seat with the vent tube and air pressure tube connected to the toilet seat.

Figure 2 shows an alternative embodiment to figure 1 with the vent tube and air pressure tube cast or moulded into the toilet bowl.

Figure 3 shows a front on view of a toilet with various switches which may be used to turn the S cleanair toilet seat on and off.

Figure 4 shows a side on view of the toilet of figure 3.

Figure 5 shows an alternative form of the venting duct prior to be clipped into position and the '25 toilet seat and cover in its most practical position for male urination.

Figure 6 shows the underside of the toilet seat of figure 5 with the clip-on clip-off duct in position.

Figure 7 shows the clip-on clip-off duct of figure 6 on its own.

Figure 8 shows the clip-on clip-off duct of figure 7 in a crosscut section.

30 Figure 9 illustrates an alternative embodiment with the vent suction unit elevated to the back of the seat.

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3 In one embodiment shown in figures 1 and 2, a plastic toilet seat has on its underside (or side between bowl and seat) two plastic tubes fitted. One is a hard plastic small diameter tube 3 containing a series of holes right around an entire semi-circle and being situated nearest the orifice 1 of the toilet seat, This tube 3 is called the vent tube. The other tube 2 is of somewhat larger softer plastic tube being twice the diameter of the vent tube and is also semi-circular.

This tube 2 is also mounted on the underside of the toilet seat but is situated in the centre and to the outside of the vent tube 3. The second tube 2 shall be known as the air pressure tube.

The vent tube 3 is connected at the base of the seat (nearest the hinges) with a small flexible section of tubing in equal diameter to the vent tube 3 for the purpose of facilitating raising and lowering the lid. This in turn is connected to a plastic tube 11, hereby called the waste tube.

This waste tube 11 leads to the inlet connection of a wet and dry suction motor 10, hereby called the vent suction unit which in turn has an exhaust tube 6 attached to it at the outlet. The exhaust tube 6 has either one or two (second optional) valve or valves 9 fitted hereby called non-return valves and is connected to the sewer vent by means of a small hole in the S-bend of the toilet.

A small length of plastic tubing 4 is connected to the main air pressure ;ube 2 at the bottom end of the seat near its hinges, this small tube being called the air pressure line 4. This air pressure line 4 in turn is conneited to an air pressure switch 5 which is mounted on the inside of the vent suction unit 10. A standard waterproof plastic electric cord 7 and three pin plug 8 provide the current required to drive the vent suction unit 10 when activated by the air pressure tube 2.

i* To install the clean air toilet seat simply replace the current seat with the new toilet seat by V' '25 swapping one for the other. It will bolt to most Western type toilet bowls without any alteration, Then drill a ;,mall hole into the top of the S-bend of the toilet Bowl, insert the waste tube then seal it. Plug in the vent suction unit and enjoy the clean air.

In use, the toilet seat when sat on over the toilet basin will partially squash the air pressure tube 30 2 thus closing an electric circuit enabling the electric vent suction unit 10 to draw unwanted t gas from the toilet bowl via the vent tube 3 and attached waste tube 11. Once passed through the vent suction unit 10 the gasses ae exhausted via one or two non-return valves 9 along an e ust tube 6 into the sewer vent.

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S oi An alternative embodiment shown in figure 2 is also activated by a person sitting on the toilet I seat; however, the exception being that the vent system is in the ceramic bowl rather than the A seat assembly, with vent tube comprising a perforated vent duct 14 cast or moulded into the ceramic toilet bowl, The vent tube may be of any kind of material such as plastic, copper or other such materials, or simply cast or moulded into the ceramic toilet bowl. Likewise the air pressure tube 13 does not have to be incorporated into the seat assembly as shown in figure 1, but it may be part of the toilet bowl itself. Alternatively the air pressure tube and the vent tube can be replaced by tube like casting within the seat itself.

Various alternatives exist for the switching system other than a seat or pressure-switch. In figure 3 is shown a photo electric (retro) or diffuse reflex sensor 14 which is capable of working at a number of currents and voltages from 10-240 volts AC or DC. Its beam sensor range is adjustable to meet the needs of the application, such as a long toilet pan installed a considerable distance from the wall or a short pan installed close to the wall. This sensor may be installed or simply attached to the either or any of the following: the wall or walls, the floor, the pan, the cistern or even the ceiling. I say wall or walls simply to illustrate that the sensor can be used in multiples such as one either side of the cistern or one on the cistern and one on the pan and so forth. This sensor can either be incorporated in any of the toilet suite components or walls or can be attached by the self adhesive method provided. This sensor further has the capacity to delay its function by an amount of time desired. This is for the purpose of a person simply walking past the pan thus breaking the sensors beam without the unit actually commencing operation, or in the exit delay mode for a person to vacate the sensor beam but for the unit to remain active for a short period of time thereafter. This sensor S conveys its message to a relay switch housed within the motor casing, thus facilitating the switching on and off of the motor which facilitates the evacuation of odours from the pan.

Figure 3 shows a number of alternative switching devices. There is a sensor 15 primarily installed in the cover lid of the toilet seat to fulfil the same or similar functions as the photo electric (retro) or diffuse reflex sensor 14 described for figure 3 except for the fact that the sensor 15 is an infrared or heat sensing sensor which relays its findings to the motor via a relay 3o or cut-out switch. Also illustrated is a mat 16 used as a pneumatic switch directly operating the pneumatic off and on switch of vent suction unit 10 in the same manner as the air pressure s line of figure 1, although here the switch is operated by the pressure of someone's feet on the I Ik? i fr mat rather than the weight of somebody sitting on the seat. Alternatively a manually operated on and off switch 17 is yet another method of activating the clean air toilet seat.

Figures 4 and 5 show the unique ability of this truly clean air toilet seat extracting urine odours from male users of all ages and statures from a standing position. With the seat in the upright or raised position odours may be removed from the room itself, particularly from near the toilet such as when the toilet is used by males standing up. Thus the complete retro or photo electric diffuse operated clean air toilet seat, by far the most practical as well as the most functional out of all the designs and the only one which truly functions as a clean air toilet seat extracting all odours including urine from persons standing, sitting, squatting or leaning and or if the user is tall, short, thick, thin, light or heavy, whether their feet touch the ground or not.

figures 5 to 8 show an alternative form of the venting duct 18 which may be clipped onto the seat. The duct is formed with a wall or part of a wall missing, as shown in cross-section in figure 8. When the venting duct is attached to the underside of the toilet seat the surface of the seat will form the missing wall or part of the wall. The purpose of the venting duct 18 being formed in this manner and being detachable is in order to be able to clean the inside of the venting duct.

Whilst a number of switches are possible to be employed with the clean air toilet seat only the photoelectric retro or diffuse reflex sensor is capable of making this seat into a truly automatic .i and indeed odour free toilet as all others have limitations and could only be used where special requirements warrant it. A seat or pressure switch of any kind needs weight or pressure for activation and since most women do not sit upon public 1 25 toilets it would represent a limitation, likewise the alternative manual switch is no good for alzheimers or preoccupied users. The mat could not function for children whose feet can not touch the floor and as for the infrared switch all users would have to remain in constant motion i of their upper bodies as otherwise the unit would cease to function. Hence the importance of the photoelectric retro switch and internal seat extraction combination.

a Ca In another embodiment shown in figure 9 the motor unit is elevated to the back of the seat and A it has become a drum roller fan with a sensor attached to either side of the fan unit. The eJA ours are still exhausted in the same manner as before via a vent tube or duct from the toilet

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Ul 6 bowl through the fan and into the S-bend thus still venting them into the sewer. However by elevating the fan unit to the back of the seat it is possible to shorten the waste tubes connected to both the inlet and outlet of the fan unit no matter whether the odours are drawn via a vent tube connected to the seat or connected to the ceramic bowl and the sensors are no longer separate.

It will be understood that in all the embodiments that air needs to allowed to move into the K bowl is the air in the bowl is removed when the seat is in a lowered position so that a person can sit on it, For some people using the toilet seat there may be sufficient space between there 1 o bodies and the toilet seat to allow air into the toilet bowl. Some people though will block most 6 of the opening in the toilet seat stopping air from moving into the bowl. This can lead to a vacuum being created in the toilet bowl which may cause a person to become stuck or even injured. To stop this there should be enough room between the toilet seat and the rim of the toilet bowl to allow natural ventilation of the bowl through this gap, .c S t I V*

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Claims

2. The toilet venting device of claim 1 whereby the activation means is electronic.
3. The toilet venting device of claim 2 whereby the electronic activation device is a retro or 1 5 diffuse photoelectric reflex sensor.
4. The toilet venting device of claims 2 or 3 whereby the electronic activation device delays the activation and deactivation of the vent suction unit.
5. The toilet venting device of any one of claims 1 to 4 whereby the vent duct is a perforated tube. I I "a vn 6. The toilet venting device of any one of claims 1 to 4 whereby the vent duct is cast or S moulded to be integral with the toilet seat.
7. The toilet venting device of any one of claims 1 to 4 whereby the venting duct is a perforated duct open on one side with the open side being sealed when the venting duct is attached to the toilet seat. 3 3 8. The toilet venting device of claim 7 whereby the venting duct is removably attached to the I 15 toilet seat. i i aciato an eciato ftevetscin nt 5 Th toletventng evie o an oneof lais 1to wheebytheven dut isa prfoate ;I_ i 0 1 V
9. The toilet venting device of any one of the preceding claims whereby the odours extracted are exhausted into the sewer line. The toilet venting device of claim 9 whereby the odours are exhausted to the sewer line via a hose attached to the S-bend of the toilet.
11. The toilet venting device of claim 10 whereby there is at least one non-return valve in the hose attached to the sewer line.
12. The toilet venting device of any one of the preceding claims whereby when the seat is in a lowered position there is sufficient space between the seat and the bowl to allow air into the toilet bowl to replace air removed from the toilet bowl when the odours are removed. '.44 4 4 I £4 I 4 II 4 "e 4 I I tI I C' 4 4 4 I ~1 j :I BERGER 1 September 1998 I i I j i-ti i I;: