Portable Toilet

Abstract

A portable toilet apparatus having a rotatable bowl, or platform, for supporting the lower end of a flexible, leak-proof bag of material, such as plastic, the upper end of the bag being fixed and aligned with an opening in the top wall of a housing, there being a toilet seat hinged to the top wall. Within the bowl are a plurality of fins for positive engagement with the closed lower end of the bag. A spring is operably connected with the bowl to rotate it in one direction, and there is a manually actuatable lever for rotating the bowl in the opposite direction and, at the same time, put the spring under tension for rotating the bowl when the lever is released. Rotation of the bowl in one direction twists an intermediate part of the bag to seal the bag, and rotation of the bowl in the opposite direction untwists and opens the bag. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates, generally, to portable toilets and relates, more particularly, to devices of this type utilizing a disposable bag. 2. Description of the Prior Art There are various prior art toilet devices that use disposable bags. However, many of these devices are complicated and may be awkward to use. Further, removal of the bag without having it opened up is difficult. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a portable toilet with a disposable bag, and comprises a housing having a top wall with a relatively large opening therein and a seat hinged to said top wall, the opening in the seat being aligned with the opening in the top wall. There is a bowl disposed on a vertical pivot, the bowl having pins therein for engagement with the closed lower end of a disposable bag suspended within the housing and having the upper end releasably secured to studs, or pins, in the top wall of the housing. There is a spring for rotating the bowl in one direction and a manually operated lever for actuating the bowl in the opposite direction, said level having its lower end operably connected to the bowl. The upper end of the lever extends through a slot in the top wall and one end of the slot serves to limit movement of the lever in one direction, the lever being releasably held at the opposite end of the notch by a latch. The arrangement is such that the bag is open for use when the lever is at one position and is twisted intermediate its ends to seal same when not being used and the lever is at the opposite position. There is a door at the front of the housing to provide ready access to the interior thereof, so that the bag may be readily removed in this twisted condition and the bag permanently sealed by means of a cord, rubber band, or the like. OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide a portable toilet having a removable bag of plastic, or some type of biodegradable material. It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus of this character having mechanical means for inducing a twist in the suspended bag intermediate the ends of said bag, to seal same. It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus of this character having a bowl rotatably mounted on a vertical axis and having vanes, or fins, projecting upwardly from the bottom of said bowl, so as to make positive contact with the bottom of the bag during the twisting sequence. It is still another object of the invention to provide apparatus of this character having spring means for rotating the bowl in one direction and manually operated means for rotating said bowl in the opposite direction. The manual means for actuating the bowl in one direction comprises a lever pivoted intermediate its ends and having one end operably connected with the bowl for rotating said bowl in opposition to the action of the spring. A still further object of the invention is to provide means for releasably holding the lever in one position, as when the bag is sealed by the twisting of a portion thereof intermediate its ends. The characteristics and advantages of the invention are further sufficiently referred to in connection with the accompanying drawings, which represent one embodiment. After considering this example, skilled persons will understand that variations may be made without departing from the principles disclosed, and I contemplate the employment of any structures, arrangements or modes of operation that are properly within the scope of the appended claims.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus embodying the present invention with a portion of the door broken away to show the interior of the housing;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4--4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the latching means for the manually operable lever; and

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the top wall of the housing with the bag holding pegs adjacent the opening in said top wall.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, there is shown a housing, or cabinet, indicated generally at 10, having a bottom 12, side walls 14 and 16, respectively, back or rear wall 18, and top wall 20, the latter having a large opening 22 therein. There is a door 24 at the front of the housing carried by hinges 28 having vertical pins. The door 24 closes a large opening 30 in the front wall 32 of the housing. The opening 30 of the front wall 32 provides access to the interior of the housing when the door 24 is opened. Any suitable, well-known type of releasable latch may be used to releasably hold the door 24 in the closed position.

Within the housing 10 there is an upwardly opening bowl 36 having an axially arranged, depending hub 38, said hub being secured to the bottom of the bowl by any suitable means. The hub 38 has an axial bore extending upwardly from the lower end thereof, the bore being closed at its upper end and receiving a pivot pin 41 secured to the bottom 12 of the housing and aligned with the opening 22 in the top 20 of the housing.

There is a spiral spring 40 having its inner end secured to the hub 38 adjacent the lower end thereof, the opposite end of said spring being secured to a pin 42 set in the bottom wall 12 in spaced relation to the hub 38.

There is means for manually effecting rotation of the bowl, said means comprising the lever 44 pivotally secured intermediate its ends to one of the side walls, as side wall 14, for example, by means of a pivot pin 46 which is secured to said side wall 14. The upper end of lever 44 extends upwardly through a slot 48 in the top 20 and is adapted to slidably move through said slot. The lower end of the lever 44 is connected to the hub 38 by means of a flexible member, or element, such as a cord 50, or the like. One end of the cord 50 is secured to the hub 38 by any suitable, well-known means. Cord, or cable, 50 is passed about a pulley, or sheave, 52 pivotally mounted to a block 54 by means of a pin 56. Block 54 is secured to the bottom 12 at the front of the housing and adjacent the side wall 14. The opposite end of the cord is secured to the lower end of the lever 44 by being passed through an opening 60 and tied thereto, or otherwise fastened.

There is means for retaining the lever 44 at its rearward position, said means comprising a retainer spring having one end 64 secured to the wall 14 adjacent the rear end of the slot 48. The end 64 of the retainer spring is secured to the inner side of the wall 14 and is inclined inwardly and rearwardly in the housing 10. An end portion 66 of the retainer spring is bent outwardly at right angles and extends through an opening 68 provided therefor in the wall 14, said part 66 of the retainer spring terminating at its free end in a knob outside of the housing.

A toilet seat 72 is secured to the top, or top wall 20, by means of a transverse hinge 74, said seat being of well-known character. Beneath the seat 72 are a plurality of bag studs 76 fixed to the top 20, said bag studs being adjacent to the opening 22 in the top, or top wall, but spaced somewhat therefrom.

There is a flexible bag 80, the upper open end of which is held open by stretching its lip around and over the studs 76 which are equally spaced from each other. As shown, studs 76 are arranged in a square pattern and the bag is suspended through the hole 22. The bottom of the bag rests in the bowl 36 and the latter is provided with a plurality of fins 82 which are radially arranged within the bowl and secured to the bottom thereof. The upper edges of the fins 82 are arcuate in shape and are below the plane of the top of the bowl.

Normally, the upper end of the lever 44 is at the forward end of the slot 48. Bag 80 is then in its open position, with the bottom supported by the bowl which may be considered a rotating, supporting platform for the bottom of the bag. Rearward movement of the upper end of the lever causes a forward motion of the bottom of the lever and this action causes the cord to unwind from the spindle which imparts a rotating motion to the bowl and produces a tension in the spiral spring 40. The rotating bowl imparts a turning motion to the bottom of the bag and, because the top of the bag is fixed in position, produces a twist, indicated at 86 in FIG. 3, thus sealing the bag intermediate its ends. As the upper end of the lever completes its rearward motion, it presses a retainer spring aside and, as the lever passes said retainer spring, the latter returns to its normal position, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, so that the upper end of the lever is locked, or secured, in its rearward position. When the upper end of the lever is moved to its rearward position, the spring 40 is placed under tension.

When the lever retainer spring is released, the upper end of the lever 44 returns to its forward position and the tension of the spiral spring 40 attached to the hub, or spindle, 38 causes the bowl to rotate backward to its original position. The rotation of the bowl causes the bag to untwist and return to its open position, so that the device may be used. After the device has been used, the upper end of the lever is moved to its rearward latched position. It is to be noted that, when the upper end of the lever is moved to its rearward position, the lever is rotated in the counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2.

It is to be noted that there are a plurality of fins 82, four being shown by way of example. These fins are important, since the length of the bag decreases as it is twisted and these fins serve to maintain operating contact with the bottom of the bag as the shortening action takes place with the twisting of said bag.

The apparatus can also be operated in the reverse sequence as follows:

Before placing the bag on the studs 76, the upper end of the actuator lever is moved to its rearward position and the bowl is rotated, to place the spring 40 under tension. The bag is then put in position and, when the lever retainer is released, the bowl is rotated by the spring as it unwinds, and automatically twists and seals the bag. To re-use, the upper end of the lever is returned to the rearward position so that the bag is untwisted and returned to its open position.

The bag if flexible and may be of suitable plastic, or it may be of a bio-degradable material, such as a special paper.

The invention and its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof or sacrificing its material advantages, the arrangement hereinbefore described being merely by way of example, and I do not wish to be restricted to the specific forms shown or uses mentioned, except as defined in the accompanying claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A portable toilet, comprising:

a housing including a top wall with an opening therein and a bottom wall;

a toilet seat hinged at the back to the top wall and in register with the opening in said top wall;

bag-supporting means rotatably mounted on the bottom wall in alignment with the opening in the top wall;

said toilet seat being adapted for clamping the upper end of a flexible bag to said top wall and supporting said bag against rotation with the lower end of said bag supported by the supporting means;

and means spaced from said toilet seat for rotating the supporting means and thereby rotate the lower end of the bag in one direction to twist an intermediate part of the bag.

2. The invention defined by claim 1, including means for rotating the supporting means in the opposite direction.

3. The invention defined by claim 1, including means for positively engaging the bag carried by the bag-supporting means.

4. The invention defined by claim 3, wherein the bag-supporting means comprises a rotatable bowl with bag-engaging upstanding fins disposed therein.

5. The invention defined by claim 4, wherein one of the means for rotating the bowl comprises a spring.

6. The invention defined by claim 4, wherein the means spaced from the toilet seat for rotating the bowl in one direction comprises manually operable means.

7. The invention defined by claim 6, wherein the manually operable means comprises a lever having a handle portion at the upper end, said handle portion extending upwardly through a slot in said top wall and spaced from said toilet seat, said lever having an operable connection with the rotating bowl.

8. The invention defined by claim 7, including a releasable latch for retaining the lever in one position.

9. The invention defined by claim 5, wherein one of the means for rotating the bowl comprises manually operable means which, when rotating the bowl in one direction, places the spring under tension so that, when the manually operable means is released, the spring will rotate the bowl in the opposite direction.