Support stand for a self-contained toilet apparatus

Abstract

Apparatus for hospitals and nursing homes that comprises a self-contained toilet and a stand for supporting and transporting the toilet. The toilet is formed in two sections, an upper seat and bowl section which has a water compartment for flush purposes, and a lower holding-tank section which can be carried as a suitcase for evacuation purposes. The stand has arms and a back rest and legs that normally will hold the apparatus against slipping on a supporting surface. Wheels are provided so that the apparatus can be tilted rearwardly onto the wheels for transportation to a desired location.

Parent Case Text

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION.

This is a division of Application Ser. No. 249,633, filed May 2, 1972 now abandoned.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to improvements in toilet facilities, especially for use by people in hospitals, nursing homes and the like.

A substantial improvement in portable toilet facilities of the self-contained variety occurred with the development of the portable toilet disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 3,570,018, issued Mar. 16, 1971 to R. J. Sargent et al., entitled "Portable Toilet". To permit utilization of a portable toilet of this character in hospitals, nursing homes and the like, a need has arisen for a suitable supporting stand which will assure maximum safety and convenience when used by incapacitated or elderly people or hospital patients, and which will permit attendants to transport and service the unit in a most effective manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides improved apparatus whereby portable toilets of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 3,570,018 may now be used more readily in hospitals, nursing homes and the like.

According to a preferred form of the present invention a self-contained toilet assembly and a stand for supporting said toilet assembly are provided wherein said toilet assembly includes a portable lower holding-tank section and an upper seat section removably supported thereon. The seat section has a handle in its rear for lifting purposes and a liquid fill means adjacent to the handle for filling flush liquid into a storage chamber located within the seat section. The holding-tank section has a top wall with a port for receiving material flushed from the seat section, a valve for closing the port, and a handle in a wall of the tank for carrying the same. A discharge outlet means for evacuation purposes is provided in one of the walls of the holding tank. The stand includes a base portion on which the toilet assembly is releasably attached, a back portion having a support member on which the handle of the seat section can be positioned when it is desired to suspend the seat section therefrom for gaining access to the holding-tank section and to facilitate filling flush water into the seat section. The stand includes bracket means interlocked with the holding-tank section to restrain the latter against lateral displacement with respect to the base portion. The toilet assembly includes tiedown clamp means for holding the toilet assembly in the interlocked relationship on the base portion.

The stand has two wheels located at the rear of the base portion which are normally out of engagement with the supporting surface, but which can be placed into engagement with the supporting surface by tilting the stand rearwardly after which the stand and the toilet supported thereon can be transported to any desired location.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved toilet facility for use in hospitals, nursing homes and the like.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a combination toilet assembly and supporting stand embodying the present invention, illustrating the first step of separating the seat section of the toilet from the holding tank for evacuation purposes;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, but showing the seat section supported on the back rest of the stand for filling flush water and showing the holding tank being removed from the stand;

FIG. 3 is another view similar to that of FIG. 1, but showing the holding tank as it can be transported for evacuation purposes;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the supporting stand showing in phantom a portable toilet mounted thereon;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the supporting stand and showing the portable toilet in phantom as it is normally mounted on the stand, and also showing in broken lines the seat section in its suspended position on the back rest;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the lines 6--6 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary end view as seen from lines 7--7 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring now to the drawings, the invention will be described in greater detail. The portable toilet or self-contained toilet assembly 10 comprises the lower holding-tank section 12 and the upper seat section 14 supported thereon. For detailed descriptions of the interiors of the seat section 14 and the holding-tank section 12 reference is made to the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,018. Briefly, the upper seat section 14 is molded to define a bowl having a discharge outlet in the bottom wall of the section and to provide in its interior a fresh-water compartment for flush purposes. These internal details of the seat section 14 are not illustrated in the drawings, but for a showing of these features, reference is made to the issued United States Letters Patent No. 3,570,018. A fill opening with a closure cap 16 is provided in the rear wall of the seat section 14 for filling the internal fresh-water compartment (not shown). Formed as an integral part of the rear wall of the seat section 14 is a handle 18 which can be used to carry the seat section and which can be used to suspend it in a position to facilitate filling flush water into the fresh-water compartment when the cap 16 has been removed. The opposite side walls of the seat section 14 have mounted thereon tie down clamp means 20 for a purpose to be described. A cover 22 is provided which is pivotally connected adjacent to the rear wall of the seat section, and this cover can be pivoted to an open position when the toilet is to be used.

The lower holding-tank section 12 is molded so as to define a closed compartment which has in its top wall an inlet port 22 which is in registry with the outlet (not shown) in the bottom wall of the seat section 14 when the latter is in the assembled position shown in FIG. 4. A suitable valve mechanism with a manually-actuated handle or foot lever 24 is provided for opening and closing the port 22. This valve mechanism can be of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,018 wherein it is arranged to be actuated by the foot of the user, or it can be a hand-actuated slide valve of the type shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,814, issued Aug. 1, 1967 to R. J. Sargent entitled "Wedge Gate Assembly". The holding-tank section 12 has a discharge outlet closed by the closure cap 26 and a handle 28 for carrying the holding-tank section. The holding-tank section 12 also has recesses 30 on opposite sides adjacent to the tie down clamp means 20 of the upper seat section 14 for use in securing the two sections 12 and 14 together.

The support stand 30 is preferably formed from tubular stock material which has two similarly shaped members 32 and 34 for defining arm rest portions 36 and rear legs 38, and another tubular portion 40 which defines a back rest portion 42 and part of the base portion 44 as well as the front legs 46. Transverse bars 48 complete the base portion of the stand. To prevent sliding of the stand 30 on a supporting surface, it is preferred that suitable pads 50 of rubber-like material be fitted to the ends of the front and rear legs 46 and 38. For purposes of moving the stand 30 wheels 52 are mounted on the rear legs 38 so that the wheels 52 normally are spaced about the supporting surface a small increment 53 as shown in FIG. 7 whereby when it is desired to transport the stand 30, this can readily be accomplished merely by tilting the stand rearwardly so that the wheels 52 engage the supporting surface and are the only portion of the stand 30 resting on the supporting surface. The stand can then be pushed or pulled to a desired location.

The base portion 44 is provided with two spaced brackets 54 which are located to fit into the recessed portions on opposite sides of the holding tank 30. Thus, the holding tank 30 is interlocked with the brackets and the tie down clamp means 20 of the upper seat section 14 can be connected thereto so that the toilet assembly or portable toilet 10 will be securely fastened to the stand 30. This arrangement also clamps the seat section 14 tightly against the holding-tank section 12 to cooperate in maintaining a tight seal between these units at the port 22.

Connected to the back rest portion 42 is a hook 56 which opens to the front as can be seen best in FIG. 6. The hook is provided so that seat section 14 can be suspended in this manner, the closure cap 16 can be removed and the flush water chamber within the seat section 14 can be filled conveniently by means of a small hose connected to a water tap. The hook also can be used to suspend the seat section 14 when it is desired to remove the holding-tank section 14 for evacuation purposes. A toilet tissue holder 50 is mounted on one of the arms 36 for use in the conventional manner.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the sequence of steps that are normally followed for carrying out this operation will be described. As there shown, the tie down clamp means 20 have been released in FIG. 1 and the attendant is lifting the seat section 14 for suspending it from the hook 56. In FIG. 2 the seat section is shown in its suspended position and the attendant is lifting the holding-tank section 14 by the handle 28. In FIG. 3 the attendant is carrying the holding-tank section 12, as a suitcase, to a toilet or other location where the tank can be evacuated. After the tank has been evacuated and restored to its position shown in FIG. 1, the flush water can be introduced into the chamber of the seat section, to the extent needed after which the toilet assembly can be secured together for further use. As previously indicated, the attendant can move the toilet assembly and stand to various rooms in the nursing home or hospital merely by tilting the unit onto the wheels 52.

Claims

It is claimed:

1. A stand for supporting and transporting a portable self-contained toilet comprising a base portion on which the bottom of the toilet can be supported and having front and rear legs for resting on a supporting surface, arm rest portions of generally inverted U-shape extending upward from opposite sides of said base portion, and a back portion of generally inverted U-shape extending upward from the rear of said base portion, said base portion having brackets extending upward adjacent to its opposite sides for securing the portable toilet on the base portion and wheels mounted on said rear legs in spaced relation to the supporting surface and located so that when the stand is tilted rearwardly on the rear legs the wheels will engage the supporting surface for moving the stand on the wheels.

2. The stand that is defined in claim 1, wherein the inverted U-shape of said back portion provides a transverse member, and a hook opening in a forward direction is secured to the transverse member so that at least a portion of said toilet can be suspended therefrom within the opening of the U-shaped back portion.

3. The stand that is defined in claim 1, wherein a toilet tissue holder is mounted on one of said arm rest portions.