Toilet Cabin

Abstract

A toilet cabin includes a floor, a rear wall and two side walls connected to each other via the rear wall, as well as a removable tank arranged therein with an opening for receiving excrement. Known toilet cabins of this type are complex in design and must be assembled and disassembled for transport, which is costly and time-consuming. By continuously increasing the distance between the two side walls from the floor to the upper edge of the toilet cabin, the toilet cabin is inexpensive to manufacture, use and maintain, and is easily transportable and space-saving.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to a toilet cabin.BACKGROUND

[0002] There is a significant demand for mobile, transportable toilets for mobile use, mostly in outdoor areas, especially in crisis areas, in disaster situations, in military applications, for example, during maneuvers, troop movements and military interventions, as well as in humanitarian interventions, as in refugee camps and also in other major events. These toilets generally involve transportable outhouses or cabins that are lockable and equipped on the inside with a toilet seat, as well as a collection container for excrement. These cabins are generally preassembled, their components screwed together by technicians and transported to the area of set-up and use by means of delivery vehicles and cranes, and then retrieved again after completion of use. The use of mobile toilets avoids a situation in which users relieve themselves outdoors or in locations not intended for this purpose. This makes a significant contribution to containment of infectious diseases.

[0003] The use of mobile toilets is also particularly significant in disaster and war zones and in humanitarian emergencies in which normal water and sanitation supply is nonexistent, highly inadequate or has failed. In precisely these scenarios under environmental conditions of poor hygiene and under extreme weather conditions, there is a significant risk of epidemics if proper systematic collection and elimination of excrement does not occur.

[0004] A number of different toilet cabins are found on the market, for example, those described in publications US 2021 / 0324645 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 9,765,542 B1, which can also be designed collapsible and stackable to facilitate transport. The known toilet cabins, however, are very complex to assemble and disassemble as they are bolted together and must be assembled or disassembled for transport, which is costly and time-consuming. Once assembled, they require considerable space for transport to their use location.SUMMARY

[0005] The object is therefore to design a toilet cabin that is inexpensive to manufacture, use and maintain, and that is easily transportable and space-saving.

[0006] Advantageous embodiments are disclosed herein.

[0007] The invention relates to a toilet cabin with a floor, a rear wall and two side walls connected to each other via the rear wall, as well as a removable tank arranged therein for holding excrement, wherein the distance between the two side walls increases continuously from the floor to the upper edge of the toilet cabin. This enables the toilet cabins according to the invention to be stacked as a whole.

[0008] The toilet cabin preferably consists substantially of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). This provides durability and impact strength as well as high temperature resistance and easy transportability due to its low weight.

[0009] The removable tank is preferably provided with a seat surface and / or an opening to receive excrement. This enables the tank to be used as a toilet while either seated or standing.

[0010] The removable tank preferably has a closeable opening at its lower end located in the area of the rear wall, which can be closed with a closure, and which is intended for draining cleaning water after possible cleaning of the interior of the tank. The tank can therefore be easily emptied from the outside.

[0011] The toilet cabin preferably has a front wall opposite the rear wall, which has a recess in its upper area. This enables the user to extend their legs outward from the toilet cabin while sitting.

[0012] Advantageously, the toilet cabin has a hinged lid attached to its upper edge. This provides rain protection, privacy and theft protection for the removable tank.

[0013] The lid is preferably provided with a gravity lock so that opening of the lid is only made possible from a certain pivot angle. This prevents the lid from being opened when the toilet cabin is stationary.

[0014] The opening of the removable tank preferably has a fastening device for a bag situated in the tank for collecting excrement. This enables the excrement to be quickly and easily removed from the tank.

[0015] A roller or wheel is preferably located in the lower area of the side walls of the toilet cabin. This enables the toilet cabin to be moved.

[0016] A roller or wheel with an optional parking brake is preferably situated in the area of the lower rear side and is pivotable around a vertical axis and rotatable around a horizontal axis, thus facilitating the mobility of the toilet cabin during travel.

[0017] The toilet cabin preferably has at least one screen pivotable around a horizontal axis and arranged parallel to a side wall. This provides privacy.

[0018] The opening of the removable tank is preferably provided with a closeable lid. This helps in odor reduction.

[0019] The toilet cabin is preferably stackable with additional equivalent toilet cabins, one inside the other, whereby lids hinged thereto are arranged stacked one on top of the other in the open state. This results in easy transportability with low space requirements.

[0020] The toilet cabin is preferably a converted waste collection container according to DIN EN 840-1. A known base container can therefore be used.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] An embodiment of the invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

[0022] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a toilet cabin according to the invention ready for operation. The toilet cabin according to the invention is equipped with side walls 3 and 4, between which the distance increases continuously from the floor 1 of the toilet cabin to the upper edge 7 of the toilet cabin. This enables several equivalent toilet cabins to be stacked, as described in detail below.

[0023] FIG. 2 shows a view according to FIG. 1 with a person using the toilet cabin and the screen tilted down.

[0024] FIG. 3 shows the toilet cabin depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 in an exploded view with the lid open.

[0025] FIG. 4 shows the tank contained in the toilet cabin with these additional components in an exploded view.

[0026] FIG. 5 shows the tank from FIG. 4 in a sectional exploded view.

[0027] FIG. 6 shows the toilet cabin from FIG. 1 in a sectional view.

[0028] FIG. 7 shows a number of stacked, disassembled toilet cabins for transport in a container, for example, a 40-foot ISO shipping container.

[0029] FIG. 8 shows several toilet cabins ready for operation according to FIG. 1 with a security beam connecting them as theft protection.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a toilet cabin according to the invention. It has a floor 1, a rear wall 2 extending upward from the floor and two side walls 3, 4 connected to each other via the rear wall 2. A removable tank, which is described in the following figures and of which only the toilet lid 17 can be seen in FIG. 1, is situated inside the toilet cabin and between the side walls 3 and 4 immediately above the floor 1. The toilet cabin also has a front wall 9, which is opposite the rear wall 2, but only in the lower area of the toilet cabin located near the floor 1, which connects the two side walls 3 and 4 to each other. In its upper area the front wall 9 has a recess 10, which extends essentially between the two side walls 3 and 4 but does not fully reach them. The recess 10 on its lower side is approximately flush with the toilet lid 17 of the tank arranged therein, which is described later.

[0031] The toilet cabin described has two wheels 14 in the area of its rear side 2, whose axes are collinear, one wheel 14 being located on the left side in the area of the left side wall 3 and the other (not shown) wheel 14 being located in the area of the right side wall 4. The entire toilet cabin can be tilted upward via these wheels 14 and pulled around a horizontal axis, like a movable waste collection container. In the area of its front wall 9, specifically within a recess of the front wall 9 extending from the floor 1, there is a rotatable roller 15, which is rotatable not only around itself, but also around the vertical axis in the region of its bearing so that the toilet cabin can be moved and steered via this roller. Outside of the two side walls 3 and 4, there are two pivotable screens 16 which are pivotable around the common axis of the wheels 14 and designed so that they are pivoted upward in the transport state of the toilet cabin shown in FIG. 1, and can be pivoted downward into the operating state depicted in FIG. 2, so that the upper or front sides of the screens 16 protrude beyond the front wall 9 and the toilet cabin and thus provide lateral visual privacy, which is shown with reference to the person shown in FIG. 2 who is using the toilet cabin.

[0032] Finally, a lid is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which is situated in the area of the upper edge 7 of the toilet cabin and which is hinged via hinge 18 to the rear wall 2 of the toilet cabin so as to be pivotable around an axis 19.

[0033] FIG. 3 shows the toilet cabin depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 in an exploded view with the lid 11 open. The screens 16 are shown spaced apart from the toilet cabin and the lid 11 is open. A tank 5 is also shown with the toilet lid 17 on the upper side thereof, whose underside is configured so that it can be inserted from the top (with lid 11 open) into the body of the toilet cabin until the toilet lid 17 is approximately flush with the upper side of front wall 9, as shown in FIG. 1.

[0034] A more detailed view of the structure of the tank 5 is shown in FIG. 4. The tank 5 has an opening 6, through which a bag 13 for collecting the excrement is guided, which can be fastened in the area of the opening 6 by means of a fastening device 12. A plate 18a insertable into the top of tank 5 is situated there above in which the seat surface 8 is integrated in the form of a toilet seat, equipped with a pivotable toilet lid 17. The entire arrangement is shown in an exploded view in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 also shows the same arrangement of the tank 5 with an opening 6, the attached device 12, and the lid 17, including the underlying seat surface 8, but here without the bag 13. In an alternative embodiment, as shown in principle in FIG. 5, the tank can also be used without the bag 13, namely if an opening for removing the excrement is provided in the area of the rear wall, which is closeable with a closure and arranged so that the tank 5 can be emptied through this opening to the rear or downward and through the rear wall 2. This is not shown in detail in the drawing.

[0035] Finally, FIG. 6 shows a half sectional view of the toilet cabin according to FIG. 1. Here it is shown particularly clearly how the tank 5 with the seat surface 8 and the opening 6 is inserted into the lower area, i.e., directly above the floor 1 between the rear wall 2 and the front wall 9 of the toilet cabin.

[0036] Finally, FIG. 7 shows several toilet cabins according to the invention, each having the same design, stacked one inside the other, in a disassembled state. In this case, the lids 11 have been removed and set to the side, as have the tanks 5, the seat surfaces 8, and the toilet lids 17. The screens 16 have been removed and also stacked adjacent thereto. It is apparent that the toilet cabins can be stacked one inside the other from the bottom up owing to the widening distance between the side walls 3 and 4. The tanks 5 are designed similarly. These also have a distance between the two side walls (not provided with reference numbers) that increases from the bottom up and can therefore also be stacked one inside the other. The toilet lid 17, the lids 11, the seat surfaces 8 and the screens 16 are flat parts that can be placed one on top of the other and also stacked. In this way, it is possible to transport a large number of toilet cabins of the same shape, for example, in an ISO shipping container (20 feet or 40 feet), as shown in FIG. 7, into crisis areas and to set them up quickly and easily. The toilet cabins can also be quickly and easily assembled and disassembled by untrained persons, i.e., by anyone, even in hard-to-reach locations.

[0037] Finally, FIG. 8 shows a further development of the invention, which serves to securely connect toilet cabins of the same design to each other and therefore protect them from theft and critical weather conditions, for example, high winds. For this purpose, equivalent toilet cabins according to the invention are placed side-by-side with their rear walls 2 facing one another, whereby both resulting pairs of toilet cabins are then lined up next to each other so that the axes 19 of the lids 11 are approximately flush with each other. A safety bar 21 can then be inserted along these axes 19 or parallel thereto and connected appropriately to the toilet cabins so that theft protection is provided and a stable connection of a number of adjacent toilet cabins is made possible.

Claims

1. A toilet cabin with a floor, a rear wall and two side walls connected to each other via a rear wall, as well as a removable tank arranged therein, with an opening for receiving excrement, wherein a distance between the two side walls increases continuously from the floor to an upper edge of the toilet cabin.

2. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the toilet cabin is made of high-density polyethylene.

3. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the removable tank has a closure plate for receiving a seat surface and the seat surface includes an opening for receiving excrement.

4. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the removable tank has a closeable opening for removing excrement at a lower end located in an area of the rear wall, which can be closed with a closure.

5. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the toilet cabin has a front wall opposite the rear wall, which has a recess in an upper area.

6. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the toilet cabin has a hinged lid attached to an upper edge.

7. The toilet cabin according to claim 6, wherein the lid is provided with a gravity lock, by means of which opening of the lid is only made possible from a certain pivot angle.

8. The toilet cabin according claim 1, wherein the opening of the removable tank has a fastening device for a bag situated in the removable tank for receiving excrement.

9. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the toilet cabin has a wheel in the area of each of the side walls and axes of the wheels are collinear.

10. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the toilet cabin has a roller in an area of a lower front wall, which is rotatable around the horizontal axis and pivotable around the vertical axis.

11. The toilet cabin according to claim 10, wherein the roller is provided with a parking brake.

12. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the toilet cabin has at least one screen arranged parallel to at least one of the side walls and pivotable around a horizontal axis.

13. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the opening of the removable tank is provided with a closeable toilet lid.

14. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the toilet cabin is stackable with equivalent toilet cabins, one inside the other.

15. The toilet cabin according to claim 14, wherein lids of the toilet cabin hinged thereto are arranged stacked one on top of the other in an open state.

16. The toilet cabin according to claim 1, wherein the toilet cabin is a converted waste collection container according to DIN EN 840-1.

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