Abstract:
A portable toilet has a bowl, a seat, and legs. The legs are telescopically extensible to allow positioning of the height of the bowl and wheels are mounted to the lower ends of the legs. The legs are spaced apart for fitting on opposite sides of a conventional building toilet and placing the bowl above the conventional toilet. The bowl has an open lower end which is enclosed by a slide door which is moved to open the lower end of the bowl and allow the contents of the bowl to spill therefrom into the conventional toilet. The contents of the bowl fall through the open lower end of the bowl and into the conventional building toilet. Preferably, pneumatic spring assist or an electric linear actuator are provided to aid in lifting and lowering the bowl after use. Water is provided for sweeping waste from within the bowl.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority as a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/154,135, filed 13 Jan. 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 8,627,518, having application Ser. No. 13/663,413 and filed 19 Oct. 2012, each invented by Eugene G. Lederer, an inventor of the present application, and Ralph E. White. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates in general to portable toilets, and in particular to a portable toilet for bedside use which provides for easy cleaning by care givers. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Prior art portable toilets which have been provided for bedside use are typically cleaned by an attendant or care giver, usually requiring the emptying of pans or bowls. In hospitals a portable toilet has been provided by a bench having a hole in the seat for receipt of a bowl used for receiving waste. After use, the bowl must be removed, emptied, and then cleaned by the attendant or care giver. Portable toilets have also been provided by chairs or stools having a hole in the seat for receiving a receptacle bag which is disposed of after use, requiring the attendant or the care giver to remove the bag for disposal. An alternative is desired which reduces the need for an attendant or a care giver to handle waste for disposal. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A portable toilet is provided having a bowl, a seat, and legs. The seat is pivotally mounted to the bowl. The legs are telescopically extensible to allow positioning of the height of the bowl and wheels are mounted to the lower ends of the legs. The legs are spaced apart for fitting on opposite sides of a conventional building toilet and placing the bowl above the conventional toilet. The bowl has an open lower end which is enclosed by a slide door which is moved to open the lower end of the bowl and allow the contents of the bowl to spill therefrom into the conventional toilet. After use, the portable toilet is positioned above the conventional building toilet, the slide door is moved to open the lower end of the bowl, and the contents of the bowlfall through the open lower end of the bowl and into the conventional building toilet. Preferably, pneumatic spring assist or an electric linear actuator are provided to aid in lifting and lowering the bowl after use. A tube and faucet connector are provided for connecting to a sink water faucet and passing water through spray nozzles mounted in the bowl. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings in which  FIGS. 1 through 11  show various aspects for a portable toilet made according to the present invention, as set forth below: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective views of the portable toilet with the seat in a downward position and the lid in an upward position; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the portable toilet from an opposite direction from  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a pneumatic spring system for use in assisting lifting of the portable toilet; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the portable toilet; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the enclosure and the toilet bowl; 
         FIGS. 6 and 7  are longitudinal vertical section views of the enclosure and the toilet bowl; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a faucet coupling; 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a cable splitter; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective views of an alternative portable toilet have legs which are telescopically adjustable by means of electric linear actuators; 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of an electric lift system for use in telescopically extending and retracting the legs; 
         FIG. 12  is a top view of an electric linear actuator for opening and closing the slide door; and 
         FIG. 13  is a bottom view of the alternative portable toilet showing access doors for servicing an onboard battery charger and an onboard battery. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  are perspective views of a portable toilet  12  viewed from opposite directions. The portable toilet  12  has a seat  14  and a lid  16  which are pivotally mounted to an enclosure  18 . A toilet bowl  20  is mounted within the enclosure  18 . Water supply tubing  22  and a faucet coupling  26  are provided for securing to a building water faucet to supply water to the portable toilet  12  for automatically cleaning the toilet bowl. The bowl  20  has an open lower end which is enclosed by a slide door  24 . The slide door  24  is selectively opened by an operator for dumping the contents of the portable toilet  12  into a conventional building toilet. A mounting bracket  28  is provided for securing the faucet coupling  26  to the enclosure  18  for storage. Hose retainer clips  58  are also proved for securing the water supply tubing  22  to the enclosure  18 . A back rest clip  60  is also provided for securing the back rest  34  to the frame  30 . 
     The portable toilet  12  also has a frame  30  which includes two arm rests  32 , a back rest  34 , cross bars  36 , and support arms  38 . Mounting brackets  40  are secured by fasteners  42  to the enclosure  18 . The fasteners  42  may have sleeves or pulleys mounted thereto and disposed interiorly within the mounting brackets  40  for reducing the frictional forces when pulling actuation cables. Four legs  48  are provided for supporting the portable toilet  12 . Wheels  50  are secured to the lower ends of the legs  48 . Preferably, at least the two front legs have wheel locks  52 . Preferably pneumatic cylinders  62  (See  FIG. 3 ) are coaxially disposed within the legs  48  for providing spring members to assist in raising and lowering the legs  48 . A leg actuation button  56  is provided on one side of the enclosure  18  for releasing the pneumatic cylinders to provide spring assist. 
     The legs  48  have upper portions fixedly secured to the enclosure  18  and lower portions which telescopically extend beneath the upper portions. Cross-bars  36  extend between the lower portions of the legs  48 . Wheels  50  are provided on the lower portions of the legs  48 , and preferably are provided by castor wheels having stops  52  which are selectively operated to prevent the wheels  50  from rotating when the portable toilet  12  is disposed in a selected position. The legs  58  are preferably spaced apart at least either from side-to-side, or from front-to-front, to fit a conventional building toilet there-between, such as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 8,627,518, entitled “Portable Toilet,” invented by Eugene G. Lederer and Ralph E. White, having application Ser. No. 13,663,413, filed on 29 Oct. 2012, and issued on Jan. 14, 2014. U.S. Pat. No. 8,627,518 is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a pneumatic spring system  76  for use in assisting lifting of the portable toilet  12  for dumping the contents of the bowl into a conventional building toiler. The pneumatic springs  62  are enclosed within the legs  48 . An upper end of the springs  62  has an actuator  68  for releasing the pneumatic springs  62  to telescopically extend and retract. The leg actuation button  56  is connected to each of the actuators  68 , such that a short push of the button  56  will move each of the actuators  68 , releasing the pneumatic cylinders  62  to telescopically extend. Three cable spillers  70  are provided for connecting between the actuation button  56  and each of the actuators  68 . Tubing  72  extends outward of the cable splitters, and conductive cables  74  are located within the tubing. 
       FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the portable toilet  12 . The frame  30  is shown beneath the enclosure  18 . The water supply tubing  22  is shown to the left of the frame  30 . The enclosure  18  is shown with the slide door  24  disposed in an outward position, such that the contents of the bowl  20  are passing form the bowl  20  into a waste receptacle, such as a conventional building toilet. 
       FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the slide door  24 , the enclosure  18 , and the toilet bowl  12 . The slide door  24  has a mounting bracket  82 , guide members  84 ,  86  and  88 , and a stop screw  90 . A slide plate  80  provides a moveable valve member which is disposed between the mounting bracket  82 , and guide members  84 ,  86  and  88 . A recess  94  is defined by a groove for receiving the assembly for the slide door  24 . Bosses  96  are also formed to provide a means for securing threaded fasteners. A hole  98  is provided in the bottom plate  92  for receiving the lower end of the toilet bowl  20 . The bowl  20  has two flats  104  disposed adjacent to the rim. Spray nozzles  102  are mounted in the flats  104  and are directly connected to the water supply tubing  22 . The spray nozzles  102  preferably create a swirl in the direction of the arrow  108 . The enclosure  18  as a hole profile  110  with flats  109  for mating with the flats  104 , preventing rotation of the toilet bow  20  within the enclosure  18 . 
       FIGS. 6 and 7  are partial longitudinal vertical section views of the enclosure  18  and the toilet bowl  20 , and show operation of the slide door  24 . 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a faucet coupling  26  for securing to a conventional household faucet to supply water. The faucet coupling is preferably formed of a compliant, elastomeric material. 
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a cable splitter. 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective views of an alternative portable toilet  112  having legs  148  which are telescopically adjustable by means of electric linear actuators  162 . The portable toilet  112  has the seat  14  and the lid  16  which are pivotally mounted to the enclosure  18 . The enclosure  18  and the toilet bowl is used in the portable toilet  112 , along with the water supply tubing  22  and the faucet coupling  26 . The bowl  20  has the open lower end which is enclosed by the slide door  24 . Preferably the slide door  24  is electronically operated. The slide door  24  is selectively opened by an operator for dumping the contents of the portable toilet  12  into a conventional building toilet. The hose retainer clips  58  are also proved for securing the water supply tubing  22  to the enclosure  18 . The back rest  134  fits directly in mounting brackets for a chair frame  130 . 
     The portable toilet  12  also has a frame  130  which includes two arm rests  132 , the back rest  134 , cross bars  136 , and support arms  138 . Mounting brackets  140  are fixedly secured the frame  130 , preferably by means of an adhesive or sonic welding. Four legs  148  are provided for supporting the portable toilet  112 . Wheels  50  are secured to the lower ends of the legs  148 . Preferably, at least the two front legs have wheel locks  52 . Preferably electric linear actuators  162  (See  FIG. 3 ) are coaxially disposed within the legs  148  for providing spring members to assist in raising and lowering the legs  148 . A leg actuation buttons  154  and  156  are provided on one side of the enclosure  18  for operating the electric linear actuators  162 , to extend and retract the legs  162 . The legs  148  have upper portions fixedly secured to the enclosure  18  and lower portions which telescopically extend beneath the upper portions. Cross-bars  136  extend between the lower portions of the legs  148 . Wheels  50  are provided on the lower portions of the legs  48 , and preferably are provided by castor wheels having stops  52  which are selectively operated to prevent the wheels  50  from rotating when the portable toilet  12  is disposed in a selected position. The legs  58  are preferably spaced apart at least either from side-to-side, or from front-to-front, to fit a conventional building toilet there-between, such as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 8,627,518 as noted above. 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of an electric lift system for use in telescopically extending and retracting the legs  148 . Electric linear actuators  162  are concentrically disposed with respective ones of the legs  148  and are moved upward in response an operator pressing the button  154 . Downward movement occurs in response to pressing the button  156 . A button  158  is provided for operating an electric linear actuator  174  to open the slide door  24 . Preferably the actuator  174  is spring biased to return automatically to a non-actuated position. A battery  170  and a batter charger  172  are provided for powering the linear actuators  162  and  174 . A power connector  176  is preferably provided by a standard, household three prong power connector. An on-off power switch  178  is also provided. 
       FIG. 12  is a top view of a electric linear actuator  174  for opening and closing the slide door  24 . An actuator arm  180  is mounted to extend from the moveable valve element provided by the slide plate  80 . 
       FIG. 13  is a bottom view of the alternative portable toilet  112  showing access doors  184  and  186  for servicing the onboard battery  170  charger and an onboard battery charger  172 , respectively. 
     Preferably, seat  14 , the lid  16 , the enclosure  18 , and the toilet bowl  20  are formed of plastic. The legs  48 , cross bars  36 , the support arms  38 , the arm rests  32 , and the backrest  34  are preferably formed of aluminum tubing. 
     In operation, an attendant or care giver will preferably place the portable toiler  12  in the lowered position for use. After use, the legs  48  are extended by the care giver. Then, the portable toilet  12  is moved to locate the bowl  20  above a conventional building toilet. The water tube  22  is connected to a sink faucet, preferably using the faucet coupling  26  and water is turned on as the slide door  24  is opened. The contents of the bowl  20  fall from the bowl  20  into the conventional toilet, with water from the spray nozzles  104  swirling around the now  20 . 
     The present invention provides a portable toilet having a bowl with a lower end which will open to spill the contents from the bowl into a conventional building toilet. This allows an attendant or care giver to spill the contents of the bowl without having to touch the contents bowl. Water will then be connected to the bowl and swirl to clean the bowl with waste automatically spilling from the portable toilet into a conventional building toilet. 
     Although the preferred embodiment has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.