This invention relates to toilet equipment that vacuum or heat-dries human waste and dispenses of the dehydrated human waste in a pulverized solid-form by means of pneumatic transportation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
One of the most unwise and unintelligent practices adopted by the people in 
their daily lives is the use of the water-toilet. An average person 
consumes about forty-five percent of the total amount of water consumed 
daily to flush out his or her toilet. Indeed, it is plain stupidity to 
waste such a portion of water of drinkable quality to flush the toilet 
and, then worry about dwindling water resources and be afraid of 
contaminating the drinking water. Firstly, it does not make any sense at 
all to waste forty-five percent of the daily water consumption of each 
household when the resources of clean and drinkable water have been 
continuously dwindling. Secondly, it is down-right unwise to mix a small 
amount of human waste with a large amount of clean water and, then to 
spend millions of dollars to build a network of sewer pipes and waste 
water treatment facilities. Thirdly, it is a thoughtless act to dump the 
waste effluent into the streams and rivers, and then scream about some one 
polluting and contaminating the sources of our drinking water. As the 
population of the human race is growing out of bounds and our life-style 
demands an ever increasing amount of water for use in households and 
industries, the water is rapidly becoming a valuable commodity. Apart from 
the economic aspect, people's freedom to choose the residential locality 
is restricted more often by the availability or unavailability of sewer 
lines and waste water treatment facilities than the availability of the 
drinking water. 
The major portion of the water problems confronting us today in numerous 
municipalities can be instantly resolved and eliminated by ridding 
ourselves of the habit of using the water toilet. The majority of the 
spoiled brats accustomed to living in an affluent society will not give up 
the habit of using the water toilet unless a better alternative becomes 
available. There have been a number of different toilets which do not 
continuously discharge the diluted human waste with water. The composting 
toilet as well as the incinerating toilet does not use any water. There 
are toilets that use mineral oil to flush the waste instead of water 
wherein the oil is recycled. There is also available the recycling water 
toilet that recycles the water used to flush the toilet. So far, none of 
these unconventional toilets has succeeded in replacing the conventional 
water toilet. The composting toilet lacks the cleanliness of the water 
toilet and leaves the messy end product of compost, which most city 
dwellers do not know what to do with. The incinerating toilet consumes a 
great deal of energy and, consequently, it is economically unacceptable 
for most households. Furthermore, the present day technology of the 
incinerating toilet is positively unacceptable in terms of air-pollution 
control standards and safety standards for installation in household 
dwellings. Indeed, it is questionable that the use of a large number of 
incinerating toilets can be allowed in a crowed municipality without 
creating a very serious air pollution problem. The recycling toilet, 
whether it uses water or oil to flush the toilet, requires the capital 
investment and an operating/maintenance expense too high for average 
households. It is also doubtful that such recycling toilets provide 
cleanliness and sanitary levels comparable to the conventional water 
toilet. In conclusion, all of the nonconventional toilets available today 
are not good enough in the technical point of view and not attractive 
enough in the consumer's point of view to replace the conventional toilet. 
The primary object of the present invention is to provide the air-vac 
toilet that uses little or no water while still being as clean and 
attractive as the water toilet. 
Another object is to provide an air-vac toilet with air circulation to 
contain the odor within the toilet bowl. 
A further object is to instantly dehydrate excreted human waste by means of 
vacuum-drying. 
Yet another object is to employ a preseparating toilet bowl that roughly 
separates the liquid waste from the solid waste wherein the liquid waste 
are evaporated in an evaporator by means of hot air circulation, while the 
solid waste is instantly dehydrated by means of vacuum-drying. 
Yet a further object is to provide an air-vac toilet that uses a small 
amount of water for rinsing off the toilet bowl wherein the spent rinse 
water is evaporated in an evaporator. 
Still another object is to provide an air-vac toilet wherein the dehydrated 
solid waste is transported by the earth's gravity. 
Still a further object is to provide an air-vac toilet wherein the 
dehydrated solid waste is transported by means of pneumatic conveying. 
These and other objects of the present invention will become clear as the 
description thereof proceeds.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS 
In FIG. 1, there is shown a general arrangement of an air-vac toilet 
including the least number of components, which is suitable for mobile 
installations such as mobile homes, small boats, construction site 
restrooms, etc. The economic model 1 of the air-vac toilet designed for a 
mobile installation includes a toilet bowl 2 equipped with a rotary 
air-lock valve 3, which rotary air-lock valve discharges the human waste 
into a dehydration-evaporation chamber equipped with a dehydrated solid 
waste disposer 5. The dehydration-evaporation chamber 4 includes an air 
outlet 6 connected to a vacuum blower or vacuum pump 7 by a duct 8 and a 
dehydrated waste outlet 9 connected to a waste hopper 10 by a vertical 
discharge tube 11. The waste hopper has an exhaust duct 12 disposed 
upwardly therefrom and a waste discharge gate 13 to which a plastic bag 14 
is tied. The exhaust duct 12 is connected to a dust filter 15 with an 
exhaust stack 16 to which the exhaust duct 17 from the vacuum blower or 
vacuum pump 7 is connected. It should be understood that the air outlet 6 
of the dehydration-evaporation chamber 4 is disposed at a high point 
thereof, while the dehydrated wastes outlet 9 is disposed at a low point 
thereof at a level somewhat higher than the bottom of the 
dehydration-evaporation chamber. The rotary air-lock valve 3 is divided 
into a pair of compartments 18 and 19 with openings by a partitioning wall 
20. The waste disposer 5 is a mechanical pulverizer with centrifugal 
blower that breaks down the dehydrated waste into particles and blows out 
the pulverized dehydrated waste through the waste outlet 9. The waste 
disposer 5 may be of a vane-type or a ball-mill type mechanical pulverizer 
equipped with a centrifugal blower or combination of two types. The 
discharge tube 11 is equipped with a swing check valve 25 which allows the 
pulverized dehydrated waste to enter the waste hopper 10 and check the air 
in the waste hopper 10 from entering the dehydration-evaporation chamber 
4. 
In FIG. 2, there is illustrated a cross section of the assembly comprising 
the toilet bowl 2, the rotary air-lock valve 3 and the 
dehydration-evaporation chamber 4 as included in the air-vac toilet shown 
in FIG. 1, which cross section is taken along a plane 2--2 as shown in 
FIG. 1. The rotary air-lock valve 3 is a hollow circular cylindrical or 
spherical container divided into a pair of compartments 18 and 19 by a 
partitioning wall 20, wherein the compartments 18 and 19 has openings 21 
and 22 through the cylindrical wall. The rotary air-lock valve 3 is 
operated by an electric motor or other form of power drive 23. 
The air-vac toilet 1 of the economic design as described in conjunction 
with FIGS. 1 and 2 operates in the following principles: When a person 
lifts up the bowl cover 24 to use the air-vac toilet 1, the vacuum blower 
7 becomes switched on and, consequently, the air surrounding the toilet 
bowl 2 is continuously sucked into the bowl and exhausted through the 
exhaust stack 16. This movement of the air prevents the odor from escaping 
out of the toilet bowl and into the surrounding space. Of course, the 
vacuum blower switch may be coupled to the bathroom light switch instead 
of the lifting action of the bowl cover. It should be understood that a 
bathroom equipped with an air-vac toilet does not require an exhaust fan 
because the vacuum blower 7 of the air-vac toilet functions as an exhaust 
fan. The air flow from the toilet bowl 2 to the vacuum blower 7 may take 
place through gaps in the rotary air-lock valve 3. For this reason, the 
air-lock valve 3 should not and need not be one hundred percent air-tight. 
Upon finishing use of the toilet, the user lowers the bowl cover 24, which 
action activates the rotary air-lock valve motor 23 that rotates the 
rotary air-lock valve 3 over one hundred eighty degrees whereupon the 
empty compartment of the air-lock valve 3 is lined up with the toilet bowl 
bottom and the filled compartment is lined up with the top of the 
dehydration-evaporation chamber 4. The waste are emptied from the lower 
compartment of the air-lock valve 3 to the dehydration-evaporation chamber 
4 by the pull of the earth's gravity. The waste dumped into the 
dehydration-evaporation chamber 4, are dehydrated and evaporated by vacuum 
drying that is enhanced by the closed toilet bowl cover 24 and the swing 
check valve 25 included in the discharge end of the waste discharge tube 
11, as the vacuum blower 7 continues to run. When the liquid waste are 
completely evaporated and the solid waste is completely dehydrated, the 
vacuum blower 7 is turned off and the wastes disposer motor 114 is turned 
on, whereby control sequence may be programmed by using a timer or 
controlled by a moisture sensor. The waste disposer 5 pulverizes the 
dehydrated solid waste and pneumatically conveys the pulverized solid 
waste into the waste hopper 10 that empties into a plastic bag 14 through 
discharge gate 13. The air in the waste hopper 10 is vented to the 
atmosphere through a filter 15 which may include a deordorizing function 
in addition to the filtering function. The waste disposer motor stops 
after operating for a predetermined period, which completes one cycle of 
operation of the air-vac toilet 1. It should be understood that the top 
compartment of the rotary air-lock valve 3 may be filled with the waste 
from another user, while the waste from the first user is being dehydrated 
and evaporated in the dehydration-evaporation chamber 4. It should be 
understood that the air-vac toilet 1 may be operated without the waste 
disposer 5 being driven by the disposer motor when a water-tight gate is 
installed at the bottom of the dehydration-evaporation chamber wherein the 
dehydrated waste drops straight down into plastic bags without being 
pulverized upon opening of the water-tight gate. 
In FIG. 3 there is illustrated a general arrangement of a deluxe model of 
the air-vac toilet 26 comprising a compressed air-assisted rinsing system 
in addition to the toilet bowl 27, the rotary air-lock valve 28, the 
dehydration-evaporation chamber 29 with the waste disposer 30, the vacuum 
blower or pump 31, the waste hopper 32 and filter-deodorizer 33 having the 
same construction and functions and interconnected in the same way as 
those components included in the air-vac toilet 1 shown in FIG. 1. The 
compressed air-assisted rinsing system comprises an air compressor 34 
supplying the compressed air to the rinsing spray ring 35 including a 
plurality of spraying holes and to a compressed air nozzle 36. An eductor 
37 is included wherein the compressed air supplied to the rinsing spray 
ring 35 siphones the rinse water from the rinse water tank 38. The mixture 
of the water from the rinse water tank 38 and the compressed air from the 
air compressor 34 is sprayed onto the inside wall of the toilet bowl 27 at 
a high velocity through the spray holes included in the rinsing spray ring 
35 disposed around the opening of the toilet bowl 27. The high speed jet 
of compressed air emerging from the compressed air nozzle 36 is directed 
into the lower compartment of the rotary air-lock valve 28 and blow-cleans 
the wall of the compartment of the rotary air-lock valve 28 rotated to the 
lower position. The compressed air-assisted rinsing system is activated by 
the lowering action of the toilet bowl cover that switches on the air 
compressor 34 for an operation of a predetermined duration significantly 
shorter than the duration of operation of the vacuum blower 31. As the 
high velocity of mixture of compressed air and water enhances the spray 
cleaning of the toilet bowl by the rinsing sprays from the rinsing spray 
ring 35, only a small amount of rinse water is required to clean the 
toilet bowl after each use. The operating sequence of the air-vac toilet 
shown in FIG. 3 is the same as that described in conjunction with FIG. 1. 
The heat exchanger 39 is disposed around the dehydration-evaporation 
chamber 29 to enhance the vacuum-drying of the waste dumped into the 
dehydration-evaporation chamber. For an air-vac toilet installed in a 
mobile home, the exhaust gas from the engine circulated through the heat 
exchanger 39 may be used to heat the dehydration-evaporation chamber 29. 
In FIG. 4, there is shown a general arrangement of an air-vac toilet 
designed for a permanent installation in residential and office buildings. 
The air-vac toilet 40 comprises essentially the same elements, e.g., the 
toilet bowl 41 equipped with a rinsing spray ring 42, the rotary air-lock 
valve 43, the dehydration-evaporation chamber 44 equipped with a 
compressed air nozzle 45 and a waste disposer 46, the air compressor 47, 
the rinse water tank 48 supplying water t the eductor 49 and the vacuum 
blower 50 wherein those elements are constructed and arranged in the same 
manner as the elements included in the air-vac toilet 26 illustrated in 
FIG. 3. The air-vac toilet 40 of FIG. 4 differs from the air-vac toilet 26 
of FIG. 3 in that the vacuum blower 50 has an intake filter-deodorizer 51. 
The air-vac toilet 40 includes an oxidizing waste hopper 52 that receives 
the pulverized and dehydrated solid waste conveyed from the 
dehydration-evaporation chamber 44 by means of the pneumatic conveying 
through the waste discharge tube 53 equipped with a swing check valve 54. 
The air employed in the pneumatic conveying is removed from the oxidizing 
waste hopper 52 through the exhaust stack 55 equipped with a 
filter-deodorizer 56 and a suction blower 57. An air recirculation duct 58 
connects the outlet of the suction blower 57 to the bottom 59 of the 
oxidizing waste hopper 52, which enables it to aerate the pulverized 
dehydrated solid waste stored in the oxidizing waste hopper 52 by 
percolating the air supplied through the recirculation duct 58 
therethrough wherein the recirculated air may be preheated by a heating 
coil or heat exchanger or other heating means 60 heating the recirculated 
air. The remaining solid waste in the oxidizing waste hopper 52 is emptied 
into a plastic bag through a hopper gate equipped with a valve 61. A 
heating coil or heat exchanger or other heating means 62 installed in the 
dehydration-evaporation chamber 44 may be used to enhance the vacuum 
drying of the solid waste in the dehydration-evaporation chamber 44. The 
suction blower 57 should have the same control as that of the waste 
disposer 46; whereby, the pneumatic conveying of the pulverized dehydrated 
solid waste from the dehydration-evaporation chamber 44 to the oxidizing 
waste hopper 52 is realized by both the centrifugal vane of the waste 
disposer 46 and the suction blower 57. The principle and the mode of 
operation of the air-vac toilet 40 are the same as that described in 
conjunction with FIG. 1. 
In FIG. 5, there is illustrated a general arrangement of an air-vac toilet 
63 employing a preseparating toilet bowl 64 that discharges the solid 
waste to the dehydration-evaporation chamber 65 equipped with a waste 
disposer 66 through a rotary air-lock valve 67, while the liquid waste is 
roughly separated from the solid waste in the preseparating toilet bowl 64 
and emptied into a multiple tray evaporator 68 including a plurality of 
stacked trays 69. The solid waste dumped to the dehydration-evaporation 
chamber 65 is vacuum-dried by the vacuum blower or vacuum pump 70 and the 
dehydrated solid waste is pulverized and pneumatically conveyed into a 
waste hopper 71 through the waste discharge tube 72 equipped with a swing 
check valve 73 by the wastes disposer 66 with centrifugal vanes. The air 
used in the pneumatic conveying of the pulverized dehydrated solid waste 
is vented from the waste hopper 71 into the liquid waste evaporator 68 
through the venting air duct 74 connecting the top of the waste hopper 71 
to the bottom of the evaporator 68. The liquid waste evaporator is 
equipped with a filter deodorizer 75 and a suction blower 76 that 
discharges the air vented from the waste hopper 71 and circulated through 
the liquid waste evaporator 68 into the atmosphere through the exhaust 
stack 77. The liquid waste separated from the solid waste in the 
preseparating toilet bowl 64 flows into the liquid waste evaporator 68 by 
the gravity through the liquid waste discharge pipe 78 equipped with an 
orifice 79 and trickles down through the plurality of the trays 69 in a 
counter current movement against the currents of hot air circulated 
through the plurality of the trays by the suction blower 76 which counter 
current flow arrangement enhances the evaporation of the liquid waste 
trickling down over the plurality of the trays with large wettable surface 
areas by the convective heat and mass transfer of the circulating air 
heated by the heating coil or heat exchanger or other heating means 80. 
The orifice 79 is included to check the amount of the air entering the 
liquid waste evaporator from the preseparating toilet bowl 64 while 
allowing a sufficient flow rate of the liquid waste from the preseparating 
toilet bowl 64 into the evaporator 68. It should be understood that a 
rinsing spray ring equivalent to the item 42 of FIG. 4 may be included in 
the preseparating toilet bowl 64 wherein the rinsing spray water is 
separated from the solid waste and emptied into the liquid waste 
evaporator 68 through the liquid waste discharge pipe 78. The control of 
the suction blower 76 should be tied to the control of the vacuum blower 
70 with an overriding control circuit controlled by the moisture detector 
installed in the liquid waste evaporator 68. The air-vac toilet 63 
equipped with a preseparating toilet bowl 64 may be operated in the same 
principles and modes as the air-vac toilet of FIG. 1. The air-vac toilet 
with a preseparating toilet bowl is more energy efficient compared with 
the air-vac toilet with a nonseparating toilet bowl. It should be 
understood that direct heating by sun light may be employed to heat the 
air and/or the liquid waste currents in the evaporator 68. 
The preseparating toilet bowl 64 employed in the air-vac toilet of FIG. 5 
includes a converging-diverging bowl shell 81 wherein the inlet tube 82 of 
the rotary air-lock valve 67 having a diameter comparable to the diameter 
of the throat section of the converging-diverging shell 81 is disposed 
coaxially at the diverging section of the converging-diverging shell 81; 
whereby providing an annular opening between the diverging portion of the 
converging-diverging shell 81 and the inlet tube 82 of the rotary air-lock 
valve 67. The bottom 83 of the annular compartment intermediate the 
converging-diverging shell 81 and the inlet tube 82 of the rotary air-lock 
valve 67 is sloped to enhance the emptying of the liquid waste through the 
liquid waste discharge pipe 78. The liquid waste and/or rinse water 
sprayed onto the wall of the toilet bowl flows adhering to the inside 
surface of the converging-diverging shell 81 due to the effect of surface 
tension, and then collects into the bottom of the annular zone 
intermediate the converging-diverging shell 81 and the inlet tube 82 of 
the rotary air-lock valve 67, while the solid waste drops straight down 
into the inlet tube 82 of the rotary air-lock valve 67. In using the 
air-vac toilet equipped with a preseparating toilet bowl, it is 
recommended that male users set down and relieve their bladder so that the 
liquid waste lands on the toilet bowl wall and empties into the liquid 
waste evaporator. Such a practice is also desirable in view of the fact 
that the liquid waste does not splash out of the toilet bowl and create a 
mess as often occurs in the conventional practice of relieving themselves 
in the standup position. Of course, the air-vac toilet equipped with a 
preseparating toilet bowl works perfectly well even when a male user 
empties himself in the stand-up position wherein there will be a greater 
amount of energy consumption by the vacuum blower 70 to vacuum evaporate 
the liquid waste dumped into the dehydration-evaporation chamber 65, as 
the liquid waste evaporator 68 is a far more efficient liquid evaporator 
than the dehydration-evaporation chamber 65. It should be understood that 
spongy materials or packing of solid particles providing a large amount of 
wetted surface areas may be used instead of the multiple tray arrangement 
in the liquid waste evaporator as shown in FIG. 5. 
In FIG. 6, there is shown a general arrangement of an air-vac toilet 84 
that is a delux energy efficient model suitable for installation in 
private dwellings as well as large office and business buildings wherein 
an air-vac toilet capable of handling a heavy load is required. The energy 
efficient heavy duty air-vac toilet 84 comprises the combination including 
the preseparating toilet bowl 85, the rotary air-lock valve 86 and the 
dehydration-evaporation chamber 87 equipped with a solid waste disposer 88 
constructed and assembled in the same manner as the corresponding 
combination included in the air-vac toilet 63 in FIG. 5, which combination 
further includes a compressed air-assisted rinsing system comprising the 
air compressor 89, the rinse water tank 90, the eductor 91, the rinsing 
spray ring 92 and the compressed air nozzle 93. The operating principles 
and sequence of the compressed air-assisted rinsing system are the same as 
those described in conjunction with the air-vac toilet 26 of FIG. 3. The 
vacuum blower or vacuum pump 94 equipped with an intake filter-deodorizer 
95 creates a partial vacuum in the dehydration-evaporation chamber 87 and 
vacuum dries the solid waste dumped thereto wherein the heating coil 96 
may be employed to enhance the vacuum drying process by heating the solid 
waste. The dehydrated solid waste is pulverized by the waste disposer 88 
and pneumatically conveyed into the oxidizing waste hopper 97. The waste 
discharge tube 98 conveying the pulverized dehydrated solid waste from the 
dehydration-evaporation chamber 87 to the oxidizing waste hopper 97 
includes a swing check valve 99 that prevents the air flow from the 
oxidizing waste hopper 97 to the dehydration-evaporation chamber 87 during 
the vacuum drying cycle. The liquid waste separated from the solid waste 
in the preseparating toilet bowl 85 empties into the liquid waste 
evaporator 100 through the liquid waste discharge pipe 101 equipped with 
an orifice 102. The air vent duct 103 originating from the top of the 
oxidizing waste hopper 97 is connected to the bottom of the liquid waste 
evaporator 100. The suction blower 104 equipped with a filter-deodorizer 
105 draws the air from the liquid waste evaporator 100 and exhaust to the 
atmosphere through the exhaust stack; whereby, creating a hot air current 
heated by the heating coil or other heating means 107 that flows counter 
current fashion to the liquid waste trickling over a series of the trays 
108 included in the liquid waste evaporator 100. The recirculation air 
duct 109 directs a portion of the air exhausted from the suction blower 
104 to the bottom 110 of the oxidizing waste hopper 97 wherein the 
recirculating air precolates through the pulverized solid wastes stored in 
the oxidizing waste hopper 97 and enhances the oxidation thereof. The 
oxidized solid waste in the oxidizing waste hopper 97 is taken out through 
the hopper gate equipped with a valve 111 and bagged in a plastic bag 112 
or dumped into an incinerator 113 for incineration. The suction blower 104 
should be controlled by a controller tied to the control of the vacuum 
blower 94 with an over-ride-switch controlled by the moisture sensor 
sensing the moisture content in the liquid waste evaporator 100. The 
operating principles and sequences of the air-vac toilet 84 are the same 
as those described in conjunction with those air-vac toilets shown in 
FIGS. 4 and 5. 
It is interesting to notice that the waste discharged from the kitchen 
sinks equipped with a garbage disposer creates a dilemma for the 
households that have no sewer connections to their dwellings. It is an 
obvious extension of the principles of the present invention to make or 
fabricate the air-vac garbage disposer with either a preseparating sink 
similar to the preseparating toilet bowl or a nonseparating sink similar 
to the nonseparating toilet bowl, wherein the waste from the kitchen sink 
is dehydrated and evaporated. 
While the principles of the present invention have now been made clear by 
the illustrative embodiments, the utilization of the present invention 
shall not be limited to such illustrative embodiments as will be 
immediately obvious to the skilled in the art which may make modifications 
of the structure, arrangements, elements, proportions and materials which 
are particularly adapted to the specific working environment and the 
operating condition in practicing the invention, without departing from 
the principles of the present invention.