Abstract:
A waterless urinal for easy installation in bathroom and non bathroom areas of a residence. The waterless urinal includes a urinal housing with an integral drain assembly and removable door. The waterless urinal enables the discharge of urine without the need for flushing with water. A protective layer of specialized liquid is used to mask the urine in the urinal and prevent odors.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a waterless urinal for use in a residential bathroom or non bathroom area. 
       OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
       [0002]    The object and advantage of the invention is to provide a waterless urinal in a residential non bathroom area which eliminates the need for flushing with water, which is easy to manufacture, and which is easy to install or retrofit in any room of a dwelling. 
         [0003]    Other objects are to provide a urinal that blends with the wall and is odorless. 
         [0004]    Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a study of the following description and accompanying drawings. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a urinal housing is provided for installation in a residence as described. The housing is accessed by a door, which is adapted to open and close against the frame to permit urine transfer into the housing as required. A U-shaped trough is provided on the interior of the door for channelling urine into the housing. An integral drain assembly is provided underneath the housing which fluidly communicates with the housing by means of a drain opening in the housing. The drain assembly comprises a urine trap reservoir and a removable urine trap insert. The urine trap reservoir is a container having a bottom, an inlet opening at the top fluidly communicating directly with the drain opening, and an elevated outlet opening within the container above the bottom thereof. The urine trap insert is a vertically elongated closure with a cover. The urine trap insert circumscribes the elevated outlet in the urine trap reservoir and is aligned within the drain. The urine trap insert is retained in place above the bottom of the reservoir container by means of engagement of the cover with the floor of the housing. 
         [0006]    In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the framed opening has a bottom ledge which cooperates with the underside of the door trough to enable the door to pivot outwardly from a closed position against the frame to an open position. 
         [0007]    In accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, a protective layer of liquid is provided inside the drain assembly as described. The liquid has a density lower than that of urine and functions to form an overlying seal on the urine in the reservoir. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described in detail by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a plan view of an installed urinal assembly showing the door in the closed position against a vertical wall. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the installed waterless urinal illustrating the opening of the door. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the waterless urinal housing. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the door of the waterless urinal. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the urine trap insert. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the urine trap reservoir. 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a partially sectional view of the cover of the urine trap insert illustrated the spacer means. 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a cross sectional view of the drain assembly. 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a cross sectional view of the drain assembly illustrating the fluid level. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0018]    The waterless urinal according to this invention is intended for easy installation and use in a bathroom or non bathroom area of the home such as, for example, the bedroom. As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the urinal is installed flush against the wall  21  and is accessed by means of a door  7  which pivots outwardly for use and otherwise functions to close the urinal as will hereinafter be described. The door  7  has grips  8  on the top corners of the door for the user to grasp to operate the door  7 . The door of the urinal is the only visible part of the urinal in the room. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the urinal further comprises a urinal housing  1  and a specialized waterless drain assembly  2  underneath the housing below the drain opening. A circular drain opening  4  communicates with the drain assembly wherein the urine is conveyed therethrough to the house drain pipe (not shown). The urinal installation may be OEM or a retrofit requiring only a connection to a conventional drain pipe. A drain pipe fitting  3  at the bottom of the drain assembly is provided for attachment to the drain pipe. 
         [0020]    The urinal housing is prefabricated and its width D is sized to be installed between the 2×4 wall studs by means of integral attachment tabs  5  which are adapted to receive a fastener therethrough. The housing portions can be fabricated by means of, for example, injection molding using a suitable plastic material such as ABS. In one embodiment the housing is manufactured in two pairs  1   a  and  1   b  and joined together by conventional means. The door accessed opening to the housing is provided with an outwardly extending flange like border  6  to allow for the flush installation of wall board around the opening. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the housing is provided with a front door accessed opening having an upright ledge  17  along the bottom on which the door  7  is seated and on which the door pivots between the open and closed positions. 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , the interior of the door is configured with a U-shaped trough having sides  9  with lower edges and bottom for channeling the urine into the housing. Referring to  FIG. 3 , the lower edges of the door engage the ledge between the alignment guides  19  which center the door on the housing. Referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 , the door  7  pivots outwardly on the ledge  17  which motion is limited by the lugs  20  provided on each side. The lugs  20  engage the inside of the housing opening at the point of maximum door opening. In the open position, the interior door surface and sides  9  function as a trough to channel the urine into the housing for discharge into the housing and drain opening  4 . The drain assembly  2  is installed directly underneath the drain opening  4  of the housing as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0023]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 , the vertical sides  9  of the door opening are tapered upwardly and inwardly from the centre point  18  so as to present a greater width at the centre line than the operative width of the door  7 . This allows for the easy insertion of the removable door  7  through the greater center width whereupon the door may be lowered into position. The retaining lugs  20  at the sides are dimensioned to fit through the centre of the opening to be thereby secured behind the door opening edge when the door  7  is lowered into its pivoting position. The door  7  accordingly easily lifts out for periodic cleaning and sanitizing. 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  7 , the drain assembly  2  consists of a urine trap reservoir  10  to collect the urine and a urine trap insert  11  which functionally co-operates with the urine trap reservoir  10  to discharge an added volume of urine into the drain opening  4  as will be hereinafter described. 
         [0025]    The urine trap reservoir  10  is concentrically shaped and has an elevated drain outlet port  12 . The removable urine trap insert  11  has an inverted pipe  13  having a closure  14  at the top end thereof. The diameter of the urine trap insert pipe  13  is greater than the diameter of the drain outlet port  12  and circumscribes the elevated drain outlet port  12  of the urine trap reservoir  10  and is retained in place by resting over the drain opening  4 . Referring to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the operative length L of the trap insert pipe  13  is selected to ensure that it remains above the floor of the reservoir in order to provide passage for the urine  23  thereunder. The urine trap insert  11  is seated and retained in position above the drain by suitable spacer means  15  provided on the underside periphery of the closure  14  maintaining said cover in spaced apart relationship to the floor  22 . The closure  14  resting on the spacer means  15  is thus above the floor  22  of the housing to permit the flow of urine  23  from the housing into the trap reservoir  10 . The urine trap insert  11  is removable to permit cleaning of the urine trap reservoir  10 . 
         [0026]    The drain assembly  2  may be initially primed using water as the urine liquid whose density is functionally equivalent to urine. As such a volume of water is poured into the reservoir to a first height A which is below the elevated drain. Next, the trap insert is installed. Following, the Blue Seal® liquid is added in overlying sealing relationship to the water or urine shown as the “dark layer  16  in  FIG. 9 . The density of the Blue Seal® liquid is less than water or urine enabling it to float on the urine. Once the volume of urine in the container rises above the height of the elevated drain outlet, it naturally overflows under the action of gravity into the drain outlet and is thereby discharged. In this way, the urine in the container will automatically drain into the elevated outlet. The Blue Seal® liquid readily available on the open market is a mixture of aliphatic alcohol and surfactants. A material data safety sheet is attached as  FIG. 8  by way of example of a suitable liquid. 
         [0027]    In operation, a volume of urine  23  is added to the urinal and flows through the drain opening  4  into the trap reservoir  10 . Since the urine is denser than the Blue Seal® liquid, the urine flows through the Blue Seal® layer to comingle with the urine in the urine trap reservoir. The added volume of the urine in the reservoir creates a dynamic head above the elevated drain outlet  12  which operates to discharge the added volume of urine into the elevated drain outlet for discharge into the house sewer. It is expected that approximately 3 ounces of blue seal will last for a minimum of 1500 uses. 
         [0028]    Other advantages which are inherent to the structure are obvious to one skilled in the art. The embodiments are described herein illustratively and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention as claimed. Variations of the foregoing embodiments will be evident to a person of ordinary skill and are intended by the inventor to be encompassed by the following claims.