Abstract:
A portable toilet apparatus of the type is adapted to pack the excretion produced at a time into a flexible bag-like container and hermetically seal the pack, is not very bulk as a whole and allows aged persons and persons handicapped at lower limbs to sit on the toilet seat thereof with ease, while capable of neatly containing several packs of excretion under the toilet bowl, more specifically about four to six packs. A portable toilet apparatus of a type adapted to pack the excretion produced at a time into a flexible bag-like container to form a pack, hermetically seal the pack, drops the pack into a storage section arranged under the toilet main body includes a pack storage section having a shallow box-shaped profile and located substantially right below the dropping pack and pack moving means for moving the dropped and hermetically sealed pack within the storage section, the pack moving means arranged in the pack storage section.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates to a portable toilet apparatus adapted to contain the excretion that is produced at a time and put into a pack in a storage section after hermetically sealing the pack. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable toilet apparatus adapted to efficiently contain packs of excretion in a space saving manner. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Toilet apparatus adapted to pack the excretion produced at a time into a bag or a tube, hermetically sealing the pack of excretion and storing the pack in storage section with other packs are known and finding practical applications (see, for example, Patent Document 1: JP-A 49-102167, Patent Document 2: JP-A 06-30857 and JP-A 07-275162). 
         [0005]    In portable apparatus known from Patent Documents 1 through 3, the hermetically sealed pack of excretion that is produced at a time drops into a lower space of the toilet apparatus by free fall and stored there. However, they need improvements from the viewpoint of containing and storing a plurality of packs that have dropped down. 
         [0006]    More specifically, with any of the known toilet apparatus disclosed in above cited the patent documents, the pack of excretion produced at a time and contained in a hermitically sealed bag-shaped container simply drops into the storage section formed by a container such as a box and arranged under the toilet bowl. Therefore, the container such as a box arranged under the toilet bowl to operate as storage section is required to have a large capacity, or an internal space in order to orderly contain and store at least four to six packs of excretion. 
         [0007]    On the other hand, such a portable toilet desirably has relatively small external dimensions particularly when the toilet is arranged in a private room of an ordinary home. Additionally, aged persons who are nearly crippled and persons who are handicapped at lower limbs will feel difficulties when sitting on the toilet seat when the container such as a box that operates as storage section has a large volume to make the entire portable toilet bulky. This may also apply to portable toilets arranged in private rooms of hospitals. 
         [0008]    In view of the above-identified circumstances, it is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a portable toilet apparatus of the type adapted to pack the excretion produced at a time into a flexible bag-like container and hermetically seal the pack. The portable toilet apparatus of the type is not very bulk as a whole and allows aged persons and persons handicapped at lower limbs to sit on the toilet seat thereof with ease, while capable of neatly containing several packs of excretion under the toilet bowl, more specifically about four to six packs. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the above object is achieved by providing a portable toilet apparatus, or an excretion treating apparatus, adapted to pack the excretion produced at a time into a flexible bag-like container, hermetically seal the pack, drops the pack into a storage section arranged under the toilet main body. In the portable toilet apparatus, a pack moving means is arranged in the pack storage section having a shallow box-shaped profile and located substantially right below the dropping pack in order to move the dropped and hermetically sealed pack within the storage section. 
         [0010]    The pack moving means of a toilet apparatus according to the present invention may be a conveyor having a ball or a roller as rolling medium or a scraper-shaped or wiper-shaped sweeper lever. The sweeper lever may be adapted to move the pack by means of an angular rotary motion (swinging motion) or a translating motion. 
         [0011]    According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a toilet apparatus, including the height of the sealing position or the sealing/cutting position for hermetically sealing or hermetically sealing and cutting a pack containing excretion from the bottom of the container of the storage section, the height that is not less than about ½, preferably about ⅔, of the length of the pack. With this arrangement, the packs dropped into the storage section, each being hermetically sealed to contain the excretion produced at a time, can be dispersedly distributed in the storage section. Such a toilet apparatus does not require a pack moving means arranged within the storage section. 
         [0012]    Thus, according to the present invention, at least about six bag-shaped packs of excretion, each containing the excretion produced at a time, can be contained in the storage section and the dropped packs are prevented from lying one on the other. Therefore, the height of the entire toilet apparatus can be held to less than a maximum allowable height and the toilet seat can be held to a relatively low level, while several packs of excretion can be efficiently contained in the pack storage section so that the stored packs may be collected less frequently. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional perspective view of a portable toilet apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing only the left half thereof; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the portable toilet apparatus of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a pack storage section (drawer) provided with guide conveyor as pack moving means that can be used for the purpose of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a schematic plan view of the pack storage section (drawer) provided with a sweeping means as pack moving means that can be used for the purpose of the present invention; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of a hermetically sealed pack containing excretion. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0018]    Now, the present invention will be described in greater detail by referring to the accompanying drawings that illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional perspective view of a portable toilet apparatus (referred to as “portable toilet” in this specification hereinafter) according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing only the left half thereof,  FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the portable toilet apparatus of  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a pack storage section provided with guide conveyor as pack moving means that can be used for the purpose of the present invention, while  FIG. 4  is a schematic plan view of the pack storage section provided with a sweeping means as pack moving means that can be used for the purpose of the present invention and  FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of a hermetically sealed pack containing excretion. 
         [0020]    A portable toilet PT according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a hollow box-shaped toilet main body  1  having a height of about 350 to 500 mm, preferably 350 to 450 mm, from the floor, and a width and a length of about 450 to 500 mm. On a top surface  1   a  of the toilet main body  1 , an aperture  2  opened like a western-style toilet bowl, and a toilet seat  3  having a substantially O-shaped or U-shaped profile as viewed from above is arranged at the aperture  2 . A lid  4  that can be bent on itself and is hinged to the toilet seat  3  at the remote end thereof so as to be opened and closed relative to the toilet seat  3 . The lid  4  may be of a type that cannot be bent on itself. 
         [0021]    An intermediate floor  5  is arranged in the inside of the main body  1  at a position slightly above a half of the height of the inside of the main body  1 . The intermediate floor  5  has an aperture  6  for allowing excretion to drop further down at the center thereof with a diameter (about 120 to 150 mmø) smaller than the aperture  2 . An excretion packaging mechanism Pa, which will be described below, is fitted to the lower surface of the intermediate floor  5  (below the aperture  6  for allowing excretion to drop further down). 
         [0022]    A guide member  7  showing a tapered or funnel-shaped cross section is arranged between the aperture  2  of the top surface  1   a  and the aperture  6  for allowing excretion to drop further down between the top surface  1   a  and the intermediate floor  5 . The illustrated guide member  7  includes an annular support member  7   a  having a diameter larger than the aperture of the toilet seat  3  and guide surface members  7   b , each having the top thereof bound to the support member  7   a  and the bottom thereof supported by the intermediate floor  5  at a position outside the aperture  6 . The guide member  7  supports a bag  8 , which will be described in greater detail hereinafter, and guides the dropping excretion. 
         [0023]    An oblong bag member  8  (e.g., 20 to 30 m long) made of flexible synthetic resin film such as polyethylene film and typically folded like an annular bellows is arranged on the intermediate floor  5  and outside the guide surface members  7   b  of the guide member  7  so as to surround the entire guide member  7  and receive excretion into the bag member  8  in order to pack the latter (see  FIG. 2 ). The bag member  8  has its upwardly directed top end turned downward by the annular support member  7   a  of the guide member  7  and drawn to the lower surface side of the intermediate floor  5  from the aperture  6  for allowing excretion to drop further down of the intermediate floor  5  by way of the top surfaces of the guide surface members  7   b  showing a funnel-shaped cross section so as to be suspended by the guide surface members  7   b . Thus, the part of the bag member  8  located under the area on the guide surface members  7   b , including that area, operates as excretion receiving section  8   a.    
         [0024]    Now, the packaging mechanism Pa arranged below the aperture  6  will be described below. 
         [0025]    The packaging mechanism Pa includes a shallow box-shaped casing  9 , which is provided with two pairs of feed rolls  10  (although only one of the two pairs is shown in the drawings) arranged at the opposite lateral sides of the aperture  6  in order to nip the bag  8  drawn downward through the aperture  6  at the transversal ends thereof and a pair of shutter sections  11 ,  12 , which is arranged at the lower surface of the casing  9  and substantially right below the aperture  6  and which is adapted to slide to take an open position and a closed position so as to operate as a bottom that can be opened and closed as will be described in greater detail hereinafter, a pair of actuator arms  13 ,  14  supporting the respective shutter sections  11 ,  12  so as to allow them to freely slide and a heat seal cutter  15  arranged at the proximal ends of the shutter sections  11 ,  12 . The two pairs of feed rolls  10  and the actuator arms  13 ,  14  are driven by respective motors that are different from each other (not shown) in this embodiment, although they may alternatively be driven by a drive mechanism adapted to transform vertically swinging strokes of a foot pedal type lever pivoted to the main body  1  into a rotary motion of the rolls and a sliding motion of the arms. 
         [0026]    In the illustrated embodiment, the heat seal cutter  15  arranged at the proximal ends of the shutter sections  11 ,  12  includes upper and lower heaters  15   a ,  15   b  arranged at the upper and lower portions in the thickness direction of the shutter sections  11 ,  12 . The bag  8  fed out downward by the two pairs of rolls  10  is horizontally and linearly heat sealed at upper and lower positions that are close to each other and that correspond to the upper and lower heaters  15   a ,  15   b  respectively, and then an intermediate position between the two sealing positions is cut by the lower heater  15   b . In  FIG. 5 ,  8   b  and  8   c  denote the heat sealed parts of the bag. 
         [0027]    With the above-described arrangement, the pack that is cut and separated from the remaining part of the bag  8  (the part of the bag immediately before cut is referred to as pack  8  hereinafter) is cut and becomes an independent pack  8 A as shown in  FIG. 5  and then drops downward by free fall. In  FIG. 5 , Z denotes packed excretion. Of the remaining part of the bag  8  (that is to be the pack  8 A), the part  8   b  linearly sealed by the upper heater  15   a  becomes the bottom of the next pack  8 A (to be also referred to as bottom  8   b  hereinafter). The length by which the bag  8  is fed out downward at a time by means of the roll  10  is about equal to the length of the part of the bag  8  supported by the guide member  7  (about 200 to 300 mm). 
         [0028]    Although not shown, a third heater (not shown) may be arranged at an intermediate position between the heaters  15   a ,  15   b  so as to operate as cutter, while the heaters  15   a ,  15   b  are arranged above and below the corresponding surfaces of the respective shutter sections  11 ,  12  in parallel with each other. 
         [0029]    With the above arrangement, the packaging mechanism Pa produces a pack  8 A containing excretion Z in a hermetically sealed condition and put the part of the pack  8  that is closed at the bottom by the heat sealed part  8   b  in the inside of the toilet so as to be supported by the guide member  7  and become the next pack that receives and contains the excretion produced from the user of the toilet sitting on the toilet seat  3 . 
         [0030]    It is desirable that a toilet apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is provided with a pressure sensor or a photo sensor such as an infrared sensor (not shown) at or near the toilet seat  3  and the sensor is adapted to turn on a motor control circuit (not shown) when the sensor senses the user of the toilet apparatus sitting down on the toilet seat  3  and keep the circuit in a standby status. As soon as the user leaves the toilet seat  3 , the motor starts operating to rotate the feed rolls  10  so as to feed the bag  8  by a predetermined extent and then actuates the heat seal cutters  15  ( 15   a ,  15   b ). The above sequence of operations may be started manually by the user of the toilet apparatus or the user&#39;s helper by means of a switch. 
         [0031]    A micro switch (not shown) may be arranged near the heat seal cutters  15   a ,  15   b  of the shutter sections  11 ,  12  to detect a foreign object nipped by the heat seal cutters  15   a ,  15   b . When the micro switch is turned on to notify the existence of “a foreign object”, the shutter sections  11 ,  12  are opened again to feed the pack  8  once again. Then, the pack  8  is heat-sealed and cut to drop. 
         [0032]    Toilet apparatus of the type under consideration are normally provided in a space below the packaging mechanism Pa with a box-shaped drawer  16  that operates as storage section for storing packs of excretions and can be drawn out from and put back into the main body  1 . The drawer  16  of a toilet apparatus according to the present invention is equipped with a mechanism as schematically illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . This mechanism will be described further below. 
         [0033]    A conical, angled or sloped guide surface  17  of a ball conveyor may be arranged at the center of the drawer  16  as shown in  FIG. 3  in order to force the pack  8 A that is dropping down to slip and fall down to a peripheral area in the drawing  16 . 
         [0034]    A swinging scraper  18  or a translating scraper  19  may be arranged in the drawer  16  to move the pack  8 A dropping down substantially to the center of the drawer  16  to a lateral side of the drawer  16 . The scraper  18  or  19  may be driven manually or by means or a motor or a cylinder. 
         [0035]    For the purpose of the present invention, the drawer  16  that operates as the storage section of packs  8 A may not be provided with a guide slope  17  of a ball conveyor or a scraper  18  or  19  but the distance h between the bottom surface  16   a  of the drawer  16  and the heater  15   b  of the packaging mechanism Pa may be made at least not less than ½, preferably ⅔, of the length L (or the height, which is about 200 to 300 mm in this embodiment) of each pack  8 A (at least 100 to 150 mm, preferably about 133 to 200 mm relative to the above cited specific range of the length L) so that packs  8 A that are cut by the heater  15   b  and dropping down into the drawer  16  may be contained on the bottom surface of the drawer  16  without being allowed to lie one on the other. 
         [0036]    The inventor of the present invention obtained the above cited specific range of the distance h as a result of a number of experiments, although it is not clear whey packs  8 A are arranged successfully on the bottom surface of the drawer  16  without being allowed to lie one on the other when the distance h is within the above cited range. 
         [0037]    The embodiment of portable toilet apparatus according to the present invention and having the above-described configuration is typically used in a mode as described below. As the user of the toilet apparatus sits on the toilet seat  3 , the pressure sensing switch senses the user and brings the motors of the rolls  10  and the arms  13 ,  14  into a standby status. At this time, the bottom  8   b  of the bag  8  that is used to form a pack  8 A is heat sealed and the shutter sections  11 ,  12  are closed. Under this condition, the excretion produced by the user is contained in the excretion containing section  8   a  near the bottom  8   b  of the pack  8 A. As the user stands up from the toilet seat  3 , the motors are operated by the pressure sensing switch so that the closed shutter sections  11 ,  12  are driven to move away from each other by the actuator arms  13 ,  14  while the rolls  10  are driven to rotate in the respective senses of the arrows to feed out the part of the bag  8  that becomes a pack  8 A downward. The length by which the bag  8  is fed out is about 200 to 300 mm as pointed out earlier. The length by which the bag  8  is fed out can be set to a specific value between 200 and 300 mm in each toilet apparatus. 
         [0038]    As the part of the bag  8  that becomes a pack  8 A is fed out downward by the predetermined distance, the motor of the arms is driven to rotate reversely and the actuator arms  13 ,  14  operate to bring the shutter sections  11 ,  12  that have been moved away from each other to come back close to each other. Then, the area of the part of the bag  8  that becomes a pack  8 A and is located vis-á-vis the heat seal cutter  15  is linearly welded by the two heaters  15   a ,  15   b . The part of the bag  8  that becomes a pack  8 A is cut way from the remaining bag  8  at an intermediate position between the two welded lines by the lower heater  15   b  while a bottom  8   b  is produced by the upper heater  15   a . Under this condition, the operation of the heaters  15   a ,  15   b  is stopped and the shutter sections  11 ,  12  are held closed. The sealed bottom of the part of the bag  8  that becomes a pack  8 A is supported from under so that the part is held in a standby status for the next excretion. The above-described operation is repeated for each excretion so that the consumed amount (or the remaining amount) of the bag  8  can be computationally determined by counting the number of times of operation of the motor for feeding the bag  8  or the number of times of rotation of the rolls  10 . It may be so arranged that a warning lamp for prompting supply of a new bag  8  is be turned on, for example, when the remaining amount of the existing bag  8  is for 30 excretions and a warning sound is be emitted, for example, when the remaining amount of the existing bag  8  becomes short of for 10 excretions. 
         [0039]    The pack  8 A containing excretion and cut by the heater  15   b  at the top end thereof drops to a central part of the drawer  16 . When the drawer  16  is provided with a guide slope  17 , the pack  8 A is contained in the drawer  16  in a manner as described below. Namely, the dropping pack  8 A hits the guide slope  17 , which extends toward the periphery of the drawer  16 , and then moves to a peripheral area of the drawer  16  as it is guided by the slope  17 . The packs  8 A of excretion that sequentially drop into the drawer  16  are stored in the drawer  16  of the storage section. When a predetermined number of packs  8 A are stored in the drawer  16 , the drawer  16  is taken out from the main body  1  and the packs  8 A are collected for disposal. 
         [0040]    When the drawer  16  is provided with a scraper-shaped sweeping means  18  or  19 , the pack  8 A that drops to a substantially central part of the drawer  16  is moved to the left side or the right side of the drawer  16  by the reciprocal motion of the sweeping means  18  or  19  so that the packs  8 A of excretion that sequentially drops into the drawer  16  are stored without being allowed to lie one on the other. 
         [0041]    When, on the other hand, the distance h between the position where the pack  8 A is heat sealed and cut by the heaters  15   a ,  15   b  and the bottom surface  16   a  of the drawer  16  is within the above described range of about 133 to 200 mm, the pack  8 A having a length L of about 200 to 300 mm after being cut drops on a central part of the drawer  16  and lies and remains flat on the bottom surface  16   a  of the drawer  16  due to the effect of the distance h if the pack  8 A is the first one in the drawer  16 . 
         [0042]    When the pack  8  containing excretion Z is heat sealed at the top end thereof by the heater  15   b , air is also contained in the pack  8  in addition to the excretion. Therefore, the pack  8 A cut from the remaining part of the bag  8  appear like a balloon containing air loosely or to a small extent. Therefore, as the pack  8 A drops onto the bottom surface  16   a  of the drawer  16 , the balloon like pack  8 A lies flat on the bottom surface  16   a.    
         [0043]    As the next pack  8 A drops down, the next pack  8 A is blocked by the preceding pack  8 A lying on the bottom surface  16   a  of the drawer  16 . Then, the next pack slides aside and lies flat next to the preceding pack  8 A due to the above-described profile of the latter. In this way, the succeeding packs  8 A sequentially slides aside and lies flat on the bottom surface  16   a  due to the similar profiles of the preceding packs  8 A and hence they do not interfere with each other. In other words, they do not lie one on the other but simply scatter and spread on the bottom surface  16   a  of the drawer  16  as they are stored in the drawer  16 . When a predetermined number of packs  8 A are stored in the drawer  16 , the latter is taken out from the main body  1  and collected for disposal as in the case of a drawer provided with a guide slope  17 . 
         [0044]    As described above in detail, a portable toilet apparatus according to the present invention forms a pack  8 A of the excretion that is produced at a time and drops it into the drawer  16  that operates as storage container. The packs  8 A that drop are forced to move toward the peripheral area of the drawer  16  so as not to lie one on the other. Therefore, the storage space of the drawer  16  can be effectively utilized and the height of the lower space of the toilet main body  1  can be reduced. In other words, an appropriate height that is comfortable to the user can be selected for the toilet seat  3 . Thus, a portable toilet apparatus according to the present invention is highly comfortable and friendly to aged persons and persons who are handicapped at lower limbs. 
         [0045]    Additionally, packs  8 A of excretion are efficiently contained in the drawer  16  that operates as storage section in a space saving manner. Therefore, it is not necessary to frequently take out the drawer  16  containing packs  8 A from a lower part of the toilet main body  1 . It should be noted that packs  8 A of excretion often lie one on the other in known toilet apparatus of the type under consideration so that they may have to be collected when two or three packs are stored in the storage section. 
         [0046]    As described above, a predetermined relatively large number of packs  8 A of excretion are collected from the drawer  16  that operates as storage container of a toilet apparatus according to the present invention. Thus, a portable toilet apparatus according to the present invention is not only hygienic but also efficient so that excretion can be handled in a hygienic and simple manner.