Abstract:
Disclosed is a chemical administrator which delivers a chemical solution into a water supply line for a water-consuming device, e.g., a toilet in a recreational vehicle, for the purpose of treating waste-water before it is disposed in a holding tank. The apparatus has a container which holds the chemical solution. It also has a chemical administering system which siphons the chemical from the container into said water supply line using a vacuum created by the water moving through it.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Not applicable.  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not applicable.  
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0003]     This invention relates to the field of introducing treating chemicals into water in a sewer-storage system. More particularly, the present invention provides a new and useful method for treating wastewater in a self-contained bathroom, e.g., in a recreational vehicle or on a marine craft.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     Many recreational vehicles and marine craft have self-contained bathrooms. The fixtures in these bathrooms (e.g., toilets) are served using a pressurized source of clean water which introduces the clean water into the toilet bowl via a hose.  
         [0005]     Waste water is disposed into holding tanks. The holding tank is typically located immediately below the toilet so that when the toilet is flushed, the wastewater drops down through a vertical conduit into the tank. The wastewater is maintained in the storage tank until it is able to be disposed of appropriately at a dumping facility.  
         [0006]     The addition of chemicals to the wastewater is necessary to prevent odors and to assist in the decomposition process. These chemicals can be added in many different ways. One is for the owner to manually dispose them into the bowl during every use. Obviously this subjects the user to the mechanics involved, e.g., scooping or pouring the cleaner. But it also subjects them to properly metering the use. This presents the likelihood of human error. If too much cleaner is used, it is wasted. If too little, then holding-tank odor and soiling problems (caused by the failure to decompose the solid waste) may result.  
         [0007]     Other techniques have been used in which the cleaner is introduced automatically using some sort of system. One such system automatically squirts a regulated quantity into the toilet bowl with each flush. Unfortunately, with these systems the cleaner sometimes is not thoroughly mixed into the waste water. This creates pockets of untreated areas in the holding tanks, and other pockets of over-treated areas.  
         [0008]     One conventional system uses a block of disinfecting cleaner in the introduction pipe before the cleaner is introduced into the toilet. But these blocks are difficult to replace, and it is difficult to identify when they have run out of cleaning power. Further, because these systems are dependent on the cleaner being dissolved into the flowing water, disposal concentrations fluctuate greatly from flush to flush dependant on the amount of time allowed between flushes. This is because there is no means to adequately meter the amount of cleaner administered with each flush.  
         [0009]     Therefore, there is need in the art for a system which adequately, accurately, and easily administers cleaning chemicals in a self-contained bathroom system.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0010]     The present invention satisfies these administration needs by providing a chemical dispensing apparatus which delivers a chemical solution into a water supply line for a water-consuming device, such as a toilet, for the purpose of treating waste-water. The apparatus has a container which holds the chemical solution. It also has a chemical administering system which vacuums the chemical from the container into said water supply line.  
         [0011]     Another aspect of the invention is a metering system for controlling the amount of chemical administered into said water line. In one embodiment, this system includes a plate having a plurality of differently-sized orifices, each of said orifices being slidable into the flow path of chemical into the water supply line. The slidable plate sandwiched between two O-rings which are compressed against the plate to fluidly seal off one of the orifices into the flow path.  
         [0012]     The administrating system comprises a pipe which is adapted to be spliced into the water supply line. It also includes a vertical conduit which has upper and lower ends. The upper end is tapped into the supply line and the lower end has an inlet which receives chemical up into the vertical conduit for the purpose of administering it into said supply line.  
         [0013]     The pipe is secured to said container by an upper housing which is adapted to be fastened to an upper surface of said container. Also on the upper surface of the container is a fill opening with a removable cap so that the container can be filled with chemical. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, which are incorporated by reference herein and wherein:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the chemical treatment dispenser of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the dispenser.  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a cross section taken at  3 - 3  in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a top view looking down with all the features above section  4 - 4  removed.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]     The present invention provides a system and method for delivering a chemical substance in a fluid delivery line for the purpose of sanitizing and deodorizing waste water which is destined for storage in a holding tank most typically in some sort of self contained system like those that exist in recreational vehicles, commercial airliners, or marine vessels. Other kinds of portable waste management systems, however, could use the devices and/or techniques disclosed herein and still fall within the scope of the present invention. The processes and devices could also be employed for other applications in which a fluid is chemically treated. Further, the present invention may take the form of a device embodiment or a method embodiment for chemically treating a fluid.  
         [0020]     The device is a dispenser which is adapted so that it can be spliced into the pressurized water supply line for the water consuming device, which may be a toilet, shower, or any other kind of device which consumes water and produces waste water which is treatable. The device has a container which includes a fill cap. As water flows through the supply line, a vacuum is created in a vertical passageway which is joined into the supply line. This vacuum is used to siphon chemical up out of the container into the supply line. By the time the chemical-including water reaches the toilet (or other water-consuming device) it will be evenly mixed and better able to treat the waste water than if it were directly dispensed separately.  
         [0021]     One embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 1-4 . Referring first to  FIG. 1 , a perspective view of a device  10  depicts various components. The administrator  10  includes a chemical storage system. The most common chemical solutions used to treat waste water in recreational vehicles include formaldehydes, ammonias, or biological alternatives which are in liquid form. Here, the solution will be stored in a container  12 . Container  12  is able to be filled with the chemical solution via a fill cap  14 . In the preferred embodiment, container  12  is transparent or semitransparent to enable the user to know how full it is of chemical deodorizer. Fill cap  14  is located on an exposed area of an upper surface  15  of the container. When the user wishes to fill container  12  with chemical treatment solution, cap  14  is removed to reveal an opening (not shown) into the container. Fill cap  14  may be a snap-on type cap, but may also be a screw-on or any other type of cap if desired.  
         [0022]     Container  12  is adapted to fluidly communicate with a water pipe  18 . Physically, water pipe  18  is brought into junction with container  12  using an upper housing  16 . In the preferred embodiment housing  16  is attached using a plurality of fasteners  22  which are received through flanges  23  and bored into and thus couple upper housing  16  to surface  15  of the container.  
         [0023]     In the embodiment disclosed in  FIGS. 1-4 , fasteners  22  are screws which are received into formed apertures (not shown) in upper surface  15 . Other fastening mechanisms or arrangements, however, could be used as well and still fall within the scope of the present invention. For example, fastener  22  could alternatively use a snap-to-fit arrangement where prongs depend from the bottom of the upper housing and are received in receiving apertures in surface  15  on the container. Rivets, or other known types of fasteners could also be used which are capable of securing housing  16  to container  12 .  
         [0024]     Pipe  18  will receive water in a fluid inlet  19  and dispense treated water from a fluid outlet  20 . A set of threads  23  are associated with inlet  19  and a second set of threads  21  are associated with outlet  20 . Each end also has tapered portions  48  and  50  which enable tubing (not shown) to be easily slid onto and disposed onto the pipe ends. Thus, the device can be spliced into the pressurized water line which feeds into the fixture (or fixtures) such as the toilet by simply cutting the line and inserting device  10 .  
         [0025]     Once ends  19  and  20  are spliced into each of the cut ends of the water line tubing, the tubing is further secured using screw-on pipe nut (not shown) which have reciprocating threads that engage threads  21  and  23  and sealingly lock the tubing onto pipe  18 .  
         [0026]     Alternatively, a quick-connect-coupler arrangement—which will also be known to those skilled in the art—could be used to accomplish this same task. It should be understood that the present invention should not be limited to any manner in which pipe  18  is fluidly connected into the water line.  
         [0027]     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a top-view of the invention is illustrated which shows fill cap  14 , upper housing  16 , and fasteners  22  from above. This figure also shows a tab  24  which is used to actuate a slide-metering plate  24  which may be seen in detail in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The  FIG. 3 a  cross-sectional side-view of the present invention shows one or more exemplary parts associated with the present invention.  
         [0028]     Device  10  also includes a siphon arrangement. The siphoning is accomplished using a vertical siphon tube  33  which may be seen in  FIG. 3 . The siphon tube  33  has a circular flanged top  56  and an opening  58  at the bottom. A drop down portion  60  defined into the upper surface  15  of the container has a circular cross section and defines a chamber  30  which is used to receive a compression spring  32  which is used to bear against a lower surface of flange  56 . This pressure causes the upper surface of flange  56  to bear against an O-ring  39 , sandwiching O-ring  39  against a lower portion of metering plate  25  to create a sealed relationship between tube  33  and an aperture (a middle aperture  37  is shown as being the selection in  FIG. 3 ) in the metering plate. There is a first radial channel  62  defined by the upper surface of flange  56  which cups O-ring  39  so that it will not move when metering plate  25  is slid back and forth, but instead will remain secured atop the suction tube flange  56 .  
         [0029]     An upper O-ring  39  is sandwiched between the upper surface of plate  25  and the underside of a depending portion  40  which is defined by the upper housing  16 . A second radial channel is defined by the underside of depending portion  40  to hold O-ring  39  in place when plate  25  moves. A vertical passageway  42  taps chemical into a longitudinal conduit  66  in which water flows through pipe  18  from end  19  to end  20 . This one-way-flow limitation is created, in the disclosed embodiment, using a flapper valve  70 . Flapper valve  70  has a body  72  which has disk shape which conforms to the cross section of conduit  66 . When the pressure on the end  19  side of the valve is greater than the pressure on the end  20  side of the valve, it will swing open enabling flow. When the pressure on the end  20  side is greater than the pressure on the end  19  side, the lower portion of body  72  will bear against a stop member  74  and the disk body  72  will block backflow. This is important in preventing chemical flow back up into the feeder line which might cause contamination of the water distribution system.  
         [0030]     Device  10  also includes a metering system which regulates the amount of chemical administered into conduit  66 . Slide-metering plate  24  contains multiple orifices  36 ,  37 , and  38  having various sized diameters that become selectable during the movement of slide-metering plate  25  by sliding it by manipulating cantilever tab  24  with the thumb or a finger. Each of the three orifices will result in a different flow rate. First orifice  36  is the largest and thus allows for greater flow. Second orifice  37  is smaller and will restrict flow. Third orifice  38  is the smallest and thus, will provide minimal flow. If the metering plate is slid to a position where none of orifices  36 ,  37 , or  38  are positioned between O-rings  35  and  39 , no flow will be allowed.  
         [0031]     Assuming the device is already installed into the water line, and has been filled with cleaner as discussed above, it will be able to administer chemicals as follows. During use of the fixture, e.g., flushing the toilet, water will rush through the water supply line into which pipe  18  has been interposed causing water flowing in the line to pass through conduit  66 . The flow of fluid through conduit  66  creates a vacuum in passageway  42 . This vacuum draws cleaner from chamber  34  up through tube  33  and then causes it to pass through whichever orifice of orifices  36 ,  37 , and  38  is fluidly positioned between tube  33  and passageway  42  (unless the metering plate is positioned such that none of the orifices will allow flow and the flow of cleaner will be completely shut off). The holes are sized to allow for three separate concentrations measured in chemical per gallon. For example, first orifice  36  might allow for a concentration rate of a one-half ounce of chemical per gallon of water. Second orifice  37  might be sized to accomplish a one-third ounce of chemical per gallon of water. Third orifice  38  might be sized to accomplish a flow concentration of one-quarter ounce of chemical per every gallon of water. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, slide-metering plate  24  may provide additional orifices for obtaining additional metered values. After this cleaner passes through the orifice (orifice  37  is selected in  FIG. 3 ) it passes up into passageway  42 , then out of pipe  18  from outlet  20 .  
         [0032]     The introduction of the chemical into the water flow in advance to its being transmitted into the toilet will cause it to be thoroughly mixed. Thus, there will be no pocketing problems as existed in the prior art systems. Further, the vacuum suction arrangement causes the chemical to be automatically drawn out of the container in the same concentration flush after flush.  
         [0033]     This disclosure sets forth illustrative examples of various embodiments for a method and device that provides a chemical solution or fluid to be vacuum drawn into a fluid pipe to provide a mix solution at the fluid outlet. The present invention is not limited to any particular type of connector, o-ring, or composition of material (plastic, metal, etc.) for the device.  
         [0034]     Certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations and are contemplated within the scope of the claims. Not all steps listed in the various figures need to be carried out in the specific order described.