DK144903B - COMPOST TOILET - Google Patents

Description

DENMARK

lp (12) PUBLICATION WRITING (in 144903 B

DIRECTORATE OF THE PATENT AND TRADEMARKET SYSTEM

(21) Application No. 4389/72 (51) IntCI.3 A 47 K 11/02 (22) Filing Day 6. eep. 1972 (24) Running Day Sep 6, 1972 (41) Aim. available Mar 10 1973 (44) Posted 5 Jul. 1982 (86) International application # - (86) International filing day - (85) Continuation day - (62) Master application no -

(30) Priority 9 Sep 1971 # 13220/71, CH

(71) Applicant SANITATION ETABLISSEMENT, Schaan, LI.

(72) Invented Hardy Mikael Sundberg, CH.

(74) Associate Engineer Lehmann & Ree.

(54) Compost toilet.

Composting toilets have proven to be practical in places where no sewerage has been carried out and where, for example. because of the risk of contamination of the groundwater will not work with a reed. Such a composting toilet is therefore particularly suitable for e.g. cottages and other secluded living areas.

In a known composting toilet, a toilet bowl opens into a relatively large collection room with a strongly inclined bottom. This collection room has several air ducts. Before using the toilet, cover

Ji the collection room with a soil layer rich in bacteria. This soil, for example, can be obtained from a treatment plant. The soil must thus be filled 1— * h) 2 U4903 separately into the collection room after in most cases having first been transported over long distances. Thus, the known toilet cannot is clearly supplied for factory use.

From the specification of Norwegian Patent No. 124,192, it is known to use a grate to support a mat for building a bacterial culture. The space of this known toilet is provided with fresh air by means of a fan which sits in the room of the house in which the toilet is located. Through openings, the interior space of the toilet is exposed to overpressure, but there is no buildup of air.

From the publication "Cabinets for holiday homes", Consumer Institute, Stockholm 1971, pages 1, 14 and 15, it is known to use fans to enhance the chimney effect in the trachea. However, this in itself does not entail forced air replacement, but merely reinforces the natural feature.

The object of the present invention is to provide a composting toilet which, without releasing annoying air to the environment, provides a very rapid and effective degradation of the faeces.

This object is solved according to the invention by means of a composting toilet of the kind mentioned in the preamble of the claim, which is characterized by a vent pipe leading upwards and ending in the open, a forced air circulation fan in the collection room, air ducts which let the circulated air flow to the mat and to a heat source arranged in such a way that it is free from contact with the mat and with the faeces.

These peculiarities result in a strong and rapid breakdown of the faeces, and the entire toilet can be supplied ready for use by the factory. It is not necessary to lay bacteria-rich soil on the mat on the grate. The bacterial culture needed for composting is formed by means of the grate, the mat and the forced air circulation.

In the following, the invention is explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment of the composting toilet according to the invention illustrated in the drawing. In the drawing: FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through the compost toilet; FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1 FIG. 4 is a section along line IV-IV of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a section along the line V-V in FIG. First

The toilet has a e.g. of plastic housing 1, in which a toilet bowl 2. is stored. The toilet bowl 2 is closed by means of a flap lid 3. In the folded-up position, the lid 3 lies against an inclined abutment surface 4. The housing 1 contains a fecal collection room 5. Furthermore, there is inside in the housing 1 air duct walls 6 and 7. The housing 1 is provided with a vent pipe 8 and an air flow duct 9. In the collection room 5 there is a grate 10, beneath which are three collecting bowls 11 for the compost. These bowls 11 can be pulled out of the housing 1 through a front opening 12.

The grate 10 consists of several parallel angular profiles, whose branches project downwards. Thus, the tip of the profiles points upwards. On top of the grid 10 is a cell 13 of cellulose. This mat 13 may have the same thickness as usual baby diapers. The mat 13 extends over the entire surface of the grate 10.

The mat 13 may be integral but may also comprise several adjacent webs. This 13 had to serve, as it will be explained later, as a nutrient for building a bacterial culture.

In the vent pipe 9 is a fan wing 14 for a fan driven by an electric motor 15. Between the housing 1 and the interior walls 6 and 7 and the bowls 11 lying on the bottom of the housing, air ducts 16, 17 and 18. of the fan wing 14, the air is forcibly circulated inside the housing 1 in the direction of the arrows. The interior of the housing 1 and thus also the faecal collection space 5 stands over the opening 8 in connection with the surrounding free air. The forced, circulating air flows around the electric motor 15 and can thereby be heated somewhat. The circulating air flows over the air duct 18 from below towards the mat 13.

A drive shaft 19 of a stirrer 20 is arranged parallel to the rotary axis of the fan wing 14. The stirrer 20 is driven by an electric motor 21. Furthermore, on the stirrer shaft 19 is mounted an arm 22 which, when rotating the shaft 19, engages a pivot mechanism 23 and a fecal collecting bowl 24. The collecting bowl 24 is located at the bottom of a toilet bowl 2. By means of the arm 22, the bowl 24 is tilted down towards the collection space 5 and then swings back to the starting position shown in the drawing.

The moving arm 22, the stirrer 20, the grate 10 with the mat 13 and the collecting dishes 11 are substantially parallel to each other and horizontal. The FIG. 1, the schematic shown in the diagram 1 is placed on the market together with the cellulose mat 13. For the installation of this toilet, only connection of a vent pipe to the opening 8 of the housing 1 is required.

This vent can be used in a building e.g. is carried upwards over a 4 144903 mine chimney. The toilet in this way is ready for use. The electric motor 15 for the fan 14 can remain connected for the duration of the stay, e.g. a cottage in which this toilet is set up. This electric motor only drives the fan wing 14 and therefore needs only a very small motor output. By means of the fan wing, inside the toilet housing 1, a constant air circulation in the direction of the arrows is maintained. Below this, the air drops below the mat 13 and at least partially penetrates it. The agitator 20 is in the position shown in FIG. 3 with fully printed lines. When using the toilet, the lid 3 is folded up and abuts against the wall 4. Hereby a non-shown electrical switch is moved, which first removes the lid from the wall 4, the motor 21 starts to the stirrer 20. Thus no motor is started yet. 21 when opening the lid 3. When using the toilet, the collecting bowl 24 captures the faeces. When the lid 3 is closed, the said contact is moved again and the motor 21 is started. The stirrer 20 is rotated approx. 360 ° to the one shown in FIG. 3, 20 '. During this pivotal movement, the arm 22 of the agitator shaft 19 engages the tilting mechanism 23 and has tilted the bowl 24 so that the excrements fall down on the mat 13.

After the arm 22 has again come out of engagement with the rocker mechanism 23, the bowl 24 tilts back into the starting position shown. The mat 13 is soaked in urine and the faeces are on mat 13. The soaked mat 13 provides an ideal nutrient base for the bacterial culture. By means of the rotating fan wing 14, air is constantly passed past the urine-soaked mat 13. This air also absorbs moisture from the mat 13, so that the air circulating inside the housing 1 has a greater moisture content than the surrounding atmosphere. Since the circulating air is heated by some of the electric motor 15 operating at the same time as the heater, the moisture absorption of the air is increased. It is a great advantage that the ventilation air for the bacterial culture is somewhat heated. When the temperature of the circulating air in the housing 1 is raised to approx. 30 ° C, the temperature is ideal for the bacterial culture. The saturated air has the ability to flow out through the outlet opening 8. When a fecal pile has reached a certain height of the mat 13, it reaches the region of the stirrer 20, which distributes the feces evenly over the mat 13. When the entire mat 13 is covered of a good faecal layer, this even forms the breeding ground for new bacteria. The mat 13 has then really benefited and has also in the meantime been dissolved, so that the now-composted part of the seedbed on the grate 10 falls through the grate 10 and down into the collecting bowls 11. When the collecting bowls 11 are filled, they can be pulled out through the opening 12 and empties.

Of course, if the heat output of the electric motor 15 is not sufficient for a satisfactory heating of the air circulating in the housing 1, then an additional heat source for the circulating air can also be arranged.

For example, if the cottage in which the toilet is installed is not inhabited for a long time, the electric motor 15 of the fan 14 is switched off. The bacterial culture is then no longer forced for ventilation and does not work intensively. When the cottage is resumed, the electric motor 15 is immediately started, so that the bacterial culture on the grid 10 is activated again. For example, if the bacterial culture. Due to chemical interventions Destroyed, a new bacterial culture can be built up by placing a new mat 13 on the grate 10.

The fan 14, 15 may also operate with a different direction of rotation, so that the air in FIG. 1 circulates clockwise. Of course, the grate 10 may also have a different shape and instead of angular profiles e.g. consist of upright flat irons.