US2801426A - Disposable bag toilet - Google Patents

Description

ug. 1957 G. A. LA GORGE ElAL DISPOSABLE BAG TOILET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 9, 1954 GERALD A LA GORGE PAUL DOUGLAS LA GORGE IN VEN T08. M

Aug. 6, 1957 Filed Aug. 9. 1954 G. A. LA GORGE EIAL 2,801,426

DISPOSABLE BAG TOILEI 2 SheetsSheet 2 GERALD A. LA GORGE Ill Hll PAUL cousus LA GORGE INVENR.

Uited States Patent DISPOSABLE BAG TOILET Gerald A. La Garce and Paul Donglas La Garce, Bellevue, Wash.

Application August 9, 1954, Serial No. 448,458

9 Claims. (Cl. 4-142) This preserrt invention relates to the general art of light weight or portable toilets and, more particularly, to a form of toilet which uses an impervious bag supported beneath a more or less conventional toilet scat so that the bag is in an open condition ready for use. After use, by unlocking a hold-down latch on the toilet scat, and relcasing the same, the scat is carried upwardl by a spring and in so doing, pulls the draw strings closing the bag. With the bag closed, all odors are confincd and the same may be disposed of by any convenient means.

Due to the general migratory instincts of the general public and particularly families, there are many occasions when adequate toilet facilities are not available. This is a matter of some real concern partcularly when children or invalids are involved. A great manypeople take their families camping or on extended fishing or vacation trips and they cndeavor usually to seek out less frequented spots and under these conditions sanitary toilet facilifies are not available. There is -further the general educational plan directed to having =persons using outlying arcas responsible for the cleaning up of their camp gronnds so that there will be less need to put them in sanitary conditions for subsequent users. Our light weight portable toilet arrangement is ideally suited for use under such conditions and all that is required aftet using the device is that the bag containing excretion and the like be buried.

More persons than ever before are taking to the water in rclatively inexpensive boats. Such boating facilities have largely resulted from the decreased cost of the small cruisers and the like due to the employment of outboard motors as the prime movers. Now such boats owe their speed and efficiency to their light weight and they must, of necessity, be kcpt small in order that these outboard motors can drive them at reasonahle speeds. Whereas, the more conventional inboard power cruisers have flushable toilets and the like, these units are hcavy, expensive and take up considerable space. On the othcr hand, our portable toilet folds into a very compact package and needs only to be unfolded When use is intended. It has no pumps or other flushing means which involves the use of heavy -castings and the like. Consequently, particularly due to its light Weight and convenience, our toilet especially well serves this field of use. It has an added advantage in that the toilet facilities may be used and the odorproof bags retained for a reasonable time so that there will be no fouling of certain rcstricted waters. This is a special necd and one not served by the convcntional marine toilet.

There are many uses for a unit which will provide toilet facilities in a portable form, particularly With children. Our present toilet can be used on the fioor of an automobile whle the same is either moving or parked. Such a use is a very great convenience.

The principal object of our present invention therefore is to provide a light weight. foldable, portable toilet which employs, in a very convenient manner, a disposable impervious bag.

Patented Aug. 6, 1957 "ice .A further object of our invention is to provide a portable toilet which may be employed With a more or less permannfly mounted supporting bracket, or the same may be wholly supported on a plurality of legs.

A further Object of our invention is to provide a portable toilet which will hold a disposable bag in convenient open position for use and at the end of the use means are provided for automatically closing the bag With a calculated amonnt of applied effort so that a secure closure will be effected and the bag will not be torn or injured through the application of an indeterminable amount of force which might be employed by various individuals.

Further objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from the description and disclosure in the drawings, or may be comprehcnded or are inherent in the device.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the manner in which our toilet is supported as from a wall and illustrating the manner in which the disposable bag is secured in position for use;

Figure 2 is a perspective view similai to Figure 1 but showing the unit complete in its position for use;

Figure 3 :is a perspective view illustrating the action of our toilet arrangement after it has been used and illustrating the manner in which the bag is securcly closed;

Figure 4 is a :bracketcd view With certain parts broken away, and shown in section, illustrating a preferred form of wall bracket and that portion of the bag holding rim which coacts With the wall bracket;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view partly in section illustrating the latching means for the front end of the toilet seat;

Figure -6 is a ragmentary perspective view, partly in section, illustrating the manncr in which the front legs are anchored and held firmly in position when the device is being used; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary elevational view showing the mannerin which the drawstrings are secured in readiness for use.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings, the numeral 10 designates the scat supporting rim which may be made of any suitable material that is both light in weight and has the required strength. Metal such as the various aluminum alloys has proved very satisfactory and also certain of the moldable plastic materials. To support the front of the rim a tubular frame 12, for-ming a dual leg, is employd having the fioor engaging bar 14 and the two vertically disposed portions as 16 and 17. These latter portions of the leg member 12 should be suitably and firmly anchored in ring 10, as by means of the bosses indicated at 20 and probably best shown in Figure 6. The rcar of rim 10 has an extension, probably bcst illustrated in Figure 4, in which an outwardly extending portion 22 is provided as a connccting means to supporting bar 24. This bar is provided With a plurality of openings 26 arranged to accept a second dual 1cg member, as 30; or Where the device is to be used in semi-fixed positions, a wall mounted bracket 32 is provided. This bracket is provided with suitable openings for screws, as 34, and is furthcr provided with two upstanding detents, as 36 and 37, which also are adapted to engage openings 26 of the Tshaped support bar 24. It follows that a device of this order, if it is going to have general utility, should be usable in various combinations of legs 12, 30, or bracket 32, consequently they should al] be easily removable from rim 10. Rim 10 is further provided with an angularly disposed slot 40 which terminates in an upwardly directed portion, as 41, hich finally is swelled out into the preferably circular opening 42. This arrangement is employed in the bag closing operation which will be explained in detail.

Fixedly secured to the rearwardly disposed bar 24 of rim is a one leaf spring hinge 46 having an internal spring subject to adjustment by means of the pin locked ring 48 similar to the type Of hinge used on the better grade of screen doors and the like. Secured to the movable Ieaf 50 of hinge 46 is the toilet seat 52. This may be formed substantially after the mode of making toilet seats and as lightness is a desirable attribute, it has been found convenient to make seat 52 of marine type waterproof plywood. On the undersde of the rim seat 52 is a resilient gasket 54 which should conform accurately to the contour et n'm 10 so that it will seat securely thereon.

Also secured on the underside of seat 52, and outwardly from gasket 54, is a spring closing latch member 56. This latch is composed of bracket member 58 secured fixedly to seat 52 and the pivoted pawl member 59. Pawl member 59 is, in turn, adapted to operatively engage latch 60 which is adjustably secured to ring 10. This latch assembly holds seat 52 in its using position, after the showing of Figure 2, against the urgence of spring hinge 46 which at all times tend to raise the seat.

Normally disposed within the opening provided by ring 10 is an impervious bag 64. This bag, in addition to being impervious, should preferably be translucent or opaque for obvious reasons. Various types of material have proven satisfactory for this use mong which are the flexible sheet plastics, plastic impregnated cloth or paper, and certain types of waterproof, flexible paper are also satisfactory. In the upper or open end of bag 64, we provide a double hem so that two independent, but co-acting, draw strings as 66 and 67 may be empIoyed. The general arrangement of these draw strings is similar to the well-known draw string arrangement in a Bull Durham tobacco sack. It is desirable that the draw string be positioned down an inch or two from the top so sufiicent of the bags upper margin will be free to fold over ring 10 as shown in Figure 1. Such an arrangement has been found to give the greatest certainty of a positive closure and one in which the eiort of the two strings moving in opposite directions Ioop within each other so that the final tightening brings the two loops together and thus any over stressng of the closing of the bag is taken by the strings themselves and therefore any damage to the bag material is reduced to a minimum. The double draw strings are brought out on the opposite sides and passed through slots 40, 41 into openings 42 which are diametrically opposcd in ring 10. The bag itself is then put in place, after the showing in Figure 1, in which the upper margn of the bag fully overlies ring 10 so that the resilient gasket 54 can give the assurance that it will hold the bag in the desired position during the periods of use. When the bag has been thus arranged the length of the draw strings in use is then determined and the Ioose ends on each side are secured, after the showing of Figure 7, in which a resilient keeper member 70 anchored only at one endis employed so that, in coaction With the outstanding headed screw 72, a quick and convenient means is provided for securing the ends of the cords, as 67. When bag 64 has been used and closed, after the showing of Figure 3, the same can be easily removed from rim 10.

The position of use of our toile't arrangement is shown in Figure 2 with seat 52 in the normal position of a toilet seat. When the user has finished with the toilet he can release latch 56 and allow the seat to spring upwardly under urgence only of spring hinge 46. By suitable adjustment of the spring within hinge 46, a firm closure of this bag, after the showing of Figure 3, can be eflected and yet the strain placed upon the cords 66 and 67 and bag 64 are well within the margins of strength that can be easily provided.- Bg- 64is then either left in the toilet for disposition lter or it can.be removed by releasing each of the double cords 66 and 67, withdrawing the cords out throughsIot 40 andipossibly as a security measure, winding the same around puckered ends of the bag. The fact that the draw strings are positioned considerably below the top of the bag adds to the convenicnce of this operation. The bag, which is of very economical construction, can then be disposed of in any convenient manner.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of a disposable bag toflet.

Having thus disclosed the invention, we claim:

1. A disposable bag toilet, comprising: a seat-supporting rim and supporting means for said rim, a scat connected to the back of said rim by a hinge, a bag having a normally open top and having adjacent its upper edges draw string means having two string ends which close the bag When pulled in opposite directions, the upper edges of said bag being held between said rim and seat when the seat is down, the ends of said draw strings being fastened to said scat at a point spaced from said hinge and there being means on said rim guiding said draw strings in movement in opposite directions as they are pulled in raising the seat, whereby the draw strings close said bag when the seat is raised.

2. The subject matter of claim lin which said guide means on said rim is a slot at each side opening at a first end to the top of said rim and cxtending from said first end downwardly and rearwardly and then hooking upwardly to a second closed end in which the corresponding draw string is seated.

3. The subject matter of claim 1 in which the draw strings are secured to said seat by securing means at each side of said seat each including a resilient keeper member anchored at one end and an outstanding headed screw adjacent said anchored end, whereby the corresponding draw string on that side of the seat can be secured by being wrapped around said headed screw and then secured under said resilient keeper member.

4. The subject matter of claim 1 in which said seat member is spring loaded to normally assume an upright position and there is manually releasable latch means between the rimand seat for securing the seat in a horizontal position.

5. The subject matter of claim 1 in which the supporting means for said rim includes a forward and a rearward leg each fnrmed by a rod of generally U-shaped contour and there being socket means on said rim accepting the upper ends of said legs and removably securing them in parallel position.

6. The subject matter of claim 1 in which the supporting means for said rim includes removable leg means for the forward part of said rim, a wall bracket for supporting the rear part of said rim having means to secure the brackct to the wall and an extension on the rear part of said rim and socket and detent securing means between the extension and the bracket for removablc supporting of the rim.

7. The subject matter of claim 1 in which the upper edges of said bag are secured between said rim and seat by having the upper edges outwardly folded over said rim and said seat having a resilient gasket of the same shape as said rim secured to the lower surface of said seat and pressing the upper edges of said bag to said rim when the seat is down and there being a latch between said seat and rim operative to sccure said seat in horizontal position With said gasket securing the upper edges of said bag.

8. A disposable bag toilet, comprising: a seat supporting rim and supporting means for said rim, a seat connected to the back of said rim by a hinge, a bag having a normaliy open top and having adjacent its upper edges closure means including a draw string closing the top of said bag when pulled, the upper edges of said bag being held between said rim and scat When the seat is down, said draw string being fastened to said seat at a point spaced from said hinge and there being means on said rim guiding said draw string as it is pul1ed in .raising the scat whereby the draw string closes said bag when the scat is raised.

9. The subject matter of claim 8 in which said seat member is spring loaded to normally assume an upright position and there is manualIy releasable latch means between the rim and scat for securing the scat in a horizontal position.

Russell Feb. 28, 1882 Williams Apr. 13, 1875 6 Bratney July 12, 1892 Ze1eny et al. Dec. 3, 1912 Ranken et al. Feb. 4, 1913 Schierding Dec. 9, 1913 De Mecklembourg Aug. 14, 1917 Fitchett July 29, 1924 Houser lune 22, 1937 Price July 29, 1941 Nolla Max. 9, 1948 Bindbeutel May 15, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS France Oct. 20, 1903

Images