Knockdown portable toilet

• US 6,427,256 B1
• Filed: 10/26/2000
• Issued: 08/06/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Polyjohn Enterprises LLC
• Original Assignee: Poly-John Enterprises Corporation
• Inventors: Mullett, Rodney M., Tyler, Daniel G., Kostelyk, Jamie
• Primary Examiner(s): Huson, Gregory
• Assistant Examiner(s): LE, HUYEN D
• Application Number:
  US09/697,261
• Time in Patent Office: 649 Days
• Field of Search: 444/9, 445/9, 446/1, 446/2, 446/3, 447/6-4-0, 448/3, 432/1-3-3, 52/791, 52/361, 52/362, 52/34, 52/795, 52/796, 403/335, 403/336, 403/391
• US Class Current: 4/476
• CPC Class Codes: A47K 11/02 Dry closets, e.g. incinerator closets
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 1/1216 Public W.C.s
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 50/30 Against vector-borne diseases, e.g. mosquito-borne, fly-borne, tick-borne or waterborne diseases whose impact is exacerbated by climate change

Abstract

A knockdown portable toilet cabana comprises substantially identical panels forming opposite, vertical side walls and a rear wall, and a front panel having an access opening with a door covering the opening and hingedly connected to the front panel. The lower edges of the panels are engaged with a floor forming base and a covering roof is arranged at the upper ends of the panels. The lower edges of the panels and the corresponding peripheral edges of the base are provided with interconnecting channels and tongues for releaseably attaching, and for detaching the panels and the base. The upper edges of the panels and the corresponding edges of the roof are provided with releaseable connectors for attaching and detaching the roof from the panels. Elongated channel members frictionally engage and releaseably connect together the adjacent vertical edges of the panels. A toilet waste holding tank is removably positioned within the cabana. An inner removable metal container is positioned within the tank to receive waste and may be removed from the tank for disposal of the waste contained therein. Thus, the cabana and toilet may be manually assembled for use when and where needed during a limited period of time and disassembled for transport and storage of the separate parts when not in use.

Claims

1. A portable, knockdown toilet comprising a cabana having a floor forming base and substantially similar wall panels which form normally vertically arranged, opposite side walls and a rear wall, and a front wall panel having an access opening covered by a door, and a roof cover;

the lower edges of each of the panels are engaged with corresponding peripheral edge portions of the base by cooperating, releaseable connection members temporarily securing the lower edges of the panels to said base for forming a cabana enclosure releasable connection members enabling movement of said panels with respect to said base once connection is made;

and elongated channel members frictionally engaging and temporarily securing together adjacent vertical edges of each adjacent pair of panels;

interconnecting fastening members arranged at the upper edges of the panels and on the peripheral edges of the roof cover temporarily securing the roof cover over the enclosure provided by the wall panels;

and a toilet waste receiving and holding tank having a toilet waste receiving opening therein, removeably positioned upon the base within the enclosures;

said panels, base, roof cover and tank being normally separable from each other and being manually assembled together;

whereby the panels being manually assembled upon the base and connected to each other and the roof for providing a temporarily assembled toilet cabana, within which the tank may be positioned for periods of time when needed and being disassembled manually for transporting and storage of the separated disassembled parts when the toilet is not needed.

2. A portable, knockdown toilet cabana as defined in claim 1, and including horizontal pins and corresponding pin receiving holes formed along the upper edges of the panels and the adjacent portions of the roof covering such upper ends for temporarily holding and connecting the roof upon the panels for covering the enclosure formed by the panels.

3. A portable, knockdown toilet cabana as defined in claim 1, and including said channel members formed with an adjacent pair of vertically extending channels and the adjacent pairs of panels having adjacent vertical edge tongue portions slidably fitted with said channels and being frictionally held within such channels for manually interengaging the adjacent pairs of panels and temporarily securing them together for forming the enclosure.

4. A construction as defined in claim 3, and the adjacent edge tongues being substantially free of mechanical connection to each other apart from their connecting channels.

5. A construction as defined in claim 1 and including said panel lower edge and base releasible connecting members being formed of horizontally arranged channels slidably receiving corresponding, closely fitted horizontally extending tongues, so that the panels may be connected to the base by slidably engaging the tongues within their respective adjacent channels for frictionally securing the panels and base together.

6. A portable knockdown toilet cabana as defined in claim 1, and including a removable, metal waste disposal container positioned within the waste tank beneath said waste receiving opening for receiving and holding waste material;

with said metal container being manually removable from and replaceable within the waste tank so that waste contained therein may be removed from the cabana and either burned within the waste holding tank or otherwise dumped from the metal container and the container may be replaced within the tank.

7. A portable knockdown toilet cabana as defined in claim 1, and including the adjacent vertical edges of each adjacent pair of panels being temporarily interconneted by a vertically elongated channel member having grooves extending substantially the full heights of the panel and vertically elongated tongues formed on the panel edges, with vertically elongated tongues shaped for fitting into and for frictional engagement within its adjacent channel member groove for manually sliding the tongues into the respective channel member groove for temporarily securing the adjacent panels together to form the cabana enclosure and for manually separating the panels for disassembly of the cabana.

8. A construction as defined in claim 7 and the upper edges of each of the panels and the portions of the roof overlapping said upper edges being formed with outwardly extending pins and with holes to receive said pins for temporarily interconnecting the cover, and holding the cover in place, upon the wall panels.

9. A corner connector for securing together the adjacent vertical edge flanges of a pair of adjacent panels which form a cabana structure and the like enclosure, with the vertical edge flanges having free edge portions, comprising;

a vertically elongated channel member formed with a pair of adjacent, vertically extending channels separated by a divider flange, with the channels including external flanges spaced away from the divider flange so that the channels adapted to each receive and hold the free edge portion of an edge flange of said panels such that the free edge portion is frictionally held in the channels between said external flanges and said divider flange;

said divider flange extending outwardly from the channels and having laterally extending flange portions oppositely extending from each other and at less than ninety degrees relative to the divider flange for frictionally engaging and holding a portion of the edge flange of each of the panels and positioning the free edge portions within said channels.

10. A construction as defined in claim 9, and including said external flanges each having free edges terminating in curved portions adopted to interlock with the free edge portion of the panel edge portion and with said external flanges being arranged at less than ninety degrees relative to the divider flange for providing a frictional engagement with the panel free edge portion adjacent thereto;

whereby the panel free edge portions each may be grasped within a channel member channel and simultaneously each channel member external flange and its adjacent panel free edge portion are held together.

11. In a portable toilet comprising:

a cabana enclosure within which a waste collection tank is positioned, with the tank having a cover through which an opening is provided for deposit of human waste through said opening into the tank;

a waste collecting container fitted within the tank beneath said opening for receiving waste deposits, with said containers forming a separable lining within the tank;

said container being formed of a fire resistant material comprising of sheet steel material;

the cover of said tank being positioned within the cabana enclosure and being openable inside the cabana enclosure to enable access to the thank and said cover being openable relative to the tank for providing access to the container while the container is inside the cabana enclosure;

said container being manually removable from said tank and, therefore, from said cabana;

whereby the waste contained within said container may be burned periodically by manually removing, the container from the tank and carrying it a distance from the cabana and applying a flammable material to the tank for burning the contents thereof, following which, the container may be replaced manually within the tank for future use.

12. A construction as defined in claim 11, and including said tank being in the form of an approximately rectangular shape for positioning upon a floor or base forming part of said enclosure, and said container being similarly shaped in a generally rectangular shape into a box configuration having an open top for relatively closely fitting within the tank;

and said container being provided with hand grasping portions for manually lifting the container upwardly out of the tank, when the cover of the tank is opened, for manual removal of the container from the cabana enclosure.