AU2010286384B2 - Removal of odours from toilet bowl - Google Patents

Abstract

A toilet bowl or urinal, or water trap has an outlet connected to a source of negative pressure such as an extraction fan, the outlet being located above the water trap in the bowl or urinal and unconnected to either the soil water pipe or the flush water pipe. The inlet to the trap includes a portion below and a portion above the level of the water in the trap.

Description

1 REMOVAL OF ODOURS FROM A TOILET BOWL TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the removal of odours from a toilet bowl, urinal, or water trap and is of particular relevance to local exhaust ventilation for toilet bowls, and urinal bottle traps. However, the invention is also applicable to water traps for basins. BACKGROUND ART Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles and the like in this specification is included solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any of these matters formed part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed in Australia or elsewhere before the priority date of each claim of this application. The prior art is replete with ideas associated with the removal of foul odours emanating from toilet bowls. Many of the prior art arrangements involve the provision of large volumes of air under pressure in order to transport the foul odours to a zone from which they can be vented to the atmosphere. These arrangements require substantial air blowers or fans to effect suitable transport of the odours. Thus, recent developments are aimed at local exhaust ventilation using much smaller items of equipment with concomitant lesser energy use. Most of the prior art pertains to the provision of a fan to draw the foul air from the bowl through a suction line connected to the flush water conduit. This has the disadvantage that water from the flush water is drawn into the suction line. In order to minimize this disadvantage it has been proposed, for example in W003049587 to draw air from the bowl through a channel extending across the rear of the seat of the toilet but this is costly and inefficient.

2 French patent 2555886 has a similar arrangement. In DE 4311066 an extractor fan is seated in a closed suction-extraction line connected to the outlet of the soil water pipe. This leads to the problem of dealing with the odours from the soil water pipe. British Patent 2305944 also involves the flush water pipe and requires a complicated system of pipes with a float valve. In US2007017010 has a fan chamber that draws odours from a location at the top of the toilet bowl and leads the malodours through a pipe joined to the sewer pipe. This is complicated and does not solve the problem. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a bottle trap for a urinal, basin or the like, comprising: a housing with a bottom that, in use, contains fluid with a fluid level; a down-pipe that receives fluid from the urinal or the basin, the down-pipe being surrounded by the housing such that the down-pipe and the housing together define an annulus, wherein the down-pipe has an upper opening for receiving the fluid and a lower opening, the lower opening being located above the fluid level; a waste water outlet pipe connection provided in the housing at a first level; an air outlet pipe connection providing in the housing at a second level, the second level being above the first level and above the fluid level, the air outlet pipe connection being in communication with the annulus; and a baffle within the annulus and associated with the down-pipe, the baffle sealing the waste water outlet pipe connection from the annulus to thereby seal odours from foul air in the down-pipe, the annulus collecting odours from the air drawn through the down-pipe and discharging the collected 2A odours through the air outlet pipe connection, wherein air drawn from the annulus is discharged through the air outlet pipe connection, the air i) entering the upper opening of the down-pipe, ii) leaving the down-pipe via the lower opening, iii) traveling up the annulus to the air outlet pipe connection, and iv) being discharged through the air outlet pipe connection. The present invention, at least in preferred embodiments provides a simple design for a bottle trap in which the odour extraction outlet is conveniently located to address the problems associated with the prior art arrangements described above. According to the invention a toilet bowl or urinal or water trap may include an outlet connectible to a source of negative pressure such as an extractor fan or the like, the entrance to the outlet being located above the water trap in the toilet bowl or urinal and being unconnected either to the soil water pipe or the flush water pipe. Thus, the malodours are neither drawn through the soil water outlet nor are they in contact with flush water. Other advantages of the present invention include the fact that the outlet is in close proximity with the water at the bottom of the bowl or water trap so that the concentrated bad odours originating from the water in the trap are immediately drawn by the fan to a suitable location where they are inoffensive. This arrangement only requires a small unit extractor fan or the like. The odour outlet pipe may be formed integrally with the toilet bowl or urinal, or water trap, such as a bottle trap. The invention extends to a water trap, for example a bottle trap which, instead of having a single outlet (soil water outlet) as in conventional bottle traps, includes an additional outlet adapted to be connected to a low pressure source (extractor fan). Such arsm A0135208804v1 120253019 WO 2011/026155 PCT/ZA2010/000047 3 an arrangement may replace the conventional bottle trap for a urinal in order for the arrangement to benefit from the advantages of the present invention. In an example of the invention a bottle trap for a urinal, basin or the like, includes an inlet for fluid and an outlet whose entry is above the water level, the fluid inlet is above the level of the water and is in communication with an annulus defined by the inlet and the housing; the annulus including baffle means adapted to seal the outlet from the annulus, and a second outlet including means to draw air from the annulus. The rear wall of the toilet bowl may include a chute, a portion of which may be located below the level of the water in the trap, the remaining portion being above the level of the water. Thus, the opening of the chute is above the level of the water and at the same time prevents odours from exiting through the soil water pipe. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA WINGS Embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a sectional side view through a conventional toilet bowl, Figure 2 is copied from GB2328454, Figure 3 is a sectional side view of a toilet bowl according to the present invention, Figure 4 is a similar view of an alternative arrangement, Figure 5 is a similar view in which the arrangement does not interfere with a conventional water trap, Figure 6 is a similar view including a pipe for rinsing that section of the odour extraction channel that is in contact with solid waste, Figure 7 is a similar view of another embodiment of the invention, Figure 8 is a ghost view through a bottle trap of a urinal, and Figure 9 is a similar view from a slightly different angle, Figure 10 is a cross sectional view of a urinal embodying the present invention, and Figure 11 is a front view on Figure 10.

WO 2011/026155 PCT/ZA2010/000047 4 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In Figure 1 a conventional toilet bowl includes a water trap 10 which prevents odours from entering the bowl through the soil water pipe 12. Odours above the trap are, as discussed above, usually drawn from the bowl through piping associated with the flush water piping - for example, in the British patent (see Figure 2) the odours are drawn through the flush water pipe and into the pipe including the extraction apparatus. Turning to Figure 3 and in comparison with Figure 2 the present invention provides a passage for malodours from a low level in communication with a zone of maximum concentration. The bowl includes an outlet 20 for odours that is integral with the bowl and which has a portion 21 that commences just above the level 22 of the water in the trap 10. Thus, all gases above the trap are collected by the outlet 20 which is located for maximum efficiency in this respect and extracted in the direction of the arrow with a low energy extractor. The outlet 20 may be located at the rear or at the side or even the front of the toilet bowl. In Figure 4 the outlet has openings 23 which receive the odours emanating from just above the zone of concentration of odours. Thus, a small volume of air only is involved in removing the odours with the result that local exhaust ventilation is perfectly practiced. It also serves to minimise solid waste (such as toilet paper) being drawn into the suction line 20. In Figure 5 the arrangement is such that there is no interference with the conventional water trap. A refinement is illustrated in Figure 6 which includes a pipe 40 whose outlet is directed at the zone 42 so that any solid matter thereon is washed away during a flushing operation into the trap. Although the pipe is associated with the flush water it does not compromise the object of the invention as regards the absence of communication between the flush water and the outlet.

5 In Figure 7 an existing toilet bowl has orifices 50 formed in the wall of the bowl to receive a suction pipe 30, thus affording a method of incorporating the present invention into an existing toilet bowl. This arrangement is particularly useful in the case of metal or plastic toilet bowls. In Figure 8 a bottle trap 120 for a urinal includes a urinal outlet pipe 122 which has an opening 124 above the water level 125 in the trap. The pipe 122 is surrounded by the housing 126 to form an annulus 134 that is in communication with an outlet 128 connected to an extractor fan (not shown). A baffle 130 seals odours from the waste water outlet 136. The extractor fan draws air through the pipe 122, through the opening 124 and then up and around the annulus 134 to the outlet 128 as shown by the arrows. The same arrows are depicted in Figure 9 which serves further to illustrate the arrangement. A baffle 130 is associated with the down-pipe 122 which discharges urine into the trap 120. The baffle separates the outlet 128 from the foul air in the waste pipe. The chamber 134 collects the bad odours from the trap and which are drawn through outlet 128. In Figures 10 and 11 a conventional urinal arrangement includes a water trap 138 (or P-trap) that includes an outlet 140 for waste fluid and an outlet 142 connected to an extractor fan (not shown) so that the odours deriving above the trap are drawn off through the outlet in the same manner as the arrangements described above. It will be appreciated that a similar arrangement may be provided for a basin such as a dishwashing basin. It is to be understood that, throughout the description and claims of the specification, the word "comprise" and variations of the word, such as "comprising" and "comprises", is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps. arsm A0135208804v1 120253019

Claims (4)

1. A bottle trap for a urinal, basin or the like, comprising: a housing with a bottom that, in use, contains fluid with a fluid level; a down-pipe that receives fluid from the urinal or the basin, the down-pipe being surrounded by the housing such that the down-pipe and the housing together define an annulus, wherein the down-pipe has an upper opening for receiving the fluid and a lower opening, the lower opening being located above the fluid level; a waste water outlet pipe connection provided in the housing at a first level; an air outlet pipe connection providing in the housing at a second level, the second level being above the first level and above the fluid level, the air outlet pipe connection being in communication with the annulus; and a baffle within the annulus and associated with the down-pipe, the baffle sealing the waste water outlet pipe connection from the annulus to thereby seal odours from foul air in the down-pipe, the annulus collecting odours from the air drawn through the down-pipe and discharging the collected odours through the air outlet pipe connection, wherein air drawn from the annulus is discharged through the air outlet pipe connection, the air i) entering the upper opening of the down pipe, ii) leaving the down-pipe via the lower opening, iii) traveling up the annulus to the air outlet pipe connection, and iv) being discharged through the air outlet pipe connection.

2. A bottle trap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air outlet pipe connection is in close proximity with the fluid level at the bottom of the housing.

3. A bottle trap according to either of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the air outlet pipe connection is formed integrally with the housing. arsm A0135208804v1 120253019 7

4. A bottle trap according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an extractor fan in communication with the air outlet pipe connection to draw the air from the annulus. arsm A0135208804v1 120253019