Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Washroom Bus
DESCRIPTION - SPECIFICATION
Title of Invention:
Washroom Bus
Technical Fields:
B60R 15/02 - Washing Facilities
B60R 15/04 - Toilet Facilities
Background Art:
Public agglomeration, such as massive concerts, sporting events, or public
festivals,
bring along the sudden need for public sanitation -washrooms-.
General public access to improved sanitation is a major concern of all
Governments
around the world; and UNICEF has defined improved sanitation in the next five
levels:
a) Connection to a public sewer.
b) Connection to a septic system.
c) Pour-Flush latrine
d) Simple pit latrine
e) Ventilated pit latrine
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Background Art: ... prior solutions and the unsolved problems.
Actual solutions for public sanitation, like portable toilets or mobile
bathroom
trailers, carry their own limitations:
Portable Toilets: although they can be installed almost anywhere and are
readily
movable, they are just a mere latrine, a self-contained outhouse structure,
which
does not have a flush or sewer attached.
The latrines, generally speaking, do not offer comfort, cleanliness, or
odourless
facilities for the general user.
The intervals of time in which the latrines should be emptied of deposits, is
variable,
as variable as the amount of people using them. So, if the problem of waste
disposal is not addressed on time, those deposits can become a public health
threat
and an environmental concern.
When the time to clean the portable toilets arrives, park rangers and city
workers
initiate their latrine duty; this will bring along the risk of spills of those
waste
materials: bacterial hazards, pollution and general sorts of contamination,
can
emanate from there.
When the portable toilets are not required anymore, worker crews start the
duty of
cleaning, carrying and removing the latrines, making this task, an expensive
and
laborious job.
Also, portable toilets tend to be user unfriendly when sunlight is gone: with
no
electric power on hand, they are unable to offer light at night. They can not
offer
protection from the elements on adverse conditions -such as rain, snow, dirt
or
muddy terrains-; making the inside compartment of those portable toilets, a
messy,
uncomfortable, filthy and unfriendly place to visit.
Mobile bathroom trailers: they can offer spacious and comfort toilet units,
along
with fresh, running water for its service; but they are usually wide, large
units,
making them not readily movable.
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Also, In order for these oversized units to be safely installed on site, they
usually
require, costly preparatory tasks on the terrain, they will sit on, while
large crews of
specialized technicians should service these units to make them operable.
Background Art: ... the inventive idea.
This invention is about gathering pre-existing elements and artefacts -an
integration idea-; and by putting them together, a new product is born: the
Washroom Bus.
The Washroom Bus idea, is to convert a regular City-bus or a Intercity Bus -a
coach-,
into a full washroom unit: independent or combined cubicles containing
toilets,
urinals, bidets, showers, hand wash faucets, soap dispensers, antiseptic hand
wash,
paper towel dispenser, garbage can, mirrors, infant changing tables and
changing
facilities, can be put inside this units, in order to give improved sanitation
to the
general public.
The Washroom Bus idea outperforms any preceding inventions of it gender, and
overcomes such problems as:
1. MOBILITY:
a. It is the ultimate readily movable washroom: can service two or more
sites in one single day.
2. ENHANCED SANITATION
a. Fresh water for hand wash, showering, or flushing the toilet, will help
achieve the highest ranking in the sanitation scale.
b. Having fresh water for service makes the Washroom bus a pleasant,
hygienic and odourless place to use at all times.
c. It can help alleviate the problem of sanitation in sensitive areas, -
such as downtown parks, dominated by homeless citizens-. An
itinerant Washroom bus can service dozens of sites every single day,
without disrupting the urban landscape.
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3. OTHER GENERAL BENEFITS
a. The washroom bus offers electricity; and electricity means light,
making it very user friendly, even on night time events.
b. With electricity, multimedia elements -like internet, t.v., radio, video
or computers-, can keep informed the general public of any important
event.
c. With electricity, air conditioning, can temper any cool day, providing
ultimate comfort for the users.
d. The structure of the bus offers protection from the elements for
elderly people waiting to use the services: folding chairs will be part of
the extensive service provided by the Washroom Bus.
Background Art: ... the inventive idea: putting it together.
Any specialized shop, the dealership or the assembler, can transform the City-
bus or
the Intercity Bus into a washroom bus, just by modifying the interior layout:
by
taking out all the seats and installing independent cubicles in which toilets,
bidets,
urinals and showers can be put into site.
Each cubicle can have its own sink, providing more privacy and comfort for the
users.
The Washroom bus can feature only one washroom element -for example: just
toilets or just urinals contained independently in cubicles-, or a combination
of two
or more washroom elements: -for example: two toilets, plus one shower, plus
one
urinal, plus one changing facility-, contained each element, into cubicles or
free of
cubicles at all.
Fabric, wood, plastic, metal or crystal, can all for part of the materials
which the
walls of the cubicles will be made of.
All the piping for water feed and waste disposal, such as any connection to
the
sewer, will use actual plumbing elements available on the market.
Electricity, pumps, multimedia elements, etc, that are also available in the
market,
can be integrated into the Washroom bus.
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By keeping some folding chairs inside the Washroom bus, or by leaving some
open
space for small meetings, gatherings or just for bring protection from the
elements
-such as rain or snow-, will make the Washroom bus the ultimate comfort
washroom. (1)
The fresh water can be fed to the washroom bus in three different ways: the
first
way, is contain it, on its own fresh water container, which will be held in a
compartment under the floor or on the top of the roof (2) on a canopy that
will carry
the water. The second way to get fresh water is by using a tanker truck (3), -
by
means of gravity or pumps, and being connected by piping or hoses-. The third
way
is through the public recycled water system (3), -using gravity or pumps, and
being
connected by piping or hoses-.
The Washroom Bus can dispose the waste water in three different ways: the
first
way is to use its own waste recipient (2), which will be held in a compartment
under
the floor. The second way is by using a tanker truck (3), -by means of gravity
or
pumps, and connected by piping or hoses-. The third way is through the public
sewer
(3), -by means of gravity or pumps, and connected by piping or hoses-.
The Washroom Bus can have three sources of electric energy (4): Its own
battery -
driven by the engine-; external power plants and the City energy system -by
means
of cables-.
When we mention tanker trucks, or external power plants, is anyone available
in the
market.
