Excreta-sampling and chilling toilet

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9913626-B1
Application number	US-201615248788-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 26, 2016
Priority date	Aug 26, 2016
Publication date	Mar 13, 2018
Grant date	Mar 13, 2018

Abstract

An excreta-sampling toilet is disclosed which includes a bowl, a processing apparatus, and a chiller. The bowl separates excreta into solid excreta and liquid excreta. The processing apparatus then processes the solid excreta into a solid excreta sample, including metering it by weight or volume and storing it in containers. The chiller lowers the temperature of the sample, which is stored to await analysis. A metered liquid excreta sample is also stored and chilled in separate storage containers.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An excreta-sampling toilet comprising:
a bowl comprising a means for separating liquid excreta from solid excreta;
a sample metering device connected to the means for separating solid excreta, wherein the sample metering device comprises a scale and wherein the sample metering device meters the solid excreta by weight into a separate constituent;
a solid excreta processing apparatus comprising a chiller compartment;
one or more storage containers disposed within the chiller compartment, wherein a metered amount of the solid excreta is stored as a chilled sample within the one or more storage containers.

2. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a diverter valve which fluidly communicates with at least one of the one or more storage containers and the bowl, wherein at least one of the one or more storage containers receives a metered amount of the liquid excreta, via the diverter valve.

3. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 2 , wherein the metered amount of the liquid excreta is stored as a liquid sample within the chiller compartment.

4. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 2 , further comprising one or more sensors for analyzing the solid excreta and liquid excreta.

5. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 4 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise chemical test strips.

6. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , wherein the solid excreta processing apparatus further comprises a dryer which removes undesired liquid excreta from the solid excreta.

7. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 6 , wherein the dryer comprises a vacuum system.

8. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , wherein the solid excreta processing apparatus comprises a piston.

9. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a one-way sewer isolation valve.

10. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , wherein the bowl comprises a partition which separates the liquid excreta from the solid excreta.

11. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , wherein the bowl comprises a centrifuge which separates the liquid excreta from the solid excreta.

12. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , wherein the processing apparatus comprises a labeler which labels the one or more storage containers.

13. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , wherein the processing apparatus comprises a sealing mechanism to seal the one or more storage containers.

14. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a seat having one or more force sensors.

15. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , further comprising one or more light transmitters.

16. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , further comprising one or more light receivers.

17. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a cleaning sprayer which injects a super-heated cleaning solution to clean the excreta-sampling toilet.

18. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , further comprising one or more sensors indicating receipt of the solid excreta sample into the containers, the sensors being active optical proximity sensors, gas sensors, impedance sensors, load sensors, temperature sensors, or ultrasonic proximity sensors.

19. The excreta-sampling toilet of claim 1 , wherein the processing apparatus processes the solid excreta sample by chopping, extruding, pulverizing, shearing, smearing, or stirring.

Assignees

• Hall David R
• Wise Daryl
• Swenson Ben
• Allen Dan
• Reynolds Jared
• Larsen Joshua
• Robinson Justin
• Fox Joe
• Cheatham Kevin

Inventors

• Hall David R
• Wise Daryl
• Swenson Ben
• Allen Dan
• Reynolds Jared
• Larsen Joshua
• Robinson Justin
• Fox Joe
• Cheatham Kevin

Classifications

• A47K17/00

  Other sanitary equipment not covered by the other groups of this subclass {; Holders for toilet brushes} · CPC title

• A47K11/02

  Dry closets, e.g. incinerator closets · CPC title

• A61B2562/0257

  Proximity sensors · CPC title

• A61B10/0038 Primary

  Devices for taking faeces samples; Faecal examination devices (anal receptacles A61F5/451) · CPC title

• A61B5/207

  Sensing devices adapted to collect urine · CPC title