FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a device for dissolving disposable articles.

DEFINITIONS As used in the present disclosure, the following term is generally intended to have the meaning as set forth below, except to the extent that the context in which it is used to indicates otherwise.

Disposable article: The term “disposable article” refers to products designed to absorb excreted body fluids at various stages of a consumer's life and can be a diaper, a sanitary napkin, a tampon, a wipe, tissue papers, or even an incontinence product.

BACKGROUND

The background information herein below relates to the present disclosure but is not necessarily prior art.

There is an increasing demand for the hygiene disposable articles such as baby diapers, adult diapers, sanitary napkins, tampons and the like. These articles are made up of woven/non- woven polymeric materials, which are non-biodegradable in nature, thereby leading to an increasing issue of proper disposal of these articles. At household levels, these articles get mixed with the routine waste, which makes the segregation of these disposable articles at source becomes difficult, even though it is necessary that these used articles are treated properly after being disposed.

Conventionally, waste pickers separate out these used articles from recyclable items by hand, which expose them to micro-organisms such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, HIV and other pathogens, which may causes hepatitis, tetanus and other diseases. This makes it very evident that the conventional disposal methods affect the health and hygiene of the people exposed to such wastes.

Moreover, after being segregated, these used articles are either incinerated or buried in landfill or even thrown in water bodies (in slum or rural areas). When incinerated, the articles emit carcinogenic fumes like dioxin, whereas if buried in landfills these disposable product takes more than 500 years to degrade, and hence are hazardous to the environment.

Corporates and institutes spend huge amounts of money and manpower every month to take the waste disposable products out of their campuses. However, the collection of this waste is only periodical, as a result of which, the used disposable products stay in the vicinity of the campus for a relatively longer period of time, thereby contaminating the surroundings.

Therefore, there is felt a need for a device that mitigates the drawbacks mentioned herein above.

OBJECTS Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows.

An object of the present disclosure is to ameliorate one or more problems of the prior art or to at least provide a useful alternative.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a device for disposing disposable articles. Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a device for safely disposing disposable articles without exposing any person to pathogens.

Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a device for disposing disposable articles in a cost-effective way.

Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure envisages a device for disposing disposable articles, wherein the disposable article is of a biodegradable, hot-water soluble material, and has a barcode code provided thereon for categorizing the article as a biodegradable and hot-water soluble product. The device comprises means for supplying hot water, a disposal unit, and an actuator connected to the means. The disposal unit has an opening for receiving the disposable article therein, and a fluid inlet fluidly communicating with the means to receive hot water therefrom to facilitate disintegration of the article in the disposal unit. The actuator is configured to activate the means to supply of hot water to the disposal unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING

A device, of the present disclosure, for disposing disposable articles will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a schematic view of a first embodiment of the device of the present disclosure;

Figure 2 illustrates a schematic view of a second embodiment of the device of the present disclosure; and Figure 3A and Figure 3B illustrates a schematic view of a third embodiment of the device of the present disclosure; and

Figure 4 illustrates a schematic view of a fourth embodiment of the device of the present disclosure.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 100 device

105 means 110 disposal unit 112 opening 112A lid 114 fluid inlet

116 drain outlet

120 actuator

121 hot water solenoid valve

122 cold water solenoid valve 124 regular water means 125 housing

126 second valve

130 heating unit

132 insulating cover DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments, of the present disclosure, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Embodiments are provided so as to thoroughly and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to the person skilled in the art. Numerous details are set forth, relating to specific components, and methods, to provide a complete understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the details provided in the embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, well-known processes, well-known apparatus structures, and well-known techniques are not described in detail. The terminology used, in the present disclosure, is only for the purpose of explaining a particular embodiment and such terminology shall not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As used in the present disclosure, the forms "a,” "an," and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly suggests otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," “including,” and “having,” are open-ended transitional phrases and therefore specify the presence of stated features, elements, modules, units and/or components, but do not forbid the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

A device (100), of the present disclosure, for disposing disposable articles will now be described in detail with respect to Figure 1 through Figure 3B. The disposable article, of this present disclosure, can be diapers, sanitary napkins, tampons, wipes, tissue papers, or even incontinence products made of a biodegradable, hot-water soluble material. In an embodiment, the article is of a material like polyvinyl alcohol which is soluble in hot water, and which can be disintegrated in a few minutes without the need of any additional solvents. In a preferred embodiment, the disposable article has a barcode provided thereon for categorizing the article based on its material properties as a biodegradable and hot-water soluble product. In an embodiment, the barcode is a QR code.

The device (100) is provided in a housing (125).

The device (100) comprises means (105) for supplying hot water, a disposal unit (110) and an actuator (120) connected to the means (105). The disposal unit (110) has an opening (112) for receiving the disposable article therein. In an embodiment, the disposal unit (110) is provided with a lid (112A) for the opening (112). In an embodiment, the lid (112A) can be locked to prevent putting any other article in the disposal unit (110).

The disposal unit (110) further includes a fluid inlet (114) fluidly communicating with the means (105) to receive hot water therefrom to facilitate disintegration of the article in the disposal unit (110). In an embodiment, the fluid inlet (114) is provided on an operative side wall of the container. The device (100) further comprises an actuator (120) connected to the means (105). The actuator (120) is configured to activate the means (105) to supply of hot water to the disposal unit (110).

In an embodiment, the means (105) for supplying hot water is configured to supply water at a temperature range varying from 40°C to 100°C.

In another embodiment, the means (105) for supplying hot water is configured to supply water at a temperature of 60°C to 90°C.

In an embodiment, the disposal unit (110) is provided with an insulator along its walls, so that when hot water at 100°C enters therein, the components of the unit (110) are sealed.

In an embodiment, the device (100) is a container configured to be fitted in bathrooms and washrooms. In another embodiment, the container has a holding capacity of 3 pads for dissolving at one time, and can be used at household levels (as shown in Figure 1) as well as places with compact sizes such as public washrooms (as shown in Figure 2). In yet another embodiment, the container has a relatively higher holding capacity for dissolving 15-20 diapers or 25-35 sanitary napkins at the same time, for use in one common area of public places offices, institutions, factories, day-care centres, malls and other assembly places along with product vending machines.

Another embodiment of the device (100) is shown in Figure 3 A, Figure 3B and Figure 4 as a compact unit. In another embodiment, the device (100) is a detachable concave pan that can installable in a toilet.

The disposal unit (110) also includes a drain outlet (116) configured to discharge a slurry of the the disintegrated article from the disposal unit (110). In an embodiment, the drain outlet (116) is configured at an operative bottom surface of the disposal unit (110).

In another embodiment, the drain outlet (116) is connected to a sewer system to enable disposal of the disintegrated residues of the article directly to the sewers.

In yet another embodiment, the drain outlet (116) is connected to a toilet. In yet another embodiment, the drain outlet (116) is configured to be opened when the toilet flush or a second inlet water cycle is operated.

In one embodiment, the actuator (120) includes a sensing unit configured to detect the presence of the barcode on the article. The sensing unit is further configured to generate a sensed signal based on the detected barcode. In another embodiment, the actuator (120) includes a processor communicating with the sensing unit. The processor is configured to receive the sensed signal, and is further configured to generate an actuating signal.

In an embodiment, the actuator (120) includes a first valve (121) connected to the fluid inlet (114). The first valve (121) is configured to receive the actuating signal, and is further configured to open said fluid inlet (114) for supplying hot water to the disposal unit (110).

The actuator (120) further includes a timer communicating with the processor. The timer is configured to receive said actuating signal for activation thereof, and is further configured to generate a deactivating signal after a predetermined period of time. The provision of the timer ensures that hot water is not supplied unless the device (100) is actuated.

In an embodiment, the timer is configured to open the second valve (126) after a time period of 1 minute.

Further the actuator (120) includes a second valve (126) provided on the drain outlet (116). The second valve (126) is configured to receive said deactivating signal, and is further configured to open the drain outlet (116) to facilitate passage of the slurry therethrough. More specifically, the second valve (126) is configured to be closed to allow the disposal unit (110) to hold the hot water therein for facilitating dissolution of the article for a predertermined period of time, and drain the dissolved slurry after the predetermined time period. In one embodiment, the lid (112A) is configured to be opened when the barcode is read by the sensing unit. This provision is particularly useful in public places to ensure that the device (100), of the present disclosure, is not used for disposal of any other product.

In an embodiment, the sensing unit is a RFID sensor.

In still another embodiment, the processor includes a timer configured to generate a deactivating signal after a predetermined period of time. The actuator (120) is configured to receive the deactivating signal for deactivating the means (105) supplying hot water.

In an embodiment, at places where automation of the device (100) is not feasible, the actuator (120) is a manually operable switch.

In another embodiment, the drain outlet (116) includes an auxiliary valve (122) connected to a regular water outlet and the spray means. Once the hot water-diposable article slurry is drained off through the drain outlet (116), the auxiliary valve (122) is opened to spray a predetermined volume of water, typically 400ml, in the disposal unit (110) to clean the device (100).

In an embodiment, the valves (121, 122) are selected from a group consisting of a solenoid valve, a butterfly valve, or any other valve which can be opened or closed when required.

In an embodiment, the device (100) includes a cleaning unit which cleans and disinfects the disposal unit (110) once the entire residue is discharged. In another embodiment, the cleaning unit includes water supply means (105) and detergent supplying means (105). In yet another embodiment, the cleaning unit is an electrolyzed cleaning unit. In still another embodiment, the disposal unit (110) can be manually cleaned once in a while.

In an exemplary embodiment, a used disposable article is held before the sensing unit such that the barcode provided on the article is visible to the sensing unit. Upon reading the barcode, the sensing unit generates a sensed signal which is received by the processor. Based on the received sensed signal, the processor generates an actuating signal.

The first valve (121) receieves the actuating signal to open the fluid inlet and allow hot water to enter the disposal unit (110). At the same time, the timer receieves the actuating signal and starts the countdown for a time period of 1 minute. In an embodiment, the time period can be varied according to the type of the article.

The disposable article is put in the disposal unit (110) simultaneously. The hot water reacts with the article and disintegrates each element of the article to produce a slurry thereof. Once the countdown ends, the timer generates a deactivating signal which is received by the second valve (126). Upon receiving the deactivating signal, the second valve (126) opens the drain outlet to let the slurry to pass out of the disposal unit (110). Thereafter, the auxiliary valve (122) is opened to spray regular water to clean the disposal unit (110).

Figure 4 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the device (100), wherein the diposal unit (110) itself includes a heating unit (130) provided therein, to make the device (100) further compact. An insulating cover (132) is provided on the heating unit (130). The first valve (121) is connected to a regular water means, and is configured to actuated to open regular water to the disposal unit (110). When water is receieved in the disposal unit (110), the heating unit heats the water to a temperature range of 40°C to 100°C, and more specifically from 60°C to 100°C, to facilitate disintegration of the disposable article into a slurry. The second valve (126) is provided at the drain outlet (116) of the disposal unit to open the drain outlet (116) to drain out the slurry.

In an embodiment, 400ml to 500ml of water is receieved in the disposal unit (110).

All four embodiments of the device (100) is configured to provide simplicity and convenience of use for a user. The device (100) further reduces carbon footprint and increases environmental and hygiene safety. The device (100) is economical because of its simple configuration and the need for any chemical solvent or any processing for disintegrating the disposable articles.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Individual components of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment but are interchangeable. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the present disclosure, and all such modifications are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS

The present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including, but not limited to, the realization of a device for disposing disposable articles that:

• can be fitted in bathroom or toilets to facilitate disposal of disposable articles that are soluble in hot water; • can help in disposing the used disposable product waste immediately without letting it stay in the bin and contaminate the surroundings;

• is easy and convenient to use;

• reduces carbon footprint and increases environment and health safety;

• provides a complete end-to-end solution to dispose of one time used articles; and

• helps in reducing the burden on environment.

The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.

The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the disclosure to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.

Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the disclosure. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form a part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.

The numerical values mentioned for the various physical parameters, dimensions or quantities are only approximations and it is envisaged that the values higher/lower than the numerical values assigned to the parameters, dimensions or quantities fall within the scope of the disclosure, unless there is a statement in the specification specific to the contrary.

While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the components and component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation