A portable restroom offers features that provide users temporary toilet functions in a physically and emotionally secure environment which is designed with the goal of offering the owner/operator a cost-effective means of providing the service.
Portable restrooms are generally composed of a portable enclosure containing a chemical toilet, and are typically used as a temporary toilet for construction sites, large gatherings, or as a cost-saving alternative to maintaining larger plumbing infrastructure, among other temporary needs. They are generally constructed out of a lightweight molded plastic. Portable restrooms are typically large enough for only a single occupant. Some include both a seated toilet and urinal. Most include lockable doors and a means to vent the holding tank.
As indicated, portable restrooms are often designed for use by a single occupant. Unfortunately, many portable restrooms offer limited interior space. Accordingly, some restrooms are designed to accommodate wheelchair users and others seeking easier access and more room than conventional portable restrooms offer; such as adults with small children, the elderly, and/or more often than not, capable adults seeking more comfort than offered by conventional portable restrooms. In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) regulatory requirements and American National Standards Institute (ANSI A117.1) often guide the design and manufacture of these restrooms (e.g., ADA compliant, or wheelchair accessible restrooms or “comfort stations”). This type of restroom is often as much as four times larger than the common portable restroom, adding significant handling challenges (and corresponding costs) in transportation and placement due to the significant increase in bulk and weight. In addition to the increased cost of handling and transportation, such portable restrooms are also typically more expensive to produce and maintain.
This ADA compliant type of portable restroom may include a grab bar which may be used by the user (e.g., “grabbed”) to assist in moving about the interior of the restroom. It is common industry practice to fabricate a restroom grab bar from metal or plastic with integral mounting features. These mounting features are in turn mounted to the walls of the portable restroom.
Currently, this larger ADA compliant type of portable restroom has a floor made of a solid sheet of plastic that rests upon the ground. Fasteners attach the portable restroom sidewall(s) to the base. More specifically, the floor in such portable restrooms is connected to the sidewalls by means of an attachment bracket or component providing two mounting surfaces spaced or positioned from one another at approximately 90 degrees. The attachment bracket is a separate part which requires fastening to both the sidewall and the floor. As seen in FIG. 1, the attachment bracket C joins the walls or other vertical components to the floor with mechanical fasteners.
As the term “portable restroom” implies, the portable restroom must be movable or transportable. The bulk and weight of this ADA compliant style of restroom often necessitates handling it with an industrial forklift truck. As seen in FIG. 1, the floor thickness A typically is less than the under-taper B of the lifting forks on the fork lift truck, inviting the lifting fork to damage the attachment bracket and corresponding fasteners joining the wall to the floor. Additionally, the heads of the fasteners holding the attachment bracket to the floor are prone to wear-off due to abrasion caused by sliding the portable restroom, and consequently fastener head, on hard surfaces.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for an improved portable restroom which provides one or more solutions to the above-described drawbacks.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds