Flush mechanism test rig

The design team have been developing a method of moving the waste from the bowl to the holding tank whilst preventing bad odour. To see the early stages of this please see the earlier blog post: 'How do you Flush without a Flush?'
The stringent requirements of the development were:

1. No additional water can be used
2. No additional power can be used
3. The action has to be in keeping with the user’s normal behaviour 
4. A constant barrier must be maintained between the holding tank and bowl

Below is the latest test model allowing the team to experiment and develop the idea further. Areas of interest will be dimensions, gear ratios and refining the mechanism but with considerable focus on research into utilising non-stick materials.

The mechanism is driven by the user closing the lid after they have finished.
(...Its a joke shop 'specimen' by the way)

The rotating action empties the waste into the holding tank maintaining a constant odour barrier and the flexible polymer swipe removes any final remnants.

The driving action is closing the lid. this is a 90' rotation that is geared be converted into a 270' rotation of the cup before stopping and then the swipe does a 180' rotation.

How do you ‘flush’ without a ‘flush’?

The C4D Nano Membrane Toilet workshop

A flush suggests water but what we actually mean is how do you move waste from the toilet bowl to the waste holding tank. The new method for the Cranfield toilet has to meet the following criteria:

1. No additional water can be used
2. No additional power can be used
3. The action has to be in keeping with the user’s normal behaviour 
4. A constant barrier must be maintained between the holding tank and bowl

To do this the design team began by scoping existing methods before moving into concept generation and development. Testing is soon to commence evaluating materials and shapes.

First model of the cross section integrating the flush mechanism with the toilet seat

CAD model from flush mechanism development

Gears of flush mechanism prototype

Latest cross section model from the flush mechanism development

A video of the the latest model of the cross section experimenting with the gears for the flush mechanism