TECHNICAL FIELD
[001] The present subject matter relates generally a sanitation and in particular to hygiene apparatus mounted in a urinal.
BACKGROUND
[002] Typically, a urinal is a sanitary plumbing fixture for urination only. Urinals are often provided in public toilets for both female and male users. Urinals can be with manual flushing, automatic flushing, or without flushing, as is the case for waterless urinals. They can be arranged as single sanitary fixtures (with or without privacy walls) or in a trough design without privacy walls.
[003] Generally, these urinals have to be cleaned regularly or flushed and if missed results in odor, which in turn results in an unpleasant experience for the user. The odor may even therefore encourage users to urinate/defecate in public. There are several other contributing factors such as gases generated by the evaporation of urine, gases generated when urine mixes with water and the like that lead to the presence of such unpleasant odor in the urinals. However, one of the largest contributing factor is that each and every urinal that has openings for allowing the passage of urine into the drain lines and at the same time these openings also allow the passage of sewer gases from the drains to the urinals. This issue becomes even more predominant in public urinals or urinals where the foot fall is high.
[004] In addition to the odor, splashing is one other long-recognized problem in a urinal. Typically, splashing occurs when a user directs a urine stream into a sanitary fixture with some degree of force. Oftentimes the splash may be directed to the user, toilet pan edges, the floor or even the toilet paper in close vicinity. This leads to embarrassing, unpleasant and unhygienic situation for a user. The user must then employ a paper towel in an attempt to wipe away the splash-back. Some other problems public urinals generally have is the blockage by waste such as chewing gum and the like thrown in the urinal by the users during use.

[005] In view of these problems and other problems there is therefore a need for a urinal that is easy to use and creates hygienic environment in the restroom.
SUMMARY
[006] Before the urinal of present invention is described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular subject matter as described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments which are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosure. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the implementations or versions or embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is provided to introduce aspects related to a urinal. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the disclosure.
[007] In one embodiment, a hygiene apparatus mounted in a urinal is disclosed. In one example, the hygiene apparatus comprises an anti-splash system, odor control system coupled to one end of the anti-splash system. In one example, the anti-splash system is shaped as one of a spherical dome or a ball, and the odor control system is coupled to the one end of the anti-splash system via magnets.
[008] Further, the odor control system comprises a base, a plurality of valves mounted on the base, a side wall, and a cover for enclosing plurality of valves. The base comprises a plurality of holes disposed equidistant from each other, and the plurality of valves is configured to cover each of the plurality of holes. In an example, the plurality of valves is normally closed type. Further, each of the plurality of valves is mounted on a shaft and an actuation mechanism is coupled to at least on end of the shaft. In another example the actuation mechanism is one of a gear mechanism, hinge mechanism, or motor mechanism.
[009] During operation the anti-splash system redirects a liquid impinged on a surface of the operation the anti-splash system and the plurality of valves (322) are configured to rotate based on a flow of the liquid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] Reference will be made to embodiments of the present subject matter, examples of which may be illustrated in the accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the present subject matter is generally described in the context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the present subject matter to these particular embodiments.
[0011] The present disclosure is described in detail with reference to the
accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number
identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers
are used throughout the drawings to refer various features of the present subject
matter.
[0012] Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic of a hygiene apparatus, in accordance with an
embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0013] Fig. 2 illustrates an implementation of the hygiene apparatus in a urinal, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0014] Fig. 3a illustrates an odor control system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0015] Fig. 3b illustrates an internal diagram of the odor control system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0016] Fig. 4 illustrates a sectional view of an anti-splash system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0017] Fig. 5 illustrates an exploded view of the hygiene apparatus, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0018] Fig.6a illustrates a view of valve assembly of the odor control system in open position in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Fig.6b illustrates a view of valve assembly of the odor control system in closed position in accordance a second embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0020] Fig.7a illustrates a view of valve assembly of the odor control system in open position in accordance with a third embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0021] Fig.7b illustrates a view of valve assembly of the odor control system in closed position accordance with a third embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0022] The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise a urinal comprising hygiene apparatus, similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure. The disclosed embodiments of a urinal comprising hygiene apparatus are merely examples of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms.
[0024] Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. For example, although the present disclosure will be described in the

context of a urinal comprising hygiene apparatus, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that a urinal comprising hygiene apparatus utilized in any situation where there is need to provide hygienic urinal. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments illustrated but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
[0025] Additionally, in the following description, for purpose of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of a urinal comprising hygiene apparatus. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that present subject may be practiced without all these details. One skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments of the present subject matter, some of which are described below, may be incorporated into a number of different urinals comprising hygiene apparatus. Further, structures and devices shown below in the figures are illustrative of exemplary embodiments of the present subject matter and are meant to avoid obscuring the present subject matter. Furthermore, connections between components within the figures are not intended to be limited to direct connections. Rather, flow between these components may be modified, re-directed or otherwise changed by intermediary components. Reference in the specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, characteristic, or function described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present subject matter. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. The headings and subheadings used in the document are not intended to limit the content therein to respective heading or subheading. Rather, they are used to help reader navigate and prevent obscuring the present subject matter.
[0026] In one embodiment, a urinal comprising a hygiene apparatus is disclosed. In the embodiment. In the embodiment, the hygiene apparatus comprises an anti-splash system mounted on an odor control system and is disposed on the drainage hole of the urinal. Further, the anti-splash system is shape as a dome. The odor control system comprises one or more valve arrangement arranged over an opening

to allow the passage of urine to a drain. This valve arrangement allows unidirectional flow of urine into the drain and blocks the opening immediately thereafter thus eliminating the odor emitted from the urinal drainage. In one example of the odor control system, each of the one or more valves may be configured to work in co-ordination of each other or independently of each other.
[0027] In one other embodiment of the present subject matter, a urinal comprising hygiene apparatus is described. In one example, the hygiene apparatus comprises an odor control system and an anti-splash system. The hygiene apparatus is disposed on the drainage opening in a urinal receptacle of the urinal, thereby by eliminates splashing and odor in the urinal. The specially designed odor control system of the hygiene apparatus allows the liquid to pass down the drain but blocks the gases generated in the drain line from coming back to the restroom. In one example, the specially designed dome shaped anti-splashing system of the hygiene apparatus hides the normally visible drainage opening in the urinal receptacle, thus giving a visually cleaner interface Additionally, the hygiene apparatus psychologically conveys the urinal is meant for urination and discourages defecation or throwing of solid or semi-solid waste. In case of accidental disposal of solid / semi solid waste such faeces, sanitary pads, napkins etc. the hygiene apparatus gives a facility of cleaning due to its modular nature.
[0028] In the subsequent section the present subject matter of the urinal with a hygiene apparatus will be further explained/illustrated/described with reference to figure for better understanding of the present subject matter and elucidation of the advantages.
[0029] Now referring to Fig. 1, Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic of a hygiene apparatus 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown hygiene apparatus 100 comprises an anti-splash system 108 mounted on an odor control system 104. Further, the anti-splash system 108 may be shaped as a dome or as a ball. In one example, the shape of the anti-splash system 108 may be such that it provides easy of flow of liquid impinged on its surface. In one other example,

the anti-splash system 108 may comprise groves or slots for redirecting of liquid. Further, in one embodiment the anti-splash system 108 may be mounted on an odor control system 104 using magnets for easy removal and cleaning of the urinal.
[0030] Now referring to Fig. 2, Fig.2 illustrates an implementation of the hygiene apparatus 100 in a urinal 204, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one example, the hygiene apparatus 100 may be place in a urinal receptacle 206 of a sanitary fixture, such as for example, the drainage 208 opening in the urinal receptacle 206 is covered by the hygiene apparatus 100. This is an exemplary placement of the hygiene apparatus 100, and it is to be understood that other placement options may exist. In one such option, the anti-splash system 108 may be placed in urinal receptacle 206, whereas the odor control system 104 may be in any part of the drainage 208, such that the odor control system 104 can block the odor and allow unidirectional flow. Further, the hygiene apparatus 100 may also be implemented in a female urinal or a water closet (WC).
[0031] Now referring to Fig. 3, Fig. 3a illustrates an embodiment of an odor control system 104 and Fig. 3b illustrates an internal diagram of the odor control system 104, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the odor control system 104 may comprise of a ring-like side wall 304, a base 306 and a cover 308, and a flap valve arrangement 320 mounted inside on the base 306. Further, the base 306 may comprises one or more holes for allowing the flow of liquid into the drainage. In the illustrated embodiment, the flap value arrangement 320 may further comprise a four flap valves 322a, 322b, 322c, 322d. In one other example, the number of flaps 322 may be directly proportionate to the one or more holes on the base. Further the flap valves are configured to cover the one or more holes on the base 306. In one example, the flap valves 322 may be configured to work in co-ordination or individually during operation. Further, each of the flap valve arrangement may comprises a flap valve 322 mounted on a shaft and configured to rotate when there is a flow of liquid. In one example, the flow may be directed from the anti-splash system 108. The rod may comprise of an actuation mechanism such as gear arrangement 324 on each end thereof. In other

example, the gear may be replaced 324 by a hinge or any other mechanism that enables rotation of the shaft and the flap. In one other embodiment a dead weight 329 may be present attached to the flap 320 to snap back to always close position to avoid and black flow of odor from the drainage. In other example the flap may be spring loaded, instead of dead weight 329, to return back to a previous always close position upon passage of the liquid. Further, in another example, the flap may be power driven electronically, such as by a motor. In one exemplary embodiment of coordinated working of the flap valve 322, each gear 324 at the ends of the shaft may be attached with another gear belonging to adjacent located the flap valve 322. When the flow of liquid causes any of the flap valve 322 to open downwards, due to weight of the liquid other flaps are caused to be opened as well. In other example of individual working, the gear 324 are not connect to the adjected flap valve 322, and in this configuration only the flap valve 322 that is directly in contact with the liquid opens. In one other example, it is understood that the opening and closing by the flap value arrangement 320 can be gear driven 324, ball bearing driven, simple hinge, linkage mechanism or motor or power driven.
[0032] Referring to Fig 6, Fig. 6a illustrates second embodiment of an odor control system 104 in open state and Fig. 6b illustrates second embodiment of the odor control system 104, in closed state. In accordance with the second embodiment of the present disclosure. In the second embodiment, the odor control system 104 may be in the form of an iris mechanism comprising of an outer ring 603, linkages 602 and petal flaps 601, In one example the number of petal flaps may be directly proportional to the diameter of the opening. In another example the petal flaps can be molded in such way that they provide an angle to facilitate the flow of fluid towards the drain. The outer ring 603 has pivot points 604 corresponding to the number of petal flaps 601 to which a linkage 602 is attached, the linkages 602 are hinged at one end to the outer ring 603 and hinged to the petal flap 601 at the other end. When the outer ring 603 is turned anticlockwise the linkages 602 move inwards towards the center resulting in the petal flap 601 meshing with each other forming an airtight seal 606. This seal helps to contain the odor. When the outer

ring is turned clockwise the linkages move outwards thus opening the valve to allow the fluid to flow.
[0033] Referring to Fig 7, Fig. 7a illustrates third embodiment of an odor control system 104 in open state and Fig. 7b illustrates third embodiment of the odor control system 104, in closed state. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the odor control system 104 may be in the form of a sliding valve mechanism comprising of an outer ring 701, a fixed ring 702 and a sliding ring 703, the outer ring 701 is attached to the sliding ring 703. The sliding ring 703 and fixed rings 702 are made concentric to each other and are identical to each other. In open position their slots align and in closed position the sliding ring 703 covers the slots of fixed ring 702. In open state the fixed ring 702 has openings through which fluids can pass, when the valve needs to be closed the mechanism is actuated wherein the outer ring 701 is rotated clockwise along with the sliding ring 703 closing the openings in the fixed ring 702.
[0034] Now referring to Fig. again, Fig. 4 illustrates a sectional view of an anti-splash system 108, and Fig. 5 illustrates an exploded view of the hygiene apparatus 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in the figure, the anti-splash system 108 comprises a magnet receptacle 404 and a reinforcement element 402. The reinforcement element 402 enables a maintaining a dome conical shape of the anti-splash system 108, as shown. The particular dome conical shape of the anti-splash system 108 enables redirecting the liquid impinged on its surface towards the bottom of the receptacle along with absorbing any forces of the impugning liquid there by eliminating the splashing effect. Further, the magnet 502a is disposed in the magnet receptacle 404 and the other magnet 502b is disposed on the odor control system 104. Further magnets 502a, and 502b enable mounting of the anti-splash system 108 on the odor control system 104. Furthermore, the magnets 502a, and 502b make it easy to unmount and mount back the anti-splash system 108 on the odor control system 104 during maintenance. In an example, the magnets 502a, 502b may be replaced by any other

mechanism that enables easy mounting and unmounting and safe from corrosion effects of the liquid it may come in contact during operation in the urinal
[0035] Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages. Though not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these following advantages may include those provided by some embodiments
[0036] Some embodiments of the odor control system may employ valves made of Hydrophobic nature which includes materials like Silicon, Teflon, Neoprene, and the like.
[0037] Some embodiments of the odor control system may employ valves made of nano particle impregnated materials having anti-bacterial and anti-fouling properties.
[0038] Some embodiments of the urinal comprising hygiene apparatus eliminates splashing and odor in the urinal.
[0039] Some embodiments of the urinal comprising hygiene apparatus allow the liquid to pass down the drain but blocking the gases generated in the drain line from coming back to the restroom
[0040] Some embodiments of the urinal comprising hygiene apparatus hide the normally visible drain points thus giving a visually cleaner interface
[0041] Some embodiments of the urinal comprising hygiene apparatus psychologically conveys the purpose urinal be meant for urination and discourages defecation or throwing of wastage
[0042] Some embodiments of the urinal comprising hygiene apparatus in case of accidental disposal of solid / semi solid waste such feces, sanitary pads, napkins etc. gives a facility of cleaning

[0043] Some embodiments of the urinal comprising hygiene apparatus communicates to the user that there is no passage for the solid waste to pass through in the urinal.
[0044] Although the description provides implementations of the hygiene apparatus mounted in a urinal, it is to be understood that the above descriptions are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as examples of implementations for hygiene apparatus mounted in a urinal.

I/WE CLAIM:

1. A hygiene apparatus (100) mounted in a urinal, wherein the hygiene apparatus (100) comprises:
an odor control system (104), wherein the odor control system (104) comprises
a base (306), wherein the base comprises a plurality of holes disposed equidistant from each other,
a plurality of valves (322) mounted on the base (306) and configured to cover each of the plurality of holes, wherein the plurality of valves (322) is normally closed type, wherein each of the plurality of valves (322) is mounted on a shaft and wherein during operation the plurality of valves (322) are configured to rotate based on a flow of the liquid.
2. A hygiene apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, an anti-splash system (108), wherein the odor control system (104) is removable coupled to one end of the anti-splash system (108), wherein during operation the anti-splash system (108) redirects a liquid impinged on a surface of the anti-splash system (108)
3. The hygiene apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the anti-splash system (108) is shaped as one of a spherical dome or a ball, and wherein the odor control system (104) is coupled to one end of the anti-splash system (108) by any one of magnets (502a, 502b), fastenings, or interference fit arrangements.
4. The hygiene apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the odor control system (104) comprises a side wall (304), and a cover (308) for enclosing plurality of valves (322).
5. The odor control system (104) as defined in claim 1, wherein the valves are flap valves.
6. The odor control system (104) as defined in claim 1, wherein the valves are iris mechanism operated valves.
7. The odor control system (104) as defined in claim 1, wherein the valves are sliding mechanism operated valves.
8. The hygiene apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 5, wherein a dead weight 329 is coupled to the one or more of the flap valves (322) for a snap back arrangement.
9. The hygiene apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein an actuation mechanism is coupled to at least on end of the shaft.
10. The hygiene apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the
actuation mechanism is one of a gear mechanism, hinge mechanism,
or motor mechanism.