Invention Convention Attracts the Unconventional : Innovation: Ever wonder how the world has gotten along without the 1-pound portable toilet or an electric flosser?

Inventor Richard M. Diaz says his product is something no briefcase or backpack should be without.

Because whether a person is in the middle of fighting a war in Saudi Arabia, caught in an earthquake or simply enjoying a weekend camping trip, Diaz says, one essential accessory is the Personal Commode--a 1-pound portable toilet.

Diaz, an entrepreneur from Patton, Calif., was one of dozens of inventors hoping to be discovered at Saturday’s Invention Convention at the Disneyland Hotel.

The gathering, sponsored by the Small Business Administration, is designed to bring inventors together with manufacturers, distributors and investors.

On display were a pillow that conforms to the body for use while traveling long distances; a toy submarine assembled by a 10-year-old Taiwanese boy; an electric tooth flosser; and the “Joy Stick,” an aerobic exerciser that allows a person to bounce in the air with the help of a pneumatic air cylinder.

Working with the motto, “A civilized way to go,” Diaz says his product has been shipped to United States military personnel deployed to the Middle East. He is under orders by the federal government, he says, not to disclose how many portable toilets had been ordered.

As he stands on the corrugated fiberboard frame to demonstrate the strength of his product, Diaz says the degradable plastic liners should also appease environmentalists.

The saying, “When you gotta go, you gotta go” was his inspiration.

Sporting goods stores are already selling his product (the suggested retail price for the “Forest Camouflage” version is $17.95).

But other inventors, like Fred Roberts of Clarksville, Tenn., were hoping the convention would bring them a manufacturer.

Roberts’ product was an attention grabber--a training toilet for young boys and girls. The back of the wooden seat is decorated with the face of a dog.

Words of encouragement, such as “That’s the way,” can be recorded and played back for the child. If successful, songs such as the “Hallelujah!” chorus and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony begin playing while the animal’s wooden ears wag.

“When liquid goes in, it plays one song,” he told a visitor, “and when solid goes in, it plays another.”

Convinced that some child abuse is associated with potty training, Roberts said he decided to invent this aid for the working mother.

The design, said Roberts, 46, was inspired by his mother-in-law.

“She used to look this way (like the dog) when I was a little bit younger,” he joked.

Roberts also displayed photographs of another, less successful invention with which he is still tinkering--a flying reindeer sleigh powered like a gyroplane.

“I’ve come close to biting the dust,” he said of his test flights.

Biting insects have captured the imagination of Buck Buktenica, 76, of Camarillo, Calif., who has designed a “Dog Tent” for his war against fleas.

The tent, an airtight chamber, is placed around a dog’s body, leaving only the head exposed. Carbon dioxide is released into the chamber for 20 to 30 minutes to kill the fleas.

Buktenica acknowledged he does not know how well his product works because he has not tested it on his dog.

“We feed our dog garlic pills,” Buktenica said. “She never has fleas.”