Apparatus to Capture and Extract Drain Clog Debris
An apparatus for removing a dog from a drain consists of an elongated, flexible shaft member with a corkscrew or coil member on one end and an integrated handle at the other end. Inserting the corkscrew end into a dogged drain and manually turning the handle allows the corkscrew portion of the apparatus to worm through the matter that is dogging the drain, and when the apparatus is pulled from the drain the dogging matter is held within the corkscrew member to capture the dogging matter or debris for easy removal.
Not Applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIXNot Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention generally relates to a low cost, single use, disposable device for clearing a clog from a drain, and more particularly, for clearing a clog from a bathroom sink, shower, or bathtub drain.
Simple drain clogs have been a problem ever since the creation of plumbing. Bathroom sinks, showers and tubs tend to be subject to clogs from hair and soap. Bathroom sinks in addition have toothpaste, shaving creams, hair jells as well as other substances that people use in the bathroom. Whatever the substance, the substances tend over time to attach, ball up, and form clogs that slow, and eventually stop up the drain.
Consumers have had several paths to alleviate the problem of clogs by calling a plumber, or with cost in mind, turning to self help. One self help approach to remove clogs is by adding a chemical (liquid or dry) into the clogged drain. The chemicals react with clog, and then are flushed with water to clear the clog and chemicals. A drawback of chemicals is that they are generally caustic to the drain, and they can be deadly to the user as well as the environment. And if not deadly, chemicals can get in the eyes of a user and potentially cause serious harm. For these reasons, chemicals should be avoided.
A second option is to run a “snake” down the drain in order to penetrate the clog, break up the mass, and again, with water, flush the clog further down the drain. Large snake devices are expensive, and if not used correctly, can push the material causing a clog to move further down the drain.
Other attempts to provide an inexpensive options to clean clogs from hair in drains are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,775,873 (Luoma) discloses an elongated, flexible shaft with a plurality of barbed portions interspersed along its length. While this is an advantage over another device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,032 (Hondo), which consists of an elongated shaft with a plurality of hook members located only at the end of the shaft for picking up hair from within the drain, the Luoma device has its own disadvantages.
First, the Luoma device has to be pushed into a clog, which may actually only push the clog deeper into the drain beyond the limited reach of the Luoma device.
Second, the Luoma device, having the barbed portions interspersed along its length, present sharp edges that pose a risk to the user who could be cut or poked by the barbed portions along the length of the device.
The present invention, “The Pigtail,” was created to be a simple to use, low cost method to attack minor clogs.
The Pigtail could easily be inserted into the drain and then, just by continuously twisting the top, or handle, the Pigtail (with or without micro barbs) would secure hair and other matter clogging the drain (such as shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste). The twisting motion of the Pigtail corkscrewing, or worming its way through a clog would allow the clog to “climb” the Pigtail and then make it easier to pull up and extract the clog, rather than push it down the drain.
The Pigtail does NOT dissolve the clog, nor does it break it apart. It is intended to collect, gather, and extract hair and debris up and out of the drain itself.
As the Pigtail would likely be made of an injected plastic to hold down costs; it would be considered “one use only” and disposable. This innovation could certainly be made from metal as well, with the intent to use over and over again, but that would require cleaning and thus is not preferred. However, to be most appealing to consumers, it would be a single use, disposable article of manufacture that is constructed from a semi-rigid plastic chosen to be flexible enough to bend at any bend in a drain, yet rigid enough to hold the clog matter within the coils of the Pigtail.
The Pigtail would be the easy to use, easy to dispose, non-chemical solution to extracting simple household drain clogs.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is preferably a single injected part that is made from a material that can flex, however, at the same time retain the integrity of its shape during use. This device is called a “Pigtail” as it would have a pigtail or corkscrew shape that would offer flexibility to the device as it is maneuvered in and out of a clogged drain. It would have a square or oval shape at top to use as both a “holder” and a “twister” but any shape that is large enough to allow a thumb and index finger to grasp and turn the Pigtail will be sufficient to be a handle. Preferably, the present invention would be of a cylinder shaped elongated shaft wound helically about an axis to form a coil or “worm”, having a point at a lower, distal end for initial insertion into a drain and having a handle at the upper, or proximal end to aid in rotation of the worm. The coil, or worm, would, preferably, for a bathroom sink sized drain, have an outer diameter about the width of a number 2 pencil, or about 7 mm so as to be easily inserted and removed from a drain entry. This outer diameter of the worm could be larger for clogs in larger drains. Alternatively the present invention could be formed of a flexible member formed in a rectangular cross section rather than cylindrical. With the rectangular cross section, it would still be wound helically about an axis to form a coil. This shape could be chosen for ease of manufacture, or resiliency and strength.
Overall, the length of the present invention, the Pigtail, can be short or long depending on the specific type of drain the user is seeking to clear, but generally the preferred length of the present invention is between 18 and 36 inches. The coils can have coils of uniform diameter and spacing (the pitch of the coils), or the coils can have different diameters and or different pitch (the space between adjacent turns of the coil).
The present invention could have micro barbs on the outside facing surface of the coils to better grab hair and free debris that may be causing the clog, while the inside surface of the coils is free of barbs to allow the clog matter to be drawn up within the coils.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Referring now to the drawings, in particular
The apparatus 100 has a proximal end 120 and a distal end 140, and consists of a handle 150 with an extended or elongated shaft 155 formed into a coil 160. Preferably, the shaft and coil 160 is substantially of a cylindrical cross section as shown in
The handle 150 at the upper, or proximal end 120, can be of any shape and size provided it can be gripped and turned (as shown in
Looking at
As best seen in
Coils 170 have as shown in
Operation of the device 100 is shown in
As shown in
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. Apparatus for removing a dog from a drain, comprising:
- (a) an elongated flexible shaft;
- (b) the elongated flexible shaft having a portion substantially formed as a coil at one end; and
- (c) a handle, wherein the handle is integrated to the flexible shaft at the end of the flexible shaft opposite the coil end of the shaft.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongated flexible shaft has a cylindrical cross section.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the coil portion extends from one end of the flexible shaft to the handle portion.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the coil portion has a plurality of individual coil, where in each individual coil has an outer surface and an inner surface.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the coil portion has a plurality of individual coils, wherein each individual coil has an outer surface and an inner surface and wherein at least one individual coil has micro barbs along the outer surface of the individual coil.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongated flexible shaft has a rectangular cross section.
7. Apparatus for removing a clog from a drain, comprising:
- (a) an elongated, flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end;
- (b) the elongated, flexible shaft having a portion substantially formed as a coil the distal end; and
- (c) a handle integrally molded as the proximal end of the elongate, flexible shaft.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the elongated flexible shaft has a rectangular cross section and the elongated flexible shaft has been wound around a helical axis to form the coil portion.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the coil portion has a plurality of individual coils, wherein each individual coil has substantially the same size.
10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the coil portion has a plurality of individual coils, wherein at least one individual coil has a different size than the other individual coils.
11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the coil portion has a plurality of individual coils, wherein at least one individual coil has a different spacing than the other individual coils.
12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the coil portion has a plurality of individual coils, wherein at least one individual coil has a different size and a different spacing than the other individual coils.
13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the coil portion has a plurality of individual coils, wherein each individual coil has substantially the same size wherein each individual coil has an outer surface and an inner surface and wherein at least one individual coil has micro barbs along the outer surface of the individual coil.
14. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the coil portion has a plurality of individual coils, wherein each individual coil has an outer surface and an inner surface and at least one individual coil has a different size and a different spacing than the other individual coils and wherein at least one individual coil has micro barbs along the outer surface of the individual coil.
15. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the coil portion has a plurality of individual coils, wherein each individual coil has an outer surface and an inner surface and at least one individual coil has a different size than the other individual coils and wherein at least one individual coil has micro barbs along the outer surface of the individual coil.
16. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the coil portion has a plurality of individual coils, wherein each individual coil has an outer surface and an inner surface and at least one individual coil has a different spacing than the other individual coils and wherein at least one individual coil has micro barbs along the outer surface of the individual coil.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 23, 2013
Publication Date: Jun 25, 2015
Inventor: Skip A. Lei (Portland, OR)
Application Number: 14/139,830