Universal drain cover

Abstract

A drain plate cover assembly having two or more holes for receiving a fastener, wherein the location of the holes changes when the plate is rotated. This permits the plate to accommodate a variety of preexisting fastener locations. The cover having an advantage that, for regular geometrically shaped covers, such as square, the plate may be used to replace existing covers and accommodate different fastener locations merely by rotating the plate through a set arch (such as 90 degrees in the case of a square cover).

Description

This application claims priority from U.S. Patent Application No. 60/666,727, filed Mar. 31, 2005, the content of which is herein incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a drain cover. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a universal drain cover that may be used with any conventional drain.

BACKGROUND

The floors of buildings are usually provided with floor drains which provide access to drainpipes which are used to convey liquids spilt or poured on the floors to sewers or collection containers. The open mouth of the floor drain, which is commonly round, is usually closed with an apertured drain cover which may be friction fit or otherwise secured in place.

In time, the drain cover may need to be replaced, due to wear and tear or because of remodeling of the surrounding area. Unfortunately, in many cases a drain cover of the original design may either be no longer available or if available may not fit the remodeled surroundings the drain, for example a specific tile pattern. Furthermore, in remodeling the surroundings of the drain, it may be desired to have a drain cover having a shape different from the original one.

There is a need for a universal drain cover which may be used to either close the opening of a new drain or used to replace a drain cover which must be replaced for some reason.

There is also a need for a drain plate assembly that may be easily installed to securely close a variety of different size mouths of drains.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a drain cover.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a drain opening.

FIG. 3 is a top view of an alternative embodiment of a drain opening.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the drain cover of FIG. 1 on which is superimposed the location of screws from the drain opening of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the drain cover of FIG. 1, rotated clockwise by 90 degrees, on which is superimposed the location of screws from the drain opening of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the drain cover of FIG. 1 on which is superimposed the location of screws from the drain opening of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the drain cover of FIG. 1, rotated clockwise by 90 degrees, on which is superimposed the location of screws from the drain opening of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the drain cover of FIG. 1, rotated clockwise by 180 degrees, on which is superimposed the location of screws from the drain opening of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a top view of an alternative embodiment of a drain cover.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the drain cover of FIG. 9 on which is superimposed the location of screws from the drain opening of FIG. 2.

FIG. 11 is a top view of the drain cover of FIG. 9, rotated clockwise by 90 degrees, on which is superimposed the location of screws from the drain opening of FIG. 2.

FIG. 12 is a top view of an alternative drain cover on which is superimposed the location of screws from the drain opening of FIG. 2.

FIG. 13 is a top view of the drain cover of FIG. 12, rotated clockwise by 90 degrees, on which is superimposed the location of screws from the drain opening of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a drain cover (110) having a series of milled grooves (11, 12, 13, 14, 15) for receiving fasteners, such as, for example screws, to secure the drain cover (110) to a drain, and draining apertures (17, 19). Although the drain cover (110) is shown as being square in shape, it is to be understood that other shapes may be used as well.

The drain cover (110) may be used to close the opening of drains such as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 shows a common drain opening (120) comprising a pair of screw holes (21, 22) located on a rim (24) surrounding the drain (26). Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, the drain opening (130) may have a different number of screw holes (31, 32, 33), in this alternative embodiment three, located on the rim (34) surrounding the drain (36).

As may be seen in FIG. 4, when the drain cover (110) of FIG. 1 is placed on top of the drain opening (120) of FIG. 2, the location of the screw holes (21, 22) may not necessarily coincide with the milled grooves (11, 12, 13, 14, 15). In this example screw hole (21) is positioned between milled grooves (11) and (12), while screw hole (22) is positioned under milled groove (14). If the drain cover (110) was to be circular in shape it would be an easy matter to slightly rotate the drain cover (110) until the milled grooves (11, 12, 13, 14, 15) coincided with the screw holes (21, 22) but when using a drain cover (110) having a shape who's orientation is of importance, such as a drain cover used in the design of a specific floor tile pattern, this option is not appropriate.

By disposing of the milled grooves (11, 12, 13, 14, 15) upon the drain cover (110) in a manner such that their positioning is not symmetric with respect to each sides of the drain cover (110), rotating the drain cover by 90, 180 or 270 degrees will change the location of the milled grooves (11, 12, 13, 14, 15) while preserving the orientation of the drain cover (110). By rotating the drain cover (110) clockwise by 90 degrees, as shown in FIG. 5, screw hole (21) is now positioned under milled groove (15) and screw hole (22) is positioned under milled groove (13), and the drain cover (110) is still in the same orientation.

Referring now to FIG. 6, when the drain cover (110) of FIG. 1 is placed on top of the drain opening (130) of FIG. 3, the location of the screw holes (31, 32, 33) once more may not necessarily coincide with the milled grooves (11, 12, 13, 14, 15). In this example screw hole (31) is positioned between milled grooves (11) and (12), while screw hole (32) is positioned under milled groove (13) and screw hole (33) is positioned under milled groove (15). Now, by rotating the drain cover (110) clockwise by 90 degrees, as shown in FIG. 7, screw hole (31) is now positioned under milled groove (15) and screw hole (32) is positioned under milled groove (12) but screw hole (33) is now positioned between milled grooves (13) and (14). By rotating the drain cover (110) clockwise by a further 90 degrees, for a total of 180 degrees, as shown in FIG. 8, screw hole (31) is now positioned under milled groove (14), screw hole (32) is positioned under milled groove (11) and screw hole (33) is now positioned under milled groove (12), and the drain cover (110) is still in the same orientation.

It is to be understood that if other geometries of drain cover are used, the rotation angle will change accordingly so that the drain cover remains in the same general orientation after each rotation.

In an alternative embodiment, shown in FIG. 9, when the drain cover (140) has an even number of milled grooves (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55), in this example 10, it is important to dispose the milled grooves (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55) such that they are not symmetrically disposed with respect to each sides of the drain cover (140). For example, the milled grooves (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55) may be disposed so that their symmetry axis (142) is at an angle θ with the cover drain (140) symmetry axis (143) such that they are not mirror images of each other with respect to symmetry axis (143). For example, by having a milled grooves (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55) symmetry axis (142) positioned such that milled grooves (41, 42, 43, 44, 45) and milled grooves (51, 52, 53, 54, 55) are no longer mirror images of each other with respect to drain cover (140) symmetry axis (142), it may be seen that the milled grooves (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55) are not symmetrically disposed with respect to each of the sides of the drain cover (140). An angle θ of, for example, 5 degrees may be used between symmetry axes (142) and (143). It is to be understood, however, that other angles may be used so that the resulting positioning of the milled grooves (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55) is not symmetric with respect to each sides of the drain cover (140).

FIGS. 10 and 11 show, in a fashion similar to FIGS. 4 and 5, that the drain cover (140) of FIG. 10 may be rotated by 90 degrees when it is placed on top of the drain opening (120) of FIG. 2, such the location of the screw holes (21, 22) coincide with milled grooves (53) and (43).

In another alternative embodiment, shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a lesser number of milled grooves (61, 62, 63) may be used. The drain cover (160) of FIG. 12 may be rotated in similar fashion as for the preceding embodiments, for example by 90 degrees as shown in FIG. 13, such that when it is placed on top of the drain opening (120) of FIG. 2, the location of the screw holes (21, 22) coincide with milled grooves (63) and (62).

It is to be understood that the milled grooves of the various embodiments are positioned so as to be on a circular path having a diameter corresponding to the distance between screw holes used in commonly available drains, for example 2 13/16″ or 2⅝″. Drain covers may be designed for other dimensions or, in an alternative embodiment, additional series of milled grooves may be present so as to accommodate various diameter drains. For example, referring back to FIG. 1, draining apertures (17) may be replaced with milled grooves to accommodate drains of two different sizes, i.e. drains for which the distance between screw holes are different.

Although the present invention has been described by way of particular embodiments and examples thereof, it should be noted that it will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that modifications may be applied to the present particular embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A drain plate assembly comprising:

a plate having at least one passage for a fluid, and having at least two openings to permit the passage of a fastener.

2. The drain plate of claim 1, wherein the plate is symmetrical about an axis, and the at least two openings are located asymmetrically relative to said axis.

3. The drain plate of claim 2, wherein the plate is a regular geometric shape, and, when the plate is rotated, at least one of the openings is positioned in a different location than the position of either of the openings prior to rotation.

4. The drain plate of claim 3, wherein the plate is rectangular, and one of said openings is in a desired location before the drain plate is rotated, at least one of the remaining openings is not aligned with an desired location, and all said openings are in desired locations after the plate is rotated through one of 90 degrees, 180 degrees and 270 degrees.

5. The drain plate of claim 3, wherein at least one of the openings is a slot.

6. The drain plate of claim 3, wherein at least one of the openings is an arcuate slot aligned with an arc of rotation of said plate.

7. The drain plate of claim 2, wherein said openings are positioned relative to one another in a regular pattern.

8. The drain plate of claim 2, wherein said openings are positioned relative to one another in an irregular pattern.