DRAIN ASSEMBLY
A drain assembly comprises a rigid body having an intake chamber connected to a discharge chamber via a passageway disposed in a lower portion of the rigid body, an intake opening disposed in an upper portion of the rigid body adapted to receive a fluid into the intake chamber of the rigid body, the intake opening adapted to be coupled to a drain via a flexible hose, a discharge opening also disposed in the upper portion of the rigid body but spaced from the intake opening, adapted to conduct the fluid out from the discharge chamber of the rigid body, the discharge opening adapted to be coupled to a drainage pipe, a clean-out opening disposed in the lower portion of the rigid body in fluid communication with the passageway, and a removable cap adapted to close off the clean-out opening.
The present disclosure is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 13/541,058, filed on Jul. 3, 2012, which claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/512,381, entitled “u-trap or 123 u-trap,” and filed on Jul. 27, 2011.
FIELDThe present disclosure relates to the field of plumbing assemblies, and more particularly to a drain assembly.
BACKGROUNDIn 1775 Alexander Cummings invented the S-bend trap. In 1880 Thomas Crapper introduced the U-shaped trap. These bends in the drain pipe are used to prevent sewer gases from entering the interior of buildings. Today the bottle trap is still used in Europe and many parts of the world, but the most commonly used trap in houses, is referred to as the P-trap. It is the addition of a 90 degree fitting and the extension on the outlet side of a U-bend that creates a P-like shape.
Generally the conventional drain assembly connects many pieces of tubing or pipe to complete the assembly. The long and short pieces of rigid tubing have tremendous leverage against the very small contact points between the pipe segments. Very small movement of the tubing or pipe could easily cause the pieces to become misaligned and loose at the joints, and cause leakage.
In one embodiment, the intake opening 12 incorporates a male pipe thread (MPT) fitting that may be easily connected to a tailpiece at one end of a flexible hose using a slip-nut connection. The flexible hose may include a male pipe thread at the second end for coupling with the sink tailpiece using a second slip-nut.
Also in fluid communication with the inlet 12 and outlet 14 is a clean-out opening 16 and a screw cap 17. The clean-out opening 16 may incorporate a male pipe thread that is adapted to interface with the female pipe thread of the screw cap 17. The clean-out opening 16 is disposed at the very bottom end of the drain assembly. The screw cap 17 creates a leak-free seal with the clean-out opening and obviates the need for any gasket or seal. The clean-out opening 16, when the drain assembly 10 is installed, is generally disposed directly below the intake opening 12, and is oriented at a perpendicular angle from the longitudinal axis 15. Further, the clean-out opening 16, when the drain assembly 10 is installed, is typically located at a convenient and easy-to-reach position facing outwardly from the wall or some other structure of the building. The clean-out opening 16 can be used to easily clean out debris and sediments, and retrieve other foreign objects. It also can be used as a snake router entry point. The drain assembly 10 includes a shelf 18 that is better seen in
Referring also to
The assembly further includes a divider plate 26. The divider plate 26 is disposed at an interface of the shelf 18 and forms a fluid-conducting path 27 from inlet 12 to outlet 14. The shelf 18 provides a cradling seat onto which the divider plate 26 can be securely adhered. Ultrasonic welding or other suitable methods may be used to form a strong bond between the shelf 18 and the divider plate 26. The divider plate 26 effectively divides the two portions of the drain assembly 10 into an intake chamber and a discharge chamber, and provides further reinforcement and integrity for the structure. The divider plate 26 also in effect forms an integral street elbow in the drain assembly between the inlet and the outlet. The divider plate 26 further helps to form a water seal to keep sewer gases in the plumbing system from entering the sink and the interior of the room.
In the embodiment shown in
As shown, the inlet 66 of the drain assembly 60 is adapted to securely couple to a flexible hose 68 leading to and coupled to the drain of a sink (not shown). At the inlet 66 of the assembly 60 is a slip-nut 78 that is used to easily secure the assembly 60 to the flexible hose 68. The tailpiece of the flexible hose 68 is inserted into the slip-nut 78 and tightened with an one and a half turn, until tightly secured. Details of the slip-nut construction is set forth below while referencing
The tailpiece of the discharge opening 166 can be coupled to the sanitary tee 168 by using a male adaptor 174 (adaptor with male pipe thread or MPT) and a slip-nut 176. The male adaptor 174 is typically engaged or bonded to the sanitary tee 168. The tailpiece of the discharge opening 166 is sized and configured so that it readily engages the male adaptor 174 to form a water-tight seal using the slip-nut 176. A wooden block 178 can be secured to the sanitary tee 168 to further stabilize the connection. The detailed construction of the slip-nut 176 is shown in
It should be noted that because flexible hoses rather than rigid tubing or pipe are used to couple the drain assembly described herein to the sink drain tailpiece, movement or shifting would not cause misalignment and leakage. Further, the use of the slip-nut to connect the drain assembly to the sink tailpiece does not lead to leakage because even in the event of failure or misalignment of the slip-nut connection, the connection is located above the water level.
The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth below with particularity in the appended claims. However, modifications, variations, and changes to the exemplary embodiments described above will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the drain assembly described herein thus encompass such modifications, variations, and changes and are not limited to the specific embodiments described herein.
Claims
1. A drain assembly comprising:
- a rigid body having an intake chamber connected to a discharge chamber via a fluid-conducting passageway disposed in a lower portion of the rigid body, the fluid-conducting passageway adapted to store a discharge fluid and forming a water seal separating the intake chamber from the discharge chamber;
- an intake opening disposed in an upper portion of the rigid body adapted to receive the discharge fluid into the intake chamber of the rigid body, the intake opening adapted to be coupled to a drain via a flexible hose;
- a discharge opening also disposed in the upper portion of the rigid body but spaced from the intake opening, adapted to conduct the discharge fluid out from the discharge chamber of the rigid body, the discharge opening adapted to be coupled to a drainage pipe;
- a clean-out opening disposed in the lower portion of the rigid body providing access to the fluid-conducting passageway; and
- a removable cap adapted to close off the clean-out opening.
2. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein longitudinal axes of the discharge opening and the clean-out opening are generally horizontally-oriented.
3. The drain assembly of claim 1, further comprising a divider plate disposed in the rigid body separating the intake chamber and the discharge chamber and forming the fluid-conducting passageway.
4. The drain assembly of claim 1, further comprising a slip-nut configured to securely fasten a first end of the flexible hose to the intake opening, where a second end of the flexible hose is adapted to be coupled to a sink drain.
5. The drain assembly of claim 1, further comprising a slip-nut having female pipe thread fitting configured to securely engage male pipe thread fitting of the intake opening and fasten a tailpiece of the flexible hose to the intake opening in a water-tight manner.
6. The drain assembly of claim 4, wherein the slip-nut comprises:
- a circular body;
- female pipe thread fitting configured to engage male pipe thread fitting of the intake opening; and
- a circular flange concentric with the female pipe thread fitting having a cross-section profile of a widened base and an inward-facing ridge adapted to be pressed against a tailpiece of the flexible hose coupled to the sink drain when the slip-nut is tightened around the intake opening.
7. The drain assembly of claim 6, wherein the intake opening comprises an inward-facing circular slot adapted to meet and engage the circular flange of the slip-nut when the slip-nut is tightened around the intake opening and the tailpiece of the flexible hose coupled to the sink drain.
8. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the clean-out opening is disposed directly below the intake opening when the discharge opening of the drain assembly is coupled to a sanitary tee.
9. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the removable cap of the clean-out opening comprises a hair trap adapted to trap debris.
10. The drain assembly of claim 9, wherein the hair trap comprises a plurality of bristles attached to a central stem coupled to the removable cap.
11. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the removable cap of the clean-out opening comprises:
- female pipe thread fitting adapted to engage male pipe thread fitting of the clean-out opening; and
- a circular wedge having a wide base adapted to wedge into the clean-out opening and form a water-tight seal as the removable cap is tightened around the clean-out opening.
12. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the discharge opening incorporates a tailpiece adapted to be connected to a sanitary tee via an adaptor having male pipe thread fitting and a slip-nut.
13. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the discharge opening incorporates male pipe thread fitting adapted to be connected to a sanitary tee via an adaptor having female pipe thread fitting.
14. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the discharge opening incorporates a spigot fitting sized and adapted to be directly bonded to a sanitary tee.
15. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the lower portion of the rigid body is constructed of a material that permits a visual inspection into the rigid body.
16. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the clean-out opening comprises male pipe threading adapted to engage with female pipe threading of the removable cap.
17. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the intake opening is adapted to be coupled to a Y-pipe fitting operable to couple to two drain discharges.
18. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the flexible hose comprises:
- a first end comprising a male pipe thread fitting adapted to couple to a tailpiece of a sink drain; and
- a second end comprising a tailpiece adapted to couple to male pipe thread fitting of the intake opening of the drain assembly.
19. The drain assembly of claim 18, wherein the flexible hose comprises more than one flexible hose connected end-to-end.
20. A drain assembly comprising:
- a rigid body having an intake chamber connected to a discharge chamber via a passageway;
- an intake opening disposed in an upper portion of the rigid body adapted to receive a discharge fluid into the intake chamber of the rigid body, the intake opening adapted to be connected to a tailpiece of a flexible hose connected to a source of discharge fluid using a slip-nut comprising: a circular body; female pipe thread fitting adapted to engage male pipe thread fitting of the intake opening; and a circular flange concentric with the female pipe thread fitting having a cross-section profile of a widened base and an inward-facing ridge adapted to be pressed against the tailpiece of the flexible hose to form a water-tight seal when the slip-nut is tightened around the intake opening;
- a discharge opening also disposed in the upper portion of the rigid body but spaced from the intake opening, adapted to conduct the discharge fluid out from the discharge chamber of the rigid body, the discharge opening adapted to be coupled to a sanitary tee;
- a clean-out opening disposed in a lower portion of the rigid body in fluid communication with the passageway; and
- a removable cap adapted to close off the clean-out opening.
21. The drain assembly of claim 20, further comprising a divider plate disposed in the rigid body separating the intake chamber and the discharge chamber and defining the passageway.
22. The drain assembly of claim 20, wherein the intake opening comprises an inward-facing circular slot adapted to meet and engage the circular flange of the slip-nut when the slip-nut is tightened around the intake opening and the tailpiece of the flexible hose coupled to a sink drain.
23. The drain assembly of claim 20, wherein the removable cap of the clean-out opening comprises a hair trap adapted to trap debris.
24. The drain assembly of claim 23, wherein the hair trap comprises a plurality of bristles attached to a central stem coupled to the removable cap.
25. The drain assembly of claim 20, wherein the removable cap of the clean-out opening comprises:
- female pipe thread fitting adapted to engage male pipe thread fitting of the clean-out opening; and
- a circular wedge having a wide base adapted to wedge into the clean-out opening and form a water-tight seal as the removable cap is tightened around the clean-out opening.
26. The drain assembly of claim 20, wherein the discharge opening incorporates a tailpiece adapted to be connected to a sanitary tee via an adaptor having male pipe thread fitting and a slip-nut.
27. The drain assembly of claim 20, wherein the discharge opening incorporates male pipe thread fitting adapted to be connected to a sanitary tee via an adaptor having female pipe thread fitting.
28. The drain assembly of claim 20, wherein the discharge opening incorporates a spigot fitting sized and adapted to be directly bonded to a sanitary tee.
29. The drain assembly of claim 20, wherein the lower portion of the rigid body is constructed of a material that permits a visual inspection into the rigid body.
30. The drain assembly of claim 20, wherein the clean-out opening comprises male pipe threading adapted to engage with female pipe threading of the removable cap.
31. The drain assembly of claim 20, wherein the intake opening is adapted to be coupled to a Y-pipe fitting operable to couple to two drains.
32. The drain assembly of claim 20, wherein the flexible hose comprises:
- a first end comprising a male pipe thread fitting adapted to couple to a tailpiece of a sink drain; and
- a second end comprising a tailpiece adapted to couple to male pipe thread fitting of the intake opening of the drain assembly.
33. The drain assembly of claim 32, wherein the flexible hose comprises more than one flexible hose connected end-to-end.
34. A drain assembly comprising:
- a rigid body having an intake chamber connected to a discharge chamber via a fluid-conducting passageway disposed in a lower portion of the rigid body, the fluid-conducting passageway adapted to store a discharge fluid and forming a water seal separating the intake chamber from the discharge chamber;
- an intake opening having male pipe thread fitting and disposed in an upper portion of the rigid body adapted to receive the discharge fluid into the intake chamber of the rigid body, the intake opening;
- a flexible hose having a first end comprising a male pipe thread fitting adapted to couple to a tailpiece of a sink drain using a slip-nut, and a second end comprising a tailpiece adapted to couple to the male pipe thread fitting of the intake opening using a slip-nut;
- a discharge opening also disposed in the upper portion of the rigid body but spaced from the intake opening, adapted to conduct the discharge fluid out from the discharge chamber of the rigid body, the discharge opening adapted to be coupled to a sanitary tee;
- a clean-out opening disposed in the lower portion of the rigid body providing access to the fluid-conducting passageway; and
- a removable cap adapted to close off the clean-out opening.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 2, 2013
Publication Date: May 15, 2014
Applicant: Aqua Sure, Inc. (Concord, CA)
Inventor: Aqua Sure, Inc.
Application Number: 13/855,111
International Classification: E03C 1/30 (20060101);