LOW PROFILE OVERBALANCED BACKWATER VALVE
A backwater valve has a hollow valve body with an inlet defined by a vertical surface, an outlet, and a bottom. A pivoting valve member is pivotally movable about a pivot axis between a normally open position along the bottom of the valve body and a closed, vertical position sealing the inlet. The valve member has a hinge end, the pivot axis being positioned at the hinge end. An overbalancing member carried by the valve member biases the float toward the closed position. The overbalancing member comprises at least one of a counterweight and a magnetic element. The overbalancing member is positioned at the hinge end and spaced from the pivot axis such that the overbalancing member is vertically above the pivot axis when the valve member is in the open position and horizontally over from the pivot axis when the valve member is in the closed position.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/520131, filed Oct. 21, 2014, of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELDThe present invention relates to a backwater valve used to prevent a backflow of sewage into a home.
BACKGROUNDU.S. Pat. No. 5,406,972 (Coscarella et al.) relates to a backwater valve which prevents a backflow of sewage into a home. This backwater valve needs a minimum amount of clearance space. As a result, there are some installations for which the valve is not suited because there is insufficient clearance space.
SUMMARYAccording to an aspect, a backwater valve comprises a hollow valve body having an inlet defined by a vertical surface, an outlet, and a bottom. A pivoting valve member is pivotally movable about a pivot axis between a normally open position along the bottom of the valve body and a closed, vertical position sealing the inlet. The valve member has a peripheral edge comprising a hinge end, a remote end, and opposed sides, the pivot axis being positioned at the hinge end. An overbalancing member carried by the valve member biases the float toward the closed position when in the closed position. The overbalancing member comprises at least one of a counterweight and a magnetic element. The overbalancing member is positioned at the hinge end and spaced from the pivot axis such that the overbalancing member is vertically above the pivot axis when the valve member is in the open position and horizontally over from the pivot axis when the valve member is in the closed position.
According to another aspect, the overbalancing member is a magnetic element and the valve body comprises a second magnetic element, where at least one of the magnetic element and the second magnetic element is magnetized.
According to another aspect, the overbalancing member is a counterweight.
These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:
A low profile backwater valve generally identified by reference numeral 10 will now be described with reference to
Structure and Relationship of Parts:
Referring to
In the example depicted in
A float 28 is positioned as an appendage along at least one opposed side 26 of valve body 12. Referring to
It has been found that debris and other contaminants can cause difficulties in the operation of backwater valve 10. To counter this, certain features may be used. Referring to
Operation:
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In one embodiment, overbalancing element 44 may be a counter weight, such that the additional weight maintains valve member 20 in the closed position. As can be seen, overbalancing element 44 is positioned at the hinge end 22 of valve member 20 and spaced from the pivot axis 23 such that, in the closed position, counterweight 44 moves along a path that is initially vertical or substantially vertical, to maximize the amount pressure required to lift counterweight 44 as valve member 20 pivots to the open position and that, in the open position, it is directly above pivot axis 23, so that counterweight 44 initially moves horizontally to minimize the amount of upward force required to move valve member 20 to the closed position.
In another embodiment, overbalancing element 44 may be a magnetic element carried by valve member 20 that is magnetically attracted to a second magnetic element 48 carried by valve body 12. At least one of magnetic element 44 and second magnetic element 48 is magnetic and the other may be ferrous. To increase the attraction, both elements 44 and 48 may be magnetic with opposite poles facing the other. Overbalancing element 44 is preferably positioned in the same general position as in the embodiment that involves a counterweight as overbalancing element 44 may increase the weight and also act as a counterweight. In addition, the spacing of magnet is element 44 from pivot axis 23 acts as a lever to increase the effect of the magnetic attraction between magnetic element 44 and second magnetic element 48. Depending on the size and type of magnetic material, magnetic element 44 may be heavy enough that it also acts as a counterweight. Magnetic element 44 engages second magnetic element 48 near hinge end 22 of valve member 20 when valve member 20 is in a closed position.
In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.
The scope of the following claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples above and in the drawings, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.
Claims
1. A backwater valve, comprising:
- a hollow valve body having an inlet defined by a vertical surface, an outlet, and a bottom;
- a pivoting valve member pivotally movable about a pivot axis that is positioned below the inlet between a normally open position along the bottom of the valve body and a closed, vertical position sealing the inlet, the pivoting valve member having a peripheral edge comprising a hinge end, a remote end, and opposed sides, the pivot axis being positioned at the hinge end, the pivoting valve member comprising a float; and
- a first magnetic element carried by the pivoting valve member and a second magnetic element attached to the hollow valve body adjacent to the inlet, such that, as the pivoting valve member approaches the closed position, the first magnetic element is magnetically attracted toward the second magnetic element to bias the pivoting valve member toward the closed position and to maintain the pivoting valve member in the closed position until sufficient pressure is applied from the inlet to the pivoting valve member to open the valve member.
2. The backwater valve of claim 1, wherein one of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element is magnetized and the other of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element is ferrous.
3. The backwater valve of claim 1, wherein each of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element are magnetized and with opposite poles facing the other along a travel path of the pivoting valve member.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 2, 2018
Publication Date: Jun 7, 2018
Inventor: Gabe Coscarella (Edmonton)
Application Number: 15/887,730