AU2016102139A4

AU2016102139A4 - Debris trap

Info

Publication number: AU2016102139A4
Application number: AU2016102139A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Jason Gebrael
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2016-03-15
Filing date: 2016-12-20
Publication date: 2017-03-23
Anticipated expiration: 2024-12-20
Also published as: AU2016102139B4

Abstract

Debris trap Abstract A debris trap (10) is provided for use in an open end of a drain pipe. The debris trap (10) includes a main body (11), which has an abutment portion (16), having an opening (15), a receptacle portion (12), and at least one aperture (14). The receptacle portion (12), which is narrower than the abutment portion (16), is arranged below the abutment portion (16) for collecting debris that enters the debris trap (10) via the opening (15). The at least one aperture (14) is formed in the receptacle portion (12), proximal to the abutment portion (16) and distal to a base of the receptacle portion (12) in an upper periphery of the receptacle portion (12) and is adapted to allow fluid to drain from the upper periphery of the receptacle portion (12). The debris trap also includes a shield member (20) that partially obscures the at least one aperture (14). \ 16 Fig. 1

Description

2016102139 20 Dec 2016 ι

Debris trap

Related Applications [0001] This application is related to Australian Provisional Patent Application

No. 2016900962 entitled "A debris trap for construction piping" and filed on 15 March 2016, and International Patent Application No. PCT/AU2016/050808 entitled "Debris trap" and filed on 29 August 2016, the entire content of each of which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

Technical Field [0002] The present disclosure relates to a debris trap for use in open drain pipes on construction sites.

Background of the Invention [0003] During construction of a building, plumbing drain pipes are typically installed in the building, often passing through floors, such as concrete slabs, and terminating in a floor drain. During the construction period, the floor drains and other drainage pipe openings typically remain open and are not covered until construction is complete and the final fittings are installed, such as drain covers/grilles.

[0004] Construction site debris, such as off-cuts, shavings, nails, staples, packaging, plastic, sand, and many other small items can easily fall into the open pipes or be washed into the open pipes by rain or when hosing a surface. This debris can accumulate in the pipes and cause a blockage, which can then lead to flooding of the construction site. It is common for plumbers to have to attend the construction site and cut out sections of piping to remove the blockage.

[0005] Blockages caused by debris entering the drain pipes can lead to delays in construction, additional expenses to have the blockages cleared and the pipes repaired, and may result in damage to construction equipment and the building itself. Flooding caused by such blockages is also a significant health and safety risk for workers on a constructions site. 2 2016102139 20 Dec 2016

Object of the Invention [0006] It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome or at least ameliorate one or more of the above problems or disadvantages, or to provide a useful alternative.

Summary of the Invention [0007] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a debris trap for use in an open end of a drain pipe, the debris trap comprising: a main body having an abutment portion, having an opening, and a receptacle portion below the abutment portion for collecting debris that enters the debris trap via the opening, wherein the receptacle portion is narrower than the abutment portion; at least one aperture formed in a wall of the receptacle portion proximal to the abutment portion and distal to a base of the receptacle portion in an upper periphery of the receptacle portion, the at least one aperture being adapted to allow fluid to drain from the upper periphery of the receptacle portion; and a shield member partially obscuring the at least one aperture.

[0008] Preferably, the shield member projects downwardly from the abutment portion into the receptacle portion, extending sufficiently into the receptacle portion to partially overlap the at least one aperture but not extending below the at least one aperture.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment: the shield member has a radially projecting flange and a downwardly depending skirt and is formed as a separate component to the abutment portion and the receptacle portion; when assembled , the flange of the shield member sits on a shoulder formation of the abutment portion; the shoulder formation has at least one socket provided therein and the flange of the shield member has at least one lug provided thereon and wherein the lug is received in the socket when the flange member sits on the shoulder formation, thereby preventing rotational movement of the shield member relative to the abutment member.

[0010] Optionally, the debris trap further comprises a handle formed as a separate component to the shield member and the main body, wherein assembly of the handle to the abutment portion holds the flange of the shield portion against the shoulder formation of the abutment portion, thereby retaining the shield portion in place. 2016102139 20 Dec 2016 3 [0011] Preferably, the shield member is spaced from, but proximal to, a wall of the receptacle portion.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment, the abutment portion is an outwardly projecting rim.

[0013] Preferably, the rim has a bevelled edge.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment, the receptacle portion is generally bucket-shaped having a generally circular base and a generally frustoconical wall.

Brief Description of the Drawings [0015] Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of specific example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [0016] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a debris trap; [0017] Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the debris trap of Fig. 1; [0018] Fig. 3 is a plan view of the debris trap of Fig. 1; [0019] Fig. 4 depicts a receptacle component of the debris trap of Fig. 1 in isolation; [0020] Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the receptacle component of Fig. 4; [0021] Fig. 6 depicts a shield member of the debris trap of Fig. 1 from below in isolation; [0022] Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the shield member of Fig. 6; [0023] Fig. 8 is an elevation view of the shield member of Fig. 6; [0024] Fig. 9 is an elevation view of a second embodiment of a debris trap; [0025] Fig. 10 depicts a receptacle component of the debris trap of Fig. 9 in cross-section in isolation; [0026] Fig. 11 depicts a shield member of the debris trap of Fig. 9 in isolation; [0027] Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the shield member of Fig. 11; [0028] Fig. 13 is an elevation view of a third embodiment of a debris trap; [0029] Fig. 14 depicts a receptacle component of the debris trap of Fig. 13 in cross-section in isolation; and [0030] Fig. 15 depicts a shield member of the debris trap of Fig. 9 in cross-section in isolation. 4 2016102139 20 Dec 2016

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments [0031] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a debris trap for use in open-ended drain pipes. The debris trap allows water to drain through the debris trap into the drain pipe while trapping debris and preventing it from being washed into the drain pipe.

[0032] As depicted in Figs. 1 to 8, one embodiment provides a debris trap 10 having a receptacle component, or main body 11, comprising a receptacle portion 12, a plurality of apertures 14, and an abutment portion 16. The abutment portion 16 defines a circular opening 15 leading into the receptacle portion 12 below. The debris trap 10 also has a handle 18 attached to the abutment portion 16 and a shield member 20 extending internally from the abutment portion 16 into the receptacle portion 12 adjacent to the apertures 14. The debris trap 10 may be formed from a plastic material such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), which has good resilience, durability, and environmental attributes.

[0033] In the embodiment depicted and as best shown in Figs. 4 to 6, the receptacle portion 12 is generally bucket shaped, having a circular base 22 and a tapering, generally frustoconical wall 24, which tapers outwardly from the base 22 to the abutment portion 16 at an open end of the debris trap 10. At its widest point, the receptacle portion 12 is narrower than the abutment portion 16. In other embodiments, the receptacle portion may take various other shapes and forms depending on the application and, by way of example, may include a cylindrical form.

[0034] In the embodiment depicted, the apertures 14 are circular and formed at regular circumferential intervals in the wall 24 of the receptacle portion 12 proximal to the abutment portion 16 and distal to the base 22 of the receptacle portion 12 in an upper periphery of the receptacle portion 12. In other embodiments, various arrangements, locations and shapes of apertures may be employed, including, by way of example, a single aperture or many and varied apertures.

[0035] In the depicted embodiment, the upper periphery of the receptacle portion 12 is located at the very upper end of the receptacle portion 12 and well away from the base 22 of the receptacle portion 12 and even well above the midpoint between the base 22 and the upper end of the receptacle portion 12. The apertures 14 are also restricted to being entirely within the upper periphery so that fluid can only drain from the upper periphery of the receptacle portion 12. By restricting the apertures 14 to the upper periphery of the receptacle portion 12, the level of water in the receptacle portion 12 is maximised and more 5 2016102139 20 Dec 2016 debris settles to the base 22 of the receptacle portion 12 and remains trapped in the receptacle portion 12.

[0036] In the embodiment depicted, the abutment portion, depicted here as a rim 16, projects radially outwardly from the open end of the receptacle portion 12, as best depicted in Figs. 4 and 5. The rim 16 is integrally formed with the receptacle 12 and has a generally flat and radially extending base 26, a bevelled outer surface 28, and an inner surface 30.

The rim 16 also defines an inner shoulder formation 32 inside the rim 16 at the open end of the receptacle portion 12. In other embodiments, a defined rim may not be required or the rim may take various other shapes and forms and the rim may be provided as a separately formed component.

[0037] In the embodiment depicted, the handle 18 is a generally semi-circular loop with mounting arms 34 at either end. In one embodiment, the handle 18 is separately formed from stainless steel wire but may also be formed from plastic or other materials. The mounting arms 34, which are generally cylindrical, are inserted into corresponding holes 36 that are provided in the rim 16, extending radially between the inner surface 30 and the outer surface 28. The handle 18 is able to pivot from an upright position, which can be grasped by a user, to a stowed position in which the handle 18 lies flat within the rim 16, as depicted in Figs. 1 to 3. In other embodiments, the handle 18 may take various other forms and designs.

[0038] In the embodiment depicted, the shield member 20, as best shown in Figs. 7 and 8, is a separately formed component having a circular, radially extending flange 38 and a generally frustoconical, downwardly depending skirt 40. The shield member 20 is sized to fit coaxially within the rim 16, such that the flange 38 of the shield member 20 rests on the shoulder formation 32 of the rim 16. As best shown in Figs. 6 and 8, small cylindrical lugs 42 project downwardly from a lower surface of the flange 38 of the shield member 20. Each lug 42 fits into a corresponding cylindrical socket 44 formed in the shoulder formation 32 preventing rotation of the shield member 20 relative to the rim 16. As best shown in Fig. 2, when the shield member 20 is arranged within the rim 16, the skirt 40, which has a complementary frustoconical profile to the receptacle portion 12, hangs generally parallel to, and spaced uniformly from, the wall 24 of the receptacle portion 12. The skirt 40 also hangs down sufficiently far to, at least partially, overlap and obscure the apertures 14. In the embodiment depicted, the shield member 20 is retained in place, with the flange 38 held against the shoulder formation 32, by the mounting arms 34 of the 6 2016102139 20 Dec 2016 handle 18. Once assembled, the shield member 20 is then locked in place on the shoulder formation 32 of the rim 16. In other embodiments, the shield member may take various other forms and designs and may not be required at all. In some embodiments, the shield member may be integrally formed with the receptacle.

[0039] In the embodiment depicted and as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the flange 38 of the shield member 20 includes a recess 46 formed in an upper surface of the flange 38.

When the handle 18 rests against the upper surface of the flange 38 in the stowed position, the recess 46 allows a user to grip the handle 18, such as by inserting a fingernail beneath the handle 18 in the recess 46, in order to raise the handle 18 to the upright position.

[0040] In use, the debris trap 10 is lowered into the open end of a drain pipe and is dimensioned according to the predetermined dimensions of the drain pipe in which it is to be used. The receptacle portion 12 is dimensioned to be narrower than the predetermined inside diameter of the drain pipe and the abutment portion or rim 16 is dimensioned to be broader than the predetermined inside diameter of the drain pipe. In the embodiment depicted, the base 22 of the receptacle portion 12 has a diameter that is smaller than the inside diameter of the drain pipe, such that the receptacle portion 12 is sized to fit, at least partially and preferably at least substantially, within the drain pipe. The tapered, frustoconical shape of the receptacle portion 12 facilitates the easy insertion of the debris trap 10 into the open end of the drain pipe.

[0041] The apertures 14 are located in an upper periphery of the wall 24 of the receptacle portion 12 at a position at which the diameter of the receptacle portion 12 is less than the inside diameter of the drain pipe, such that the apertures 14 are arranged within the drain pipe when the debris trap 10 is in use, thereby allowing fluid to drain from the receptacle portion 12 and into the drain pipe via the apertures 14. The rim 16 has a diameter that is greater than the inside diameter of the drain pipe, such that the rim 16 is sized to rest on the open end of the drain pipe when the debris trap 10 is lowered into the drain pipe.

[0042] When water flows from a surface of the construction site into the drain pipe, it first flows into the debris trap 10, which is arranged in the open end of the drain pipe. The water fills up in the receptacle portion 12 until the water level reaches the level of the apertures 14. At this point, the water flows through the apertures 14 and into the drain pipe. Any non-buoyant debris in the water will settle to the bottom of the receptacle 14 and remain in the receptacle 14. The skirt 40 of the shield member 20 shields the apertures 14 from the debris as it falls downwardly into the receptacle 14. Further, the skirt 40 of the 7 2016102139 20 Dec 2016 shield member 20 acts to partially obscure the apertures 40 resulting in a small gap 48, as best shown in Fig. 2, through which water and very small buoyant debris can pass. The remaining debris is retained in the debris trap 10 and simply collects in the receptacle portion 12. The skirt 40 of the shield member 20, which acts to retain large buoyant debris on the inside of the skirt 40, also helps to prevent the apertures 14 from becoming blocked by larger debris.

[0043] In order to empty the debris trap 10, a user simply grasps the handle 18 and lifts the debris trap 10 from the drain pipe before discarding the debris that has collected in the receptacle portion 12 of the debris trap 10. The debris trap 10 is then ready for use again and can be redeployed in a drain pipe.

[0044] By deploying the invention in drain pipes on construction sites, debris of any significant size can be prevented from entering the drain pipes and this prevents the drain pipes from being blocked by the debris. This can help to avoid flooding in the event of rain storms and obviates the need to have a plumber attend the site to remove and repair the blocked section of drain pipe.

[0045] The bevelled outer surface 28 helps to mitigate any tripping hazard of the debris trap 10 when in use.

[0046] In a typical building, common floor drain pipes may be 100mm in diameter. In this specific application, for example, the rim 16 may have an outside diameter of approximately 110mm and an inside diameter of approximately 98mm, the base 22 may have an outside diameter of approximately 71mm, and the wall 24 of the receptacle portion 12 may taper upwards to a maximum outside diameter of approximately 96mm. In the embodiment depicted, the angle between the base 22 and the wall 24 of the receptacle portion 12 is approximately 100°, the height of the wall 24 from the base 22 may be approximately 70mm, and the apertures 14, of which there may be eight, may have a diameter of approximately 10mm and may be centred at a distance of approximately 7mm from the upper end of the wall 24. In the embodiment depicted, the skirt 40 of the shield member 20 may have a height of approximately 12mm and may taper inwardly from an outside diameter of approximately 88mm at the flange 38 to an outside diameter of approximately 83mm, and the outside diameter of the flange 38 may be approximately 97.5mm. The above dimensions represent a very specific example of an embodiment that is designed for use with a drain pipe having a 100mm diameter. In this particular embodiment, the debris trap 8 2016102139 20 Dec 2016 10 can hold approximately 3kg of construction debris. In other embodiments for the same or other applications, the debris trap 10 may have variously different dimensions.

[0047] A further embodiment of the debris trap 110 is depicted in Figs. 9 to 12. This embodiment provides a debris trap 110 of the same height as the embodiment depicted in Figs. 1 to 8 but with a smaller diameter for use in a smaller diameter drain pipe, such as, for example, a 40mm diameter drain pipe. In this specific application, for example, the rim 116 may have an outside diameter of approximately 43mm and an inside diameter of approximately 40mm, the base 122 may have an outside diameter of approximately 25mm, and the wall 124 of the receptacle portion 112 may taper upwards to a maximum outside diameter of approximately 37.5mm. In this particular embodiment, the apertures 114 may have a diameter of approximately 6mm and may be centred at a distance of approximately 5mm from the upper end of the wall 124. In this particular embodiment, the skirt 140 of the shield member 120 may have a height of approximately 10mm and may taper inwardly from an outside diameter of approximately 32mm at the flange 138 to an outside diameter of approximately 30mm, and the outside diameter of the flange 138 may be approximately 40mm. The above dimensions represent a very specific example of an embodiment that is designed for use with a drain pipe having a 40mm diameter. In other embodiments for the same or other applications, the debris trap 110 may have variously different dimensions.

[0048] A further embodiment of the debris trap 210 is depicted in Figs. 13 to 15. This embodiment provides a debris trap 210 having a receptacle portion 212 with the same height as the embodiment depicted in Figs. 1 to 8 but with a smaller diameter, designed for use in a smaller diameter drain pipe, such as, for example, a 50mm diameter drain pipe. In this specific application, for example, the rim 216 may have an outside diameter of approximately 57mm and an inside diameter of approximately 53mm, the base 222 may have an outside diameter of approximately 38mm, and the wall 224 of the receptacle portion 212 may taper upwards to a maximum outside diameter of approximately 50mm. In this particular embodiment, the apertures 214 may have a diameter of approximately 8mm and may be centred at a distance of approximately 5mm from the upper end of the wall 224. In this particular embodiment, the skirt 240 of the shield member 220 may have a height of approximately 10mm and may taper inwardly from an outside diameter of approximately 45mm at the flange 238 to an outside diameter of approximately 43mm, and the outside diameter of the flange 238 may be approximately 53mm. The above dimensions represent a very specific example of an embodiment that is designed for use with a drain pipe having a 2016102139 20 Dec 2016 9 50mm diameter. In other embodiments for the same or other applications, the debris trap 210 may have variously different dimensions.

[0049] Other than the differences in dimensions, the three different embodiments of the debris trap 10, 110, 210 essentially operate in the same way.

[0050] Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. A debris trap for use in an open end of a drain pipe, the debris trap comprising: a main body having an abutment portion, having an opening, and a receptacle portion below the abutment portion for collecting debris that enters the debris trap via the opening, wherein the receptacle portion is narrower than the abutment portion; at least one aperture formed in an upper periphery of a wall of the receptacle portion proximal to the abutment portion and distal to a base of the receptacle portion, the at least one aperture being adapted to allow fluid to drain from the upper periphery of the receptacle portion; and a shield member partially obscuring the at least one aperture.
2. The debris trap of claim 1, wherein the shield member projects downwardly from the abutment portion into the receptacle portion, extending sufficiently into the receptacle portion to partially overlap the at least one aperture but not extending below the at least one aperture.
3. The debris trap of any one of the preceding claims, wherein: the shield member has a radially projecting flange and a downwardly depending skirt and is formed as a separate component to the abutment portion and the receptacle portion; when assembled , the flange of the shield member sits on a shoulder formation of the abutment portion; the shoulder formation has at least one socket provided therein and the flange of the shield member has at least one lug provided thereon and wherein the lug is received in the socket when the flange member sits on the shoulder formation, thereby preventing rotational movement of the shield member relative to the abutment member.
4. The debris trap of claim 3, further comprising a handle formed as a separate component to the shield member and the main body, wherein assembly of the handle to the abutment portion holds the flange of the shield portion against the shoulder formation of the abutment portion, thereby retaining the shield portion in place.
5. The debris trap of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the shield member is spaced from, but proximal to, a wall of the receptacle portion.