AU5184598A - Rain water diverter - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT RAIN WATER DIVERTER THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION, INCLUDING THE BEST METHOD OF PERFORMING IT KNOWN TO ME:- The present invention relates to a device to improve the purity of collected rain water.

In areas where rain water is collected for drinking purposes due to the unavailability of a reticulated supply or because of the quality of the local supply, the rain water in the initial stages of a precipitation is contaminated by dirt and dust which is washed off the collecting surface, namely the roof of the building to which the collector is attached.

While rain water is normally free from dissolved .minerals this initial wash off results in a contaminated, or less than pure, supply. This contamination may remain dissolved in the water or, if particulate material, and of sufficiently large size, may settle to the bottom of the tank from whence the supply is drawn. It is desirable to avoid such contamination of rain water collected in this manner from a roof or similar structure.

Several attempts have been made to solve this problem oosuch as described in Australian Patents 676709 and 673791. In Australian Patent 676709 a valve allows a discharge of the contaminated water for a measured period of time. When the valve closes the water is -2directed to a storage tank. In Australian Patent 673791, a manual water diverter is provided which can be inserted in the down pipe extending from the roof guttering. When the diverter is pressed inwards, water is discharged through an outlet thereby allowing unwanted (contaminated) water to be discharged. When the diverter is moved to its outermost position water can flow (principally) along the down pipe to be collected in a storage, although, even in this position, some wastage may still occur due to continued flow through the outlet of the diverter.

Disadvantages are evident in these devices which the present invention seeks to overcome or at least to provide an alternative to. In Australian Patent 676709 the water is directed to the storage container through a sharp angle and the reliability of the collection depends primarily on the sealing efficiency of the valve member. Any leakage due to poor sealing with the valve member results in wastage of the less contaminated run off. As the collection arrangement includes diversion of the cleaner water through a .*.sharp angle, turbulence is likely in the region of the valve member which may result in unsealing of the 25 discharge orifice. In areas where rain water collection is the primary or only method of water *.supply such wastage is critical.

Australian Patent 673791 describes a manual diversion 30 arrangement which is impractical requiring an attendant to switch the device from one mode to the other. The present invention seeks to provide an automatic diversion device avoiding such impracticalities.

According to a broad aspect of the invention there is provided a rain water diversion device for separating -3an initial more contaminated discharge from a subsequent less contaminated discharge including inlet means, primary outlet means and secondary outlet means, conduit means for connecting said inlet means to either of said primary outlet means or said secondary outlet means, means to move said conduit means between said primary outlet means and said secondary outlet means and vice versa including moment means to maintain said conduit means coincident with said secondary outlet means in the absence of precipitation.

Preferably, in the absence of precipitation or rain, the moment means to maintain said conduit means coincident with said secondary outlet means is a counterweight attached to the conduit means, the conduit means being rotatable between said secondary outlet means and said primary outlet means. Upon precipitation commencing, a portion of initial run off is collected in a chamber attached to the conduit means, filling of the chamber overcoming the moment of the counterweight and rotating said conduit means *from coincident with said secondary outlet means to coincident with said primary outlet means. Preferably water is directed into the chamber by way of a small gutter in the conduit means, the size of the gutter inter alia determining the rate at which the chamber is filled.

30 Preferably the chamber attached to the conduit means has a small orifice through which it empties and which discharges to the outside of the chamber or into the primary outlet means. A plug can be provided in the base of the chamber attached to the conduit means to allow emptying of any residue left in the bottom of the chamber below the level of the orifice. The size of the orifice will affect the rate at which the chamber fills.

The operation of the water diverter will depend upon the size of the collection area and conditions between successive precipitations, namely to determine the size of the overflow before the run off can be presumed to be sufficiently clean to be collected in a primary storage tank. The initial run off may be stored in a secondary storage tank to be used for less critical usages than drinking, for example watering the garden or domestic cleaning purposes.

The device can be made of a plastics material such as PVC or may be made from metal components such as galvanised iron or aluminium within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method for separating an initial more contaminated rain water run off from a later less contaminated run off including directing the initial run off into a secondary outlet means while collecting a portion of said initial run off in a collection means, filling of the collection means with a given quantity of said initial run off producing a moment effecting diversion of run off from said secondary outlet means to a primary outlet means to direct the .less contaminated run off to a storage container.

30 A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with respect to the following figures in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of the device according to the invention in its initial or rest position; Figure 2 shows a schematic view of the device of Figure 1 in its operative position; Figure 3 shows a schematic view of the device in the direction of arrow A of Figure 2 and Figure 4 shows a schematic view of the device in the direction of arrow B of Figure 1.

The device according to the invention may be comprised of a construction which can be inserted in a down pipe or rain water discharge installation. For this purpose it includes a top mating portion 11 and a bottom mating portion 9 which are designed to provide a snug fit with an existing down pipe, all or a portion of which has been removed to accommodate the device. The top mating portion 11 is joined to the bottom mating portion 9 by partial cut away tubing The top and bottom mating portions are provided with sealing members (not shown) to provide a necessary 3. .watertight fitting with the existing down pipe.

The diverter unit includes a conduit or tubing 10 to either side of one end of which a pair of flanges 25 is attached. A shaft or pin 3 passes through each flange 20 on each side of upper mating portion 11 (see figure 3) enabling the tubing 10 to pivot about the axis of the shaft 3. The respective axes of each pin or shaft 3 are parallel. The upper mating portion 11 30 tapers inwardly as shown at 22. Tubing 10 has a S. counterweight 4 fixed to one side of the axis of the shaft 3. Fixed to tubing 10 on the other side of the shaft 3 to counterweight 4 is a chamber 1 which collects water through aperture 5 from the gutter 2 as it flows down the tubing 10. The width of the gutter 2 is a fraction of the diameter of the tubing 10 and this aspect is shown more clearly in Figure 4.

-6- The cut away tubing 15 is shaped to accommodate rotation of tubing 10 between the respective positions shown in figures 1 and 2 while a slot 17 is provided in the partial cut away tubing 15 to accommodate movement of counterweight 4 as will be described below.

In another embodiment, partial cut away tubing 15 may be omitted and the device would be made up of separate parts corresponding to tubing 10, upper mating portion 11 and lower mating portion 9 only.

The chamber 1 has an outlet orifice 7. The filling of chamber 1 is thus a function of the rate of inflow from the gutter 2 and the loss from the chamber 1 through the outlet orifice 7.

When there is no rain the device rests in the position shown in Figure 1 due to the moment created about the 20 shaft 3 by the counterweight 4 (and spring 6, which can be optional). When it rains, the run off flows through the top mating portion 11 and with the assistance of the wasted portion 22 flows into the tubing 10 and out secondary outlet 25. Depending on the width of the gutter 2 a proportion of the water flowing down the tubing 10 is diverted into the ".chamber 1.

As chamber 1 fills past the outlet orifice 7 water will flow out of the orifice 7 tending to empty chamber 1 at a rate depending on the size of the outlet orifice 7.

According to the invention, the gutter 2 fills the chamber 1 at a rate greater than the loss of water through the outlet orifice 7, that is, the chamber 1 fills faster than it empties. Once the chamber 1 has reached a certain weight the moment created by the water in the chamber 1 counteracts the moment created by the counterweight 4, and spring 6 (if fitted), and the tubing 10 rotates about the shaft 3 in the direction of the arrow 30 bringing longitudinal axis of the tubing 10 coaxial with the longitudinal axes of the top mating portion 11 and the bottom mating portion 9 as shown in Figure 2.

Water will then flow directly from bottom mating portion 9 through primary outlet 27 into a storage container (not shown) to which bottom mating portion 9 is connected. The bottom mating portion 9 is provided with a throat section 40 of wider diameter than tubing to provide an easier fit with and better water collection from tubing The device is designed such that the initial run off which would be contaminated with dust and similar particulate impurities is "wasted" through secondary outlet 25 of the tubing 10. This "wasted" portion may collected in a separate storage container for secondary uses or may be simply allowed to discharge :25 unused. The time that the device needs to remain in the position shown in Figure 1 before it rotates to the position shown in Figure 2 will depend upon the quantity of contaminated water that must be accommodated. This will depend upon the size of the collecting surface, which in turn will determine the size of the counterweight 4 and/or the strength of spring 6, if fitted, the size of the gutter 2, the i volume of the chamber 1 and the size of the outlet orifice 7. The relationship between these various components can be determined by experiment.

Once the tubing 10 rotates to the operative position shown in figure 2 and all the collected rainwater is being discharged through primary outlet 27 into the storage container through the bottom mating portion 9, the chamber 1 continues to fill via the gutter 2 and empty via the orifice 7. Once the precipitation has ceased then the chamber 1 will empty through the orifice 7 until such a time as the weight of water in the chamber 1 is no longer balancing the counterweight 4. The tubing 10 will then rotate in the opposite direction to that of the arrow 30 into the initial or rest position shown in Figure 1.

Spring 6 is attached between the top mating portion 11 and the tubing 10 fixed to one side of the axis of the tubing 10 and provides a further moment tending to rotate the tubing 10 into the rest position of Figure i. The purpose of the spring 6 is to insure that the tubing 10 moves fully to the rest position rather than stoping in an intermediate position.

A (further) spring might also be used to insure that the tubing 10 moves fully to the operative position *.*.when chamber 1 is full rather than stoping in an :intermediate position.

In an alternative embodiment, the moment means may be a spring only (such as spring 6) in place of 9* c counterweight 4.

30 Chamber 1 also has a drain 34 covered by a removable cap 8 to allow particulate matter collected in the bottom of the chamber 1 to be cleaned out. In this regard the outlet orifice 7 is located at a suitable height from the base of the chamber 1.

Although the invention has been described above with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof other variations are contemplated within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art. For example, the exit or outlet orifice 7 may empty to the inside of the tubing rather than to the outside of the chamber 1 or the cap 8 may be provided with the exit orifice 7. The exit orifice 7, like secondary outlet 25, may empty into a secondary container and the water so collected used for watering of the garden or cleansing usages.

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Claims (9)

1. A rain water diversion device for separating an initial more contaminated discharge from a subsequent less contaminated discharge including inlet means, primary outlet means and secondary outlet means, conduit means for connecting said inlet means to either of said primary outlet means or said secondary outlet means, means to move said conduit means between said primary outlet means and said secondary outlet means and vice versa including moment means to maintain said conduit means coincident with said secondary outlet means in the absence of precipitation.

2. A method for separating an initial more contaminated rain water run off from a later less contaminated run off including directing the initial run off into a secondary outlet means while collecting a portion of said initial run off in a collection means, filling of the collection means with a given 20 quantity of said initial run off producing a moment effecting diversion of run off from said secondary :outlet means to a primary outlet means to direct the .less contaminated run off to a storage container. 25

3. A rain water diversion device for separating an initial more contaminated discharge from a subsequent less contaminated discharge as claimed in claim 1 wherein said moment means maintains said conduit means coincident with said secondary outlet means by a counterweight attached to said conduit means. S. S e

4. A rain water diversion device for separating an initial more contaminated discharge from a subsequent less contaminated discharge as claimed in claim 3, wherein said means to move said conduit means further -11- includes a chamber attached to said conduit means, a gutter in said conduit means directing a fraction of said discharge into said chamber, and an outlet orifice at a lower portion of said chamber tending to empty said chamber, filling of said chamber being greater than emptying thereof during precipitation whereby the moment of said counterweight is overcome moving said conduit means from coincident with said secondary outlet means to coincident with said primary outlet means.

A rain water diversion device for separating an initial more contaminated discharge from a subsequent less contaminated discharge as claimed in claim 4 further including an upper mating means for directing run off to said conduit means, and lower mating means for receiving run off from said conduit means when said conduit means is coaxial with said primary outlet means, wherein said conduit means is pivotally attached to said upper mating means. i.

6. A rain water diversion device for separating an **initial more contaminated discharge from a subsequent less contaminated discharge as claimed in any one of :25 claims 3, 4 or 5 wherein said moment means further includes a resilient means.

7. A rain water diversion device for separating an initial more contaminated discharge from a subsequent 30 less contaminated discharge as claimed in claim 6 wherein said resilient means includes a spring fixed at one end to said upper mating means and at the other end to said conduit means.

8. A rain water diversion device for separating an initial more contaminated discharge from a subsequent less contaminated discharge as claimed in claim 1 -12- wherein said moment means includes a resilient means.

9. A rain water diversion device for separating a primary contaminated discharge from a subsequent less contaminated discharge substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1-4. A method for separating an initial more contaminated rain water run off from a later less contaminated run off substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1-4. Dated this 13th day of January 1998 LEVINUS PIETER BIJL and DEBBY BIJL-DE RIJK Patent Attorneys for the Applicant HALFORD CO **ee: ar a