AU637376B2 - Waste water receiving receptacle - Google Patents

Description

111 _I J 637376 Form COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952-62 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE: Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority: Related Art: Class Int. Class i Nange of Applicant: Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT RATIO PTY. LTD.

215 Hutt Street, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia KENNETH ROBERT HUTT R K MADDERN ASSOCIATES, 345 King William Street, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Complete Specification for the invention entitled: "WASTE WATER RECEIVING RECEPTACLE" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me. us.

-1- *L This invention relates to a device suitable for the collection and drainage of a liquid away from equipment water discharging sources suitable for installation in buildings in which one or more equipment water discharging sources are located.

Buildings serviced as they are, by water supply systems also have waste water systems to dispose of used water and sewerage. Professional plumbing practice and regulations exist to control the connection of these two systems in a way which ensures that the potentially harmful liquids and gases in the Swaste water system do not enter either the supply water system or the atmosphere within or without the building.

In addition to the supply water system that supplies a building there exist many other water and liquid sources which also require disposal. These sources comprise air conditioners (evaporative and reversq cycle which are used to control the atmosphere in computer and like rooms), refrigeration units, 0 hot water services, photographic development equipment, some photocopiers, hydrotherms (boiling water urns), water filter back wash, water purifiers and others generally referred to as equipment water discharging sources. These sources tend to be distributed throughout a building and all generally require disposal of their equipment water discharging output into the waste water syste.

As a result of the diversity of these sources in relation to their location, quantity and quality of output there exist a variety of reguiltions, practices and methods to drain the equipment water discharging from them into the waste water system.

Past practices have comprised the installation of waste water pipes from the various equipment wat.- discharging sources which are then routed via the most direct path having the requisite fall to a location for common waste water diEposal. The most common path commonly included a section of pipe located on the external face of the building and the ii ~nu g~ common disposal point was the Oomestic sink or its commercial equivalent. This practice is no longer acceptable to building designers and authorities.

Current circumstances require an increasing reliance on the availability of conveniently located waste water disposal points as the predominance of the previously mentioned types of equipment water discharging sources increases to meet current atmosphere and water treatment requirements of the built environment.

Most notably in existing buildings but also applicable to *100' buildings being designed is the limited extent to which the i waste water disposal points can be dispersed throughout.

i As a result of practices and regulation a number of requirements exist which define the needs of a device or system to drain the waste water output of equipment water discharging sources. Th'ese comprise various provisions,, the first of which is an air gap between the lowest physical point of the equipment water discharging outlet pipe and the highest liquid level of a reservoir of trapped liquid which is allowed for below the equipment water discharging outlet pipe. In the ji event of back pressure in the waste water system the waste i 25 liquid will spill out of the reservoir through the air gap provided and not enter the equipment water discharging outlet, thus ensuring that potentially harmful liquids do not contaminate the supply water system and/or the equipment water discharging system.

30 The second provision is that the connection of the waste water reservoir to the waste water system be via a liquid trap.

This liquid trap is required to be of a minimum depth and prevents gages present in the waste liquid syotem from escaping to atmosphere. This type of trap is commonly referred to as a liquid seal and varies in water depth according to regulation and prac ice.

-3- L I L- -ra The third provision is that it is required that gullies and traps be provided at suitable points in the waste water systems as reliefs in the event of waste water overflow, this is therefore provided by the aforementioned waste water reservoir. Also, the aforementioned air gap (vent) is best located adjacent to an independently drained wet area or fixture.

A common current practice is to locate a funnel-like device below the outlet pipe of an equipment water discharging e source and pipe the liquid using the minimum possible fall to a $494 common waste water disposal point. This, in the main requires 4 the pipe be installed through the floor of the room in which the equipment water discharging source is located, to the space oi, above the ceiling of the floor below and avoiding bearers, beams and girders making the pipe route go its circuitous way to the nearest waste water disposal point, which are generally located adjacent to the ablution area.

However, regulations further intercede in most cases to impose the further requirement that trap devices (liquid seals) SI &re located wthin maximum defined distances from the waste water disposal point.

Therefore, it is not unusual for intermediate traps to be installed in the floor areas throughout a building and all the attendant piping and gullies as required tend to further clutter the under floor/ceiling space.

Apart fromi imposing unnecessary space usage in existing ceiling and wall spaces, aesthetic considerations by building designers are required to ensure that no installation unduly interferes with interior design requirements.

Therefore it is an object of the invention to conform to some or all of the requirements described above.

-4- L I LJL- u Preferably the invention provides a device which enables greater flexibility in the choice of piping routes and which also simplifies the attachment of those pipes into existing and planned waste water s 'stems.

It is also a preferable feature of the invention that the device can be but is not limited to installation in standard wall sections. In this type of installation the minimum visual impact to the area in which it is installed is made by concealing the device in the cavity of a wall.

ti t re 'It is a further preferable aspect that the invention provides an aesthetically acceptable means of venting the required air gap.

i I A yet further preferred feature of the invention is that it provides a liquid seal gap for the equipment water discharging source which is easily inspected and mainrtained while avoiding hidden and often inaccessible locations of traps and thiB like..

1\ number of provisions in this field are defined by regulation and it is preferable that these be embodies into any solution of the abovementioned problems and the best way to ensure this is so, is by providing a unitary device which thereby fixes certain of the variables set by those regulations but which also provides an easily and conveniently installed means for receiving and disposing of liquid waste from equipment waste water discharging sources.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, a preferred embodiment will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the i accompanying representations, wherein: Fig. 1 shows an installed waste water receiving receptacle, Fig. 2 shows a front and plan view of an in-wall waste water receiving receptacle, I- i II Fig. 3 shows a right end view of an in-wall waste water receiving receptacle, and Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of an in-wall waste water receiving receptacle.

A device used for the purpose described is commonly known in the trade as a tundish even though the dictionary meaning of tundish refers only a to funnel-like device. As shown in Fig.

1 it comprises an inlet opening 10 on its upper wall surface 11. This opening is also shown at 10 in Fig. 4 having a different shape. This inlet opening 10 is coupled to an inlet pipe 12 which has been used to drain liquid from the equipment water discharging source (not shown) but which is located o9 somewhere above the inlet opening. 44-. Waste liquid from the equipment water discharging unit is shown as a path 13 through 9.

the pipe 12 into the unitary waste water receiving receptacle 14. The equipment water discharge may contain solid or particulate matter mixed with a liquid such as water and form a flowing slurry or also comprise a mainly liquid state matter.

2.Q, A boxlike structure comprising walls 15, 16 and (17, 18 not 4tt shown) is suitable for this embodiment's application.

S In at least one $ide, in this embodiment side wall 16, .af- '4i 4- is open to atmosphere to create a vent opening 19 preferably it is opened in the vicinity of a drained wet area.

I Walls 23.-25 project outwardly from the receptacle 14 to extend the vant opening into the room on the inside of cavity wall 26.

t In this embodiment a flap 20 and plate 21 are located on the internal wall surface 27 to cover the vent opening 19 and improve the aesthetic qualities of the fitted receptacle 14 The flap 20 is arranged so that it covers the receptacle from view but also allows access from the room and further is such 4 that it does not seal the vent thereby negating its function.

The flap may also comprise a grille or in some applications may even be absent. However, it is a further consideration that the flap 20 should be capable of restricting the transmission of sound generated within the waste water receiving receptacle to the room which is adjacent its z A -6c-r _I I' installed location. This consideration applies equally to the device as a whole and the use of sound attenuating or dispersing materials in, on and about the device may be required dependent on the installation requirements.

A further requirement may include temperature control of the waste water receiving receptacle and its attendant pipe systems. This being a protective consideration for other materials which lies adjacent the device rather than any specific desire to maintain the conditions of waste water.

The level of the bottom periphery 28 of the vent opening 19 is such that the previously referred to provision of an air gap is gauged by setting the minimum allowable distance between the lowest portion of the inlet pipe 12 to the bottom periphery 28 of the vent opening 19 to The depth of the liquid trap 30 is determined by practice and various regulations and in this embodiment comprises a depth of at least 50mm, which is gauged as the difference in height between the outlet hole 31 and the lowest level of the trap bottom wall 33, as shown in more detail in Fig. 2.

The volume formed by the boundaries of the top of the trapped waste liquid surface 29 (Fig. 1) the side walls 15-18 °5 of the waste water receiving receptacle 14 up to the level of the bottom periphery 28 of the opening 19 defines a liquid 0445 waste receiving chamber for the retention of excess waste S: 30 liquid while waste liquid is drained away via the liquid trap 30 and thereby into the outlet 31 and into the waste liquid pipe 32. The volume of the receiving chamber is determined by practice and various regulations.

04 35 A trap 30 is located below the opening 19 and comprises in this emr'.diment a double walled structure. The surfaces 4i:: 14 and 15, also shown in Fig. 4, define with the addition of side walls 16 and 17 a passage for the waste liquid that .4,i44 results in the liquid when not in motion to have two exposed z,/lFZ surfaces one surface 29 venting to atmosphere via the Iri I -Y11~- ljl~-. lil -ii_ Ui~-~_llil1. ii.ilL _L i I~I_ ILI Y iY114~~(1 I~I~~~I~LCi~~ opening (q and another surface 24- exposed to the waste water system via the pipe '2generally being the sewer system of the building.

As can be seen from Fig. 1 flow of the waste liquid is denoted by the arrows associated with the identity number (3.

Having established a liquid receiving chamber an air gap and a water trap height at a convenient location, the waste liquid pipe 32 can then take the nearest and easiest allowable route to any location along the waste liquid system and thus avoid the need to direct waste liquid from a waste water requirement source to a main waste liquid disposal point as has o* previously been the case.

The use of the invention thus greatly assists the ease and convenience of installing plumbing for equipment water discharging condensate and waste water sources, for newly installed sources of waste liquid, in existing buildings.

However, it will be advantageous to plan the installation of these devices during the construction of the bu.lding and thus allow greater flexibility for location of waste water and liquid sources within the new building.

L

Claims (6)

1. Means for receiving and disposing of liquid waste from an equipment water discharging source to a liquid waste disposal system comprising, a unitary receiptacle attachable to a fixed support, and having, inlet and outlet means, said inlet means being connectable to an outlet of the equipment water discharging source for receiving liquid waste, a vent opening located below said inlet means for venting the receptacle to atmosphere, a liquid waste receiving chamber below the vent opening means in liquid flow communication with the inlet means, said chamber leading to a liquid trap means therebelow, said liquid trap leading to an in liquid flow communication ,:ith the said outlet means, arranged so that, in use, waste liquid flows through the inlet means past the vent means, into the liquid receiving chamber and through the liquid trap to exit the unitary receptacle via the outlet means into a liquid waste disposal means connected thereto.

2. Means for receiving and disposing of liquid waste o. 2 according to claim 1 wherein the unitary receptacle comprises °25 a top wall and four side walls, the top wall having located thereon said inlet means, o.sao at least one of said side walls having located thereon said vent opening. 9 9

3. Means for receiving and disposing of liquid waste according to claim 2 wherein said fixed support comprises a "oos. cavity wall of a building within which the said unitary :o receptacle is fixed, the vent opening comprising outwardly projecting walls which extend outside the cavity of the 3 c 35 cavity wall.

4. means for receiving and disposing of liquid waste according to claim 3 wherein sai~i liquid waste receiving chamber is bounded by said top wall, four side wall3 and said liquid trap means.

Means for receiving and disposing liquiid waste according to claim 3 wherein the vent opening has a non-sealing cover. means.

6. Means for receiving and disposing of liquid waste substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Dated this 15th day of March 1993 RA~TIO PTY LTD By its Patent R K MADDERN-& Attorneys .S SOQIATE 0* 0 00 0 00 0 0400 0 0 0 0900 0 0 0 0*. 00 00 0 0 00 4 00 00 0 00 0 000 0 3 ~000- 0 0 '0400 0 00 0 00 00 00 00 00 0 0 0 0 0 polio 0 0 0 0 '0 0* 0 00 4 0~ 0 0 li-i -if L..