CA1188476A

CA1188476A - Drainpipe

Info

Publication number: CA1188476A
Application number: CA000414793A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Robert Busat
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: BUSAT ROBERT
Priority date: 1982-11-03
Filing date: 1982-11-03
Publication date: 1985-06-11

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The discharge end of downspouts for eavestroughing often constitute nuisances when mowing the lawn. By placing a foldable extension at the bottom end of the vertical portion of the downspout the problem is solved. The foldable extension is integral with a coupler sleeve, and a bracket is provided on the sleeve for releasably retaining the extension.

Description

This invention relates to a drainage device and in particular to a downspout extension.
The bottom end of the downspout connected to an eavestrough is usually defined by a length of pipe projecting outwardly from the side of r a building For discharging rain water. The outwardly projecting extension of the downspout may constitute a nuisance, for example when cutting grass in the area of such extension. A solution to this problem is proposed in Canadian Patent Number 1,022,320 issued to K. H. Felson on 13 December 1977.
The Felson invention includes a casing with a top inlet for receiving water 10 from a downspout and an outlet for discharging water into a discharge conduit. The discharge conduit is hingedly connected to the casing for movement between a vertical position and a discharge position, While the Felson structure solves the problem mentioned above, it is readily apparent that the Felson device is somewhat complicated and 15 expensive to product. Accordingly, there still exists a need for a relatively simple, inexpensive downspout extension which can readily be moved from a discharge position to a temporary storage position. The object of the present invention is to attempt to meet such need.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a downspout 20 extension for use on the bottom end of a vertically or;ented downspout comprising a tubular casing, said casing including normally vertical, hollow coupler means for connecting the bottom end of the casing to a downspout;
conduit means at an obtuse angle to said coupler means for receiving water from the downspout and carrying the water away from the downspout; said 25 conduit means including a fixed first section connected to said coupler means, and a second section movable relative to said first section; hinge means interconnecting said first and second sections whereby said second section can be rotated from an inclined position for discharging water at a location remote from said downspout to a vertical position parallel to said downspout; and bracket means on said coupler means for releasably retaining said second section in the vertical position.
The invention will now be described in greater detail wi-th refer-ence to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a downspout extension in accordance with the present invention in the extended or water discharging position; and Figure 2 is a perspective view of the downspout extension of Figure 1 in the folded or vertical position, With reference to the drawing, the downspout extension of the present invention which is generally indicated at 1 is intended to be mounted on an outside wall 2 of a building for receiving water from a downspoutg a section 3 of which is illustrated in phantom outline in Figure 1. The down-spout extension includes a casing 4 defined by a top coupler section 5, an elbow 6 and a discharye conduit 7. The casing 4 is rectangular in cross-section for use with a downspout 3 having a similar cross-section.
The coupler section 5 may include an internal shoulder (not shown) for limiting upward movement of the coupler section on the downspout 3.
Alternatively, top end 8 o-f coupler section 5 may be sized such that the downspout 3 fits therein. Water is introduced from the downspout 3 into the casing ~ through the open top end 8 of the coupler section 5. A pro jection 9 is provided on the rear end of the coupler section 5. The projection 9 is integral with the coupler section 5 extending rearwardly therefrom, i.e. towards the wall 2. A pair of arms 10 extend outwardly from the sides of the projection 9 for attaching the downspout extension to the wall 2. For such purpose a vertically extending notch '11 is provided in the bottom surface of each arm 10 for receiving a nail or screw 12.
The bottom end 13 of the coupler section 5 has a slightly reduced cross sectional area for insertion into the larger top end 14 of the elbow 6. The elbow 6 is stepped downwardly, i.e. decreasing in cross sectional area from the top end 1~ to the intermediate curving section 15a and finally to a spout 16 (Figure 2). The spout 16 has a downwardly and inwardly inclined discharge end 17 so that the discharge conduit 7 can be rotated around a horizontal axis 18, which extends transversely of the spout 16 at the top inner edge thereof. The axis 18 is defined by the pin of a hinge 19 which inter-connects the elbow 6 and the discharge conduit 7.
The hinge is located on the top outer surfaces of -the elbow 6 and conduit 7 so that the discharge conduit 7 can be rotated around the axis 18 from the discharge position (Figure 1) to the vertical position (Figure 2). It will be appreciated that elbow 6 may be coupled with coupler section 5 at 90 degrees to that shown in Figures 1 and 2 to accommodate different positions of the discharge conduit.
In a preferred embodiment a bracket 20 is provided on the reduced diameter portion 13 of the coupling section 5 for retaining the discharge conduit 7 in the vertical position. The bracket 20 is defined by a spring steel clip and includes an inner sleeve 21 extending around a major portion oF the bottom end 13 of the coupling section 5. A pair of arms 22 extend outwardly from the sleeve 21 for engaging and retaining the discharge conduit 7 in the vertical position. It should be understood that the bracket 20 could be provided on the discharge conduit 7 and operated to engage coupl-er section 5 of the downspout 3.
While the operation of the above described device is obvious~ for the sake of completeness a short description of such operation will be provided. In the normal position -for draining an eavestrough, the discharge conduit of the downspout extension is in the down or discharging position (Figure 1). In such position, the conduit 7 is at an obtuse angle to the coupler section 5. The discharge conduit 7 can be somewhat lengthy and may constitute an obstruction to pedestrians or to a lawn mower in the vicinity of the downspout. It is a simple matter to move the discharge conduit from the down position of Figure 1 to the vertical position (Figure 2) in which the discharge conduit 7 extends upwardly parallel to the downspout 3. When the discharge conduit 7 is rotated about the axis 18 the conduit 7 first pushes the arms 22 apart and is then retained between such arms. It will be noted that the outer ends of the arms 22 are shaped to define hooks 23 which firmly retain the discharge conduit 7 in the vertical position.
Because the arms 22 are -formed of spring steel it is relatively easy to remove the conduit 7 from the bracket 20 for returning the conduit 7 to the discharge position.
There has thus been described a downspout extension which is relatively simple in terms o-F structure, installation and operation. It will be appreciated that the same structure can be used with a downspout having a circular or other cross sectional configuration, it merely being necessary to change the cross sectional con-figuration of the downspout extension to correspond to that of the downspout. It will also be appreci-ated that while a steel clipping system has been described, plastic molding techniques may permit the clip to be formed in one piece with either the coupler section or the discharge conduit.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR
PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A downspout extension for use on the bottom end of a vertically oriented downspout comprising a tubular casing, said casing including nor-mally vertical, hollow coupler means for connecting the bottom end of the casing to a downspout; conduit means at an obtuse angle to said coupler means for receiving water from the downspout and carrying the water away from the downspout; said conduit means including a fixed first section con-nected to said coupler means and a second section movable relative to said first section; said first section having a discharge extension of reduced external dimension formed thereon; hinge means inter-connecting said first and second sections whereby said second section can be rotated from an inclined position in which said discharge extension is melted into said second section for discharging water at a location remote from said down-spout to a vertical position parallel to said downspout; and said coupler means including clip means for releasably retaining said second section in the vertical position; said clip means comprising a bracket assembly including a spring steel clip; a sleeve extending around said coupler means; and a pair of arms extending outwardly from said coupler means.

2. A downspout extension according to claim 1 wherein said coupling means and conduit means are rectangular in cross section, said fixed first section including an inclined discharge end facilitating rotation of said second section relative to said first section.