GB2292172A - Water butt and adaptor - Google Patents

Abstract

A moulded plastics water butt 1 has a rigid lid 6 connected to a butt body 4 by a snap fit, an overflow port 19 and an outlet port 22. The lid has an opening which receives one end of an adaptor 11 with a push fit. The novel adaptor has co-axial square and round sections at the other end for connection to a down pipe. A chamber 17 in the adaptor directs rainwater to an outlet 18 for connection to a hose. <IMAGE>

Description

BUm AND ADAPTOR The present invention concerns butts and adaptors in particular water butts for the collection and storage of rain water and adaptors for water butts.

According to one aspect of the present invention a butt comprises a barrel having a substantially rigid, removable lid sealingly engageable in an opening in the barrel, a port to receive an adaptor for connection to a down pipe, an outlet port in the barrel, and at least one overflow port in the barrel.

Preferably the lid is a snap fit in the opening and the port to receive the adaptor can be provided in the lid. For safety the lid is sufficiently robust to support the weight of a person standing thereon and the snap fit is such as to resist easy removal of the lid. A tap can be installed in the outlet port. Conveniently a pair of diametrically opposed overflow ports can be provided in the barrel whereby a plurality of butts can be interconnected in series to receive and collect water from a single down pipe.

Preferably the butt is moulded in a heavy gauge plastics, conveniently a recycled green plastics material.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an adaptor for directing flow at a down pipe into a butt, the adaptor comprising a pipe section having an end portion adapted for a push fit connection in a port in the butt and square and circular sockets at its opposite end portion for a push fit connection with a corresponding square or circular section down pipe.

The sockets may be coaxial, one socket being removable to enable the other socket to form a connection with a down pipe.

Preferably, means is provided in the pipe section intermediate the end portions to enable part of the flow through the adaptor to be diverted to a remote location.

The means may comprise a chamber on an underneath side of the pipe connection.

The invention may be performed in various ways and one specific embodiment with possible modifications will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an elevation of a water butt positioned for use; Fig. 2 is a plan of a lid for the butt; Fig. 3 is a section on A - A in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 shows a pipe adaptor; and Fig. 5 shows a similar adaptor A butt 1 for the collection and storage of rain water is positioned clear of the ground on a support 2 and at a down pipe or down spout 3 from a roof gutter (not shown).

The butt comprises a barrel 4 conveniently moulded in a heavy gauge plastics material, for example a recycled green plastics.

The barrel 4 can be ribbed or formed with circumferential grooves 5 such as shown in Fig. 1 for strength and rigidity. The number, arrangement and size of such ribs or grooves can be a matter of choice and is not confined to the arrangement shown in Fig. 1.

A substantially rigid robust removable lid 6, Figs. 2 and 3, is a snap fit in an opening in the upper end of the barrel 4. Again, the lid 6 is moulded from a heavy gauge plastics material. The lid 6 fits tightly in the opening and is secure enough to resist removal by children and strong enough to support the weight of a child. This is an important safety feature. The lid 6 has a skirt 7 formed with a continuous rib 8 such that when the skirt 7 is inserted into the opening in the end of the barrel the rib 8 snaps into position behind the rim of the opening.

An integral handle 9 is provided on the lid together with a port 10 to receive an adaptor 11 for connection to the down pipe 3.

The adaptor, Fig. 4, comprises a profiled pipe section 12.

One end 13 of the adaptor is formed with a slight taper and is a push-fit in the port 10 in the lid 6. The opposite end 14 of the adaptor which is offset laterally from the tapered end 13 by an inclined intermediate portion is a push fit on the end of the down pipe 3. The adaptor is moulded in one piece from a plastics material. The end 14 comprises a co-axial circular section socket 15 and a square section socket 16. In this way, if the down pipe 3 is square section socket 16 can be fitted to the end of the down pipe.

However, if the down pipe 3 is circular section then the square section socket 16 is severed from the end 14 to allow the circular section socket 15 to be fitted to the end of the down pipe 3.

The intermediate portion is formed with a trap or trough 17 for water flowing through the adaptor from the down pipe 3 to the butt 1. The trap 17 has an outlet connection 18 to receive a hosepipe. Conveniently the outlet connection 18 is stepped to cater for different bores of hosepipes. Further the outlet connection 18 can be provided with a removable stop or plug (not shown). The trap permits water to be drawn off and supplied to a remote location through the hosepipe connected to the outlet 18.

An overflow outlet port 19 is located at the upper end of the butt 1. Conveniently two diametrically opposed outlet ports 19 are provided to allow a number of butts to be connected in series.

Thus two or more butts can be connected in series and filled from a single down pipe leading into one of the butts. This permits the storage of a large volume of collected rain water.

The pipe outlet from the port 19 of the single butt or the last butt in a series can be supported in a groove 20 in the wall of the or each butt. This allows the pipe outlet to pass behind the butts to the drain which previously received flow direct from the down pipe 3. As a result the butt or butts can be positioned close to wall 21.

A port 22 at the lower end of the butt can receive a tap (not shown) which can be sealingly secured in position. The tap can be provided with a push fit connection for a hosepipe and the support 2 is of such a height as to permit watering cans, buckets and the like to be placed beneath the tap.

The arrangement of butt and adaptor is a substantially sealed system. The strong lid although removable by an adult possibly using a tool is a tight snap fit for safety and all pipe connections make a tight push fit thereby ensuring that dirt and debris cannot enter the system and maintaining cleanliness of the collected and stored rainwater. Further the system reduces the emission of odours from the stagnant water into the atmosphere. Rainwater flowing into the adaptor preferentially flows through outlet 18 if the outlet is open or the hose outlet is open.

In a modification shown in Fig. 5 a pipe conducting flow through port 19 may be in the form of an elbow, directing flow to the main. The elbow pipe 40 may initially be supplied attached to adaptor 11 by a frangible or severable connection 41. In this case outlet connection 18 has an outlet closure 42 severable at 43.

Severable connections 44 enables the square or round section part of the adaptor to be used.

Claims (18)

1. A butt comprising a barrel having a substantially rigid, removable lid sealingly engageable in an opening in the barrel, a port to receive an adaptor for connection to a down pipe, an outlet port in the barrel, and at least one overflow port in the barrel.

2. A butt as claimed in Claim 1, in which the lid is a snap fit in the opening.

3. A butt as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the port to receive the adaptor is in the lid.

4. A butt as claimed in any preceding claim, including a tap for the outlet port.

5. A butt as claimed in any preceding claim, having two diametrically opposed overflow ports.

6. A butt as claimed in any preceding claim provided with a groove for receiving a pipe leading from an outlet port.

7. A butt as claimed in any preceding claim including an adaptor for directing flow at a down pipe into a butt, the adaptor comprising a pipe section having an end portion adapted for a push fit connection in a port in the butt and square and circular sockets at its opposite end portion for a push fit connection with a corresponding square or circular section down pipe.

8. A butt as claimed in Claim 7, in which the sockets are co-axial, one socket being removable to enable the other socket to form a connection with a down pipe.

9. A butt as claimed in Claim 8, in which the one socket is removable by severing the adaptor adjacent the socket.

10. A butt as claimed in any of Claims 7 to 9, including means provided in the pipe section intermediate the end portions to enable part of the flow through the adaptor to be diverted to a remote location.

11. A butt as claimed in Claim 10, in which the means comprises a chamber on an underneath side of the pipe connection.

12. An adaptor for directing flow at a down pipe into a butt, the adaptor comprising a pipe section having an end portion adapted for a push fit connection in a port in the butt and square and circular sockets at its opposite end portion for a push fit connection with a corresponding square or circular section down pipe.

13. An adaptor as claimed in Claim 12, in which the sockets are co-axial, one socket being removable to enable the other socket to form a connection with a down pipe.

14. An adaptor as claimed in Claim 13, in which the one socket is removable by severing the adaptor adjacent the socket.

15. An adaptor as claimed in any of Claims 12 to 14, including means provided in the pipe section intermediate the end portions to enable part of the flow through the adaptor to be diverted to a remote location.

16. An adaptor as claimed in Claim 15, in which the means comprises a chamber on an underneath side of the pipe connection.

17. A butt substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings.

18. An adaptor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings.