US3892257A

US3892257A - Vertical sanitary trap assembly for drain pipes

Info

Publication number: US3892257A
Application number: US399256A
Authority: US
Inventors: Yee C Zia
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1973-09-20
Filing date: 1973-09-20
Publication date: 1975-07-01
Anticipated expiration: 1992-07-01

Abstract

This invention consists of an assembly of a plug, a strainer and a covered waste-water trap for drain pipes. These three are generally of the same circular shape and size to be tangentially attached to a vertical rod in that order. This assembly, excepting the top part of the plug, should fit snugly into a straight drain pipe of a standard size, and should perform its function well by allowing waste-water to move through freely, while sealing off effectively any sewer gas, bacteria and vermin without using U-shaped elbows now widely installed as ''''a sanitary trap''''.

Description

United States Patent 11 1 [111 3,892,257 Zia July 11, 1975 [54] VERTICAL SANITARY TRAP ASSEMBLY 2,617,491 11/1952 Ross 137/247.l9

FOR DRAIN PIPES 2,770,314 11/1956 Powell 137/247.17 3,572,375 3/1971 Rosenberg 137/512 [76] Inventor: Yee C. Zia, 6 Sheffield Dr.,

Wlnmgboro 08046 Primary Examiner-l-larold W. Weakley [22] Filed: Sept. 20, 1973 [211 App]. No.: 399,256 [57] ABSTRACT This invention consists of an assembly of a plug, a [52] Qy 137/247; 137/241; 137/241; strainer and a covered waste-water trap for drain 137/248; 137/512; 137/550 pipes. These three are generally of the same circular 51 Int. (:1. F16k 15/03 ShaP6 and Size be tangentially attached to a Vertical [581 Field of Search..... 137/247.11, 247.13, 247.15, rod in that This assembly, excepting the top 137/247 17 247 19 24721 24723 248 part of the plug, should fit snugly into a straight drain 37 d pipe of a standard size, and should perform its function well by allowing waste-water to move through 56] References Cited freely, while sealing off effectively any sewer gas, bac- UNITED STATES PATENTS teria and vermin without using U-shaped elbows now widely installed as a sanitary trap. 233,104 10/1880 Langschmidt 137/248 X 510,503 12/1893 Falkinburg l37/247.17 5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures VERTHIAL SANITARY TRAP ASSEMBLY FOR DRAIN PIPES As is well known, the U-shaped bends, called ells or elbows, now used as traps in wash basins, sinks, bath tubs, showers etc., while sealing off sewer gas, have the disadvantages of collecting slowly soluble and insoluble matters in their bends and bottoms to gradually and increasingly interfere with the free flow of waste-water until a complete stoppage occurs which will call for costly repairs. Moreover, such a sanitary trap usually leaves its top receiving end completely open and, if left unused with no refilling for days or weeks, may easily become a breeding pool of bacteria and vermins, and furthermore, in case of protracted non-usage leading to total evaporation of some two inches of the trapped water, will lose completely its function as a sanitary trap. An uninhabited mansion can thus become really uninhabitable in a relatively short time. Last but not the least, open-end traps may lead to siphoning off its trapped water; which is a main reason for the costly installation of a separate vent pipe. I

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide an easy-to-install and easy-toreplace assembly of a plug-strainer-trap combination on the top of drain pipes in a straightaway manner, forming what may be called a Vertical Sanitary Trap, thus requiring only straight pipe fixtures and doing away with the U-shaped ells or elbows long in use.

lt is another object of the present invention to provide a plug-strainer-trap assembly in which the trap is normally covered and closed, and especially so when the fixtures are not being used, thus no further contamination of the trapped water can be introduced subsequently, nor can any smell or fume or evaporation of the trapped water come through the cover or upper disc of this closed, vertical sanitary trap, because the upper disc as well as the bottom disc are made to be watertight and impossible to open or move upward, only downward. ln other words, such a trap as presented in this invention is and will remain sanitary, while the U-shaped open traps now widely used in many lands are not and will not remain so. Besides, once this Vertical Trap Assembly is installed, there could be no sewer gas problem in the drain pipes, hence no need of a costly vent from the ground up through the roof top.

Some mention may also be made in regard to the positioning of the strainer in this invention, because it can and will carry out its job as a strainer much better than many other strainers now in use. As it is positioned well below the plug, it is thus seldom noticed and well beyond the reach of ordinary hands using the fixture and most probably will be left alone in its place to do its job, yet at the same time can be readily pulled up and cleaned up by those responsible.

lt is a further object of the present invention to provide a highly improved plug-strainer-trap assembly for i drain pipes with the advantageous characteristics mentionedtin the preceding paragraphs which is extremely simple in structure, requiring a minimum ofparts, durable and entirely dependable, as well as easily removable for a thorough cleaning and readily replaceable at a reasonable cost.

In this connection, a question may be raised as to how could sewer gas be prevented from coming up throughfthe wide open drain pipe during the intervals when said assembly has been pulled up for cleaning or repairing. The simple answer to such a question is that a spare assembly of the same make should always be kept at hand and readily installed into the drain opening at the same moment as the old one is pulled out. This changeover could be as simple and easy as changing a light bulb, if not more so.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a material part of this disclosure The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the several appended claims.

ln the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of our assembly in full scale for conventional drain pipe of 1% inches diameter. It shows a rod 5 of little more than 4 inches in height, on the top of which is attached a plug 1 slightly larger than 1% inches in diameter at its very top but tapers off downward to exactly 1% inches. lt should be manufactured to attach to the rod firmly in such a way as to enable its round top move easily around the point of attachment 8 on the rod, yet impossible to be detached from the rod. ln other words, the plug is made in such a way that a user can easily move it away from the drain opening in order to release the water, yet cannot pull it off. By lifting the plug upwards, however, the entire tight-fit assembly may be pulled up without too much exertion.

Also in FIG. l,'we see a strainer 2 which is attached to the rod 5 at a point an inch or so below the plug. This part of the assembly should be manufactured in such a way as to make it necessary to pull up the rod at least an inch in order to reach the same level as the strainer to be able to remove it and to reinstall it later by a simple snap-on-and-off motion.

Again in FIG. 1, we see the upper disc 3 and the lower disc 4 of our trap attached to the rod in such a way that either of them can only move downward but never upward from its normally level position, because each is held firmly at its center area by a springoperated arm which will allow it to move downward under pressure but not upward. The arm 6 holding the upper disc should be equipped with a spring much less rigid and less powerful than the spring in the other arm 7 holding the bottom disc. Essentially, the arms and the discs should be manufactured in such a way as to allow the upper disc to ,open downward at its unattached side under any slight amount of pressure such as an ounce of water over it; while the lower arm 7 being more rigid and powerful, should hold the lower disc firm against any downward movement on its unattached side unless and until there should be a good deal of pressure such as two inches of water or more over it. Both discs may be fitted with gaskets or something like them in order to make them watertight against the enclosing pipe. Consequently, there shall remain over the lower disc at all time some 2 inches of water to act as a double guard against any sewer gas. Moreover, since our entire trap assembly is constructed in such a way as to make any backing up of the trapped water absolutely impossible, the common phenomenon known to the trade as siphoning off" of trapped water and breaking of the seal of the trap cannot happen under my system here.

, 3 FIG. 2 represents a sectionalaviewof my Vertical Sanitary Trap when there is no new waste-water comingdown and the two discsjare holding their normal level position with some two inches of waterbetwe'en them. s

From the foregoing, it'is seen that the present invention provides a sanitary trap assembly for waste-water drain pipes which fully accomplishes its intended objects and is well adapted to meet practicaLconditions of manufacture, installation and use. 7

Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purpose of clarity" of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the true spirit of the, invention andlthe scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed by me as new and desired to cured by Letters Patent in the United States is: 1. A vertical sanitary trap assembly including a plug, astrainer, and an upper and a lower disc duly spaced from each other to form a water trap inside a drain'pipe 1 outermost circumference in such a way as to enable the bottom part of said plug to revolve around said point in. a level plane, said strainer being securely attached to be sejing or replacement.

the two discs to form a vertical water trap inside a drain pipe, normally closed at both the top and the bottom. 3.The assembly according to claim 1, said strainer being positioned out of sight and beyond the reach of ordinary handswhile within easy reach of a responsible person to clean or replace it with a snap-on-and-off ease.

4. The assembly according to claim 1, said plug being normally disposed to rest snugly over the pipe opening and completely closing it up, yet also being adapted to revolve around its point of attachment to the rod as well as to serve likea handle for pulling up the assemsaid point yet easily snapped off and on, and eachof two said discs-so attached being additionally held over its center area by a spring-operated arm stemmed fromthe rod thereby permitting either disc only a downward movement under pressure; the entire assembly must fit 5.The combination according to claim 2, said water trap being normally closed at the top and the bottom, being structurally impossible for either of the two disc to be moved or open upward, while the water being trapped between them naturally disposed to remain at a fixed level and subject to no change except to the arrival of a new amount of water, thus fully ensuring this vertical trap as a sanitary trap that is dependable and trouble free.

Claims

1. A vertical sanitary trap assembly including a plug, a strainer, and an upper and a lower disc duly spaced from each other to form a water trap inside a drain pipe of the same diameter, all parallelly, perpendicularly and tangentially attached to a rod at a point on their outermost circumference in such a way as to enable the bottom part of said plug to revolve around said point in a level plane, said strainer being securely attached to said point yet easily snapped off and on, and each of two said discs so attached being additionally held over its center area by a spring-operated arm stemmed from the rod thereby permitting either disc only a downward movement under pressure; the entire assembly must fit inside a drain pipe in a watertight manner, yet allow itself to be detached and pulled out for cleaning, repairing or replacement.

2. The assembly according to claim 1, said discs being thus attached to the rod and also held by spring-operated arms, said upper disc being held in a relatively loose manner to allow it open downward under a slight weight or pressure over its top side, while said lower disc being held in a relatively rigid manner to allow it open downward only under considerable weight or pressure such as two inches plus of water, thus causing the two discs to form a vertical water trap inside a drain pipe, normally closed at both the top and the bottom.

3. The assembly according to claim 1, said strainer being positioned out of sight and beyond the reach of ordinary hands while within easy reach of a responsible person to clean or replace it with a snap-on-and-off ease.

4. The assembly according to claim 1, said plug being normally disposed to rest snugly over the pipe opening and completely closing it up, yet also being adapted to revolve around its point of attachment to the rod as well as to serve like a handle for pulling up the assembly itself.

5. The combination according to claim 2, said water trap being normally closed at the top and the bottom, being structurally impossible for either of the two disc to be moved or open upward, while the water being trapped between them naturally disposed to remain at a fixed level and subject to no change except to the arrival of a new amount of water, thus fully ensuring this vertical trap as a ''''sanitary trap'''' that is dependable and trouble-free.