Patent Application
20180112889
The present invention relates to air-conditioning systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to an air-conditioning condensate drain cleaning apparatus including a suspended housing attachable to an air-conditioning condensate drain pipe that is configured to automatically transfer cleaning fluid from the housing to the condensate drain at a controlled flow rate via a flow regulation clamp.
Every year millions of dollars are spent to repair the damage done from clogged and overflowing condensate drain lines and pans. The average air-conditioning unit produces between five and eight gallons a day of condensate when in operation. If the drain line is clogged, it does not take long to overflow the drain pan and cause considerable damage to flooring, ceiling, carpet, as well as possible damage to adjacent housing units. There also can be significant repair costs incurred from mold and mildew damage. This damage often is not covered by insurance.
The key to preventing the condensate drain line from clogging or overflowing is having the drain lines treated on a regular basis with white vinegar, bleach, or some other cleaning fluid. However, it can be difficult to apply the treatment on a regularly scheduled basis. For instance, a significant amount of individuals or families have second homes for investment or vacation properties. However, since they are second homes, the owner or owners are typically not around all that often. This absentee ownership adds to the problem of scheduled maintenance, and makes it more difficult to detect a problem before it can cause any damage. Moreover, a large portion of the world's population lives within 150 kilometers of a coastline. In the United States, more than fifty percent of the population lives within 50 miles of the oceans, and since 1970 there have been approximately 2000 homes per day erected in coastal areas. This means that there is an ever-increasing number of homes which are subjected to high humidity and need algae protection for their air-conditioner condensate drain lines.
Prior art devices for dealing with the algae build-up in the condensate drain lines of the air-conditioning unit have several limitations. For example, prior art devices do not provide the convenience of a device which includes a housing and fluid dispensing mechanism that is configured to receive an external cleaning fluid container and connect to the container and a PVC drain pipe, respectively, so as to establish a fluid communication between the PVC drain pipe and the cleaning fluids within the container. Furthermore, these prior art devices are unable to selectively control the rate at which the cleaning fluid is transferred from the container to the PVC drain pipe.
Therefore, there exists a need for an air-conditioning condensate drain cleaning apparatus suitable for receiving and containing an external cleaning fluid container, connecting the container to an air-conditioning condensate drain pipe, and selectively controlling the rate at which the cleaning fluid is transferred from the container to the drain pipe.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of cleaning apparatus for air-conditioning condensate drain lines now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an air-conditioning condensate drain cleaning apparatus wherein the same can be utilized for providing convenience for the user when preventing algae build-up and growth in their air-conditioning condensate drain lines.
In one example of the present invention, the air-conditioning condensate drain pipe cleaning apparatus includes a housing configured to removably receive and suspend a cleaning fluid container therein, and further includes a fluid dispensing unit configured to transfer fluids from the cleaning fluid container to a condensate drain pipe. The fluid dispensing unit includes an elongated tube having a first end configured to connect to a mouth of the cleaning fluid container, a second end configured to connect to an inlet of a condensate drain pipe, a drip chamber for providing an area in which to observe and confirm that the fluid dispensing unit is transferring fluids from the cleaning fluid container to the condensate drain pipe, and a flow regulation clamp configured to control the rate at which fluid from cleaning fluid container is transferred from the cleaning fluid container to the condensate drain pipe.
The housing includes a planar support member, a rear portion, a front portion, a top portion, a base portion, and an interior volume. An opening disposed on the planar support member is configured to removably receive a neck of a cleaning fluid container therethrough for suspending the container within the interior volume of the housing. A rear wall disposed on the rear portion is configured to removably receive the planar support member, and includes a pair of opposing longitudinally extending sidewalls configured to support the planar support member perpendicularly relative to the rear wall. An elongated slot disposed on the front portion extends longitudinally from an upper end of the front portion to a lower end of the front portion. A plurality of apertures disposed on the rear wall are configured to removably receive a fastener therethrough for mounting the rear portion to a structure. A plurality of second apertures disposed on the rear wall are configured to receive a plurality of protruding members extending radially outwardly from a perimeter edge of the planar support member. An inwardly extending shelf disposed on each of the pair of opposing longitudinally extending sidewalls is configured to support the planar support member perpendicularly relative to the rear wall when the planar support member is attached to the rear wall. A pair of apertures are disposed on the top portion and are configured to removably receive a pair of protrusions disposed on an edge of an upper end of the rear wall of the rear portion for mounting the front portion to the rear portion.
Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.
Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the air-conditioning condensate drain cleaning apparatus. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.
Referring now to
The fluid dispensing unit 25 comprises an elongated tube 35 having a first end 40 configured to connect to a mouth 45 of the cleaning fluid container 20, a second end 50 configured to connect to an inlet 55 of the condensate drain pipe 30, a drip chamber 60 for providing an area in which to observe and confirm that the fluid dispensing unit 25 is in fact transferring fluids from the cleaning fluid container 20 to the condensate drain pipe 30, and a flow regulation clamp 65 configured to control the rate at which fluid from the cleaning fluid container 20 is transferred from the cleaning fluid container 20 to the condensate drain pipe 30. In the depicted embodiment, the elongated tube 35 is transparent, such that a user may see through the elongated tube 35 in order to confirm that fluid is flowing therethrough.
The first end 40 includes a first cap 70 for removably attaching the fluid dispensing unit 25 to the mouth 45 of the cleaning fluid container 20. In the depicted embodiment, the first cap 70 is a flexible snap-fit cap configured to removably secure to the mouth 45 of the cleaning fluid container 20 via a snap-fit grasp, or friction-fit grasp. In alternative embodiments, the first cap 70 includes a threaded cap for threadably engaging the mouth 45 of the cleaning fluid container 20. The second end 50 includes a second cap 75 for removably attaching the fluid dispensing unit 25 to the inlet 55 of the condensate drain pipe 30. In the depicted embodiment, the second cap 75 is a flexible snap-fit cap configured to removably secure to the inlet 55 of the condensate drain pipe 30 via a snap-fit grasp, or friction-fit grasp. In alternative embodiments, the second cap 75 includes a threaded cap for threadably engaging the inlet 55 of the condensate drain pipe 30. Each of the first and second caps 70, 75 include an orifice 80 in fluid communication with the first and second ends 40, 50, respectively, of the elongated tube 35, such that when attached to the mouth 45 of the cleaning fluid container 20 and the inlet 55 of the condensate drain pipe 30, fluids may be transferred from the cleaning fluid container 20 through the elongated tube 35 to the condensate drain pipe 30.
The flow regulation clamp 65 is coupled to the elongated tube 35, such that the flow regulation clamp 65 can constrict and narrow the diameter of the elongated tube 35 so as to regulate the flow rate of a fluid therethrough. In the depicted embodiment, the flow regulation clamp 65 includes a flow regulation dial 85 rotatably coupled to the flow regulation clamp 65. Manual rotation of the flow regulation dial 85 in a first direction squeezes the elongated tube 35, narrowing the diameter of the elongated tube 35 and decreasing the flow rate of a fluid through the elongated tube 35, and thereby decreasing the rate at which the air-conditioning condensate drain cleaning apparatus 10 transfers fluid to the condensate drain pipe 30 and cleans the condensate drain pipe 30. Manual rotation of the flow regulation dial 85 in a second direction releases the elongated tube 35, broadening the diameter of the elongated tube 35 and increasing the flow rate of a fluid through the elongated tube 35, and thereby increasing the rate at which the air-conditioning condensate drain cleaning apparatus 10 transfers fluid to the condensate drain pipe 30 and cleans the condensate drain pipe 30. In another embodiment, however, the flow regulation clamp 65 comprises a roller clamp for manually adjusting the flow rate of a fluid through the elongated tube 35. In alternative embodiments, the flow regulation clamp 65 comprises an electronic clamp for electronically adjusting the flow rate of a fluid through the elongated tube 35.
The drip chamber 60 is disposed between the first end 40 of the elongated tube 35 and the flow regulation clamp 65. The drip chamber 60 defines an area along a longitudinal length of the elongated tube 35 that includes a larger diameter than a diameter of the elongated tube 35, so as to enable a user to view fluid flowing through the longitudinal length of elongated tube 35. The drip chamber 60 includes a transparent material, so as to enable observation of a fluid dripping therein.
Referring now to
The rear portion 95 includes a rear wall 130 configured to removably receive the planar support member 90 and a pair of opposing longitudinally extending sidewalls 135 configured to support the planar support member 90 perpendicularly relative to the rear wall 130. The rear wall 130 includes a plurality of first apertures 140 configured to receive a fastener, such as a screw, anchor, or bolt, therethrough for mounting the rear portion 95 to a structure, such as a wall of a home, office, or other building. The plurality of first apertures 140 are arranged in a grid-like pattern, which includes horizontal columns and vertical rows spanning substantially the entire upper surface 145 of the rear wall 130. The plurality of first apertures 140 provide a user alternative areas on the rear wall 130 of the rear portion 95 in which to insert a fastener and secure the rear portion 95 to a structure. In this way, the user can adjust the housing 15 along a wall of a structure as desired and not have to worry about aligning the housing 15 along the wall in a specific manner so as to capture a stud of the structure when mounting the housing 15.
The rear wall 130 includes a plurality of second apertures 150 configured to removably receive a plurality of protruding members 155 extending radially outwardly from an outer perimeter edge 160 of the planar support member 90. The pair of opposing longitudinally extending sidewalls 135 each include an inwardly extending shelf 165, i.e., a shelf extending into the interior volume 115 of the housing 15, that is disposed beneath a longitudinal axis of the plurality of second apertures 150. The inwardly extending shelves 165 are configured to support the planar support member 90 perpendicularly relative to the rear wall 130 when the plurality of protruding members 155 of the planar support member 90 are inserted into the plurality of second apertures 150 of the rear wall 130.
The front portion 100 includes an arcuate frame 170 having an elongated slot 175 extending longitudinally from an upper end 180 of the front portion 100 to a lower end 185 of the front portion 100. The elongated slot 175 extends substantially the entire length of the upper surface 190 of the arcuate frame 170 so as to allow visibility into the entirety of the interior volume 115 of the housing 15. In this way, when a cleaning fluid container is suspended therein, a user can look through the elongated slot 175 and determine the quantity of fluid remaining in the cleaning fluid container.
The top portion 105 includes a pair of apertures 195 configured to removably receive a pair of protrusions 200 disposed on an edge 205 of an upper end 210 of the rear wall 130 of the rear portion 95. In this way, the front portion 95 is removably mountable onto the rear portion 95.
In a first embodiment, the top portion 105 includes a pair of laterally extending sidewalls 215 directly affixed to edges 220 of an upper end 180 of the front portion 100, and a longitudinally extending sidewall 225, as shown in
In a second embodiment, the top portion 105 includes a pair of laterally extending sidewalls 235 and a longitudinally extending sidewall 240 opposing an arcuate sidewall 245, as shown in
The base portion 110 includes a planar member 270 extending perpendicularly from a lower end 275 of the rear wall 130 of the rear portion 95. The base portion includes an arcuate edge 280 corresponding to the arch of the arcuate frame 170 of the front portion 100. When the front portion 100 is mounted onto the rear portion 95, the side edges 272 of the front portion 110 and the lower edge 274 of the front portion 100 abut the side edges 276 of the pair of opposing longitudinally extending sidewalls 135 and the arcuate edge 280 of the base portion 110, respectively, thereby enclosing the interior volume 115 of the housing 15.
In a first embodiment, the base portion 110 is directly affixed to an edge 285 of the lower end 275 of the rear wall 130 of the rear portion 95, as shown in
In a second embodiment, the rear wall 130 includes a plurality of third apertures 295 disposed adjacent the edge 285 of the lower end 275 thereof that are configured to removably receive a plurality of second protruding members 300 disposed on the base portion 110, as shown in
It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in various embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/411,904 filed on Oct. 24, 2016. The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62411904 | Oct 2016 | US |
