Patent Application
20150101120
No cross reference is made to other applications.
No Federal Government support was received in the development of this Invention.
No sequence listing, table, or computer program is attached or accompanies this application.
The present invention relates generally to shower floors, drains, and drain covers or grates used in connection with a shower bed, shower pan, or other surface or fixture, and more particularly to a drain for evacuating shower water, and to such a drain apparatus attached to and used in conjunction with such drain or other drains, which permits a drain cover or grate to be securely attached to and cover a portion of the drain, which permits a drain cover to (i) be removable; (ii) be interchangeable with drain covers or grates; (iii) allow the drainage of water at or around one or more of the perimeter edges of the drain cover or grate; (iv) allow the drainage of water in a gap between one or more of the perimeter edges of the drain cover or grate and a recess in the topmost surface of the flange of a threaded flanged pipe; (v) allow the drainage of water in a gap which is created when the drain cover or grate is placed in registry with the flange threaded pipe, the peripheral edge of the drain cover or grate being spaced from a drain recess peripheral sidewall defined by the inner perimeter of the upper surface of the threaded flanged pipe so as to define a gap therebetween through which water may pass while flowing towards the drain aperture comprised by the pipe portion of the threaded flanged pipe; (vi) allow such a combination of mortar drain base, invertible threaded membrane clamp, threaded flanged pipe, and drain covers or grates to be used and to be adapted for use in connection with a handmade mortared shower bed; allow such a combination of threaded pan base, threaded flanged pipe, and drain covers and grates to be used in connection with a prefabricated shower pan; (vii) in said combinations, the cover or grate rests on cantilevered horizontal posts engaging indexes in the inner rim of a drainage recess formed into the top of the threaded flanged pipe to achieve substantial coplanarity with the topmost surface of said flange and with the surface of said handmade shower bed or shower pan.
A plurality of inventors have described drains for vessels and surfaces that employ an attachable, removable, and interchangeable drain cover or grate which permit water to drain at one or more perimeter edges of a cover or grate and an encompassing perimeter surface forming a flange, vessel bottom, or waterproof floor surface. Breda (U.S. Pat. No. D614,628, Jan. 14, 2008) and Breda (U.S. Pat. No. D602,575, Oct. 20, 2009) presents designs incorporating a cover resting on top of a prescribed pattern of posts emanating from a generally flat flange. While these features decorate the generally flat surface comprised by the upper portion of a threaded flanged pipe, the vertical relief resulting from the cover resting on a plurality of posts necessitates the addition of an additional rim arising upward around the outer perimeter of the flange in order to present a generally flat surface to the shower or other user. This in turn necessitates a deeper recess in a handmade shower bed or shower pan to accommodate said rim, said flange, and said cover in a generally flat presentation. Breda's design is particularly unsuitable for prefabricated shower pans, said design requiring a custom recess to be formed into the shower pan, both in diameter and depth.
A similar device is presented in Cook (U.S. Pat. App. No. 2012/0036697), excepting that the pattern of vertical posts used to support the cover, grate, or cap do not emanate from a threaded flanged pipe. Instead said vertical posts emanate from a generally flat upper surface of the drain body proper. Again, in order to present a generally flat surface to the shower user, a perimeter rim must be incorporated around the perimeter of the top surface of the drain body, again necessitating a deeper recess in the bottom of the handmade shower bed or shower pan to which the drain entire is fitted. Cook's utility is severely limited in application, requiring both specialized drain pans and providing no adjustability for the final height of the mortar bed and flooring comprising a mortared shower drain bed. Said height is often not known until the final flooring has been laid.
Therefore, a need exists for drain covers and grates that (i) are equipped with horizontal cantilever posts fitting into registers provided in a drainage recess formed in the interior diameter of the topmost surface of the flange of a threaded flanged pipe. When fitted into a handmade mortared shower bed or into a shower pan with a standard recess for standard grated shower drains, the drain presents a generally flat relief without recourse to provision of said rim and said deep recess; (ii) are generally removable and interchangeable with other drain covers or grates; (iii) which permit water to drain through a gap between one or more of the perimeter sides of a cover or grate and the upper flange surface of a threaded flanged pipe; (iv) which permit water or other liquid to drain in a drainage recess formed in the interior perimeter of the upper side of the top flange of a threaded flanged pipe; (v) which permit the drainage of the water through the bottom of a handmade shower bed or prefabricated shower pan while giving the appearance that there is no drain; (vi) which allows said drain covers or grates to be fitted to a handmade mortared shower bed in connection with a mortar drain base, invertible threaded membrane clamp, and threaded flanged pipe, while not requiring said deep recess to be provided in said mortared shower bed; (vii) which allows said drain covers or grates to be fitted to a shower pan in connection with a threaded drain base, and threaded flanged pipe, while not requiring said non standard deep recess to be provided in said shower pan.
In practical terms, any surface that directs the flow of shower water toward a drain and on to a sanitary system without provision of a drain closure is comprised of a handmade mortared shower pan, or a prefabricated shower pan.
A handmade mortared shower bed requires a basal membrane to prevent creep of water through the tile, grout, and mortar. Provision of a clamp for said membrane comprises a base and an internally threaded clamp to secure the hole cut in this membrane in a horizontal clamping fashion. Said clamp is fixed in the multiple horizontal layers that comprise the handmade mortared shower bed. A flanged threaded pipe is vertically and concentrically threaded into said internally threaded clamp after the tile or other planar flooring has been laid. The height of this flange depends on the extent of vertically concentric insertion of the threaded flanged pipe into the internally threaded clamp. The top of the flange is covered with a cover or grate allowing flow of water.
There is no need for a membrane clamp in the case of a prefabricated shower drain pan. Said threaded flanged pipe simply threads directly into an initially threaded base in a vertically concentric fashion. The top of the flange is covered with a cover or grate allowing flow of water. In all waterproof shower assemblies, a diversity and plurality of gaskets and seals are employed, often without regard to original design of the drain, and are thereby omitted from this discussion. This application treats the drain top assembly comprised by said threaded flanged pipe and said covers or grates for either handmade mortared shower bed or shower pan drain assemblies. The top of the flange is pierced by a central perforation that allows for drainage down the internal cavity constituted by the pipe. In this application, a recess is provided in the topmost flange surface offset to said perforation. Said recess is provided with indexed cavities into which fit the distal ends of a plurality of cantilevered horizontal posts emanating radially from the centre of the cover or grate. A gap sufficient to provide drainage is maintained between the outer perimeter of the top, grate, basket, or cover and the topmost surface of said threaded flanged pipe. Said combination of flanged threaded pipe and topmost decoration can thereby be used with said handmade mortared shower drain bed assembly or with said prefabricated shower drain pan assembly.
Before describing in detail exemplary embodiments that are in accordance with the present invention, it should be observed that embodiments reside primarily in combinations of structural components and installation and use steps related to implementing apparatus and methods for a drain assembly which defines a drain aperture which is adapted to be placed in registry with a floor or other drain conduit in such a manner to be sufficiently recessed within or below (i) a handmade mortared shower bed, (ii) a prefabricated shower pan, to accommodate a drain cover or grate. A drain cover or grate in the drain top assembly is associated with the threaded flanged pipe in said assembly in such a way that (i) it covers all or a portion of the drain perforation in the drain top assembly such that the drain cover or grate is substantially coplanar with the top of the finished shower floor surface comprised by (a) a handmade mortared shower bed, or (b) a prefabricated shower pan; (ii) the drain top assembly is attachable to an underlying drain assembly; (iii) the drain cover or grate may be removable and interchangeable with other drain covers or grates; (iv) the drain cover or grate permits water to drain into and through the drain assembly; (v) the drain cover or grate is sized and shaped to create a free gap between the outer edges of the cover or grate, and the threaded flanged pipe portion of the drain top assembly to permit water to drain into and through the entire drain assembly; (vi) the drain cover or grate also permits water to drain in a gap created when the drain cover is placed in registry with the drain body, such that the peripheral edges of the drain cover is spaced from the drain recess peripheral sidewall so as to define a gap therebetween through which water may pass while flowing toward the drain aperture; (viii) the cover or grate is supported by horizontal cantilevered posts emanating radially from the center of the cover or grate, the distal ends of said posts fitting into registers formed into said drain recess; (viii) the drain is sufficiently recessed into or below an upper surface of (A) a handmade mortared shower drain bed, or (B) a prefabricated shower pan to result in substantial coplanarity of the drain top with said upper surface.
