The present disclosure relates to appliances that discharge water suitable for a residential drain, and more particularly, to the disposal of water released from such appliances.
Air-conditioning units, hot water tanks and other appliances produce water as a by-product and this water, which is evacuated from these units, needs to be disposed of For example, it is known, as seen in
A problem associated with such an arrangement is that water often flows on the floor around the drain 12 and drain plate 14, i.e. the water does not completely fall into the drain 12.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved way to dispose of water released by air-conditioning units and other appliances.
A drain adaptor comprises a drain plate having a plurality of drainage apertures defined therethrough, with the drain plate being registrable with a floor drain in a floor. The drain plate has an upstream side and a downstream side, and at least one conduit extends from the upstream side of the drain plate. Each conduit has at least one fluid communication passage therethrough extending through the drain plate for guiding fluid through the drain plate, and the each conduit also has at least one receptacle located upstream of the drain plate for receiving an end of a hose.
In some embodiments, the conduit further extends from the downstream side of the drain plate, and may form a drain basket extending from the downstream side of the drain plate, with the drain basket having a plurality of additional drainage apertures defined therethrough.
The conduit may comprise a tubular body, with the drain plate comprising an annular plate surrounding the tubular body and the at least one receptacle comprising an opening defined in a sidewall of the tubular body. The conduit may comprise, for example, a cylindrical tubular body or a rectangular tubular body.
Each conduit may comprise a hollow elbow extending from the upstream side of the drain plate so that an upstream end of each elbow defines a receptacle.
In one embodiment, the drain plate includes at least one conduit aperture defined therethrough and a downstream end of each elbow is releasably received in the at least one conduit aperture. In such an embodiment, a drain basket having a plurality of additional drainage apertures may extend from the downstream side of the drain plate, opposite the at least one conduit aperture. The entire drain plate may be of monolithic construction.
In another embodiment, the drain plate comprises an inner portion and an annular outer portion surrounding the inner portion, with the outer portion and the inner portion being releasably interengagable with one another. In such embodiments, the at least one conduit may comprise at least one elbow extending from an upstream side of the inner portion of the drain plate and an upstream end of each elbow may define a receptacle, and the at least one elbow and the inner portion of the drain plate may be of monolithic construction. Such embodiments may also include a drain basket extending from the downstream side of the drain plate, which drain basket may be carried by the outer portion of the drain plate. The drain basket may be of monolithic construction with the outer portion of the drain plate.
Methods for directing water from a hose into a drain covered by a drainage plate are also described.
These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings wherein:
a to 6f are a series of other representations of the drain adaptor of
a to 9f are a series of other representations of the drain adaptor of
Reference is now made to
As can be seen from the flow of water droplets, the drain plate 24 has an upstream side 24A and a downstream side 24B. A conduit 22 extends from the upstream side 24A of the drain plate 24. The conduit 26 has a fluid communication passage 31 therethrough, as shown by the flow of water droplets in dashed lines, and this fluid communication passage 31 extends through the drain plate 24 for guiding fluid through the drain plate 24. The conduit 22 has a receptacle 28 located upstream of the drain plate 24 for receiving an end 18 of a hose 10.
In the embodiment shown in
Therefore, water flowing from the hoses 10 into the drain adaptor 20 is directed downwardly in the drain 12 by the conduit 22 of the drain adaptor 20. The drainage holes 26 of the annular plate 24 can assist in directing water on the floor F (e.g. coming from sources other than the air-conditioning unit U) into the floor drain 12.
c to 6e show variations 20′, 20″ in the size and in the shape of the conduit. In the embodiment shown in
Reference is now made to
The drain adaptor 120 comprises a drain plate 124 having a plurality of drainage apertures 126 defined therethrough, and the drain plate 124 will be placed in registration with a floor drain 12 in a floor F. The drain plate 124 has an upstream side 124A and a downstream side 124B. Two conduits 122 extend from the upstream side 124A of the drain plate 24. Each conduit 122 has a fluid communication passage 131 therethrough, and this fluid communication passage 131 extends through the drain plate 124 for guiding fluid through the drain plate 124. The conduits 122 each have a receptacle 128 located upstream of the drain plate 124 for receiving an end 18 of a hose 10.
Each conduit 122 comprises a hollow elbow 123 open at both ends 123A, 123B and extending from the upstream side 124A of the drain plate 124. The receptacles 128 are formed by the upstream ends 123A of the elbows 123. The drain plate 124 includes a conduit aperture 129 defined therethrough, and the downstream end 123B of each elbow is releasably received in the conduit aperture 129. A drain basket 132 having a plurality of additional drainage apertures 138 defined therethrough extends from the downstream side 124B of the drain plate 124, opposite the conduit aperture 129. In one embodiment, the drain plate 124, including the drain basket 132, is of monolithic construction.
In the embodiment shown in
Therefore, water flowing from the hoses 10 and 10′ into the drain adaptor 220 is directed downwardly in the drain 12 by the position of the ends 18 of the hoses 10 and 10′ within the openings 225. The drainage holes 226 of the plate 224 can assist in directing water on the floor F (e.g. coming from sources other than the air-conditioning unit U) into the floor drain 12.
Reference is now made to
In the embodiment shown in
The conduits 422 each comprise a hollow elbow 423 open at both ends 423A, 423B and extending from the upstream side 452A of the inner portion 452 of the drain plate 424. The upstream end 423A of each elbow 423 defines one of the receptacles 428. The downstream end 423B of the elbow 423 opens on the downstream side 452B of the inner portion 452 of the drain plate 424 to complete the conduit 422. In the embodiment shown in
A drain basket 432 extends from the downstream side of the drain plate 424, and has a plurality of additional drainage apertures 438 defined therethrough. The drain basket 432 is carried by the outer portion 454 of the drain plate 424, and may be of monolithic construction with the outer portion 454 of the drain plate 424.
Although the embodiments described an illustrated above have shown the drain plates as being substantially planar, drain plates used in drain adaptors as described herein may have other shapes, such as being convex relative to the drain.
Embodiments having one and two conduits have been shown and described; other embodiments may include three or more conduits. The conduits may have shapes other than the specific shapes shown and described herein, and in some embodiments a single conduit may include one or more internal dividers so as to provide multiple fluid communication passages in a single conduit. A single conduit may include multiple receptacles.
Drain adaptors such as those described above may be used to implement a method for directing water from a hose into a drain covered by a drainage plate. The method comprises coupling an end of the hose to a conduit that defines a fluid communication passage through the drainage plate for guiding fluid through the drainage plate. Another method for directing water from a hose into a drain may comprise installing a drain adaptor in registration with a floor drain in a floor, in which the drain adaptor comprises a drain plate having an upstream side and a downstream side, at least one conduit extending from the upstream side of the drain plate, the at least one conduit defining a fluid communication path through the drainage plate for guiding fluid past the downstream side of the drain plate, and the at least one conduit has at least one receptacle located upstream of the drain plate. The method further comprises coupling an end of the hose to the at least one receptacle to place the end in fluid communication with the at least one conduit.
Several exemplary embodiments have been described by way of example. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that a number of variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/545,780 filed on Oct. 11, 2011, the teachings of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61545780 | Oct 2011 | US |