Patent Application
20080308351
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of fluid reservoirs and more specifically to the leak-proof retention of, and easy removal of fluids from various reservoirs found within vehicles, machinery, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The problems with draining fluids from a reservoir are well known. Perhaps most familiar are the problems with draining engine oil from the oil pan of a car or truck engine. When the drain plug is removed, oil splashes onto hands and tools, the bolt is easily dropped, and the oil arcs out of the drain hole in an uneven stream. Typical drain plugs currently available do not solve the aforementioned problems.
Alternative drain plugs that attempt to solve the problem may have complex mechanisms which may require applying suction to remove the fluid from the reservoir. What is needed is a simple, one-piece device that relies on gravity as the force behind the evacuation process so as to avoid these complex mechanisms.
Thus, a drain plug bolt solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The drain plug bolt can be used in place of a standard oil plug during the removal of lubricants, fuels, or other fluids from an engine, transmission, gear box, differential, fuel reservoirs found in automobiles, industrial equipment or machines, heavy earth moving equipment, agricultural farming equipment, or any machines operated by internal combustion engines, or any machines using lubricants, fuels, coolants, or the like. The present invention accomplishes this by replacing the current oil plug with a hollow bolt having a drain hole in the side to give passage of the reservoir fluids to the outside when the bolt is partially loosened from the reservoir. According to the present invention, the drain plug bolt includes a shank having a head and tip. An interior bore extends longitudinally from the tip for a predetermined distance less than the shank total length. The shank includes an externally threaded portion distal to the head, an externally threaded portion proximal to the head, and an unthreaded middle portion between the distal and proximal portions of the shank. The middle portion includes a counter-bore that forms a radial surface drain hole and extends therefrom to the longitudinally extending internal bore in order to complete a passageway that leads from the internal bore and the counter-bore to the exterior of the drain plug bolt via the radial surface drain hole. Tightening the drain plug against the fluid reservoir, retains fluid within the reservoir. Loosening, the drain plug until the distal threads are in communication with a wall of the fluid reservoir allows fluid to escape the reservoir via the passageway and drain hole of the drain plug.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
As shown in
Tightening the drain plug 100 against the fluid reservoir retains fluid within the reservoir. A washer/gasket 97 may be fitted over the shank 107 of drain plug bolt 100 to help seal the fitting to the fluid reservoir, e.g., oil pan 102 on vehicle undercarriage VU. Loosening the drain plug 100 past the proximal threaded section 109a allows the bolt to be slipped out past the unthreaded section 109c, until the distal threads 109b come in contact with the wall of the fluid reservoir. The bolt is held in place by the distal threaded section 109b while the oil drains through the hollow core 112a and 112b.
Direction of flow of the escape fluid may be guided/predicted by lining up arrow/other indicia 106 in the desired direction, since arrow 106 is disposed on head 105 in a direction that corresponds with orientation of drain hole 113b. If the bolt 100 and fluid reservoir pan 102 are designed together, the threads can be set so that the drain hole is pointing downward when the first threaded section releases.
Almost all of the oil will drain out even if the drain bolt is not entirely removed. The bolt can be fully removed, however, to drain the last amounts of oil or to replace the washer that is typically used.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
