BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The invention pertains generally to transferring material from one barrel to another barrel. More specifically, the invention relates to a drain spout and related method of utilizing the drain spout for draining liquid materials from a first fifty-five gallon barrel to a second fifty-five gallon barrel.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Recovery of unused product from a barrel is a problem encountered in many trades. Typical approaches to this problem include utilizing pumps, barrel stands, and funnels. However, the pumps need to have power sufficient for a given density of the fluid material to be transferred, the barrel stands are bulky and still need to have people hold up the barrel up for material to drain, and the funnels again require at least two people to hold the barrel upright for a long period of time to drain material into the funnel for transferring to the bottom barrel.
In general, labor costs, people power requirements, and product loss all contribute to higher costs of recycling of barrels and unused product in said barrels.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In current day approaches, there is leftover product in barrels that companies are unable to access. According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention there is disclosed a drain spout that allows companies to recover the lost product, which maximizes efficiency and saves money.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, disclosed is a drain spout including a tubular structure with threads on at least a first end for attaching to a small bunghole of a draining barrel.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, disclosed is a process of draining material from the draining barrel includes screwing the drain spout into the small bunghole on the draining barrel. The process includes aligning the draining barrel beside a catch barrel with the small bungholes of the barrels on the outsides and the two large bungholes side by side. The process further includes tilting the draining barrel with the drain spout towards the catch barrel and lifting the bottom of the draining barrel while inserting the second end of the drain spout into the big bunghole of the catch barrel. The process further includes rotating the draining barrel around the drain spout acting as the axis of rotation approximately 180 degrees until the lip of both barrels meet. The process further includes leaning the draining barrel back supported by the drain spout while draining.
These and other advantages and embodiments of the present invention will no doubt become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which represent preferred embodiments thereof
FIG. 1 shows a first perspective view of a drain spout having a notched-out spout according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 2 shows a second perspective view of the drain spout of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows a third perspective view of the drain spout of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 shows an end view of the drain spout of FIG. 1 taken from the first end.
FIG. 5 shows a cross sectional view of the drain spout of FIG. 1 taken along the cut line A-A showing how the spout opening of the tubular body has a C-shape.
FIG. 6 shows a top view of the drain spout of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 shows a side view of the drain spout of FIG. 1.
FIG. 8 shows a bottom view of the drain spout of FIG. 1.
FIG. 9 illustrates a top view of a draining barrel while attaching the drain spout of FIG. 1 to a small bunghole in an exemplary method of utilizing the drain spout.
FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective side view of the draining barrel while attaching the drain spout of FIG. 1 to the small bunghole in an exemplary method of utilizing the drain spout.
FIG. 11 illustrates a perspective side view of the draining barrel with drain spout attached being positioned beside a catch barrel such that the two barrels' bungholes are symmetrically aligned across from one another according to an exemplary method of utilizing the drain spout.
FIG. 12 illustrates a first perspective side view of the barrels showing a step of lifting and tilting the draining barrel such that the drain spout attached to the draining barrel is directed toward the open larger bunghole of the catch barrel according to an exemplary method of utilizing the drain spout.
FIG. 13 illustrates a second perspective side view of the barrels showing the step of lifting and tilting the draining barrel such that the drain spout attached to the draining barrel is directed toward the open larger bunghole of the catch barrel according to an exemplary method of utilizing the drain spout.
FIG. 14 illustrates a perspective side view of the barrels showing a step of inserting the drain spout attached to the small bunghole of the draining barrel into the larger bunghole of the catch barrel according to an exemplary method of utilizing the drain spout.
FIG. 15 illustrates a perspective side view of the barrels showing a step of rotating the draining barrel around the drain spout such that the draining barrel is held captive in position by an upper lip of the catch barrel and the drain spout within the larger bunghole of the catch barrel according to an exemplary method of utilizing the drain spout.
FIG. 16 illustrates an interior view of the draining barrel of FIG. 15 where remaining fluid within collects above the drain spout for draining via the drain spout into the catch barrel.
FIG. 17 illustrates a drain spout having an integrated hex bolt head around a perimeter of the tubular body adjacent the threads according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 18 illustrates a drain spout having tubular body with a threaded first end and a cylindrical second end without any notched-out spout on the second end according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 19 illustrates a drain spout having a tubular body with a threaded first end and a threaded second end according to an exemplary embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIGS. 1 to 8 show various side views of a drain spout 10 for transferring various materials from a first barrel to a second barrel according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. As illustrated, the drain spout 10 includes a hollow tubular structure referred to herein as a tubular body 12. The tubular body 12 may be formed by a length of brass pipe with threads 14 on a first end 16 and a notched-out spout section 18 on the second end 20. The threads 14 allow attachment of the first end 16 to a first bunghole on a first barrel, and the notched-out section 18 on the second end 20 acts as a spout for draining material from the first barrel into a second barrel.
The notched out section 18 beneficially helps liquid materials flow from the second end 20, and the notched out end 18 also beneficially ensures the drain spout 10 has a unique appearance and can be recognized by labourers as the tool for transferring fluids barrel to barrel. This helps prevent workers from utilizing the drain spout 10 for other purposes which may then make it unavailable when needed.
FIGS. 9 to 15 illustrates a method of draining material from a first barrel 30 to a second barrel 40 utilizing the drain spout 10 of FIG. 1 according to an exemplary embodiment. The barrels 30, 40 may be fifty-five gallon barrels and the material may be spray foam, for example. The steps illustrated in FIGS. 9 to 15 may be performed by one or more workers on-site attaching the drain spout 10 to a first of the barrels 30, and then positioning, lifting tiling, and rotating the barrel(s) 30, 40 as illustrated. It is to be noted that the steps as illustrated are not restricted to the exact order shown, and, in other configurations, shown steps may be omitted or other intermediate steps added.
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the process begins at a first step where a worker screws the drain spout 10 into the small bunghole 32 of a first barrel 30. The first barrel 30 is typically the barrel that only has a small amount of material remaining therein, and this first barrel 30 is referred to herein as the “draining barrel” 30. The smaller bunghole 32 of the draining barrel 30 is open in order to accept the drain spout 10 while the larger bunghole 34 of the draining barrel 30 is sealed such as utilizing a plug or other known means.
As shown in FIG. 11, a next step of the process involves aligning the draining barrel 30 beside the second barrel 40. As illustrated, the second barrel also as a smaller bunghole 42 and a larger bunghole 44, and the two barrels are aligned with the smaller bungholes 32, 42 of the two barrels on the outside and the two larger bungholes 34, 44 of the two barrels side by side (adjacent one another). In this way, the two barrels 30, 40 are positioned beside each other such that the barrels' 30, 40 bungholes 32, 34, 42, 44 are symmetrically aligned across from one another. Both barrels in this example further include upper lips 36, 46 around their top surface 38 perimeters.
The second barrel 40 is the barrel that is to be filled with material and is referred to herein as the “catch barrel” 40. As illustrated, the larger bunghole 44 of the catch barrel 40 is opened in order to later accept the spout end 18 of the drain spout 10 and have the material flow into the catch barrel 40 through the larger bunghole 44. In this example, the smaller bunghole 42 of the catch barrel 40 is closed; however, the closed/open state of the smaller bunghole 42 of the catch barrel 40 is optional in this example.
As shown in FIGS. 12-14, a next step of the process involves tilting the draining barrel 30 with the drain spout 10 towards the catch barrel 40 and lifting the bottom of the draining barrel 30. As the draining barrel 30 is lifted, the process involves inserting the second end (i.e., spout end 18) of the drain spout 10 into the larger bunghole 44 of the catch barrel 40.
As shown in FIG. 15, the process then involves rotating the draining barrel 30 around the drain spout 10 acting as an axis of rotation approximately one-hundred and eighty degrees (180 degrees) until the upper lips 36, 46 of both barrels 30, 40 meet. In particular, the rotation of the draining barrel 30 is performed until a point of contact 50 of an upper lip 36 of the draining barrel 30 closest to the drain spout 10 meets a top surface 48 of the catch barrel 40 adjacent the upper lip 36 of the catch barrel 40. The lip 36 of the draining barrel 30 at the point of contact 50 acts as a corner that frictionally holds against the top surface 48 of the catch barrel 40.
The process then involves letting the draining barrel 30 lean back and start draining. At this point, the draining barrel 30 is frictionally held in position on the catch barrel 40 such as being held by the upper lip 46 of the catch barrel 40 and the drain spout 10 within the larger bunghole 44 of the catch barrel 40. The worker(s) may leave the barrels 30, 40 balanced in the illustrated position while draining material 60 from the draining barrel 30 to the catch barrel 40. During this period of time, the worker(s) may perform other work and there is no need for them to hold up the barrels 30, 40 as illustrated in FIG. 15—gravity and the rigid drain spout 10 in combination with friction stabilize the barrels 30, 40 and hold them in the position illustrated in FIG. 15.
The dotted lines in FIG. 15 show how the remaining fluid material 60 inside the draining barrel 30 will over time pool due to gravity in the bottom corner adjacent the drain spout 10 as a result of the barrels 30, 40 being held in the illustrated position. The remaining fluid 60 will thereby drain via the drain spout 10 from the draining barrel 30 to the catch barrel 40.
FIG. 16 illustrates the interior of the draining barrel 30 as seen looking down toward the pooled fluid material 60. As shown, the unused liquid material 60 within the draining barrel 30 collects in the bottom corner and drains out the small bunghole 32 to which the drain spout 10 is secured. Depending on the density of the material 60, the draining process may take a long time and thus one benefit of this embodiment of drain spout 10 and associated method is that they can be rapidly deployed by one or more workers and then the two barrels 30, 40 can be left alone for an extended period of time for the draining process to complete. As illustrated in FIG. 15, the top, draining barrel 30 is securely held above the bottom, catch barrel 40. It is beneficially not required that a worker hold the top barrel 30 steady and it is further beneficial that no complicated and bulky frame structure need to be installed above the catch barrel 40 in order to hold the top barrel 30 in position for long draining times.
Advantages of the drain spout 10 and process of draining materials disclosed herein according to exemplary embodiments include limiting people power requirements and associated labor costs as well as improving material 60 recovery.
Although the invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments, it should be understood that various modifications, additions and alterations may be made to the invention by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
For example, an additional feature may include a safety cable for securing the two barrels 30, 40 together such that if the top barrel 30 should fall, it will stay attached to the bottom barrel 40.
Although the above described method works well when the barrels include top lips 36, 46, the top lips are not a requirement and the frictional forces of any corner edge of the draining barrel 30 on the top surface 48 can also be sufficient to hold the two barrels in the position of FIG. 15 without requiring or utilizing the lips 36, 46.
The width of the drain spout 10, tubular body 12 and threads 14 may be modified in different embodiments to correspond with and mate with the smaller bungholes 32, 42 of any sized barrel 30, 40.
In yet another example modification, the drain spout 10 may include a hex bolt head around the outer perimeter of the body adjacent the threads. FIG. 17 illustrates a drain spout 70 having an integrated hex bolt head 72 around a perimeter of the tubular body 12 adjacent the threads 14 according to an exemplary embodiment. This hex bolt head 72 facilitates a worker utilizing a pipe wrench or monkey wrench for tightening the drain spout 70 onto the small bunghole 32 of the draining barrel 30.
Although the shape of the notched-out spout opening 18 as illustrated above facilities pouring and visual recognition of the drain spout tool 10, 70 by workers, the notched-out spout 18 may be omitted in other embodiments. For example, FIG. 18 illustrates a drain spout 80 having tubular body 12 with a threaded first end 82 and a cylindrical second end 84 without any notched-out spout 18 on the second end 84 according to an exemplary embodiment. In this embodiment, the drain spout 80 is modified to only have threads 14 on one end; therefore, any section of pipe with threads 14 on at least one end 82 may act as a drain spout 80 and be utilized in the process described herein for transferring material from one barrel 30 to another barrel 40.
FIG. 19 illustrates a drain spout 90 with dual end threads 14a, 14b according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, rather than having different shaped first and second ends, as illustrated above in FIGS. 1 to 18, the drain spout 90 of FIG. 19 is symmetrical and includes threads on both ends 92, 94. This beneficially allows the drain spout 90 to be installed to the smaller bunghole 32 of the draining barrel 30 in either direction.
Functions of single units may be separated into multiple units, or the functions of multiple units may be combined into a single unit. All combinations and permutations of the above described features and embodiments may be utilized in conjunction with the invention.
Patent Grant
11365017
