Patent Application
20110191969
This invention relates to the art of drain cleaning tools and, more particularly, to cable feeding devices for hand held and hand operated drain-cleaning tools.
Some hand held and hand operated drain cleaning tools have a cable or snake coiled in a drum. A crank is attached to the drum to allow a user to rotate the drum about a support assembly from which a handle depends. The cable extends forwardly of the drum and is extended relative thereto for insertion into a drain to be cleaned and rotates with the drum so as to clear a blockage encountered in the drain. A user withdraws a length of the cable from the drum until a snag in a drain is reached and then a thumbscrew at the forward end of the drum is tightened against the cable so as to preclude unintended displacement of the cable into the drum as the cable is advanced. The drum is then held with one hand and rotated by the other while the user forces the cable into the drain at the same time. When the withdrawn length of the cable has been inserted into the drain, the thumb screw is loosened, the cable is held in place and the drum is withdrawn from the entrance to the drain to withdraw a further length of cable from the drum. The thumbscrew is again tightened and the operation is repeated to displace the newly extended length of the cable to the drain. When the drain cleaning operation is completed, the thumbscrew is loosened and the cable is manually pushed back into the drum by the user.
In some known hand augers, the hand support for holding the drum for rotation is a tubular support at the rear end of the drum and, in other support arrangements, such a tubular support is disposed forwardly of the drum and may include a pistol grip type handle extending laterally of the axis of rotation for supporting the drum.
Hand held and hand operated drain cleaning tools are desirable in that they are relatively lightweight, structurally simple, economical to manufacture, and, for all of these reasons, ideal for use in connection with light duty drain cleaning operations such as those encountered in a residence.
According to an embodiment, an apparatus for cleaning drains has a cable having a length and a first width and an extension disposed upon the first width of the cable to create a second width of the cable. A guide allows the length of the cable to pass therethrough but not the second width whereby the cable will stop passing through the guide in a given direction if the second width contacts the guide.
According to another embodiment, a drain cleaner has a drum for holding a cable, the drum having a center of gravity, a frame for rotatably holding the drum, and a handle disposed below the center of gravity of the drum such that a user may hold the drum without strain upon a users wrist. The cable has a length and a first width and an extension disposed upon the first width of the cable to create a second width of the cable. A guide allows the length of the cable to pass therethrough but not the second width whereby the cable will stop passing through the guide in a given direction if the second width contacts the guide.
According to a still further embodiment, a drain cleaner has a drum holding a cable and having a center of gravity, a frame for rotatably holding the drum, a handle disposed below the center of gravity such that a user may hold the drum without strain upon a users wrist, the cable having a length and a first width.
The various features and advantages of the disclosed examples will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows.
Referring now to
The drum with a fully wound snake therein forms a coil and has a center of gravity, shown as COG, that is held directly over the handle 20 to make it easier for that user to support the auger 10 without torquing that users wrist.
Referring now to
Referring now to
In operation, a user will pull the snake 45 from the auger into an area in which the drain, not shown, may need to be to have a clog removed. The snake is pulled out until it reaches a clog. Then, as is known, the snake is fixed within the auger so that when the handle 50 is turned the snake will also be turned. Occasionally, the snake is pulled so far to reach a snag that it might leave the auger to be lost down a drain. However, in this embodiment, when a length of the snake is pulled so that it might come out of the auger, the 100 will interfere with the fingers due to its increased diameter it does not fit through hole 70. It may save a user from the inconvenience of losing the snake or having to refit it within the auger for reuse.
Although a combination of features is shown in the illustrated examples, not all of them need to be combined to realize the benefits of various embodiments of this disclosure. In other words, a system designed according to an embodiment of this disclosure will not necessarily include all of the features shown in any one of the Figures or all of the portions schematically shown in the Figures. Moreover, selected features of one example embodiment may be combined with selected features of other example embodiments.
The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this disclosure. For instance, the principles of this invention may also apply to a chair for which multiple heights are desired. The scope of legal protection given to this disclosure can only be determined by studying the following claims.
