Patent Application
20200291624
The present disclosure relates generally to sewer backflow. More specifically, the present disclosure describes emergency backflow preventing system.
During hurricanes, storm surges, rainstorms, floods and similar meteorological emergencies that typically result in the introduction of high volumes of liquid into the environment, sewer systems can become overwhelmed and backed up, which causes wastewater to flow back through the pipes into homes and businesses (hereinafter “backflow”). Backflow can cause costly damage and result in serious health concerns (e.g., black mold).
Some of the embodiments will be described in detail, with reference to the following figures, wherein like designations denote like members, wherein:
Unless otherwise specifically noted, articles depicted in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.
As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art that the present disclosure has broad utility and application. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the disclosure and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
Accordingly, while embodiments are described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present disclosure and are made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded in any claim of a patent issuing here from, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. It is not intended that the scope of patent protection be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself.
Thus, for example, any sequence(s) and/or temporal order of steps of various processes or methods that are described herein are illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, it should be understood that, although steps of various processes or methods may be shown and described as being in a sequence or temporal order, the steps of any such processes or methods are not limited to being carried out in any particular sequence or order, absent an indication otherwise. Indeed, the steps in such processes or methods generally may be carried out in various different sequences and orders while still falling within the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of patent protection is to be defined by the issued claim(s) rather than the description set forth herein.
Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refers to that which an ordinary artisan would understand such term to mean based on the contextual use of such term herein. To the extent that the meaning of a term used herein—as understood by the ordinary artisan based on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from any particular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that the meaning of the term as understood by the ordinary artisan should prevail.
Furthermore, it is important to note that, as used herein, “a” and “an” each generally denotes “at least one,” but does not exclude a plurality unless the contextual use dictates otherwise. When used herein to join a list of items, “or” denotes “at least one of the items,” but does not exclude a plurality of items of the list. Finally, when used herein to join a list of items, “and” denotes “all of the items of the list.”
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While many embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims. The present disclosure contains headers. It should be understood that these headers are used as references and are not to be construed as limiting upon the subjected matter disclosed under the header.
Other technical advantages may become readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after review of the following figures and description. It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below.
Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read together with the specification and are to be considered a portion of the entire written description of this invention. As used in the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”, “left”, “right”, “up”, “down” and the like, as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “rightwardly”, “upwardly”, “radially”, etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms “inwardly,” “outwardly” and “radially” generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, as appropriate. As used herein, the term “dorsal” refers to positions that are located near, on, or towards the upper or top side of a structure.
The present disclosure includes many aspects and features. Moreover, while many aspects and features relate to, and are described in the context of detection of presence of one or more intruder devices., embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to use only in this context.
Embodiments disclosed herein seek to provide emergency backflow preventing systems, generally 100. Sewer systems contain pipes that provide a way to remove waste and contaminated water from residential dwellings and businesses. During hurricanes, storm surge, rainstorms, floods and other emergencies, or at times that high liquid volumes are introduced into the environment, the sewer systems can become overwhelmed and backed up, which causes the wastewater to flow back through the pipes into homes and businesses. Back flow can cause costly damage and result in serious health concerns (e.g., black mold).
Backflow arises when raw sewage and storm drainage use the same pipeline. For example, heavy rainfall, a storm surge or flooding may overload the system and thereby cause wastewater to flow back into homes and businesses. Solutions known in the art are typically non-leakproof, difficult to install, costly, difficult to maintain, lack the structural integrity to withstand heavy pressure, and fail to convey the presence of a clogged pipe or backflow situation.
Prior art addressing backflow issues include duckbill valve designs that use a shaped rubber member that closes on itself similar to lips that fold to close. The difference in thickness of the lips of the valve cause the lips to close and thereby form a seal that is not completely leak proof at extreme pressures. Duckbill valves are typically difficult to clean because the bottom of the valve is not mounted to the pipe and a cleaning snake would snag on the valve and possibly damage it. Even more, failure to attach the bottom lip to the pipe can result in the valve turning inside out under extreme pressure.
The instant disclosure seeks to provide a low-cost temporary emergency backflow preventing system that is easy to rapidly install, is leak-proof, powerless, and can be installed either inside or outside of a building. The system protects homes and businesses from backflow containing harmful liquids, gases and dangerous pathogens.
The Schrader valve 220 is preferably a typical Schrader valve known in the art that includes a valve stem into which a valve core is threaded. The valve core is a poppet valve assisted by a spring. A small rubber seal is located on the core that keeps the fluid from escaping through the threads. The Schrader valve 220 allows the inflatable bladder 160 receive and dissipate air (discussed further below). The air pressure gauge 215 is a device that quantifies the air pressure of the inflatable bladder 160. For example, the air pressure gauge 215 is configured to notify the user of over pressure, over inflation, and/or possible pipe damage (e.g., to the overflow pipe 350 and/or the sewer lateral 810). The port 225 is a passage that allows air fluid to pass through the valve 130.
During storm surges, the support plug 150 is positioned wedge-like within the clean out pipe 350 to prevent outside groundwater from entering the building through the clean out pipe when uncapped. The support plug 150 is rotatably and demountably coupled to the air supply line 140. The support plug 150 preferably has a trapezoidal cross-section that provides a wedge-like interfitting when the support plug 150 is at least partially positioned within outside sewer clean out pipe (“sewage pipe”) 350. The support plug 150 is preferably made of a polymeric foam material. The support plug 150 preferably include an orifice 310 positioned adjacent to a slot 312 each traversing the width of the support plug 150. According to preferred embodiments, the slot 312 extends from the lateral surface of the support plug 150 to the orifice 310. The support plug 150 receives the air supply line 140 via the slot 312 and the orifice 310.
The overall structure of the plug 510 complements the orifice 610 allows it to remain in position until the inflatable bladder 160 reaches a threshold pressure that thereby ejects the plug 510 from the orifice 610.
When the inflatable bladder 160 is positioned at the desired location within the sewer lateral 810, the air source 110 is activated to pressurize the inflatable bladder 160 and thereby cause it to transition to its “inflated” state. As used herein, the “inflated” state refers a pressurized condition of the inflatable bladder 160 where it contains sufficient air pressure to expand and assume a circumference that complements the bore of the sewer lateral 810. In other words, the “inflated state” is any structure of the inflatable bladder 160 that allows it to become wedged within the bore of the sewer lateral 810. Here, when the inflatable bladder 160 is in the “inflated state”, it creates a leak-proof seal within the sewer lateral 810 and thereby retards the ability of wastewater 920 to backflow. The plug 510 is configured to detach from the orifice 610 when the inflatable bladder 160 is in the “inflated state” and becomes over pressurized.
The inflatable bladder 160 is depressurized to assume its “deflated state” prior to its removal from the sewer lateral 810. Retrieval of the inflatable bladder 160 from the sewer lateral 810 is facilitated by the cable 230, which is anchored therein. Hence, removal of the cable 230 and the air supply line 140 from both the sewer lateral 810 and the clean out pipe 350 also ensures the removal of the inflatable bladder 160 therefrom.
Although the disclosure has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/817,218 filed Mar. 12, 2019, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62817218 | Mar 2019 | US |
