Patent Application
20220228353
The present invention relates to a drain valve. Valves incorporating drains can be used to drain all or part of the plumbing components near the drain valve. Drain valves can be used in a variety of plumbing applications, including, but not limited to, potable plumbing or hydronic heating systems. Drain valves that are incorporated into a system typically permit draining either above or below the valve by a drain segment that was positioned, as a separate component, above or below the drain valve. A number of components are typically necessary to couple a drain, a valve, and other piping unions when branch assemblies lead to and from the valve. This typically includes at least one segment of piping in between the drain, valve, piping union, and/or additional other components. This creates additional leak paths, takes additional time to assemble, and takes space given the number of components especially when transitioning from one type of size of tubing/piping to another. In addition, multiple components are typically necessary when there are multiple inlet and/or outlet fittings near the drain port.
An improved assembly that eliminates a number of components and potential leak paths and provides multiple inlet and/or outlet ports while saving assembly time, labor, and space, is described herein.
One aspect of the present invention is a multi-port tee drain valve. The multi-port tee drain valve includes a fitting body having a first end portion, a second end portion, a fluid passageway extending between the first end portion and the second end portion, and at least two ports located between the first end portion and the second end portion. The ports are positioned generally perpendicular to the fluid passageway of the fitting body. The multi-port tee drain valve also includes a drain port located in the first end portion, a first fitting located at the second end portion, and a valve member located in the first end portion that is positioned between the drain port and the ports. The ports have fitting ends.
Another aspect of the present invention is a drain valve assembly. The drain valve assembly includes a drain valve body having a first end portion with a drain port, a second end portion with a first fitting end, and a fluid passageway extending between the first end portion and the second end portion. The drain valve body also includes at least two ports located between the first end portion and the second end portion, with the ports being positioned generally perpendicular to the fluid passageway. The drain valve assembly includes a valve member that is located in the first end portion between the drain port and the ports. The ports have fitting ends.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is a multi-port transition tee drain valve. The multi-port transition tee drain valve includes a drain valve body having a first end portion with a drain port, a second end portion with a first fitting end, and a fluid passageway extending between the first end portion and the second end portion. The drain valve body also has at least two ports located between the first end portion and the second end portion. The ports are positioned generally perpendicular to the fluid passageway. The multi-port transition tee drain valve also includes a valve member located in the first end portion between the drain port and the ports. The ports have fitting ends that are different than the first fitting end of the second end portion of the drain valve body.
These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In the drawings:
For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein, however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific functional or structural details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed embodiment.
By way of overview, the present invention is generally directed to a multi-port transition tee drain valve 2, as shown in
The first end portion 6 includes a drain port 14, as illustrated in
The second end portion 8 includes a first fitting end 22. In the illustrated embodiment of
The ports 10 include fitting ends 12. The fitting ends 12 can be any type of fitting end. In the illustrated embodiment, the fitting end 12 is a PEX fitting end. However, any type of fitting end can be used for the fitting end 12 on ports 10. This includes, but is not limited to, female pipe thread, male pipe thread, traditional solder, push-to-connect, press-to-connect, fusion, etc. In the illustrated embodiment of
A valve member 30 is located at the first end portion 6 of the body 4 in the embodiment illustrated in
While the embodiment illustrated in
An embodiment of a multi-port transition tee 100 is illustrated in
While the illustrated embodiments show ports (10, 110, 210, 310, 410) all having the same type of fittings, different ports on the same body (4, 104, 204, 304, 404) can have different fittings. In addition, one or more of the ports (10, 110, 210, 310, 410) may have the same type of fittings as the first fitting end (22, 122, 222, 322, 422).
A plug 700 can be coupled to the first fitting end 22 of the second end portion 8, as shown in
In the foregoing description, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the concepts disclosed herein. Such modifications are to be considered as included in the following claims, unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the present disclosure and other components is not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary embodiments of the disclosure disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials, unless described otherwise herein.
For purposes of this disclosure, the term “coupled” or “operably coupled” (in all of its forms, couple, coupling, coupled, etc.) generally means the joining of two components (electrical or mechanical) directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the two components (electrical or mechanical) and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two components. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removable or releasable in nature unless otherwise stated. In addition, while certain embodiments have shown threaded connections, the threaded connections could include tape or other sealing material in the threaded connection. In addition, the threaded connection could be replaced by other suitable connections or couplings, such as compression couplings or other couplings.
For purposes of this disclosure, the term “connected” or “operably connected” (in all of its forms, connect, connecting, connected, etc.) generally means that one component functions with respect to another component, even if there are other components located between the first and second component, and the term “operable” defines a functional relationship between components.
It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the present disclosure as shown in the exemplary embodiments is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that, unless otherwise described, many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown as multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connector or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating positions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.
It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps to form structures within the scope of the present disclosure. The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.
It is also to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the afore-mentioned structures and methods without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
