Patent Application
20230383511
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The disclosure relates to plumbing devices and more particularly pertains to a new plumbing device for plumbing a condensation drain line into a sewer line. The device includes a P-trap which has a condensation inlet. A condensation line of an air conditioning unit can be attached to the condensation inlet to drain condensation from the air conditioning unit into the sewer line. The condensation inlet is structured as a long sweep street elbow to inhibit the formation of clogs in the condensation inlet.
The prior art relates to plumbing devices including a sink drain fitting which has a cleanout port. The prior art discloses a plumbing trap that has a bend, an additive reservoir and a float valve. The prior art discloses a P-trap for recreational vehicle that includes a clean out port and a plumbing snake guide. The prior art discloses a waste arm fitting that includes a cleanout port. The prior art discloses condensation P-trap which has a condensation inlet, an outlet and a cleanout.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a P-trap that is plumbed into a drain line of a sink. The P-trap has an inlet, an outlet and a lower bend that is positioned between the inlet and the outlet. The inlet is fluidly coupled to a drain of the sink and the outlet is fluidly coupled to a sewer line servicing the sink such that the lower bend forms a trap for sewer gasses. A condensation inlet is integrated into the P-trap thereby facilitating the condensation inlet to be fluidly coupled to a condensation drain line of an air conditioning unit. In this way condensation from the air conditioning unit can be drained into the sewer line which services the sink.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The P-trap 12 has an upper bend 28 that is integrated into the outlet leg 24 such that the outlet 20 is directed away from the inlet leg 22. Additionally, the upper bend 28 is positioned between the lower bend 26 and the outlet 20 such that the outlet 20 is positioned below the inlet 18 when the P-trap 12 is installed. The P-trap 12 has a condensation inlet 30 that is integrated into the P-trap 12 thereby facilitating the condensation inlet 30 to be fluidly coupled to a condensation drain line 32 of an air conditioning unit 34. In this way condensation from the air conditioning unit 34 can be drained into the sewer line 21 servicing the sink 16. Furthermore, the condensation inlet is positioned between the inlet 18 and the lower bend 26 to inhibit sewer gasses from passing through the condensation inlet 30.
The condensation inlet 30 is positioned on the inlet leg 22 and the condensation inlet 30 has a distal end 36 with respect to the inlet leg 22. The condensation inlet 30 is curved between the inlet 18 and the distal end 36 such that the condensation inlet 30 approximately defines a quadrant of a circle. In this way the condensation inlet 30 facilitates the condensation from the air conditioning unit 34 to flow into the P-trap 12 with minimal friction. Thus, the condensation inlet 30 inhibits the condensation from the air conditioning unit 34 from forming a clog in the condensation inlet 30. The traditional method of fluidly attaching a condensation drain line to a drain involves the use of non-standard fittings and perpendicular elbows that commonly collect debris and algae to form a clog. The gentle sweep of the condensation inlet 30 inhibits the collection of debris and algae which could potentially form a clog.
The condensation inlet 30 is positioned closer to the inlet 18 than the lower bend 26 such that the P-trap 12 inhibits sewer gasses from passing through the condensation inlet 30. Furthermore, the condensation inlet 30 is positioned above the outlet 20 when the P-trap 12 is installed. The P-trap 12 may include ring couplers 38 on each of the inlet 18 and the outlet 20 for attaching to the drain line 14 in the sink 16 and the sewer line 21. Additionally, the outlet leg 24 may have a ring coupler 40 for pivoting a top portion 42 of the outlet leg 24 about a bottom portion 44 of the outlet leg 24. The P-trap 12 is constructed in accordance with the requirements of the International Plumbing code, including but not being limited to, material requirements and dimension requirements. Additionally, the condensation inlet 30 is structured to conform to the requirements of a long sweep street elbow as defined in the International Building Code.
In use, the P-trap 12 is plumbed between the drain line 14 of the sink 16 and the sewer line 21 in accordance with the International Plumbing Code. An existing condensation drain adapter 46 is fitted to the condensation drain 32 line to facilitate the condensation drain line 32 to be fluidly attached to the condensation inlet 30. In this way the condensation from the air conditioning unit 34 can pass into the condensation inlet 30. Thus, the condensation from the air conditioning unit 34 can be drained into the sewer line 21 without the risk of forming clogs. Clogged condensation drain lines of air conditioning units can cause severe damage to homes due to flooding of condensation. The condensation inlet 30 minimizes the risk of structural damage that can occur as the result of condensation flooding.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
