Patent Application
20170050619
Not Applicable
1. Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to a recreational vehicle, (“RV”) service compartment sealing shroud, referred to as a “sewage sock” in the above referenced provisional patent application, for blocking the port in a panel of the service compartment of a recreational vehicle through which a sewage hose connects to an external sewage line for discharging waste and waste water.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the camping industry, RV's are popular camping vehicles. As used herein, the term RV encompasses both motorized motorhomes, towables, i.e. campers that are towed behind a car, van or pickup, and truck-bed mounted campers that are often referred to in the art as wheel-less campers. As opposed to camping in a pitched tent, camping in an RV provides many of the conveniences of being at home or staying in a hotel. In this regard, in the field of RV's it is known that an RV typically provides kitchen, and frequently, bathroom facilities, along with electrical service for lights, heating, air-conditioning, and other electrical amenities, and may also provide cable and/or Wi-Fi access for television viewing and Internet access. Additionally, an RV frequently includes a storage tank for used water, often referred to as gray water, from the kitchen and bathroom facilities. This gray water storage must be dumped at a dumping station frequently found at campsites that accommodate RV's. Further, in addition to a central dumping station, many camping facilities that accommodate RV's have sewage connections at each campsite. These provisions require water lines, electrical and other utility line access, and a drain hose which is provided for draining gray water. These various lines and hoses will be generically referred to as “conduit” herein. These connections are often located in a service compartment that has external access.
Further, it is known that when a user of an RV is staying in a campground that provides for these types of “hook-ups,” at each camp site, the RV may have various conduits extending through one or more panels in the service compartment for an extended period of time. It is known in the art, that these access points, which conveniently provide access to the RV's utility needs, also provide vermin, such as snakes, mice, rats, and/or insects, with access to the interior of the RV. This potential for vermin having access to the interior of the RV is both unsanitary, as vermin spread various diseases some of which are life-threatening, and can result in costly property damage. And, there are various devices known in the art which are intended to prevent the intrusion of vermin into the interior, habitable portions of an RV. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 8,128,132, issued to Cravens on Mar. 6, 2012, discloses a pest control seal for an RV which comprises a relatively soft and resilient foam material which is compressed into the annular opening between a conduit and the passage in the wall or panel of the service compartment of the RV. According to Cravens, Cravens' seal also serves to preclude abrasion of the hose due to the hard edge of the surrounding hose passage. Further, Cravens' device must be secured by of fasteners, such as screws, which are driven into the panel of the service compartment. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,460 issued to Lunder on May 23, 1995, discloses an apparatus for attaching and securing a drain hose to the adapter used with an RV waste drain assembly. And, U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,027, issued to Todd on Jul. 19, 1988, discloses an adapter for coupling a flexible corrugated RV drainpipe to a sewage disposal site inlet.
What is missing from the art is a sewage shroud that substantially prevents entrance of vermin into the interior of an RV through the service compartment which is readily installable without the need for driving fasteners into the panels of the service compartment.
A sealing shroud for blocking the port in a panel of the service compartment on an RV, or other type of vehicle, through which various conduits, such as the sewage outlet hose, pass is provided. The sealing shroud includes a pervious section, which extends between a connector end and a distal end. The pervious section of the illustrated sealing shroud defines an opening at each of these end portions. Further, the pervious section, in various exemplary embodiments can have either a cylindrical or a frusto-conical longitudinal section, i.e. the plane perpendicular to the circular member. Further, in an exemplary embodiment, the pervious section has a substantially circular cross-sectional area in the plane substantially parallel to the circular member. The pervious section is preferably fabricated from a material such as wire wool, wire mesh, or the like that is flexible but incorporates sharp edges if chewed so as to substantially prevent or discourage a mouse, rat, or other rodent from passing through it.
The circular member is carried by the connector end and defines a substantially circular opening for receiving the sewage line there through. This circular member can comprise a bent section of tubing or hose joined at its ends and joined with the connector end. The pervious section is passed through a port in a panel of the service compartment. In this regard, the circular member has a diameter larger than the diameter of the port, and since it is connected with the sealing shroud at an end thereof, the sealing shroud is prevented from being pulled through the port and further forms a snug fit proximate the perimeter of this port when the sealing shroud is in position.
The distal end of the sealing shroud extends below the panel and is secured to one of the conduits by a releasably securable strap. Moreover, the snug fit between the circular member and the perimeter of the port prohibits a rodent or other varmint from passing through this port proximate the circular member at the connector end. Thus, vermin are prevented from gaining access to the RV along the inside or outside of the sealing shroud through a port in a panel of the service compartment.
The above-mentioned features of the invention will become more clearly understood from the following detailed description of the invention read together with the drawings in which:
A sealing shroud for blocking the port in a panel of the service compartment on an RV, or other type of vehicle, through which the sewage outlet hose 6 is connected to the external sewage line is shown generally at 10 in
A substantially circular member 18 is carried by the connector end 14 and defines a substantially circular opening for receiving the sewage line there through as is shown. This circular member 18 can comprise a bent section of tubing or hose joined at its ends and joined with the connector end 14. In an exemplary embodiment, illustrated in
Sewage line 20 extends through the opening port 22 of the RV panel 24 as shown in
Moreover, the snug fit between the circular member 18 and the perimeter of the opening port 22 prohibits a rodent or other varmint from passing through opening port 22 proximate the circular member 18 at the connector end 14. Thus, vermin are prevented from gaining access to the RV along the inside or outside of the sealing shroud 10 through opening port 22. An alternate embodiment of the sealing shroud 10″ is shown in
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/208,283, filed on Aug. 21, 2015, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62208283 | Aug 2015 | US |
