Patent Application
20210139269
This invention relates to tiger tails for sewer and storm systems. More particularly, it relates to a retractable reel for a tiger tail.
Sewage (or domestic wastewater or municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical and toxic constituents, and its bacteriologic status (which organisms it contains and in what quantities). It consists mostly of greywater (from sinks, tubs, showers, dishwashers, and clothes washers), blackwater (the water used to flush toilets, combined with the human waste that it flushes away); soaps and detergents; and toilet paper (less so in regions where bidets are widely used instead of paper).
Sewage usually travels from a building's plumbing either into a sewer, which will carry it elsewhere, or into an onsite sewage facility (of which there are many kinds). Whether it is combined with surface runoff in the sewer depends on the sewer design (sanitary sewer or combined sewer). The reality is that most wastewater produced globally remains untreated causing widespread water pollution.
A system of sewer pipes (sewers) collects sewage and takes it for treatment or disposal. The system of sewers is called sewage system. Where a main sewerage system has not been provided, sewage may be collected from homes by pipes into septic tanks or cesspits, where it may be treated or collected in vehicles and taken for treatment or disposal. Properly functioning septic tanks require emptying every 2-5 years depending on the load of the system.
Often times sewer systems get clogged or have back up from various sources. To remedy an undraining sewer and preventing backup of sewage the sewer, the sewer system is jetted using jet/sewer combination jet trucks and trailer mounted units. These jet/sewer combination trucks and trailer mounting units utilize a jetter hose to provide high pressure water or other liquid into the sewer or storm lines such that the blockage, clog or other issue is forced open and the sewer system is allowed to flow properly. The blockage can cause sewage to back up into the streets, homes, offices, etc. and a sanitary issue may occur.
When using the jetter hose, often called a tiger tail, the jetter hose can be damaged when jetting the sewer or storm lines. This can cause the jetter hose to fail over time, often in an accelerated manner. A device commonly referred to as a tiger tail will prevent this from happening. Currently, a rope is carried in the cargo area of the truck and trailer, the rope is unwound and tied to the tiger tail and to the truck to alleviate the rubbing or damage that may occur as the jetter hose drags or scraps along the an edge of the pipe and manhole. Getting the rope from a cargo area and returning it is time consuming and tedious, thus creating higher costs related to jetting of the sewer or storm systems.
In light of the forgoing, there is a need for a device which is efficient, safer more sanitary and available without additional activities by those working on the truck and trailer mounted units.
The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and the like are used repeatedly. Such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. Such terms do not generally signify a closed list.
“Above,” “adhesive,” “affixing,” “any,” “around,” “both,” “bottom,” “by,” “comprising,” “consistent,” “customized,” “enclosing,” “friction,” “in,” “labeled,” “lower,” “magnetic,” “marked,” “new,” “nominal,” “not,” “of,” “other,” “outside,” “outwardly,” “particular,” “permanently,” “preventing,” “raised,” “respectively,” “reversibly,” “round,” “square,” “substantial,” “supporting,” “surrounded,” “surrounding,” “threaded,” “to,” “top,” “using,” “wherein,” “with,” or other such descriptors herein are used in their normal yes-or-no sense, not as terms of degree, unless context dictates otherwise.
Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the drawings. While embodiments are described in connection with the drawings and related descriptions, there is no intent to limit the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents. In alternate embodiments, additional devices, or combinations of illustrated devices, may be added to, or combined, without limiting the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein.
Referring to
The retractable rope reel device 100 is preferably ten and one-half (10.5) inches in length, however other lengths are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, eight (8) inches, eleven and one-fourth (11.25) inches, etc. The retractable rope reel device 100 is preferably three and one-half (3.5) inches in width, however other widths are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, three (3) inches, four and one-fourth (4.25) inches, etc. The retractable rope reel device 100 is preferably nine (9) inches in height, however other heights are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, eight (8) inches, ten (10) inches, etc. The retractable rope reel device 100 is preferably a significantly round shape, however other shapes are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, square, rectangular, hexagonal, etc.
The retractable rope reel device 100 has a canister 101, a reel 102 and a rope 103. The canister 101 is preferably made of a hard-plastic material, however other materials are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, steel, aluminum, etc. The reel 102 is preferably made of a metal material, such as steel, aluminum, etc., however other materials are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, hard-plastic, poly-vinyl chloride (PVC), etc. The rope 103 is preferably made of a polypropylene material, however other materials are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, nylon, hemp, etc. The rope 103 is preferably a diamond braided design.
The canister 101 of the retractable rope reel device 100 has an outside 104 and an interior 105. The outside 104 of the canister 101 preferably has an opening 106 that allows for an entry/exit access for the rope 103. The a middle 116 of the canister 101 has a snap trigger 107. The snap trigger 107 is useful for securing the rope 103 of the retractable rope reel device 100 at a desired length.
The rope 103 is movably coupled to the reel 102 of the retractable rope reel device 100. The reel 102 is an EZ coil reel, however other types of reels are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, spring-driven reel, hand crank reel, etc. The reel 102 allows for the rope 103 to be extracted easily. When the snap trigger 107 is released, the reel 102 automatically retracts the rope 103 onto the reel 102 for storage and later use. At a second end 113 of the rope 103 is a stopper 114. The stopper 114 is preferably a four (4) inch snap trigger clasp, however other types of clasps are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, . The rope 103 preferably having a length being twenty-five (25) feet, however other lengths are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, twenty (20) feet, fifty (50) feet, etc.
The retractable rope reel device 100 further has a bracket 108. The bracket 108 is preferably made of a galvanized metal material, such as aluminum, steel, etc., however other materials are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, poly-vinyl (PVC), hard-plastic, etc. A first side 110 of the bracket 108 of the retractable rope reel device 100 is coupled to the outside 104 of the canister 101 by a first coupling device 109.
The first coupling device 109 is preferably a screw device, however other coupling devices are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, self-threading bolt, construction glue, single-mold construction, etc. The bracket 108 is preferably an angle strut bracket, however other types of brackets are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, u-bracket, E-seam clamp, etc. A second side 111 of the bracket 108 is securely coupled to a bumper or other surface of a vehicle by a third coupling device 115 as will be shown in
Moving now to
The rope 103 of the retractable rope reel device 100 has been extracted from the canister 101 of the retractable rope reel device 100. The stopper 114 of the rope 103 of the retractable rope reel device 100 is coupled to a tiger tail 202 of the vehicle 200. The tiger tail 202 has been inserted into a manhole 203 and the rope 103 holds the tiger tail 202 in place when jetting out a sanitary, sewer or storm system.
In the numbered clauses below, specific combinations of aspects and embodiments are articulated in a shorthand form such that (1) according to respective embodiments, for each instance in which a “component” or other such identifiers appear to be introduced (with “a” or “an,” e.g.) more than once in a given chain of clauses, such designations may either identify the same entity or distinct entities; and (2) what might be called “dependent” clauses below may or may not incorporate, in respective embodiments, the features of “independent” clauses to which they refer or other features described above.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies are representative of more general processes and/or devices and/or technologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application.
The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments or combined with or interchanged with the features of other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.
