Patent Application
20150075624
Recreational vehicles (RVs), mobile homes, busses, trailers, boats, and a variety of other vehicles and temporary living quarters often provide kitchen, bath, and restroom facilities. These facilities include sinks, showers, and commodes that produce liquid and solid waste that is stored in waste collection tanks or vessels within the vehicle or living quarters. The waste materials are typically divided into grey waste, which includes waste from sinks and showers, and black waste, which includes commode waste. These waste materials must be discharged or drained from the collection tanks from time to time.
Draining the tanks typically comprises attaching a flexible hose or conduit between a discharge pipe on the vehicle and a port for a waste receptacle that is often buried underground. Handling of the hose generally requires a user to wear protective gloves and to use caution to avoid contact with the black waste being discharged therethrough because of health hazards associated therewith. Such handling can be problematic due to the flexibility and resiliency of the hose which can become dislodged from the waste receptacle port and/or spring toward a normal orientation thereby slinging waste material in an unwanted direction. It is also preferable to maintain the hose with a downward slope between the vehicle discharge pipe and waste receptacle port to aid flow therethrough. This may require a user to hold the hose during emptying of the waste materials or to employ additional components to properly position the hose.
There is a need for an easily positionable drain hose that is self-supporting and that avoids user exposure to the waste materials flowing therethrough.
Embodiments of the invention are defined by the claims below, not this summary. A high-level overview of various aspects of the invention are provided here for that reason, to provide an overview of the disclosure, and to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described in the Detailed-Description section below. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. In brief, this disclosure describes, among other things, a telescopic drain hose assembly useable to aid emptying of waste holding tanks, such as black and grey waste holding tanks in a recreational vehicle into waste receptacles or sewage systems for disposal thereof.
The drain hose assembly includes a flexible, extensible drain hose or conduit coupled to a tank coupler at a first end and to an endpiece at a second end. The hose is disposed within an outer body that is comprised of a flexible sleeve and a telescopic tube. The sleeve extends between the tank coupler and the telescopic tube to enable bending of the drain hose assembly along the sleeve and about a coupling with a discharge outlet. The telescopic tube provides a rigid portion that supports the hose between the sleeve and the endpiece. The endpiece includes a handle for easy handling of the assembly and includes surface features for coupling to one or more attachments, such as an elbow, nozzle, extension, or the like.
In use, the drain hose assembly provides a user with an drain hose that can be flexed about its coupling with a discharge outlet and can be extended to a desired length for discharging fluids and waste materials into a waste receptacle. The drain hose assembly can be manipulated without contact between the user and the waste materials and the rigid telescopic tube supports the hose without the necessity for additional components.
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, and wherein:
The subject matter of select embodiments of the invention is described with specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. But the description itself is not intended to necessarily limit the scope of embodiments of the invention. Rather, the claimed subject matter might be embodied in other ways to include different components, steps, or combinations thereof similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. Terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described.
With initial reference to
The drain hose assembly 10 comprises a conduit or hose 12, a tank coupler 14, an endpiece 16, a sleeve 18, and a telescopic tube 20. The hose 12 is a conventional sewage hose that is flexible and extensible in length but is generally rigid in cross-section to prevent collapsing thereof. The hose 12 may be comprised of a metallic coil encased in a plastic material to provide an accordion-like body. The hose 12 is liquid- and air-tight.
A first end of the hose 12 is coupled to the tank coupler 14 using one or more of a glue, adhesive, welding, hose clamp, or the like. The tank coupler 14 includes a body 22 having a bore therethrough with an annular flange 24 extending from a first end and dimensioned to receive the first end of the hose 12 and plurality of engaging members 26 disposed about a second end thereof. The engaging members 26 are configured to mateably couple with a discharge port 28 of a waste holding tank, such as a black or grey waste tank of an RV. As depicted in
A second end of the hose 12 is coupled to the endpiece 16 using one or more of a glue, adhesive, welding, hose clamp, or the like. The endpiece 16 is comprised of a hollow body 32 having a bore extending therethrough. A proximate end of the endpiece 16 forms an annular flange 34 for receiving the second end of the hose 12. A plurality of coupling elements 36 are disposed about a distal end of the endpiece 16 for coupling with an attachment (not shown), such as a pipe elbow, a nozzle, an extension, a secondary hose, or the like. The coupling elements 36 comprise nubs disposed about the outer surface of the body 32 for engaging mating elements on an attachment in a bayonet-style engagement. Or the coupling elements 36 can comprise flanges, ribs, ridges, threads, slots, or another surface feature for providing a coupling with the attachment.
The endpiece 16 includes a handle 40 extending from the body 32 and coupled thereto or integrated therewith. The handle 40 may be pivotable about its coupling with the endpiece 16 to lie generally flat thereagainst for storage and may be rotatable about an axis extending radially outward from the body 32 to provide a user with a comfortable orientation. As depicted in
The hose 12 is disposed within an outer body formed by the sleeve 18 and the telescopic tube 20. The sleeve 18 encloses the first end of the hose 12 and includes a proximate end section 42, a flexible section 44, and a distal end section 46.
The proximate end section 42 is coupled to the tank coupler 14 using one or more of adhesives, glues, welding, fasteners, clamps, or the like. The proximate end section 42 is substantially rigid and encloses the coupling between the hose 12 and the tank coupler 14. The flexible section 44 is configured to enable flexure thereof and of the hose 12 disposed therein. The distal end section 46 is configured for receipt by the telescopic tube 20 and for coupling thereto. A plurality of surface features 48 are provided on a surface of the distal end section 46, such as threads, ribs, or the like for coupling to mating features on the telescopic tube 20. Or one or more glues, adhesives, fasteners, or the like can be employed to couple the distal end section 46 to the telescopic tube 20.
As depicted in
The inner and outer tubes 52, 50 may include obstructing surface features, such as opposing annular flanges or other surface features (not shown) on opposing surfaces thereof that resist the removal of the inner tube 52 from within the outer tube 50. Or the inner and outer tubes 52, 50 may include a frusto-conical configuration in which a maximum diameter of the inner tube 52 is greater than a minimum diameter of the outer tube 50 such that inner tube 52 cannot pass completely through the outer tube 50.
A proximate end of the outer tube 50 is coupled to the distal end section 46 of the sleeve 18 and a distal end of the inner tube is coupled to the endpiece 16. The endpiece 16 may include one or more surface features for coupling to the inner tube 52 or the endpiece 16 and inner tube 52 may be coupled via one or more glues, fasteners, clamps, or the like. As such, the hose 12 is enclosed by the telescopic tube 20 and sleeve 16 and between the tank coupler 14 and the endpiece 16.
With continued reference to
The handle 40 is used to extend or telescope the assembly 10 to extend from the discharge port 28 to a port on a waste receptacle into which to discharge the waste materials. The handle 40 may also be used to pivot or bend the assembly 10 along the flexible section 44 of the sleeve 18 in order to align the assembly 10 with the port. The hose 12 remains contained within the assembly 10 and is extended and flexed along with the telescopic tube 20 and the sleeve 18, respectively.
An attachment, such as an elbow pipe fitting, may be connected to the endpiece 16 to aid directing of the waste materials into the port of the waste receptacle. The endpiece 16 or the attachment is positioned appropriately to discharge into the port and the waste collection tank is emptied in a conventional manner.
Accordingly, the user can handle the assembly 10 using handle 40 which is disparate from an open end of the endpiece 16 and is positioned away from any waste materials discharged therethrough. The user is thus distanced from contact with the waste materials and can operate the assembly without protective gloves or the like. Additionally, the rigidity of the telescopic tube 20 supports the hose 12 therein in a constant downward sloping orientation between the discharge port 28 and the port of the waste receptacle without the need for additional components or the user to hold the hose 12 in such an orientation. The rigidity of the telescopic tube 20 may also resist movement of the endpiece 16 out of engagement with the port of the waste receptacle as waste materials flow therethrough.
Upon completion of discharging the waste materials from the waste collection tank, the handle 40 may be employed to withdraw the inner tube 52 into the outer tube 50 to reduce the assembly 10 to a minimum length. The tank coupler 14 is uncoupled from the discharge port 28 and the assembly stored as desired.
Many different arrangements of the various components depicted, as well as components not shown, are possible without departing from the scope of the claims below. Embodiments of the technology have been described with the intent to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to readers of this disclosure after and because of reading it. Alternative means of implementing the aforementioned can be completed without departing from the scope of the claims below. Certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations and are contemplated within the scope of the claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/878,944 filed Sep. 17, 2013 and titled Telescopic Drain Hose Assembly, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61878961 | Sep 2013 | US |
