EP1947253A1

EP1947253A1 - Floor drain

Info

Publication number: EP1947253A1
Application number: EP08100324A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Hans Lohmann
Original assignee: Bluecher Metal AS
Current assignee: Bluecher Metal AS
Priority date: 2007-01-11
Filing date: 2008-01-10
Publication date: 2008-07-23
Anticipated expiration: 2028-01-10
Also published as: NO333029B1; DK200700042A; NO20080178L; EP1947253B1; DK1947253T3

Abstract

There is described a floor drain (1) with a drain bowl having an upper edge and a drain connection which is adapted for connecting with a drain pipe. The drain bowl includes a grate (12) forming a detachable lid and with a mounting flange (4) made integral with the drain bowl at a rim area at the upper edge of the drain bowl. In order to achieve an aesthetic surface, the mounting flange (4) has a bent central rim area encircling the upper edge of the drain bowl. Between the drain bowl (1) and the grate (12) there is provided a clamping flange (15) in the bent area of the mounting flange. This clamping flange (15) is adapted to be clamped against the mounting flange (4), as a slot is formed there between for clamping a building membrane extending into the drain bowl. The grate (12) is disposed over and covering the clamping plate (15), as it extends across the entire bent central rim area and as an annular slot is formed between the grate (12) and the outer end of the bent rim area for clamping the building membrane into the drain bowl.

Description

Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns a floor drain with a drain bowl having an upper edge and a drain connection which is adapted for connecting to a drain pipe, the drain bowl including a grate forming a detachable lid at which a mounting flange is made integral with the drain bowl of a rim area at the upper edge of the drain bowl, at which the drain bowl has a polygonal cross-section, e.g. triangular or rectangular cross-section, and which is preferably channel-shaped, at which the mounting flange has a bent central rim area encircling the upper edge of the drain edge, at which between the drain bowl and the grate there is provided a clamping flange in the bent area of the mounting flange, at which the clamping flange is adapted to be clamped against the mounting flange, as a slot is formed there between for clamping a building membrane extending into the drain bowl, at which the grate is disposed over and covering the clamping flange, as it extends across the entire bent central rim area, as an annular slot is formed between the grate and the outer end of the bent rim area for clamping the building membrane extending into the drain bowl.
The floor drain is of a type mounted in its position in a floor with the mounting flange disposed at a level largely corresponding to the floor level. The drain bowl may be retrofitted in existing floors or may be placed in position before casting the floor and may be secured during the casting of the floor. A building membrane in the shape of a membrane floor covering is fastened to the mounting flange, preferably by being clamped, bonded or cast to the top side thereof. Then the grate is mounted which may be disposed in a recess at the upper edge of the drain bowl. The grate may optionally be screwed into the recess or lie loosely herein.

Background of the Invention

It is prior art to provide the drain bowl of a floor drain with a mounting flange intended for connecting to the building membrane with the purpose of establishing a waterproof connection between the floor drain in e.g. a bathroom or other wet room and a building membrane. It is important that a correct and tight connection is provided here.
In connection with modernising or rebuilding of e.g. multi-storey buildings, it may be difficult to use current floor drains with mounting flanges, since it may be very tedious or impossible to achieve the required tight connection between the mounting flange of the floor drain and the building membrane. The building membrane may thus be clamped against the mounting flange by clamping the grate to the drain bowl. This requires many screw, rivets or similar in order to establish a uniform and secure clamping force.
Many rivets, screws or similar clamping means have a head extending to the top side, providing an unaesthetic appearance that may cause build-up of dirt.
A floor drain of the type indicated in the introduction is known from SE 395 294 and DK 168 404 . However, in these documents there is no indication as to an expedient way of fastening the clamping flange and the grate to the drain bowl.

Object of the Invention

It is the purpose of the present invention to indicate a floor drain of the kind mentioned in the introduction, and which may include a mounting flange which in a simple way may be adapted and connected to either an existing or a newly established building membrane, and where the above drawbacks are avoided and where an expedient way of fastening the clamping flange and the grate to the drain bowl is achieved.

Description of the Invention

According to the present invention, this is achieved by a floor drain which is peculiar in that tubular rivets are provided in the bent central rim area for fastening the clamping flange and the grate to the floor drain.
The invention is peculiar by being formed as drain with straight side edges and including floor drains with triangular, rectangular or other polygonal cross-sectional shape, irrespectively whether they are intended to be disposed along a wall or inside a room spaced apart from the wall or a corner. The sides may here be relatively long, producing a particular need for clamping the building membrane.
In order to achieve secure clamping of the building membrane between the membrane flange and the clamping flange, there is a need for a larger number of clamping means used for connecting the mounting flange and the clamping flange. These may e.g. be screws. These clamping means will have a part which is visible from the top side of the clamping flange. This gives an unaesthetic appearance and entails a risk of visible dirt accummulation in notches/cutouts for interaction with tools for fastening the clamping flange.
By the completely covering grate provided on top of it, the many clamping means are hidden, and the grate only needs to be secured to the drain bowl by a single or a few screws or other clamping means. Alternatively, the grate may be disposed loosely in a recess.
The grate may disposed with its top side nearly entirely flushing with a top side of the building membrane or the surrounding floor surface by suitable dimensioning of the individual parts of the floor drain in relation to the thickness of the building membrane.
Tubular rivets are very simple to fit in drain bowls made of sheets, e.g. stainless steel sheets. Furthermore, they may be designed with a thread so that they are ready to interact with a screw without any need of further machining.
Alternatively, the floor drain is made with tubular rivets used for mounting threaded bushings. The threaded bushings are used for screwing on the grate and the clamping flange with screws, which is a suitable way of establishing mounting and dismounting, but other fastening means may also be used, only provided the possibility of dismounting these in an easy way.
Threaded bushings fastened to the drain bowl may extend out from the drain bowl and thereby act as anchoring means connecting the drain bowl with surrounding building parts. When the threaded bushings are disposed at the outer side of the drain bowl, they will not affect the internal structure. Such threaded bushings may thus serve a double purpose as they may be used for fastening gratings or other elements in the drain bowl and to anchor means.
According to a further embodiment, the floor drain according to the invention is peculiar in that the bent central rim area has first part located innermost at the upper edge of the drain bowl and positioned horizontally when in use, a second part surrounding the first part and directed sloping upwards and outwards away from the drain bowl when in use, and a third part surrounding the second part and positioned horizontally when in use. This may provide a certain slope towards the interior of the drain bowl.
According to a further embodiment, the floor drain according to the invention is peculiar in that the tubular rivets are disposed in the first part of the bent central rim area. The clamping flange may hereby be clamped with a large number of screws close to the upper edge of the drain bowl, so that water cannot penetrate out through the building membrane and the mounting flange.
Tubular rivets may be provided at the ends of the first part of the central rim area for fastening the grate. Screws or similar will hereby not extend through the clamping flange, but may instead be provided outside the outer rim area of the clamping flange.
According to a further embodiment, the floor drain according to the invention is peculiar in that it is provided with elongated apertures in the grate and/or the clamping flange for adjustable receiving of clamping means, preferably screws, for mounting in interacting means, preferably threaded bushings in the floor drain.
The clamping flange and/or the grate may thus include elongated apertures for receiving screws for fastening to the floor drain. Hereby it becomes possible to perform adjusting of the clamping flange and/or the grate of the floor drain in relation to the drain bowl. Thus it becomes possible to position the drain in a safe way so that correct slope is provided for the drain, and so that it is disposed correctly relative to the surrounding floor in which it is mounted.
According to a further embodiment, the floor drain according to the invention is peculiar in that it is made of stainless steel. This is suitable for use in various types of floors and for various areas of application within industry as well as households. It may be made of a sheet. Such a floor drain is very simple to make. This may be effected by punching, bending of sheets and punching the required holes for receiving screws, rivets or the like.
According to a further embodiment, the floor drain according to the invention is peculiar by including a floor drain in the shape of an elongated drain channel with a long side between 500 and 1200 mm and a width between 90 and 120 mm, that between 5 and 12 screws are applied at each side, said screws interacting with threaded tubular rivets in the mounting flange of the floor drain, and that the grate is secured at each end of the channel by screws also interacting with threaded tubular rivets in the mounting flange of the floor drain. The spacing between the screws will thus be between 90 and 100 mm so that a secure clamping is achieved. In practice, the drain channel can be made with discrete lengths of e.g. 700, 800, 900 and 1000 mm.

Description of the Drawing

The invention is now explained more closely in connection with the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1: shows a perspective view of a channel-shaped floor drain according to the invention;
Fig. 2: shows a view of the floor drain shown in Fig. 1, as seen from below with the grate mounted;
Fig. 3: shows a view of the floor drain shown in Fig. 1, as seen from above with the grate mounted; and
Fig. 4: shows an enlarged side view from the end of the floor drain shown in Fig. 1.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Figs. 1-4 shows a floor drain made of stainless steel sheets and in the shape of an oblong, channel-shaped drain bowl 1. Over this drain bowl 1 is mounted a grate 12 which in the shown embodiment has a central aperture 13 for draining off water to the interior 14 of the drain bowl. The drain bowl 1 has an drain connection 2 for connecting to a drain pipe (not shown) and an upper edge 3 surrounded by a mounting flange 4 which is made integral with the drain bowl 1 and formed by a rim area 5 at the upper edge 3 of the drain bowl.
The mounting flange 4 is formed externally at the outer side 6 of the drain bowl 1. Integrated anchor means (not shown) may be formed in the mounting flange 4, arranged to be bent out from the plane of the flange with the intention of retaining the drain bowl in an embedded condition in a cast floor, the surface of which will be flush with the top side 7 of the mounting flange 4.
The mounting flange 4 has a bent central rim area 8 encircling the upper edge 3 of the drain bowl. The bent central rim area 8 has a first part 9 located innermost at the upper edge of the drain bowl and positioned horizontally when in use, a second part 10 surrounding the first part 9 and directed sloping upwards and outwards away from the drain bowl 1 when in use, and a third part 11 surrounding the second part 10 and positioned horizontally when in use.
Between the drain bowl 1 and the grate 12 there is provided a clamping flange 15 in the bent central rim area 8 of the mounting flange. The clamping flange 15 is adapted to be clamped against the mounting flange 4 by means of a large number of screws 16 which are screwed into tubular rivets 17 which are provided with threaded bushings and disposed at the long sides of the first part 9 of the bent central rim area 8. A slot 18 is formed there between for clamping a building membrane 19 extending into the drain bowl.
The grate 12 is disposed over and covering the clamping flange 15, as it extends across the entire bent central rim area 8. The grate 12 thus covers all the screws 16. There is formed an annular slot 20 between the outer edge 21 of the grate 12 and an outer end 22 of the bent central rim area 8 for clamping the building membrane 19 extending into drain bowl.
The grate 12 is mounted by means of two screws 23 which are screwed into tubular rivets 24 provided with threaded bushings and disposed at the end sides of the first part 9 of the bent central rim area 8.
The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown and described above in the Figures. Other embodiments with other shapes of the mounting fitting may be envisaged within the scope of this invention and the subsequent claims.

Claims

A floor drain with a drain bowl having an upper edge and a drain connection which is adapted for connecting to a drain pipe, the drain bowl including a grate forming a detachable lid at which a mounting flange is made integral with the drain bowl of a rim area at the upper edge of the drain bowl, at which the drain bowl has a polygonal cross-section, e.g. triangular or rectangular cross-section, and which is preferably channel-shaped, at which the mounting flange has a bent central rim area encircling the upper edge of the drain edge, at which between the drain bowl and the grate there is provided a clamping flange in the bent area of the mounting flange, at which the clamping flange is adapted to be clamped against the mounting flange, as a slot is formed there between for clamping a building membrane extending into the drain bowl, at which the grate is disposed over and covering the clamping flange, as it extends across the entire bent central rim area, as an annular slot is formed between the grate and the outer end of the bent rim area for clamping the building membrane extending into the drain bowl, characterised in that tubular rivets are provided in the bent central rim area for fastening the clamping flange and the grate to the drain bowl.
Floor drain according to claim 1, characterised in that the bent central rim area has first part located innermost at the upper edge of the drain bowl and positioned horizontally when in use, a second part surrounding the first part and directed sloping upwards and outwards away from the drain bowl when in use, and a third part surrounding the second part and positioned horizontally when in use.
Floor drain according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the tubular rivets are disposed in the first part of the bent central rim area.
Floor drain according to any of claims 1 - 3, characterised in that the tubular rivets are used for mounting threaded bushings.
Floor drain according to any preceding claim, characterised in that it is made of stainless steel.
Floor drain according to any preceding claim, characterised in that it is provided with elongated apertures in the grate and/or the clamping flange for adjustable receiving of clamping means, preferably screws, for mounting in interacting means, preferably threaded bushings in the floor drain.
Floor drain according to any preceding claim, characterised by including a floor drain in the shape of an elongated drain channel with a long side between 500 and 1200 mm and a width between 90 and 120 mm, that between 5 and 12 screws are applied at each side, said screws interacting with threaded tubular rivets in the mounting flange of the floor drain, and that the grate is secured at each end of the channel by screws also interacting with threaded tubular rivets in the mounting flange of the floor drain.