GB2250689A - Drainpipe filter - Google Patents

Abstract

A measured length of drainpipe 15 is cut out, and a unit 5, 6 including a filter 7 is inserted into the gap, at a level where it is easily accessible for cleaning and replacement. As shown the unit comprises two pipe sections 5, 6 which telescope together, and upper section 5 is slid upwards along drainpipe 15 to enable section 6 to be lifted out for removable of debris from filter 7. Filter 7 may be a disc with triangular apertures, and clogging thereof is indicated by water overflowing at 10'. An alternative unit comprises a filter in an axially compressible tube, consisting of a helical spring in a plastics sheath. Fig. 1 depicts a guide, resembling a clamp, which is fitted round drainpipe 15 to guide the saw. <IMAGE>

Description

DRAINPIPE FILTER This invention relates to a drainpipe filter and in particular it relates to a filter for collecting waste and debris collected in drainpipes and from preventing this from blocking a drain into which fluids passing through the drainpipe are directed.

Houses and other buildings generally having a gutter system which collects rain water from the roofs or other parts of the building and channels this water into a drainage system. This prevents the rain water from flowing down the sides of the building and causing damage. Along with the rain water, a great deal of debris, such as leaves, broken twigs, building materials, etc and other waste material tends to build up in the guttering. Dead or live animals may also be trapped in there and may form part of this debris. Eventually, this debris finds its way into the entrance to the drain, which it may block. A blocked drain can cause innumerable problems and is preferably avoided.

Conventional methods of blocking debris before it reaches a drain involve placing a filtering means at the top of the down pipe leading to the drain, generally at the intersection between the down pipe and the horizontal gutter. The filter often comprises a spiral of metal or a plastics material which sits in the entrance to the down pipe and blocks a degree of the debris. However, since the cross section of a typical gutter is square or arcuate some small debris will inevitably egress underneath the spiral and into the down pipe. More importantly, since the filter is positioned at the top of the down pipe, which will typically be just below the eaves of a house, then, when the filter requires cleaning or replacing, the householder must scale a ladder or other climbing means to remove or clean it. The climbing of ladders has obvious attendant problems.

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for preventing debris collected in a drainpipe system from passing into a drain fed by the system, which apparatus comprises a removable tubular means which is substitutable for a section of a down pipe of the system and includes a filter for passing liquids towards the drain but retaining at least some of the debris within the water.

By a down pipe is meant a portion of the guttering system which is adapted to channel liquid by gravity and having its longitudinal axis at an angle other than horizontal. Preferably, the down pipe is one which feeds directly to the drain (soakaway).

The removable tubular means of the pipe may be of a plastics material and may be in one, two or more pieces.

The removable tubular means is preferably longer than the length of the pipe it is substituted for. If in one piece it may be resiliently compressible to fit within, and be removable from, a gap within the pipe. If two or more pieces one or each piece may be adapted to be slidably displaced within the gap or relative to each other, to enable the pieces to be applied.

According to the present invention there is further provided a cutting aid, comprising an arcuate member adapted to circumferentially encompass a portion of a pipe to be cut, the member having a surface which, when the member is in position, defines a cutting edge, and means for drawing the ends of the arcuate member towards one another to tighten the member with respect to the pipe.

According to the present invention there is yet further provided apparatus for adapting a drainpipe to collect waste therein, comprising a debris collecting apparatus as defined above and a cutting aid as defined above.

The apparatus may further include one or more clamping means to hold a pipe when cutting or applying a removable portion of pipe.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a pipe cutting aid; Figure 2 shows components forming part of an embodiment; Figure 3 shows the parts of Figure 2 in situ; Figure 4 shows schematically a filter; and Figure 5 shows an alternative embodiment.

Referring to the drawings, in embodiments of the invention a filtering means is placed in a down pipe of a drainpipe or guttering system. In order to insert the filtering means into the pipe, the pipe must firstly be cut. Modern drainpipes or guttering pipes are generally made of plastics materials but many older ones still exist which are made of metal or ceramics. In order to cut a pipe accurately a device such as that shown in Figure 1 may be used. The device comprises an arcuate member 1 which is a rectangular member which is arcuate in its longitudinal direction such that its ends almost meet to form a major arc of a circle.The respective ends 2 extend outwards at approximately 900 to the tangent of the circle at that point to lie parallel and may be joined by a nut and bolt mechanism 3 or other suitable mechanism for drawing them together or apart to tighten or loosen the member. Member 1 is preferably resiliently deformable. In use, tightening means 3 are temporarily removed and the device is secured circumferentially around a pipe to be cut, in such a position that the top surface 4 lies perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the pipe and defines precisely a cutting surface which is perpendicular to that direction. A cutting implement, such as a saw is then guided by surface 4 to cut through the pipe at the chosen angle. This may be horizontal, if the pipe is vertical, for example.The member is firstly tightened with member 3 to secure it to the pipe and ensure that it does not move during the cutting process. The member may be adapted to cut other angles with respect to the pipe by sloping its inner surface with respect to its top, for example.

The debris collecting apparatus according to the present invention comprises three components, two cylindrical members 5 and 6 shown in Figure 2 and a filter member 7 shown in Figure 4. Members 5 and 6 are of similar appearance although they may be of different height and will have different internal and external diameters. Piece 5 comprises a first cylindrical portion 8 and a second coaxial portion 9 of smaller diameter.

The two portions are joined by a circumferential shoulder 10 having a tapered inner surface 11 and a right angled outer surface. Piece 6 is similar and includes a first cylindrical portion 12 and a second smaller diameter portion 13. Both of these portions are of small diameter than the respective portions of piece 5 and shoulder 10 is also smaller. In practice, cylinder 9 is adapted to fit snugly inside cylinder 6 which is intended to be the same diameter as the pipe to which the pieces are to be fitted. Cylindrical portion 8 is of internal diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of the pipe such that the pipe can fit within it. Similarly, the external diameter of portion 13 is substantially equal to the internal diameter of the pipe.

The filter shown in Figure 4 is a disk 7 having triangular cut-away portions 14 which are equiangularly spaced around the disc with their apexes towards its centre and which allow the egress of water and other liquids but prevent the passage of most solids. This is only one example of a filter and many other filter designs may be used.

A method by which the apparatus described can be used to collect debris in a drainage system will now be described with reference to Figure 3 which shows portions of a drainpipe 15 with the components in situ.

Firstly, a section D is cut out of the drainpipe 15. It is conveniently cut by using a cutting aid such as that shown in Figure 1 but need not necessarily be cut like this. The cut may be approximately horizontal if the pipe is a vertical one as shown. Piece 5 is then moved into the gap D, which is of greater length than the length of piece 5, and is slid part way up the top part of pipe 15 to a height greater than that shown in Figure 3, leaving sufficient space underneath it, and thus between it and the bottom part of pipe 15, for part 6 to fit into that space. Part 6 is fitted into that space and lowered into the bottom pipe 15 to rest in the position shown where shoulder 10' rests against the top of pipe 15. Piece 5 is then lowered until its bottom portion 9 rests inside the top portion of piece 6 and its shoulder 10 rests thereupon.In the meantime, a filter element such as that shown in Figure 4 is inserted into piece 6, the element being of such a diameter that it rests upon the inner surface of shoulder 10 and cannot fall through. Thus, a structure is obtained which is in effect a continuous drainpipe for water to flow through into a drain or gully and which contains a filter 7 which stops solid matter such as leaves, twigs or animals for instance from passing through.

Pieces 5 and 6 are preferably made of a plastics material which is similar to that from which the drainpipe is made such that in use they are not easily noticeable. They may be made of any other suitable material however, provided it is relatively impermeable to water and long lasting. The filter may eventually clog up in which case the water level in part 6 will begin to rise as it becomes more difficult for water to pass through the filter. The relatively low tolerances of the system will allow water, once it reaches the top of part 6 to flow out of the gap between part 6 and 5, under shoulder 10' and to overflow. This overflowing will indicate that maintenance is required or that replacement of the filter is necessary. This can be achieved easily by firstly raising part 5 with respect to the pipe until its lower end 9 is freed from part 6.

Part 6 can then be raised sufficiently to enable it to be removed and the filter element will be cleaned, repaired or replaced. The reverse procedure replaces the elements.

It is seen that drain maintenance and filtering is made very much easier, since a filter can be placed and accessed at a position of a drainpipe 15 which is accessible from the ground, rather than relying on using ladders to access high positions. Typically, a section of the pipe 15 will be removed at a height of perhaps four or five foot above the ground level where it is easily accessible by a user of average height.

The filter containing part need not be in two parts as is shown in Figure 3. It could only be in one part provided there is some method for fitting it into the gap D. Figure 5 shows one method of achieving this in which a part 25 is deformable in a concatenate manner.

It may be for instance a corrugated plastics material having a degree of deformability and compressibility such that it can be compressed to fit into gap D and then released to locate between the two parts of the pipe.

Alternatively, the component could be any other resilient member, such as a spring, typically a helical spring, having a sheath such as a plastics cover which is impermeable to water. The top and bottom of the member are plastics cylinders having dimensions equal to cylindrical portions 8 and 13 of two pieces of Figure 2.

Thus, the top cylindrical portion 8' fits outside a pipe 15 whereas the bottom cylindrical portion 13' fits inside the pipe 15.

Claims (20)

1. An apparatus for preventing debris collected in a drainpipe system from passing into a drain fed by the system, which apparatus comprises a removable tubular means which is substitutable for a section of a down pipe of the system and includes a filter for passing liquids towards the drain but retaining at least some of the debris within the liquid.

2. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the tubular means is of a plastics material.

3. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the tubular means comprises two or more pieces.

4. An apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the removable tubular means is longer than the length of pipe it is substituted for.

5. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the removable tubular means is axially resiliently compressible to fit within, and be removable from, a gap within the pipe.

6. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the removable tubular means comprises a spring and an outer, water impermeable, sheath.

7. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the removable tubular means has two or more members which are adapted to be slidably axially displaced within the gap and/or relative to each other.

8. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 7, wherein one or both members comprise a first cylindrical portion and a second coaxial cylindrical portion of smaller diameter.

9. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the two portions of each member are joined by a circumferential shoulder having a tapered inner surface.

10. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 8 or Claim 9, wherein the first cylindrical portion of the first member is of internal diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of the pipe.

11. An apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 8 to 10, wherein the first cylindrical portion of the second member is of internal diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of the pipe.

12. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim adapted such that, when assembled, a gap exists between the first and second members allowing overflow of liquid.

13. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the second cylindrical-portion of the first member is of external diameter less than the internal diameter of the first cylindrical portion of the second member, to provide the overflow gap.

14. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the second cylindrical portion of the second member has an external diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of the pipe.

15. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the filter is a disk having radially spaced cutaway portions allowing the egress of liquid but preventing the passage of solids above a predetermined size.

16. A cutting aid comprising an arcuate member adapted to circumferentially encompass a portion of a pipe to be cut, the member having a surface which, when the member is in position, defines a cutting edge, and means for drawing the ends of the arcuate member towards one another to tighten the member with respect to the pipe.

17. An apparatus for adapting a drainpipe to collect waste therein, comprising a debris collecting apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 15 and a cutting aid as claimed in Claim 16.

18. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 17, further including clamping means to hold the pipe when cutting or applying a removable portion of pipe.

19. A drainpipe filter substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

20. An apparatus for adapting a drainpipe substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.