COUPLER FOR IMPROVED FLOW TO AN EXTERNAL DRAIN

摘要

A bushing (58) has an entry portion (68) which is secured to a urinal housing (50) and an exit portion (70) which faces a drain pipe (54, 54a, 54b). The entry portion interior surface (74) is fittable about and sealingly grips the urinal exit tube (52). The interiors of the entry and exit portions lie on a common axis (58x) and with the axis (52x) of the urinal exit tube. These axes define a sloped incline and, thus, a built-in, gravitationally-directed downwardly-disposed inclination. Because the axes usually do not fall on the axis (56x) of the conduit, they are angled and offset from the conduit axis. The offset of the bushing raises it above the axis of the conduit. Tubing (60, 60a) is secured at its end (62, 62a) to the bushing exit portion so that the tubing axis at its end (62, 62a) similarly is raised above the conduit axis. The tubing extends from the bushing at an incline that is determined by the built-in incline of the bushing. This tubing is smaller in its outer diameter than the inner diameter of the conduit so that the tubing can pass through the conduit and into the drain pipe. The interior surface (74) of the bushing is offset from its outer surface which is secured to the conduit. Thus, the tubing is allowed to ensure that the conduit will not so contact the tubing as to deleteriously affect the downward inclination of the tubing. An orientation indicator tab (92) on the bushing ensures that its inclined orientation is properly positioned vis-a-vis the conduit. The exterior surfaces of the bushing are designed to enable it to fit within a variety of conduits, to accommodate new and existing connections such as flanges and hardware associated with the drain pipe, to ensure its durability, and to otherwise enable retrofitting to new and existing installations.

主权项

1. In a collector of liquid terminating in an exit tube directed towards a drain pipe and a conduit having two ends, a first end coupled to the exit tube and a second end coupled to the drain pipe and normally providing a flow path for the liquid to the drain pipe, wherein both the liquid collector and the drain pipe are fixed in place relative to themselves and to one another, a method for improving liquid flow through the conduit to the drain pipe, especially when the axes of the conduit and the drain pipe are not mutually aligned, comprising the steps of separately directing a gravitationally-directed downwardly-inclined fluid flow within the conduit, but separately from that in contact with the conduit, coupling a fitting to the conduit, extending the fitting towards the drain pipe, and providing the fitting with a director for furnishing a gravitationally-directed downwardly-inclined fluid flow.