Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention generally relates to a device for controlling
the back flow of sewage into a house or other building structure from which
sewage is normally discharged by gravity flow through a lateral sewer pipe
from the house to a street sewer pipe which can occur due to various circum-
stances and which is highly destructive of property and endangers the health
of the occupants of the house or building. Specifically, the present invention
includes an automatic valve installed in the sewer line interconnecting the
house and street sewer which will automatically close and open in response to
flow conditions in the sewer pipe with the valve automatically closing during
flood or backup conditions due to a float operated switch structure with the
valve being normally open during normal gravity flow conditions. Further, the
present invention includes a bypass pump and chopper arrangement associated
with the automatic valve which will enable sewage to be pumped around the
valve from the house side thereof to the street side thereof thereby enabling
normal use of the facilities within the house or building structure which
normally gravity discharges sewage into the sewer line.
Various efforts have been made to solve the problem of sewer backup
which results in sewage flooding of the basement or other areas of a house or
other building structure. For example, drains have been provided with
float-type ball valves, flap valves, check valves and other similar structures
which enable one-way flow through a drain. One type of such flow control
devices is disclosed in my prior U.S. patent Nos. 3,047,013, issued July 31,
1962, 3,565,106, issued February 23, 1971 and 4,098,287, issued July 4, 1978.
Additionally, the following U.S. patents disclose control valves, bypass
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pumps, and the like, associated with drain pipes, sewer lines9 and
the like:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 624,773 - May 9, 1~99
1,515,904 - Nov. 18, 1924
1,708,380 - Apr. 9, 1929
2,421,066 - May 27, 1947
2,431,640 - Nov. 25, 1947
2,519,204 - Aug. 15, 1950
2,868,380 - Jan. 13, 1959
2,995,142 - Aug. 8, 1961
3,017,895 - Jan. 23, 1962
3,020,922 - Feb. 13, 1962
3,196,894 - July 27, 1~65
3,229,707 - Jan. 18, 1966.
Broadly speaking, the present invention provides a sewage
back flow control system for installation in a sewer line extending
from a house or other building ætructure to prevent back flow of
sewage into the house, the system comprising a reciprocal gate valve
mounted for movement between a closed position and an open position;
a housing for the gate valve, the housing including wiper seal means
adjacent the sewer line to clean the surfaces of the gate valve
during reciprocation and to seal the gate valve in relation to the
flow path of sewage; means for automatically moving the gate valve
to lts posltions in response to conditions of sewage flow in the
sewer line on the downstream side of the gate valve in relation to
the house or other building structure; bypass means associated with
the gate valve for communicating the portions of the sewer line on
each side of the gate valve, the bypass means including pump means
for pumping sewage from the upstream side of the gate valve to the
3~ downstream side thereof in relation to the house when the gate valve
closes thereby enabling sewage producing facilities in the house to
be used in a normal manner when the gate valve is in closed position,
the bypass means including a conduit, the gate valve includlng an
pc/~/
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aperture alignable with the conduit to automatically open the conduit
when the gate valve is closed; and a chopper unit connected to the
pump means for reducing sewage particle size entering the pump means.
The present invention will be described in detail hereinafter
and with reference to the drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a sewer pipe or
line with the automatic sewage valve and bypass assembly associated
therewith.
Figure 2 is a top plan view of the structure of Fig. 1.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal, sectional view taken substantially
upon a plane passing along section line 3--3 of Fig. 2 illustrating
specific structural details of the sewage valve and bypass assembly.
Figure 4 is a vertical, sectional view taken substantially
upon a plane passing along section line 4--4 of Fig. 1 illustrating
further structural de~ails of this invention.
Figure 5, appearing on the same sheet as Figure 1, is a
detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along
section line 5 5 of Fig. 3 and illustrating further structural details
of the valve structure.
Figure 6, appearing on the same fiheet as Figure 1, is a
fragmental sectional view of the bypass assembly and valve illustrating
*he manner in which the pump and bypass conduit are associated with
the valve for pumping sewage from the house side of the valve to the
street side of the valve.
Referring now specifically to the drawings, the system of
the present invention uses an automatic sewage gate valve generally
designated by numeral 10. Gate valve 10 is incorporated into a sewer
pipe or drain pipe generally designated by numeral 12 which includes
a pipe section 14 designated as the house section which is in
communication with various drains, commodes and other facilities in
a house or other building structure through which sewage is normally
gravity discharged into a main sewer pipe or the like. The sewer
pipe 12 also includes a street section 16 which is downstream from
the sewage gate valve 10 and constitutes that
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part of the lateral sewer pipe which extends Erom the sewage valve to the
street sewer. The automatic sewage valve 10 may be installed at any suitable
location, such as within the interior of a house alongside of the basement
wall or exteriorly of the house in a suitable pit or other excavation provided
therefor.
The automatic sewage valve 10 includes a vertically disposed recipro-
catory plate or gate 18 having a centrally disposed elongated bar or rod 20
extending upwardly from the top edge thereof with one side edge of the bar
20 including gear teeth 22 thus forming a rack gear for meshing engagement
with a drive pinion gear 24 driven by a suitable electric motor 28 having a
gear reduction assembly 26 associated therewith so that when the motor 28 is
actuated in one direction, the valve gate 18 will be lowered to a closed
position and when the motor 28 is operated in the reverse direction, the valve
gate 18 will be elevated to an open position. The reversible motor 28 and its
gear reduction assembly 26 are conventional in construction and the rack gear
22 and pinion gear 24 are also conventional and the rack gear 22 may be
provided with any suitable stabilizing or guiding mechanisms as deemed appro-
priate. The side edges of the valve gate 18 are generally parallel with
the lower end edge thereof being generally semi-circular as indicated by
numeral 30 and the upper end portion of the valve gate 18 includes a centrally
disposed aperture 32 therein for a purpose described hereinafter. Also, the
side surfaces of the valve gate 18 are parallel as indicated in Fig. 3 and are
provided with a smooth surfaced finish to form a closure for the flow path
between the house section 14 and street section 16 of the lateral sewer pipe
12.
The valve gate 18 is received reciprocally in a housing structure
generally designated by numeral 34 and which includes spaced plates 36 which
closely receive the valve gate 18 therebetween. Each of the plates 36 includes
an offset flange 38 along the side edges thereof and a similar flange 40 along
the top edge thereof and a semi-cylindrical flange 42 along the bottom thereof
~ ~ 34~
which forms a continuation of the side flanges 38 as illustrated in Fig. 4
with the flanges 42 actually being welded to the spaced ends 44 of the sewer
pipe sections 14 and 16 with appropriate bolts and gaskets 46 being provided
for securing the flanges together thereby providing a peripheral groove or
recess in the interior of the flow path for receiving the lower edge 30 of the
valve gate 18 with the edges of the valve gate 18 actually cutting through any
material that may be resting on the inner surface of the sewer pipe 12.
The flanges 40 along the top edge of the plates 36 includes a
recessed portion 48 receiving a sealing member 50 engaged with the elongated
bar or rod 20 to preclude any leakage around the periphery of the bar 20 as it
is reciprocated or in either of its positions.
The reversible motor 28 is supported on a suitable bracket structure
52 which may be rigidly affixed to one of the plates 36 of the housing 34 by
any suitable means such as by welding or the like. The lower end portion of
each of the side plates 36 of housing 34 is provided with a laterally extend-
ing flange 54 disposed in overlying and clamping engagement with a wiping seal
56 which has its inner edge engaged with the surfaces of the valve gate 18.
The seal 56 rests on and is clamped against a supporting plate structure 58
which extends longitudinally along the top surface of the sewer pipe 12 and
includes supporting gussets 60 at the outer ends thereof and filler plates 62
at the inner ends thereof which close in the area between the flat plate 58
and the periphery of the pipe sections 14 and 16, respectively. With this
structure, as the valve gate 18 is elevated to a raised position, any material
on the surfaces thereof will be wiped off by the wiping seal 56 engaging each
surface of the valve gate 18.
In order to operate the automatic sewage valve 10, a float operated
switch mechanism 64 is provided which includes a float 66 disposed in the
street section 16 of the sewer pipe 12. The float controlled switch mechanism
64 includes a housing 68 mounted on the plate 58 with a peripheral flange 70
and a seal 72 with the float 66 including a support arm 74 extending up
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through an opening 76 in the street section 16 into the interior of the
housing for closing a switch, such as a mercury switch or any other suitable
conventional switch, when the interior of the street section 16 of the sewer
pipe becomes filled with liquid sewage or the like thus causing the float 66
to move upwardly and thus close the switch which results in actuation of the
motor 28 in a manner to lower the valve gate 18 into sealing engagement with
the recess 44 thereby closing the flow path and preventing back flow of sewage
into the house section 14 thereby preventing flooding of a basement or the
like.
A bypass assembly generally designated by numeral 78 is provided
to bypass the automatic sewage valve 10 when it is closed. This assembly
includes a pump 80 having an inlet fitting or adapter 82 secured to the plate
58 with a four-bladed chopper 83 being attached to the pump shaft 81 below the
pump impeller (not shown). The house section 14 and plate 58 includes an
appropriate seal or gasket between the adapter 82 and plate 58 and an
inlet passageway 84 includes a screen or grate 85 therein which enables
sewage to enter the pump 80 from the house section 14 of the sewer
pipe 12. The pump 80 includes a discharge conduit 86 connected to a
short conduit or nipple 88 welded to side plate 36 of the housing 34
by the use of a short flexible hose 90 and suitable clamps 92. A
one-way flap valve 93 is provided in the bypass conduit which will
prevent backflow therethrough in the event of pump motor failure.
The other side plate 36 of the housing 34 is provided with a conduit
94 of L-shaped configuration welded thereto with the conduit extending
down to and into an aperture 96 formed in the street section 16 of
the sewer pipe for communication therewith with the pipe 94 including
a flange 98 secured to plate 58 with a seal or gasket 100. This
assembly provides a bypass around the valve gate 18 when the gate 18
is in closed position since in this position, the aperture 32
in the valve gate 18 is in alignment with and in registry with the
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nipple 88 and the pipe 94 as illustrated in Fig. 6 so that sewage
that is normally discharged from commodes or other facilities in a
house can be pumped from the house section 14 of the sewer pipe 12 around
the valve gate 18 into the street section 16 so that even though the
street section 16 of the sewer pipe is filled with sewage having a certain
amount of back pressure, the operation of the pump will still enable the
commode and other facilities to be used in the normal manner. Fig. 6 also
illustrates the position of the float 66 when the street section 16 of the
sewer pipe is filled with sewage or other liquid material. The pump 80 is
driven by a suitable motor 102 mounted thereon and any suitable type of
pump may be utilized including a centrifugal pump of any suitable type.
The macerator, chopper blade 83 or the like incorporated into the intake
of the impeller of the pump reduces the size of any solid particles
entering the pump to enable more effective pumping of the sewage through
the bypass conduit~
A control box 104 is mounted on the housin& 58 or in any other
suitable location with the control box 104 including an electrical conduit
106 supplying power to the control box and also for connecting the control
box with the valve gate operating reversible motor 28 and the pump motor
102. The control box 104 may include an indicator light such as a green
light 108 to indicate that the control box is energized. The device may
receive its power from household current and a backup system may include
dry cell batteries or the like mounted in the control box. The control
box will also include a timer 110, a test switch 112 and other indicator
lights to indicate the position of the valve &ate 18 and an audible signal
may be provided such as a bell or the like which will be ene~gized when
the gate 18 is closed or to indicate other conditions as deemed appropriate.
With the pump being automatically energized when the gate closes and
automatically deenergized when the gate opens. Various control arrangemen.s
may be provided depending upon the circumstances encountered in each
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installation with closing of the float operated switch serving to
automatically energize the motor 28 in a direction to close the valve
gate 18 in response to flood condition in the street section 16 of the
sewer pipe and at the same time, the pump will be actuated for maintaining
positive pressure in the bypass conduit and in the street section 16 and
thereby effectively pump any sewage which flows by gravity down into the
house section 14 of the sewer pipe around the valve gate and into the
street section 16 of the sewer pipe. This clearly eliminates the possibility
of back flow of sewage into basements or other sanitary facilities in a house
or the like. Also, the device may be easily installed in existing structures
as well as readily incorporated into new houses or other buildings.
