Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
5~Z5~i
Assemblies consisting oE an internal strainer body and an
external housing are conveniently utilized in drains of sinks,
tubs, basins and like vessels for connection to the discharge
conduit. Such assemblies are disclosed in the-art in various
forms, ~ypical of which are the constructions shown in the
following United States Letters Patent: No. 2,278,565 to
Schaible; No. 2,961,914 to Young; No. 3, 7ao ~ 381 to Deeke; and
No. 3,881,201 ~o Richards. As indicated by these patents, it
is common practice to install the assembly by clamping the
portion of the vessel surrounding its drain opening between
cooperating flanges on the inner and outer members, although
other Eastening m~ans have also been employed. E~'or example, a
screw~mounted supporting ring arrangement is described in
Friedman United States Patent No. 3,327,326, which also shows
the use of a series of nibs on the neck portion of the
cylindrical drain body as a quick disconnect arran~ement for
locking the ~ody in position upon the supporting ring.
Regardless of the form of the unit, it is of course
desirable to minimize complexity, and the cost of manufacture.
Moreover, any such cost reduction should obviously not be
accompanied by diminished quality or durability, and should
nat entail any substantial sacrifice in convenience of use or
in ease of installation.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present
invention to provide a novel drain assembly for installation
in a sink, tub, basin or like vessel, which can be
manufactured at substantially less cost than comparable
constructions provided heretofore.
It is also an object of the invention to provide such an
assembly in which no reduction in quality, durability,
~5~'~5~
attractiveness, or facility of installation or use is
entailed, as compared to similar prior arl assembliesO
It has now been found that the foregoing and related
objects of the invention are readily attained in a drain
assembly including a one-piece drain, or strainer, body of
thin wall construction, and an external, two-piece housing.
The housing is comprised of a sleeve member, integrally formed
of a synthe~ic resinous material, and a ring-shaped insert
firmly secured therewithin, the insert usually being made of a
metal, such as aluminum. The strainer hody used in the
assembly is comprised of a generally cylindrical sidewall
portion, having a circumferenti~l Elange portlon extendincJ
outwardly about its upper end and a reduced diameter tubular
spout portion at its lower end, the latter having integral
thread means formed thereon for engagement with the insert of
the housing. The sleeve member of the housing is dimensioned
and configured to seat the strainer body, and it has flange
and sidewall portions corresponding to those of the strainer
body and a tail portion corresponding to the spout portion
thereof. The ring-shaped insert is disposed coaxially within
the tail portion of the sleeve member and adjacent the
sidewall portion, and is internally threaded (preferably with
a coarse thread of generally square cross-section) to engage
the thread means of the spout portion and permit tightening of
the housing thereupon. An externally hreaded section is also
provided on the tail portion downwardly of the location at
which the insert is disposed, to enable connection of a drain
condui~ to the assembly. The flange portions of the strainer
body and sleeve member are adapted to bear upon the wall of
the vessel in which the assembly is installed, about the drain
opening therein, to enable secure and effective mounting.
--3--
;~5A~6
In the preferred embodiments~ the drain body will be
fabricated from a single piece of light gauge metal sheet
(such as of stainless steel or brass), and the thread means
will e~tend for not more than a single revolution about the
spout portion thereof; the thread means will normally extend
along a helical path, and will beneEicially consist of a
plurality of discrete segments spaced from one another. The
sidewall portion of the strainer body will usually have a
downwardly tapered annular throat section leading to the spout
portion, and the external sleeve member will have a
corresponding throat section leadiny to the tail portion
thereof. Advantageousl~, the housing sleeve member will be
configured to provide an enlaryed section upwardly of its
externally threaded section, within which the ring-shaped
insert will be disposed; the inside diameters of the two
sections will desirably be substantially the same, so as to
provide a passageway through the tail portion which is of
generally uniform diameter. To facilitat~ engagement of
~renches for tightening of the housing upon the drain body,
the sidewall of the housing will beneficially be formed with
axial ribs, and the enlarged section of its tail portion will
beneficially be molded with a polygonal exterior
configuration.
Figure l is a side elevational view of the assembly of
the invention installed within the drain opening of a sink,
the latter being fragmentarily illustrated in cross section;
Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the mounted
assembly of Figure l;
Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view thereof, drawn
to a reduced scale; and
~522Sf~
Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the metal insert
used in the housing of the assembly, with a portion broken
away to show the internal thread structureO
Turning now in detail to the appended drawings, therein
illustrated is a drain assembly embody:ing the present
invention and consisting of an internal, one-piece strainer
body, generally designated by the numeral 10, and an external
sleeve or housing subassembly, generally designated by the
numeral 12. As can be seen, the strainer body 10 is oE thin
wall construction, and may be made by deep-drawing a sheet oE
metal (typically, 0O025 lnch material). The body 10 is
comprised of a generally cylindrical sidewall portion 14
having a radially outwardly extending circumEerential flange
portion 16 at its upper end, and a reduced diameter tubular
spout or neck portion, generally designated by the numeral 18,
at its lower end; a conical shoulder portion 19 interconnects
the sidewall portion 14 and the spout portion 18~ providing a
transition section therebetween.
The spout portion 18 consists, in turn, o a generally
cylindrical sidewall element 20 and a transversely extending
bot~om wall element 22, which is perforated ~at locations not
visible) to provide drainage apertures from the strainer body.
The bottom wall element 22 is also formed with a centrally
located slot 24, within which is received the pin 26 of a
conventional crumb basket/stopper unit, generally designated
by the numeral 28; of course, other types of baskets and means
for seating them can be substituted if so desired.
Four thread segments 30 are for~ed ~such as ky rolling or
stamping) into the sidewall section 20 of the spout portion lB
at equidistantly spaced intervals thereabout, and are disposed
2~;6
on a helical path of relatively course pitch. In a typical
case in which the spout- portion has a diameter of
approximately one and five-eights inch, four segments 30 will
be disposed at 90 intervals to provide a thread that makes
less than a complete revolution thereabout and has a piteh of
about one-eighth inch, and each segment will be about
three-quarters inch long and one-quarter inch deep.
The housing subassembly 12 includes a relatively heavy
gauge plastic sleeve member (fabricated, for example, by
injection molding an acrylonitrile-butadine styrene, polyvinyl
chlori.de, or polypropylene resin), consisting of a cylindrical
sidewall port:ion 3~, a radially extending circum~erentlal
flange portion 34 at the upper end of the sidewall portion,
and a substantially tubular tail portion, generally designated
by the numeral 34, at its lower end, the latter being
connected through a conical transition section 36 of the
sidewall portion 32. Thus, the sleeve member of the housing
12 is configured to conform substantially to the strainer body
10, but is of somewhat larger dimensions to provide a well 38
for seating the body 10. As can be seen, the sidewall portion
32 is formed with a series of axially extending ribs 40, which
not only provide an enhanced gripping surface for tightening
of the sleeve during assemblyv but also serve to increase the
overall strength and rigidity of the member.
The tail portion 34 of the sleeve member 12 has an upper
section 42, of relatively large diameter, and a reduced
diameter section 44 disposed downwardly from the section 42
and externally threaded to engage the plastic slip nut or
coupling 46. The latter secures the tail piece flange 48 in a
conventional and selE-evident manner for connection of the
~s~
drain pipe to the assembly, and is also formed with short
axial ribs 47.
As best seen in Figure 2,`the enlarg~ed section 42 of the
tail portion 34 has permanently affixed therewithin (such as
by molding during the course of producing the ~leeve member
12) a metal ring insert, generally designated by the numeral
50 and most fully illustrated in Figure 4; the insert will
usually be made of aluminum, although other metals and
comparable materials of construction can be substituted in
appropriate circumstances. The insert 50 has a helical
internal thread 52, which is oE generally square cross section
and makes several revolutlons about its inner sureace, and lt
has a configured outer surface portion 54 (both serration and
knurling being shown for purposes o illustration~ in which is
formed a pair of circumferential grooves 56. The thread 52
serves of course to engage the segments 30 of the strainer
body spout portion 18, which cooperatively provide the
single-revolution thread thereabout, and the exterior surface
configuration of the insert 50 Eunctions to anchor it securely
and permanently within the sleeve tail portion section 42,
which is in turn strengthened by the insert. As will be
noted, the ribs 40 on the sidewall portion 32 of the sleeve
member allow use of a spanner wrench~ and the upper section 42
of the tail portion is formed with a hexagonal external
configuration to faci-litate gripping by ~ommon wrenches, for
final tightening of the housing 12 upon the strainer body 10.
The drain assembly is installed within the opening 57,
defined by the surrounding portion 58 of the sink, simply by
inserting the strainer body 10 therethrou~h until its flange
portion 16 rests upon the sink sur~ace. E~ollowing pla~ement
5~i
of rubber and paper washers 60, 62, respectively, about the
sidewall portion 14, the housing 12 is attached by simply
threading it upon the spout portion 18 of the stainer body 10,
with the thread formations interengaged as described above.
When the housing is tightened sufficiently upon the strainer
body to ensure firm and secure mounting oE the assembly, the
drain conduit may be connected by engaging the coupling 46
upon the threaded section 44 to fasten the 1ange ~8
thereagainst. The housing provides a unit of solid, one-piece
construction between the bottom of the sink and the drain
conduit, and efEectively prevents leakage even iE, for
example, an insufEicient amount oE compound ls u~ed eor
sealing in the stnk. ~he crumb basket/stopper unlt 28 can
then of course be placed into the strainer body for use in the
normal manner, to either permit or prevent flow through the
assembly, depending upon the position of the stopper 64.
As will be evident, the economy afforded by the invention
is attributable primarily to the use of light gauge metal for
the strainer body, instead of the heavy weight stampings or
castings heretofore used to permit roll Eorming or cutting of
threads. The present construction not only lowers materials
costs, but it also makes the metal forming operations easier
- and thereby reduces the power demand. The spaced thread
segments formed on the spout body are considerably easier to
produce than is, for example, a rolled thread of several
revolutions, and yet the structure provides a high level of
strength, and secure and convenient installati-on in
cooperation with the outer housing; other -forms of thread
means may however be substituted, as long as they are capable
of func~ioning to afford the same advantages. Because the
8--
S~
sleeve member is integrally formed as a single piece the
housing subassembly is itself readily molded at relatively low
cost, and the unique construction of the metal insert is
especially desirable from the standpoint of producing firm
securement within the plastic molding, as well as the desired
coaction with the strainer body.
Thus, it can be seen that the present invention provides
a novel drain assembly for installation in a sink or the like,
which can be manufactured at substantially less cost than
comparable constructions provided heretofore. Furthermore,
the unique construction used causes no reduction in quality,
durability, attractiveness~ or facility of installation or
use, as compared to similar prior art assemblies.
