Hydraulic and earth engineering – Drainage or irrigation – Porous or apertured pipe – flume – or tileway
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-13
2002-10-08
Will, Thomas B. (Department: 3671)
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Drainage or irrigation
Porous or apertured pipe, flume, or tileway
C405S036000, C210S170050, C210S172300, C138S105000, C138S121000, C138S173000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06461078
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems for leaching liquid waste, particularly waste water. More particularly this invention relates to a specially designed cylindrical conduit or pipe for use in leaching systems. Even more particularly the invention relates to cylindrical conduit which has specially configured ridges, channels and grooves over which may be laid or wrapped, either single or multiple layers of fabric. And further the corrugated pipe disclose herein may have slots or slits or V-grooves in and on the various portions of the pipe such as the outer-facing surface of the ridges, the end portion of the ridges, on any or all surfaces forming the channels between the ridges, the side wall(s) of the groove or through the bottom portion of the groove, the valleys, and any combination of the above listed possibilities. Such slits, slots or V-grooves may be used with fabric or without fabric covering of the pipe and with or without the apertures in the valley portion of the corrugated pipe. Additionally, slits, slots, V-grooves may be used with smooth-walled pipe as opposed to corrugated types of pipe. In each instance, the pipe may be used to effectively process effluent in a leaching system.
The cylindrical conduit disperses moisture away from the conduit through capillary action, wicking into a surrounding material. A perforated cylindrical conduit is one method permitting wicking. The surrounding material provides capillary action to transmit moisture away from the cylinder and prevents the effluent from traveling directly from the pipes of the upper level to the conduits of the lower levels. Examples of these materials include sand, gravel, plastic fibers, wood products, slag, and ash. A fabric or other material may surround the cylindrical conduit. For septic systems, this includes any gravel-less systems such as the SB2, Enviro-Septic® and Geo-Flow® brands of gravel-less septic waste processing systems. Other applications of this invention include treatment of oil-contaminated water and chemically contaminated water, in addition to septic tank effluent.
Even more particularly, the invention is particularly useful in combination with the septic tank maze apparatus defined and described in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,752 Issued Jul. 4, 1995 and incorporated herein by reference, and with the use of multiple layers of fabric of varying deniers. With the selection of fabric, fabric properties such as denier, thickness, retention quality such as hydrophobic or hydrophihc characteristics, specific fluid treatment objectives can be met. The multilayer fabric provides boundaries/interfaces and regions within which specifically chosen bacteria, chemicals, microbes and the like may be introduced to facilitate the biodegradation of specifically chosen undesirable materials. The performance of the conduit of the invention is further improved over the currently known leach fields when it is used in combination with single or multiple layers of fabric covering.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many drainage pipes are produced from plastic materials, either by extrusion or blow molding, with the pipe being cut into lengths or rolled on a large drum to be carried in the field. To obtain high rigidity and maximum utilization of material, such drainage pipes are commonly corrugated with the corrugations extending circumferentially around the pipe. Corrugated plastic pipe is widely used for many types of domestic, agricultural, and industrial drainage and waste disposal systems.
Preferably, drainage holes are positioned in the wall of the inner corrugation so that, when the pipe is ultimately buried in the earth, the drainage holes are not packed as tightly as would be the case if they were positioned in the outer corrugation. Having the perforations on the inner corrugation facilitates drainage from the pipe, but, for obvious reasons, complicates the formation of the perforations.
It would be advantageous to have corrugated pipe with grooves which are deeper and which grooves have sidewalls which are substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface of the groove and perpendicular to the outer or top surface of the pipe. Because of the manner in which such pipe is perforated at the bottom surface of the grooves it has not been possible to make such a desirable corrugated pipe as taught herein. Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,786 Issued Mar. 4, 1997 and incorporated herein by reference, for “Apparatus and Method for Producing Pipe and Pipe Produced Thereby” teaches a machine and method for producing such desirable pipe.
It should be further pointed out that suspended solids have plagued the septic system and waste water treatment industry more in the last ten (10) or more years than in previous years. The increase in the problem is due in part to the evolution and development of some of the modem day cleaners which now make cleaning easier in that they cause grease and oil to dissolve into the water. The major problem with the septic tank is that the suspended solids in passing through the tank neither cool nor make contact at a slow enough pace to separate from the water.
Lint and fuzz has also been an ongoing problem for the septic tank to control. This material stays suspended in the septic tank liquid and normally passes through, remaining suspended in the effluent which subsequently also causes problems in the leach system connected with the septic tank.
Septic tanks generally available do not effectively provide for the removal, in a manner which does not effect the cost and the performance characteristics of the septic treatment system, of suspended solids that are typically found in septic tank liquid. It is important that the amount of suspended solids that leave the treatment tank be minimal so as not to adversely affect the subsequent treatment of the waste water/effluent. A leach field, for example, is adversely effected because the suspended solids will clog receiving layer and also adversely affect the absorption characteristics of the leach bed.
Currently there are designs and equipment that attempt the removal of the suspended solids. All of those known to the inventor of the now patented precipitation apparatus defined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,752 have failed to address the problem in an efficient manner because all the efforts attempt to “filter” the liquid. Filtration creates an additional set of problems. The filters can quickly become plugged slowing down or completely blocking the flow through of the liquid through the treatment tank. The filters are expensive and are costly to maintain. Applicant's patented precipitation apparatus greatly reduces the level of suspended solids exiting the treatment tank and entering the leach system.
It would be advantageous to have a treatment system which would include a leach system which would, more efficiently and effectively process the leachate or effluent from the septic tank or precipitation apparatus. The obvious consequences of such an improved fluid conducting conduit structure for use within a drainage field, would be longer life, less area needed to handle a specific amount of outflow of liquid and a cleaner and safer treated liquid returning to the environment. The improved fluid conducting conduit structure defined and claimed herein provides these advantages without a large increase in cost, does not require any additional maintenance and, in fact, requires less maintenance, is incorporatable into standard treatment designs and configurations, would be easily installed as new or replacements into existing and in-place leach fields and would provide flexibility to incorporate a variety of specially designed uses to result in a custom system based upon special or specific needs within the treatment system.
There is nothing currently available which satisfies these needs and objectives. However, the invention disclosed herein does meet all of these objectives.
The following patents relate to the technology of the present invention but none of them meet
Dishong George W.
Mayo Tara L.
Will Thomas B.
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