Hydraulic and earth engineering – Drainage or irrigation – End cap
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-05
2003-08-05
Shackelford, Heather (Department: 3673)
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Drainage or irrigation
End cap
C405S043000, C405S045000, C405S046000, C405S048000, C405S049000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06602023
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates to chambers for dispersing liquids in soil, and especially relates to endplates for leaching chambers.
BACKGROUND
Molded plastic leaching chambers (also referred to as leaching conduits), especially those sold under the trademark Infiltrator®, have met substantial commercial success. Examples of such type of chambers are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,661 to May and Nichols; in U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,844 to Nichols and Coppes; and, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,017,041, 5,156,488 and 5,336,017 all to Nichols.
Generally, plastic leaching chambers are arch shaped, with corrugations running along the arch shape, and have open bottoms and sidewalls with perforations, typically slots. In use, chambers are placed in a trench in the soil, connected one to the other as a string. The two chamber openings, at the opposing ends of the string, are closed with endplates. One of the endplates is connected to a pipe and the chambers are buried. The liquid to be dispersed, e.g. storm water or effluent from a septic tank, is typically delivered to the buried chambers by gravity flow through a 4 inch pipe.
Liquid introduced into a chamber leaches into the soil, both by flowing downwardly and by flowing through the chamber sidewall perforations. Generally, it is desirable that the perforations be placed at as great an elevation as possible, to maximize the chamber's liquid dispersing capacity. Liquid may accumulate inside the chamber when the inflow is greater than the dispersal of liquid into the surrounding soil. Thus, it is desirable that a leaching chamber have capacity for such accumulation by filling to the maximum extent possible.
One useful leaching chamber and endplate is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,844. Referring to
FIG. 1
, a portion of an arch shape cross section chamber
22
with a spaced-apart endplate
20
is shown just before insertion of the arch shape endplate body into the chamber open end
26
. The chamber
22
has features like those taught by the patents referred to above. Peaks
16
and valleys
18
run across the arch comprising corrugations which give strength. Slots
24
run lengthwise along the opposing sidewalls. The chamber base
44
comprises two spaced apart flanges running lengthwise, with an open space therebetween, so soil
25
, on which the chamber rests, is exposed to liquid entering the chamber.
The chamber open end
26
is adapted to receive and join to a mating chamber so a string of chambers may be created; or, to receive endplate
20
. The endplate
20
has an arch shape portion, shaped to slip-fit into the open end
26
. The endplate has tabs
28
which engage openings or depressions
30
on the interior of side wall of the chamber to hold it in place.
Although this system is particularly useful, there continues to be a need in the art for endplates which are easier to install, effective against soil intrusion, and which increase the structural integrity of the leaching system.
SUMMARY
The disclosure relates to an endplate, a method for making the endplate, and a leaching chamber system for dispersing fluids in soil. The endplate comprises: an inner wall and an outer wall defining a central portion having an interior channel, said central portion having a size and geometry similar to the leaching chamber size and geometry; and at least one connector disposed about the periphery of said central portion, said connectors capable of engaging the periphery of the leaching chamber.
The method of making the endplate comprises: melting a material to form parison; extruding said parison between mold halves; closing one end of said parison; blowing an inert gas into said parison to form a balloon; closing the mold halves to form the endplate.
Finally, the leaching chamber system comprises: at least one leaching chamber having a hollow interior with open ends, and sidewalls with perforations which enable fluid passage therethrough, said leaching chamber having a size and geometry; and an endplate disposed adjacent to and in intimate contact with the periphery of said leaching chamber at one end, said endplate comprising an inner wall and an outer wall defining a central portion having an interior channel, said central portion having a size and geometry similar to the leaching chamber size and geometry, and at least one connector disposed about the periphery of said central portion, said connector engaging the periphery of at least one end of said leaching chamber.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3916565 (1975-11-01), Runyon
patent: 4239474 (1980-12-01), Nakagawa
patent: 4493229 (1985-01-01), Stewart et al.
patent: 4555043 (1985-11-01), Bernhardt
patent: 4643657 (1987-02-01), Achelpohl et al.
patent: 4738612 (1988-04-01), Kikuchi et al.
patent: 4750411 (1988-06-01), Eversole
patent: 4759661 (1988-07-01), Nichols et al.
patent: 5017041 (1991-05-01), Nichols
patent: 5156488 (1992-10-01), Nichols
patent: 5336017 (1994-08-01), Nichols
patent: 5399050 (1995-03-01), Jacobus
patent: 5513445 (1996-05-01), Farrag
patent: 5692348 (1997-12-01), Ambrosino
patent: 5711536 (1998-01-01), Meyers
patent: 5806896 (1998-09-01), Sato et al.
patent: 5916104 (1999-06-01), Lucenet et al.
patent: 6116455 (2000-09-01), Rossman et al.
patent: 6173998 (2001-01-01), Bock
patent: WO 98/53147 (1998-11-01), None
“Blow Molding”, Plastics Engineering, Dec. 1999, pp. 3-8.
EnviroChamber Cost Effective Solutions for On-Site Systems; HANCOR Technology Innovation Solutions (22 pages).
“Introducing . . . Bio Diffuser Stoneless Wastewater Disposal System”, The Chamber Leach Field System (4 pages).
“For the Serious Treatment of On-Site Wastewater and/or Stormwater . . . Give Your Customer a High Quality, Cost Effective Cultec Chamber System”, SE-12.WPD, 1997 Cultec, Inc. Engineering Manual (5 pages).
Burns James J.
Crescenzi Donald C.
Swistak Daniel J.
Cantor & Colburn LLP
Infiltrator Systems Inc.
Shackelford Heather
Singh Sunil
LandOfFree
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