Liquid purification or separation – Structural installation – Grated inlet surface drain
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-18
2001-07-17
Simmons, David A. (Department: 1724)
Liquid purification or separation
Structural installation
Grated inlet surface drain
C210S164000, C210S232000, C210S459000, C210S448000, C210S489000, C404S004000, C383S022000, C383S119000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06261444
ABSTRACT:
RELATED APPLICATIONS
No public disclosure has been made prior to the filing of this application, and no applications were previously pending or remain co-pending anywhere in the world.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to storm water collection systems and, more particularly, to storm sewer filtering devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is familiar to one skilled in the performance of various types of road construction, a problem occurs during this activity from both the disturbing of the groundcover and the grading in that excessive erosion and particulate runoff can occur during periods of construction. This can become a significant problem if not dealt with properly and continuously, in that solids can overwhelm the design of water runoff systems in place, and cause occasional local flooding that may interfere with the construction area. Although dewatering systems are known for earthworks and larger construction sites, such are not always feasible for repair work of existing highway infrastructure projects.
Numerous attempts have been made to correct for the foregoing problems. However, none appear to adequately address the problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,246, issued in the name of Wilcox et al., appears to be for holding oil spills and allowing water to filter past. And, U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,889, issued in the name of Tharp, addresses the problem of pollution control, especially liquid hydrocarbons and runoff water on roadways. This invention also teaches a wire basket that uses interchangeable textile liners.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,714, issued in the name of Regan, describes several filter nettings connected together with quick release fasteners for easy replacement of filters, or removal of debris.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,888, issued in the name of Chin et al., and assigned to Dandy Enterprises of Grove City, Ohio, incorporates a two-stage filtering system, with stage one being an envelope filter system extending down an inlet, and stage two being a textile product on a roll that extends only a few inches into the inlet and capable of being replaced periodically.
And, U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,445, issued in the name of Billias et al., discloses a more permanent filtering mechanism rather than a temporary one, U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,539, issued in the name of Thompson et al., discloses a strainer device for used in everything from sinks to drainage systems, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,819, issued in the name of Turner, Jr. et al., discloses a permanent filtering system for underground water or storm drains.
In a very recently issued patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,457, issued in the name of Stucks, a number of emergency runoff scenarios are dealt with by the inventor.
Other patents were examined and discarded as irrelevant. These were: U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,337; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,191.
Of considerable relevance are two U.S. Pat. Nos., 5,372,714 and 5,575,925, both issued in the name of Longue, Jr. The second of these is actually a continuation in part of the first, with each having identical specifications. Of particular interest are the claims of these patents: in U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,714, the catch basin itself is claimed as an integral part of the invention, in combination with a filter grate for holding a filter bag; in U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,925, the filter bag itself is claimed in greater detail. Further, also the specifications of these references make claims of tensile strength adequate to hold up to 4,000 pounds of silt, a device based upon these references does not achieve this in practice according to the design as disclosed, claimed, and anticipated. Further, such a device having a “v” shaped lower container body creates excessive pressure along the lower vortex, thereby placing additional stresses on the unreinforced geotexile material and further limiting the effective solids capacity and reusability of such a device.
While some of the features of these prior references are incorporated into the present invention in combination, other elements are different enough as to make the combination distinguished the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved storm sewer filtering apparatus that is not integrally incorporated into either the catch basin or the sewer grate.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide an improved storm sewer filtering apparatus that is reinforced in such a manner as to allow for a silt capacity of 800 to 1000 pounds to be repeatably achieved in practice.
Briefly described according to one embodiment of the present intention a storm sewer filtering apparatus is disclosed for use in filtering sediment from surface water and preventing solids from entering a convention storm sewer collection basin. The apparatus includes a filter bag
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forming a rectangularly shaped substrate retaining volume. A flat bottom surface remains at the bottom of the filter bag and forms the majority of the filtering surface. Geotextile fabric forms a filtering media to form the first sidewall, second sidewall, first endwall, second endwall, and bottom. Further, a plurality of reinforcement means are provided for adding strength to the finished filter bag. Each reinforcement means is formed conventional textile reinforcement webbing, such as is readily available for use in automobile seat belts, airplane seat belts, and various types of belts and harnesses. A pair of such first reinforcement straps are affixed horizontally along each of the first endwall and the second endwall respectively. A plurality of second reinforcement straps are affixed parallely vertically along the first sidewall, across the bottom, and subsequently vertically up the second sidewall respectively in a consecutive manner. Each second reinforcing strap extends beyond the edge of the respective sidewall for attachment to a drain grate. Rigidly affixed to each terminal end of the attachment strap is a retaining block made of a rigid material, such as wood, metal, or hard plastic.
An advantage of the present invention is that it is formed of a larger overall volume, allowing for a greater silt accumulation capacity per catch basin design than would other designs.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a flat bottom area allows for a larger drainage area, thereby hindering clogging and facilitating fluid flow therethrough.
Further, a preferred embodiment of the present invention has reinforced webbing, allowing a larger capacity to be safely held and transported.
REFERENCES:
patent: 598611 (1898-02-01), Lane
patent: 1844872 (1932-02-01), Shipman
patent: 2696235 (1954-12-01), Toffolon
patent: 3282430 (1966-11-01), Kinne
patent: 3713539 (1973-01-01), Thompson et al.
patent: 4457456 (1984-07-01), Derby et al.
patent: 5345741 (1994-09-01), Slater et al.
patent: 5372714 (1994-12-01), Logue, Jr.
patent: 5562819 (1996-10-01), Turner, Jr. et al.
patent: 5575925 (1996-11-01), Logue, Jr.
patent: 5587072 (1996-12-01), Regan
patent: 5595457 (1997-01-01), Stucks
patent: 5607237 (1997-03-01), LaFleur
patent: 5632888 (1997-05-01), Chinn et al.
patent: 5632889 (1997-05-01), Tharp
patent: 5643445 (1997-07-01), Billias et al.
patent: 5679246 (1997-10-01), Wilcox et al.
patent: 5699564 (1997-12-01), Heh
Gugliotta John
Prince Fred
Simmons David A.
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