Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Implements – Pipe – tube – or conduit cleaner
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-02
2003-10-28
Warden, Sr., Robert J. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Implements
Pipe, tube, or conduit cleaner
C015S104310, C015S104320
Reexamination Certificate
active
06637064
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a drain cleaning apparatus and, more particularly, to a drain cleaning apparatus having a remotely adjustable feed control for controlling the feeding of a drain cleaning cable.
BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
One type of common prior art drain cleaning apparatus in wide use today comprises a cable drum that carries a conventional drain cleaning cable mounted on a wheeled cart or stationary frame. The cable drum is mounted such that it may be rotated relative to the wheeled cart or frame by a motor provided therewith. The drain cleaning cable is conventionally an elongate, flexible member made of tightly wound spring wire and is wound about the central axis of the cable drum and is thus rotatable with the cable drum. The free or outer end of the drain cleaning cable is adapted to be pulled from the cable drum for use in cleaning a drain and pushed back into the cable drum for storage during periods of non-use.
It is known in the art that a rotating cylindrical member, such as a drain cleaning cable, can be advanced by using a plurality of rollers that engage the cylindrical member. Typically, the rollers are mounted on a frame or housing that has an opening with an axis that aligns with the central axis of the cylindrical member to be advanced. In some prior art devices, the rollers have rotational axes that are simultaneously variable to control the direction of advancement of the rotating cylindrical member.
Such rollers have been used in prior art drain cleaning apparatuses to advance or feed a drain cleaning cable both in and out of a rotating cable drum. One such prior art drain cleaning apparatus is described in Salecker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,062, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIGS. 1 and 2
show the drain cleaning apparatus described in Salecker et al., which includes a cable drum
12
mounted on a wheeled cart
14
. The cable drum
12
carries a drain cleaning cable
16
and is mounted for rotation by a motor
18
relative to the wheeled cart
14
. A mechanism for advancing the drain cleaning cable
16
is shown generally at
10
. The mechanism
10
has a frame
20
defining an opening
22
through which the drain cleaning cable
16
is directed for advancement thereof in a line substantially parallel to the length of the drain cleaning cable
16
. The mechanism
10
has a rigid bracket
23
that is fixedly mounted upon an upright support
24
on the cart so that the rotational axis of the cable drum
12
coincides with the central axis
26
of the frame opening
22
. Advancing rollers
28
,
30
and
32
project into the frame opening
22
and have peripheral surfaces
34
,
36
, and
38
which cooperatively define an effective diameter for receipt of the drain cleaning cable
16
.
The rollers
28
,
30
and
32
rotate relative to the frame
20
about spaced axes
40
,
42
, and
44
, respectively. With the axes
40
,
42
and
44
parallel to the central axis
26
of the frame opening
22
, the device is in neutral position. That is, the drain cleaning cable
16
being rotated by the cable drum
12
effects rotation of the rollers
28
,
30
and
32
without the drain cleaning cable
16
being withdrawn into the cable drum
12
or advanced therefrom. Through a control arm
46
, the axes
40
,
42
and
44
of the rollers
28
,
30
and
32
can be reoriented. With the control arm
46
moved to a forward advance position, shown in
FIG. 2
, the roller axis
40
,
42
and
44
are uniformly angled relative to the frame opening axis
26
to thereby define a helical engagement path which results in the advancement of the drain cleaning cable forwardly out of the cable drum
12
. Pivoting of the control arm
46
through approximately 90°, in a counter-clockwise direction in
FIG. 2
, places the advancing mechanism
10
in a reverse mode position. In this mode, the axes
40
,
42
and
44
are simultaneously repositioned through approximately 90° from the position they occupied with the control arm
46
in the forward position. This results in the advancement or feeding of the drain cleaning cable
16
in a reverse direction, i.e., back into the cable drum
12
.
One drawback of the drain cleaning apparatus described in Salecker et al. is that in order to adjust the operation of the mechanism
10
among the neutral, forward advancing, and reverse advancing positions, the user must be in proximity with the mechanism
10
so as to have access to the control arm
46
. When cleaning a drain, it is often not possible to move the drain cleaning apparatus comprising the cable drum
12
and wheeled cart
14
close to the opening of the drain due to, for example, some obstruction. In such a case, the user must take out a substantial length of drain cleaning cable
16
to reach the work area surrounding the opening to the drain. Because in such a case the work area is a distance away from the mechanism
10
, the user cannot readily reach the control arm
46
to adjust the drain cleaning apparatus among the various operating positions.
Another prior art drain cleaning apparatus is described in Rutkowski, U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,588. The drain cleaning apparatus described in Rutkowski includes a rotatable motor driven cable drum carrying a drain cleaning cable that is mounted on a frame. Rutkowski describes a manually operable cable feed device that facilitates the selective feeding of the drain cleaning cable outwardly and inwardly relative to the cable drum. The cable feed device comprises a tubular housing through which the drain cleaning cable is to be fed. The tubular housing includes a pair of cable driving rollers fixedly mounted thereon such that the axis of each driving roller is skewed both horizontally and vertically relative to the central axis of the tubular housing. The tubular housing further includes a radially extending bore which receives a drive actuating roller support member having a drive actuating roller mounted on the inner end thereof. The support member supports the drive actuating roller in the tubular housing such that the axis of the drive actuating roller is skewed horizontally with respect to the axis of the tubular housing, preferably at the same angle as that of the driving rollers. The drive actuating roller support member is mounted so as to be biased outward from the tubular housing. A lever and handle are provided with the tubular housing for engaging and working against the outward biasing of the support member so as to move the support member and attached drive actuating roller within the tubular housing.
In operation, when the lever is in a disengaged position such that the support member is biased away from the central axis of the tubular housing, there is no axial displacement of the cable because the drive actuating roller is disengaged from the cable. When the handle of the lever is displaced downwardly, the support member is displaced radially inward against the cable to displace the cable against the drive rollers. As a result of the skewed position of the rollers, they interengage with the rotating cable to cause the cable to be fed in a direction relative to the tubular housing which depends on the direction of rotation of the cable, which in turns depends on the direction of rotation on the cable drum. Rotation of the cable in one direction advances it axially outward from the tubular housing, while rotation of the cable in the opposite direction draws the cable axially inward. When it is desired to stop the displacement of the cable in either direction, the handle is released and the drive actuating roller disengages the cable.
According to one embodiment described in Rutkowski, the cable feed device is mounted on the outer end of a flexible guide tube assembly affixed to the cable drum. While this embodiment allows a user to start and stop displacement of a cable at the work area, i.e., the opening to the drain, the direction of displacement of the cable can only be controlled by controlling the direction of rotation of the cable drum
Silverman Arthur A.
Silverman Lee H.
Cole Laura C
Friedman Barry I.
Levy Philip E.
Metz Lewis LLC
Warden, Sr. Robert J.
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