Abstract
Toward the enabling of cleaning schedules involving one or more chemical treatments for the disinfection of healthcare room sink drainsets to avoid nosocomial infections arising from the vectoring of drain pathogenic bacteria, a blockable novel connector is presented to connect a sink drainset to an existing wall stub leading to a drainage stack behind the wall. Multiple chemical soaks for the drainset can be enabled through elaboration of the blocking plug temporarily inserted into the adapter. Two configurations, sideways and upward, are possible to connect the wallbend straight to the connector, the upward allowing for orthogonal connection between the straight and the receiving hub of the connector whatever the angle an existing wall stub has to the wall upon which the sink is hung. Additional blocking plug technology can be enabled.
Claims
1. A ninety degree connector to connect a downstream straight tube of a sink drainset to a horizontal wall stub of pipe emanating from a healthcare room wall connected on the downstream end to a drainage stack leading to a sewer, and, a cleanout port on the connector sharing a centerline with the wall-stub and diametrically opposed to the downstream connection port of the connector, closed with either a cleanout cap or a blocking plug connected by one of a plurality of methods including but not limited to a sealing thread mate, where the blocking plug cylinder blocks egress of drainwater plug from the upstream port of the connector draining perpendicular to the centerline of the blocking plug.
2. As in claim 1, excepting that a second ninety degree elbow is attached to the upstream port of the connector using a rotating compression basket nut and seal threading to an external thread on the upstream port of the connector such that the center line of the upstream port is vertical and parallel to the heathcare room wall.
3. As in claim 1 or claim 2, with a blocking plug configured to block or allow egress of drainwater when the plug is inserted into and connected to the cleanout port, by means of rotation of the plug in its inserted position.
4. As in claim 1 or claim 2, with a blocking plug configured with a plurality of antimicrobial technology including but not limited to pathogen diagnostic technology or pathogen kill technology.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] In the drawings, which illustrate embodiments of the invention:
[0016] FIG. 1 shows a front view of a sink and trap in a side connection configuration;
[0017] FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of sink and trap in a side connection configuration with a cleanout cap on;
[0018] FIG. 3 shows an isometric view of sink and trap in a side connection configuration with cleanout cap off;
[0019] FIG. 4 shows an isometric view sink in trap in side connection configuration with a blocker out;
[0020] FIG. 5 shows an isometric view sink in trap in side connection configuration with a blocker inserted;
[0021] FIG. 6 shows a front view of sink and trap in an upward connection configuration;
[0022] FIG. 7 shows a side view of sink and trap in an upward connection configuration;
[0023] FIG. 8 shows a lateral cutaway of side detail of closeable connection showing blocked egress of upstream drain;
[0024] FIG. 9 shows a lateral cutaway of side detail of closeable connection showing open egress of upstream drain;
[0025] FIG. 10 shows a front detail view of connector in upward connection configuration;
[0026] FIG. 11 shows an isometric view of sink and trap in upward connection configuration with cleanout cap in;
[0027] FIG. 12 shows an isometric view of sink and trap in upward connection configuration with cleanout cap out;
[0028] FIG. 13 shows an isometric view of sink and trap in upward connection configuration with blocker out;
[0029] FIG. 14 shows an isometric view of sink and trap in upward connection configuration with blocker inserted;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0030] In some embodiments, aspects of the invention described in this Application comprise a system with a water supply in the form of a faucet, a perforated vessel in the form of a sink, and a drain system connected to a usually vertical drainage stack pipe contained in the wall in front of which is installed the sink. In the figures following, the water supply is not pictured and the drainage stack, either horizontal or vertical behind the wall, is also left out, owing in both cases to the diversity of solutions not relevant to this Invention.
[0031] In FIG. 1, a sink 3 is attached to a wall 1. The tailpiece of the sink drain 5 is attached slidingly with a compression seal tightened by a nut 7 threaded onto an external thread ring around the top of an upstream expansion hub 9 on a U-bend 11 of pipe or tube to allow adjustment of the vertical position of the trap and downstream drainset to the ideal position determined by the vertical position of the downstream connection to a stub of pipe protruding from the wall, also called a wall stub out, that leads to the vertical drainstack leading to a downstream sewer. The U-bend 11 is also equipped with a downstream rotating juncture 13 tightened with a nut 15 that allows for angle orientation of the downstream wallbend 17 in a nearly horizontal plane. A wallbend 17 is comprised of a ninety degree bend 19 and straight 21. Usually, the wall bend is one piece; in FIG. 1 the straight 21 is a separate piece slidingly attached to a upstream ninety degree elbow 23 with another compression seal tightened with a nut 25 contiguous with an expansion 27 that also allows for horizontal adjustment. The downstream end of the horizontal straight 21 is attached to the connector Invention 29 described in this Application by a plurality of means including but not limited to a compression seal (shown here) or soldering of brass or solvent cementing of plastic of the straight tube or pipe into the connector hub. A cleanout cap 31 is displayed in this configuration. The nut 35 tightens a sliding compression seal, just one of the many means of connecting a tube or pipe to a hub.
[0032] FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of sink and trap in a side connection where 1 is the wall upon which the sink 3 is mounted, and in the inner bowl 37 of the sink begins a drain system connected to the connector 29 Invention described in this Application stopped up by a sealing cleanout cap 31 providing a plurality of uses including but not limited to cleaning out of the drain system with plumbing cleaning tools. The downstream hub of the connector is connected to a wall stub out 39 of tube or pipe emanating horizontally from the wall 1 perforated by a hole 41 and connected to a usually vertical drainage stack pipe, not shown.
[0033] FIG. 3 shows an isometric view of a sink 3 the drain of which is ultimately connected to a connector 29 constituting this Invention. A cleanout cap 31 is threaded off an external thread ring 43 on the connector 29.
[0034] FIG. 4 shows an isometric view of a sink the drain of which is connected to the connector 29 in this Invention. The cleanout cap is replaced with a blocker that threads into the thread ring 43 on the connector 29. Here the blocker is not yet connected.
[0035] FIG. 5 shows an isometric view of a sink 3 the drain of which is connected to the connector 29 in this Invention. The cleanout cap is replaced with a blocker 45 that threads over the thread ring on the connector 29. Here the blocker 45 has been threaded over the connector, although a plurality of connection methods is possible. The effect of this blocker 45 is to block the downstream egress of chemical solutions poured into the sink. The sealing off of the drain need not be as thorough as with a valve, for the following reason. In order to get a near perfect seal such as found on a packed valve, the packing of the valve must be quite tight. Packing is comprised of seals that are compressed to effect seal on a rotary moving part. This makes the turning of the valve difficult. For tubes as large as the inch and one quarter or inch and one half found normally in sink plumbing, the amount of torque required to turn a handle under such sealing packing, particularly in older drainsets, is near the limit of hand strength to turn. This in itself is not a problem, but the reality of drainsets in any healthcare setting is that the drainset itself, the drainage stack behind the wall, and the various connections found within, were never designed to withstand torque. Indeed, with years of cleaning with strong cleaning chemicals, wallbend wall thickness can approach that of paper. Cracks in the drainset introduced by torqueing in front of the wall can be fixed, but cracks introduced behind the wall can result not only in leaks, but in the spread of drain pathogens along unknowable paths throughout a healthcare building. Additionally, valves are dirty—it is impossible to keep bacteria out of a valve and just as impossible to sanitize it. Accordingly, it is the intention of this Invention to supply a blocker 45 that temporarily connects to the connector 29 by a plurality of methods including but not limited to a sealing threadmate connection, where the sealing of drainwater egress can be effected by a cylinder within cylinder blocking of a side port of the connector 29, constituting a sufficient seal to keep the disinfectant chemicals within drainset for a matter of hours instead of the days or longer that can be achieved with a packed valve.
[0036] In FIG. 6, a sink 3 is attached to a wall 1. The tailpiece of the sink drain 5 is attached slidingly with a compression seal tightened by a nut 7 threaded onto an external thread ring around the top of an upstream expansion hub 9 on a U-bend 11 of pipe or tube to allow adjustment of the vertical position of the trap and downstream drainset to the ideal position determined by the vertical position of the downstream connection to a wall stub out. The U-bend 11 is also equipped with a downstream rotating juncture 13 tightened with a nut 15 that allows for angle orientation of the downstream wallbend 17 in a nearly horizontal plane. A wallbend 17 is comprised of a ninety degree bend 19 and straight 21. Usually, the wall bend is one piece; in this figure the straight 21 is a separate piece slidingly attached to an upstream ninety degree elbow 23 with a compression seal tightened with a nut 25. The end of the straight 21 is attached to a distal downstream ninety degree elbow by a plurality of means including but not limited to a compression seal tightened by a nut 35. On the downstream, downward orientated port of a ninety degree elbow is another nut 33 that threads onto the thread ring on the sideport of the connector 29 Invention. A cleanout cap 31 is displayed in this configuration. There is a disadvantage to this configuration—the wall stub out position may be too high for the upward configuration of the connector to be used without placing the new sink on the wall too high off the floor. Otherwise, if the wall stub out is sufficiently low to accommodate the upward configuration of the connector 29, a great advantage is obtained by the introduction of a second rotating seal that is sealed by a compression nut 33. If the wall stub out is an angle originally introduced to accommodate the drainset of the sink 3 being replaced, this angle can be otherwise be impossible to match orthogonally, requiring poor plumbing practice such as flexible connectors to enable the straight 21 to be connected to the wall stub out. While not obvious in design, in practice this orientation challenge is common. In extreme cases, the entire wall 1 must be ripped out, and the hidden drainage stack rerouted with forty-five degree elbows to provide a wall stub out connection that lines up with the new sink. While possible, it is an expensive and time-consuming modification; as well, the disturbing of drywall is a risk for transmission of other airborne pathogens. Instead, use of the connector Invention described in this application can provide the three dimensional flexibility of orthogonal connectivity for a small price, with the advantage of the blockable functionality for chemical cleaning that works.
[0037] Toward an explanation of the blocking functionality, FIG. 7 shows a side view of sink and trap in the upward connection configuration. A wall 1 supports a sink 3, usually with additional support structures not shown here, and the connector 29 with a closed cleanout cap 31 is attached via a compression seal tightened with a nut 47 or other connection to a wall stub out 39 itself connected downstream to a usually vertical drainage stack. FIG. 7 also illustrates the three features of the connector 29: the cleanout port 61, the side upstream port 63, and the downstream port 65.
[0038] A detail of the same side view with a lateral cutaway 49 of the connector 29 described in this Application with a blocking plug 45 inserted into the cleanout port of the connector 29. The cutaway of the connector 29 wall reveals that the cylinder 51 of the blocking plug interrupts the flow of drainwater exiting the sink into the drain system. While the seal of an outer diameter controlled tube in an internal diameter controlled machined casting is a matter of the tolerance of machining chosen upon, with an appropriate tolerance an effective seal can be achieved that will keep a dose of chemical cleaners in the trap and wall bend for as long as takes to scour the bacteria off the internal walls of the drainset, avoiding the heavy torqueing as well as biofilm growth involved in a packed valve. The question of what to do with the blocker plug after cleaning depends on the materials used in the drainset. For example, a brass blocker plug can be sterilized in a bucket of chemicals, or in an autoclave, and then recycled.
[0039] FIG. 9 shows the same lateral cutaway 49 of the connector 29 where the plug connector has been removed, showing the upstream egress port 53 comprised by the internal diameter of the wallbend straight.
[0040] FIG. 10 shows a front detail of the connector invention in this Application in the upward connection configuration. A ninety degree elbow 49 is attached to the connector 29 in this Application by means of a nut 33 tightening against seal by threading with a clockwise tighten 55 onto a thread ring provided on the connector side port to supply a seal. This also allows for an orthogonal connection of the straight tube into the upstream hub 57 no matter what the angle of the wall stub out relative to the wall, without a flexible connection. In normal use the cleanout cap 31 threads in against a seal in the connector.
[0041] FIG. 11 shows an isometric view of the sink and drainset showing a cleanout cap 31 threaded onto the connector 29.
[0042] FIG. 12 shows an isometric view of the sink and drainset showing a cleanout cap 31 threaded out of the connector 29 to allow for insertion of a blocking plug.
[0043] FIG. 13 shows an isometric view of the sink and drainset showing a blocking plug 45 about to be inserted into the open port of the connector 29 described in this Application.
[0044] FIG. 14 shows an isometric view of the sink and drainset showing a blocking plug 45 inserted into the port of the connector 29 described in this Application, in preparation for cleaning treatment.
[0045] In practice, opening a drainset requires a bucket with bleach in the bottom to catch leaks when the blocking plug is removed and the cleanout cap is replaced.
[0046] Accordingly, this Application presents a connector invention that provides a blocking functionality that allows for a thorough soaking of the drainset with appropriate cleaning chemicals over the needed period of time. Since the wall bend is angled to drain, the blocking plug can be designed in a plurality of ways to allow for flow while still inserted. This would be important if a series of different chemical treatments is required. The blocking plug could be shifted from open to closed to open for each stage of chemical treatment without entirely removing the blocking plug until the end of the treatments. Additional technology such as pathogen diagnostic reagents, battery powered ultraviolet light are also possible.
