GB2302105A - Drainage gully - Google Patents

Abstract

A drainage gully 1 has an opening of circular internal or external periphery and a frame or adapter 3 having an underside provided with locating means 4, 5, 6 complementary to and adapted to mate with the circular opening of the gully 1. The frame or adapter 3 has on its upper side further locating means 8 defining a non-circular receptacle. A grating 12 of a complementary shape sits in the receptacle.

Description

DRAINAGE COMPONENT This invention relates to drain gullies.

Conventionally, a gully comprises a pot, set in the ground with an open upper end which is covered by a grille or grating to admit run-off water. If the pot has a circular cross section the grating may be circular to match the pot but this leads to problems of installation and appearance when the gully and grating are to be set in a paved area, that is to say an area covered with paving slabs, bricks or setts rather than concrete or asphalt. Alternatively, if the gully is square or rectangular at its opening, so that it can be placed relatively neatly within a paved area, it cannot be oriented freely, because its orientation is governed by the need to make the sides of the rectangular opening parallel to the paving slabs, bricks or the like. This can cause problems connecting the gully to a drain pipe.Furthermore, known products of this kind are generally unsatisfactory as to appearance and performance. It is difficult to achieve satisfactory co-operation between the grating and a fired clay gully. If a metal grating frame is used it seldom fits well into the clayware. Plastics gratings are too easily dislodged.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved combination of gully and grating.

According to the invention there is provided a gully which has an opening of circular internal or external periphery, a frame or adapter having an underside provided with locating means complementary to and adapted to mate with the circular opening of the gully, the frame or adapter having on its upper side further locating means defining a non-circular receptacle, and a grating of shape complementary to the said receptacle.

In use the frame or adapter is located on the gully top. Because the mating regions of these components are circular, their relative orientation can be selected freely and in particular, the orientation of the gully can be selected irrespective of the desired orientation of the drainage grating. The frame or adapter can be placed on the gully in whatever rotational position is appropriate to locate the grating in its desired orientation. In particular, a rectangular grating can be set accurately parallel to surrounding paving slabs, setts or the like.

The frame or adapter may have a lower region provided with a projecting flange, lug or the like to be buried in the ground. It is preferably so designed that only a narrow rim is visible at ground level around the grating. This provides an extremely neat appearance and minimises the risk of damage to the frame, since most of it can be protected by the ground and/or the paving.

In a modification one or more intermediate members may be provided between the frame or adapter, and the gully proper, provided that the frame or adapter, and the gully, can be rotated relative to one another about a vertical axis so that the orientation of the grating does not depend on that ofthe gully, and vice versa.

The grating may be hinged to the frame or adapter.

The frame or adapter can be made of plastics or metal. The grating can be made of plastics or metal.

Embodiments of the invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section through a yard gully assembly embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a frame used in the gully assembly of figure 1, and Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section through another form of gully assembly.

Figure 1 shows a clay gully pot 1 which is essentially a vertical cylinder with an open top, provided with a side outlet branch 2 for connection to a storm drain or sewer. Thus, the open upper end of the pot is bounded by a plain circular wall.

A metal or plastics frame 3 is seated on this circular wall. The plastics frame comprises a horizontal circular web 4 which rests on the top of the pot wall, downwardly extending parallel inner and outer circular cylindrical skirts 5,6 which define with the web 4 a downwardly facing cicular annular channel conforming to and seated over the upper end of the circular pot wall, and a horizontal external flange 7 on the outer skirt 6 below the web 4.

The circular form of the elements 4 to 7 can be seen in figure 2. Because of this the frame can be placed on the pot in any orientation.

Integral with and extending upwardly from the outer periphery of the web 4 is a peripheral wall 8 which with the web defines an upwardly facing seat. This seat can have any desired peripheral shape, in particular rectangular or square as shown in figure 2. In the illustrated embodiment it is tangential to the outer skirt 6 but this is not essential. It will be understood that, in the corner regions in which the upper seat extends outwardly beyond the skirt 6, as shown at 9 in figure 2, the wall 8 will be united with the skirt 6 and web 4 by integral horizontal plastics web-like frame regions.

It will be readily understood that this construction makes it possible to set the frame so that the sides of its rectangular upper seat 8 are parallel to surrounding paving slabs, setts or the like, irrespective of the orientation of the gully outlet 2.

In use, the upper edge of the side wall 8 is placed substantially flush with the surrounding paving, with the flange 7 buried, so that the plastics frame 3 is substantially entirely concealed and protected.

The frame may be provided with hinge points 10 to receive a hinged grating, and/or screw sockets 11 to receive screws for fastening a grating in place.

As shown in figure 1, a grating 12 is seated closely within the seat wall 8. This can be made of plastics or metal, depending on the expected traffic loading. It may be hinged and/or it may be screwed down. A seal ring may be provided between the grating and the web 4.

The described gully assembly is versatile and provides excellent appearance, because the grating can always be placed to suit its surroundings while the gully pot can always be placed as required for connection to the drainage system. The use of a frame or adapter between the grating and the gully pot means that pots of different depth and/or different underground form can be used with one and the same frame and grating, and vice versa.

Although the described gully assembly is particularly suitable for use in areas surfaced with paving slabs, setts and other discrete paving elements, it can of course also be used in areas surfaced with concrete, asphalt or other continuous material, in gravel, and indeed, in substantially all types of surface.

The gully pot may contain a trap, filter, weir or any other components desired to control the flow of water.

Figure 3 shows another gully assembly embodying the invention. This comprises a clayware or plastics gully pot 21, in the open upper end of which is a circular combined seal and adapter 22 which in turn seats and seals a frame 23. The underside of the frame 23 comprises a skirt 24 of circular cross section. Thus, the frame 23 can be set at any desired orientation relative to the pot 21, or conversely, the pot 21 can be set at any desired orientation to suit its connection to a drainage pipe 25 irrespective of the orientation of the frame 23.

The upper region 26 of the frame 23 is of square or rectangular profile, which is laterally offset from the axis of the circular lower region 24 to provide still greater flexibility in the placing ofit relative to the surrounding surfacing material. A square or rectangular grating 27 is a drop-in fit in the upper region 26 of the plastics frame 23.

The pot 21 contains a dip tube trap 28 depending from the adapter 22.

Claims (8)

1. A drainage component comprising a gully which has an opening of circular internal or external periphery, a frame or adapter having an underside provided with locating means complementary to and adapted to rotatably mate with the circular opening of the gully, the frame or adapter having on its upper side further locating means defining a non-circular receptacle, and a grating of shape complementary to the said receptacle.

2. A drainage component according to claim 1, wherein the frame or adapter comprises a lower region provided with a projecting flange, lug or the like to be buried in the ground.

3. A drainage component according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the frame or adapter is configured such that only a narrow rim thereof is visible at ground level above the grating during use.

4. A drainage component according to any preceding claim, wherein one or more intermediate members are provided between the said frame or adapter and the gully.

5. A drainage component according to any preceding claim, wherein the grating is hinged to the frame or adapter.

6. A drainage component according to any preceding claim, wherein the frame adapter is made of plastics or metal.

7. A drainage component according to any preceding claim, wherein the grating is made from plastics or metal.

8. A drainage component substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2; or Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.