GB2302577A

GB2302577A - Drain plug

Info

Publication number: GB2302577A
Application number: GB9613040A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Holt
Original assignee: TRANSORGANICS Ltd
Current assignee: TRANSORGANICS Ltd
Priority date: 1995-06-22
Filing date: 1996-06-21
Publication date: 1997-01-22
Anticipated expiration: 2016-06-21
Also published as: GB9512680D0; GB9613040D0; GB2302577B

Abstract

The drain plug (1) comprises an expandable sealing member (4) which is adapted to seal an exit of a drain (20) upon insertion thereinto and a means for extracting effluent from the drain to a collector (not shown) through the exit whilst the drain is sealed. The extracting means comprises a pipe (2) one end of which is surrounded by the sealing member (4), a valve (10,10a,10b,12) adapted to control the flow of effluent out of the drain and an adapter (18) suitable for attachment to a collector or extracting means such as a vacuum pump. The sealing member (4) is expanded by compressed air via a connector (14,16).

Description

Improved Drain Plug This application relates to drain plugs and particularly but not exclusively to plugs for field drains and/or chemical effluent drains.

Farming methods have become more and more intensive over the past few decades as efficiency and increased productivity have become increasingly important to farmers. An ever increasing volume of chemicals are now being used in agriculture as fertilizers, weed killers and pesticides. These chemicals do substantially increase productivity of the wheat, grain, barley or the like produced but can cause serious damage to wildlife and in particular can polute streams and waterways if they leak out of fields.

One of the biggest problems of this type occurs if chemical effluent enters into a field drain which empties out into a nearby stream or waterway. The operator spreading the chemicals or the landowner on whose land the pollutants originated may subsequently face the prospect of court cases and substantial fines if/when the original source of the pollution is located by, for example, regulatory bodies such as the National Rivers Authority in UK and their equivalents in countries around the world.

Similarly factories, particularly those which produce toxic byproducts during product manufacture, can cause serious pollution by leakage of or dumping waste, by-products and/or toxic chemicals directly into drains which lead to streams or waterways without any pretreatment to extract or neutralise the pollutants.

At present if it becomes apparent that a potentially dangerous chemical effluent is being discharged from a drain into a stream or waterway there are basically three options which can be taken: 1) The effluent discharge can be allowed to drain away in which case the landowner or operator must wait and see if he is caught, in which case he/she is liable to the severest penalties due to their lack of action. This of course is the worst possible senario and should be avoided wherever possible.

2) A peice of clay or the like can be inserted into the exit of the drain to prevent further leakage.

3) A drain plug may be inserted into the exit of the drain to prevent any further leakage.

Of the latter two cases (2) tends to be the normal course of action unless a drain plug is to hand in which case (3) may be the best option.

There are however two main problems which occur. Firstly, in both option 2 and 3 the effluent is still present in the drain and the clay or plug will have to be removed at some stage in which case as there is no means of extracting all the effluent prior to re-opening the drain at least some of the effluent wjflbe released into the stream or waterway when the exit is reopened. Secondly, in the case of the drain plug, commercially available drain plugs are substantially cylindrical and rigid, hence if the plug available is not of the appropriate diameter then effluent will slowly leak out of the drain despite the presence of the drain plug.For example commercially available field drains tend to be internally ribbed in which case leakage of effluent would occur even if a commerially available drain plug were inserted into the exit of the drain by seaping out through the gaps between adjacent ribs into which a rigid plug will not fit.

This invention seeks to overcome the problem of leakage from a field or effluent drain when a plug is inserted into a drain exit and seeks to provide a means of removing effluent from the drain without leakage into a stream or waterway or the like.

This invention provides a drain plug comprising an expandable sealing member which is adapted to seal an exit from a drain and a means for extracting the contents of the drain through the exit whilst the drain is sealed such that upon expansion of the expandable member the contents of the drain are prevented from leaving the drain through the exit other than by way of the extracting means.

In a preferred embodiment the extracting means comprises a pipe one end of which is inserted together with the sealing member into a drain and a valve means which is adapted to control the extraction of the drain contents through the pipe such that when the drain is sealed by way of the sealing member and the valve is shut nothing in the drain is able to leave through the exit, but when the valve is open the contents of the drain may be extracted through the pipe.

Preferably the pipe exit remote from the sealing member is connectable to an extraction means such as a vacuum pump which extracts the contents of the drain and passes the effluent to a detachable collector which can be periodically emptied to ensure that the contents of the drain are disposed of safely without any prospect of leakage into an adjacent stream or waterway.

Most preferably the expandable member is a hollow annular tube made of an expandable material of a type which is able to change shape such that upon expansion the tube may be able to seal the drain irrespective of the presence of any ridges, or crevices or the like in the exit region of the drain adjacent the tube.

The annular tube may fit around a central pipe and may have fixed plates or the like at adjacent both of its ends to substantially prevent longitudinal movement of the sealing tube along the pipe.

The expansion of the expandable member may be actuated by means of the introduction of compressed air into the tube or by means of the operation of a foot pump connected to the tube by way of an air valve. The air valve may have an adapter which is connectable with the pump or air supply after the plug has been inserted into the drain.

If the plug is of a design whereby the pipe is not in contact with the floor of the drain when the drain has been sealed a secondary pipe may be connected to the pipe prior to insertion of the plug into the drain.

Preferably the expandable annular tube comprises a natural or svnthetic rubber but can be of any material which is sufficiently expandable to seal the drain and which is substantially chemically resistant in particular to the chemical effluent in the drain. Hence it may be necessary to have a set of interchangeable tubes of differing composition available so that the tube having the most appropriate composition in relation to its chemical resistant properties is utilised in order to enhance the sealing properties of the tube. The material does not need to be permanently chemically resistant. Any material which will be sufficiently resistant to enable the plug to prevent release of the effluent until all the effluent has been drawn off to the collector may be used.

Similarly the material used for the pipe and all other sections of the unit preferably should be chemically resistant to the chemical effluent which is likely to be extracted from a drain using the equipment of the invention to further ensure that the effluent is not allowed to enter into a nearby stream or waterway.

Optionally a bleed valve may be utilised to allow air into the drain should the need arise.

The valve controlling the extraction of the effluent is normally kept in the closed position particularly when inserting the plug into the drain to ensure that no effluent is able to pass through the pipe until all fittings are in place and the effluent can be drawn off safely with out leakage. Once the extraction equipment has been fitted the valve may be opened and the effluent removed to the collector and of course should the collector become full it would be easy to close the valve drain off all the effluent passing through pipe and change collector units and finally recommence the extraction of effluent along the pipe by re- opening the valve.

The plug may be made to any appropriate size so that a number of plugs of different sizes may be available for use at any one time in order that the most appropriately sized plug for a drain can be inserted in a drain exit at a moments notice.

Once effluent has been extracted from the drain the plug may be removed, cleaned and then stored for use until it is next required.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig.1 is a perspective view of the drain plug; and Fig.2 is a view of the drain plug in use.

Referring to Fig. 1 the plug 1 comprises pipe 2 having an annular hollow rubber tube 4 on one end. Longitudinal movement of tube 4 along pipe 2 is prevented by plates 6 and 8 which also act to protect the tube from being punctured particularly during insertion into a drain.

Valve 10 controls fluid flow through pipe 2 by manual rotation of rotatable handle 12 back and forth through 90 degrees to allow or prevent fluid flow through pipe 2 as is required. An adapter 14 for an air valve connected to tube 4 is fitted to plate 6 to enable a compressed air canister or a foot pump (not shown) or any other appropriate pump to be attached to free end 16 of adapter 14 so that tube 4 may be expanded to seal a drain once the plug 1 has been inserted therein.

In this embodiment the valve comprises two diagonally joined halves 10 and 10b which are fixed together by screws 11. However, it is to be understood that any suitable valve apparatus may be utilised providing it is adequate for the needs of the present system.

An adapter 18 is fitted to the end of the pipe 2 remote from plate 8 in order for the pipe to be fitted to an extraction unit for extracting effluent from the drain as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2. The adaptor may be of any appropriate type and may be lockable to pipe 2 in any suitable way which is able to maintain the connection to pipe 2 under vacuum. In the present embodiment the adapter is attached to the pipe by means of safety clips 19.

Fig. 2 shows the plug of the present invention inserted in a drain 20 with an uneven inner surface 22. A flexible extension pipe 24 has been attached to the end of pipe 2 adjacent plate 8 so that all the effluent in drain 20 can be extracted without leaving substantially any residual effluent in drain 20 prior to removal of drain plug 1.

In use, if a farmer or landowner or the like was applying chemical sprays or slurry onto a field and/or a sludge was being applied into the ground using a umbelical sludge injector or the like and some of the chemicals being applied entered the field drainage system, the drain plug of the present invention could be swiftly inserted into the relevant drain exit to prevent the release of further effluent into a local stream or waterway. This type of incident may occur if for example a sludge injector, which injects sludge into the ground below ground level, cracks, breaks or enters a drainage pipe in a field and the sludge being applied seeps into the pipe.

Once the farmer, landowner or the like becomes aware of the seepage of chemical effluent into drainage system or believes that there is a danger that this may occur he/she may immediately insert a drain plug of the present invention into the relevant drain exit to prevent any further release of effluent or any release of effluent at all into the stream or waterway. Alternatively if it is considered that there is a distinct liklihood that such effluent release may occur one or more of the plugs may be inserted into drain exits leading from the field prior to commencement of any spraying or sludge injecting operation.

Once the drain exit has been located plug 1 is manually inserted into the exit of drain 20 with tube 4 in its unexpanded state ensuring before insertion that valve 10 is in the closed position in order to prevent the release of effluent during the insertion process.

Should an extension pipe 24 be required it is connected to the end of pipe 2 prior to insertion into the drain. Once the plug has been inserted tube 4 is expanded by attachment of a compressed tank or a foot pump or the like to free end 16 of adaptor 14 and operation thereof.

The pumping means is attached to connector 16 and operated until the drain is completely sealed. Once sealed an extraction means, such as for example a vacuum pump/effluent collector, is fitted to adaptor 18 and the effluent in the drain may be extracted by operation of the extraction means to enable the safe removal of the effluent from the drain.

Having extracted all the effluent in the drain, the vacuum pump and collector are disconnected, excess air or the like in tube 4 is released so that tube 4 returns to its original size and the plug can be simply removed for cleaning and reuse.

It should be understood that the plug of the present invention may be adapted to prevent any type of effluent from leaving any type of drain for example as described above an appropriately inserted plug may be used to prevent the leak of an untreated chemical effluent from a factory drain in order to prevent the pollution of a stream or waterway.

Furthermore it should be appreciated that although the examples described above relate to drains the plug of the present invention can be adapted for use in plugging holes in tanks or other containers to prevent leakage of effluent for example if a rusty slurry tank or cistern or the like were to spring a leak a plug of the type described herein can be inserted into the hole. In such cases instead of plate 8 being inserted into the hole first, a conical head could be attached around the pipe 2 to aid insertion of the plug into the hole in the tank or container such that further leakage is prevented and the removal of the contents of the tank or container can be undertaken in a controlled manner.

Claims

1) .A drain plug comprising an expandable sealing member which is adapted to seal an exit of a drain and a means for extracting the contents of the drain through the exit whilst the drain is sealed such that upon expansion of the expandable member effluent in the drain is prevented from leaving the drain through the exit other than by way of the extracting means.

2) A drain plug in accordance with claim 1 wherein the extracting means comprises a pipe having a first end which is insertable together with the sealing member into a drain.

3) A drain plug in accordance with either of claims 1 or 2 wherein the extracting means comprises a valve means which is adapted to be moveable to and from an open and closed position, to control extraction of effluent from the drain.

4) A drain plug in accordance with either of claims 2 or 3 wherein the pipe comprises a second end remote from the sealing member which is connectable to an extraction means.or the like.

5) A drain plug in accordance with claim 4 wherein the extraction means is a vacuum pump.

6) A drain plug in accordance with either of claims 4 or 5 wherein the extraction means is connectable to a detachable collector which can be periodically emptied to ensure that the contents of the drain are disposed of safely without any prospect of leakage into an adjacent stream or waterway.

7) A drain plug in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the expandable member is a hollow annular tube made of an expandable material of a type which is able to change shape such that upon expansion the tube may be able to seal the drain irrespective of the presence of any ridges, or crevices or the like in the exit region of the drain adjacent the tube.

8) A drain plug in accordance with claim 7 wherein the tube is adapted to be fitted around a central pipe.

9) A drain plug in accordance with either of claims 7 or 8 wherein a fixed plate or the like is fitted to the plug adjacent one or both ends of the tube and which is/are adapted to substantially prevent longitudinal movement of the tube along the pipe.

10) A drain plug in accordance with any one of claims 7-9 wherein expansion of the expandable member may be actuated by introduction of compressed air or the like into the tube or by means of a foot pump connected to the tube by way of an air valve.

11) A drain plug in accordance with claim 10 wherein the air valve comprises an adapter which is connectable with the pump or air supply after the plug has been inserted into the drain.

12 A drain plug in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the extracting means is adapted to receive an extension.pipe suitable for insertion in the drain prior to insertion of the plug into the drain.

13) A drain plug in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the expandable sealing member is made from a material which is chemically resistant to effluent in the drain.

14) A drain plug in accordance with claim 13 wherein the expandable sealing member comprises a natural or synthetic rubber.

15) A drain plug in accordance with claim 13 wherein a plurality of expandable members may be interchangeably utilised, selection of the appropriate member being determined by the contents of the drain effluent.

16) A drain plug in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the extracting means is formed from a material chemically resistant to the effluent contained in the drain.

17) A drain plug in accordance with any preceding claim and comprising a bleed valve suitable for allowing air into the drain should the need arise.

18) A method of removing effluent from a drain utilising a drain plug in accordance with any preceding claim.

19) A method of extracting effluent from a drain by utilisation of a drain plug substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.

20) A drain plug substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.