Patent ID: 8528743
Filing Date: 2013-09-10
Classification: B01D

Abstract:
1. A strainer for installation on an existing tubular drain outlet in the wall of a container having an interior and exterior, the existing tubular drain outlet having an externally threaded tubular portion disposed on the interior of the container for threadedly receiving a nut and a central fluid passageway extending therethrough in communication with the interior of the container and the exterior of the container, the strainer comprising: a generally flat circular backing plate having a central axis, an offset larger hole therethrough disposed in offset relation to said central axis sized to receive the threaded portion of the existing tubular drain outlet therethrough and allow relative rotation therebetween, a plurality of smaller holes therethrough, and snap fit cover engagement means on the circumference thereof for releasably engaging a cover; a generally dome-shaped cover having a dome-shaped end surface and a generally cylindrical peripheral side wall defining an interior, a plurality of holes extending through said dome-shaped end surface, a plurality of circumferentially spaced inwardly recessed slots extending from said dome-shaped surface of said cover and terminating near a bottom of said peripheral side wall in inwardly spaced relation relative thereto defining openings into said interior of said cover at a terminal end of said recessed slots, and snap fit backing plate engagement means thereon for releasably engaging said cover engagement means of said backing plate, said dome-shaped end surface and said generally cylindrical peripheral side wall configuration of said cover preventing debris and flat objects from covering all of said holes, said slots, and said openings of said cover; said snap fit cover engagement means on said backing plate circumference comprising a circumferential bead, and said snap fit backing plate engaging means on said cover comprising an annular channel in an interior surface of said cylindrical peripheral side wall of said cover, or vice versa, configured to removably engage said cover on said backing plate in snap-fit relation; and a nut adapted to be threadedly engaged on the threaded portion of the existing tubular drain outlet; said backing plate adapted to be removably mounted on the existing tubular drain outlet with the threaded portion of the tubular drain outlet extending through said offset larger hole in said backing plate and said nut threadedly engaged thereon; and said cover removably engaged in snap fit relation on said backing plate to surround the externally threaded portion of the existing tubular drain outlet, said nut, and the central fluid passageway of the existing tubular drain outlet; wherein said smaller holes of said backing plate and said holes, said recessed slots and said openings of said dome-shaped cover allow a liquid in the interior of the container to pass therethrough into said cover interior and through the central fluid passageway of the existing tubular drain outlet to the exterior of the container, while preventing debris and objects from entering said cover interior and clogging or restricting the existing tubular drain outlet; and said offset larger hole through said backing plate is offset relative to said central axis a sufficient distance such that said cover and said backing plate are rotatable as a unit eccentrically about the existing tubular drain outlet to engage a circumferential portion of said generally cylindrical peripheral side wall of said cover on a bottom wall of the container to prevent debris and objects residing on the bottom wall of the container from covering said slots and openings disposed on the engaged circumferential portion of said side wall while allowing liquids to pass therethrough into said cover interior and through the central fluid passageway of the existing tubular drain outlet to the exterior of the container.