DRAINAGE CONDUIT WITH COLLAPSIBLE COVER OR GRID

Abstract: The channel (1), intended for installing in the ground in order to collect rainwater or other liquids, is completed with a top-closing cover or grating (11) mounted on the former in a hinged manner, there being formed in the upper part of one of the channel (1) sides, a housing (9) for hinges (10) of the grating (11), housing (9) having a partly closed opening (8) for the purpose of permitting the mounting and dismounting of the grating (11) with respect to the channel (1) to be done solely with the former in the upright position, its dismounting being impossible in any other position. The housing (9) for the hinges (10) of the grating (11) is defined between the finishing piece (2) and a piece (5) fixed internally to said finishing piece (2). On the edge opposite the hinge, the grating (11) has a through-hole for holding a latch pin for locking said grating in the closed position.

Description: OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a continuous channel for collecting rainwater and/or liquids originating in different installations, completed with a grating or blank lid mounted on the top side in a manner whereby it folds down on the channel itself, grating or lid which is capable of occupying a horizontal or working position, covering the channel and permitting water to enter therein, or else occupy a folded-up or open position to permit any type of operation to be carried out on the channel. The object of the invention is to provide a continuous channel with its corresponding grating or lid, the latter being joined to the channel itself by means of a hinge which permits the pertinent closing or opening of the former without having to detach said grating or lid from the channel, having no requirement for lock-screws therefor. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Channels built into paving, for example, at the base of a garage ramp, in front of the garage door, and intended to collect rainwater, are completed with a grating which closes the channel opening. Said grating is usually fastened to the channel by means of screws which in some cases run through the actual frame of the grating and thread into the surround provided for this purpose in the opening of the channel, whilst in other cases the screws traverse the grating itself, as well as small plates or cross-pieces fitted transversally for this purpose in the channel, in order to fix said grating in position by means of corresponding nuts threaded onto the screws in question. In this respect mention can be made of the French patent 1.599.317 and European patent 0 151 684 A1, in which a description is provided of a water-collecting channel with the form described above, with a grating which, in the first case, is held to the opening of the channel by means of some vertical pins joined to the grating and having their lower extremity finished in a sideways extension, so that on turning said pins said extension fits into a ready-made recess in the surround of the channel, thereby achieving the fastening or clamping of the grating to the channel, whilst in the European patent, the fastening of the grating to the channel is done by means of screws passing through the former and threaded into small plates arranged transversally in the upper part or opening of the channel. In either case, the use of pieces of screw-work for fastening the grating in position, implies a series of problems or inconveniences, among which the following are to be found: Need to handle screws both for assembly and dismantling, with the ensuing loss of time. Screws are on occasion lost, or else the nuts, washers, etc., and in other cases, after completing the assembly, with the passing of time, the screws become rusted, to the extent that dismantling sometimes is made impossible. The separating of the grating from the channel has to be done manually, and as a result of the weight of the latter in wide, large-capacity channels, at least two or more persons are necessary to perform such lifting or, in the event, assembly operations. Another Kind of drainage channel is also referred in patent US-A-5 017 039. This document presents a covering for a ground opening that includes a frame in which a cover can be inserted. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The continuous drainage channel with folding blank lid or grating proposed herein, has been conceived in order to provide a fully satisfactory solution to the aforementioned drawbacks, on the basis of a straightforward and effective solution, based on the grating or lid being mounted on the channel in a foldable manner, i.e., it can rotate by being fixed to a hinge, specifically at two points, in order to achieve perfect alignment in the turning motion of the grating with respect to the channel, both when opening and closing. Hereinafter when mention is made of the grating, it is to be understood it is also applicable to a blank lid. The folding action of the grating and/or lid hinge with respect to the channel does not require the use of screws and makes possible its opening and closing without having to remove the grating, only rotate it upwards or downwards, which can be achieved easily and without force. Loss of screws does not occur, nor problems with screws rusting, nor is time lost in assembly and/or dismantling or, in other words, in opening and closing operations, etc. As for the channel itself, this is formed preferably from polymeric concrete and in contact with its upper edge, along one of its longitudinal sides, it comes ready-fitted with a piece or surround to which is fastened, by means of screws and indefinitely, a second piece which with the former determines an upwardly-oriented housing with an upper narrowed mouth opening, which permits entry of the grating hinge pin, said entry only being possible when the grating is in its fully upright position, and impeding its exit when said grating is folded downwards into the horizontal position, or also when rotated to an open position in which it is at an angle of 135°, i.e., greater than 90°, detachment of the grating from the channel is likewise prevented. In contact with the opposite side, the grating rests directly on another cast surround similar to the hinge side surround, but having the peculiarity that it has a deformation on a basis of which, and complementing the piece already mentioned, the housing with an upper narrowed mouth opening is determined for the hinge. However, on this side, the grating has a through-hole for a transversal bolt which can slide and is be fitted into a blind hole provided for this purpose on that side of the channel, specifically in the finishing piece of said side. Thus, the grating performs its function like any standard grating, but having the advantage that it is held to the channel without any need for screws or other elements, and is furthermore capable of being opened without any requirement for dismantling or detaching from the channel, it only being necessary to rotate it upwards. It is to be pointed out that the grating, independently of the structure which it has, shall incorporate non-slip dressing and safety stops, both where it rests against the finishing pieces that form the frame of the channel and on the upper outside facing of said grating. For those cases in which it is necessary to raise the level of the pavement, the channel can be retained without any alteration whatsoever, even with its upper and initial finishing piece or surround, there being for this purpose ancillary fittings which constitute a type of shoe similar to the special upper finishing pieces of the channel which, in this case of raising the level of the pavement, would be positioned on the top of the channel, fulfilling the same functions, by having similar characteristics, as those originally fitted on the channel opening, and on which ancillary pieces by way of shoes the grating in question is mounted. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to complete the description being made and to assist in a better understanding of the features of the invention, in accordance with a preferred example of a practical embodiment thereof, a set of drawings is attached in which are shown, for illustrative but not restrictive ends, the following: Figure 1.- Shows a transversal cross section of a channel with its corresponding grating in the closed position, said section being level with one of the hinges and level with the bolt, all of this being in accordance with the object of the invention. Figure 2.- Shows a similar view to that of the previous figure, in this case with the grating in the open position. Figure 3.- Shows a plan, or top view of the grating. Figure 4.- Shows in detail, a section with the ancillary pieces employed when the pavement level is raised, said complements being positioned superimposed on the original upper finishing pieces of the channel. PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION As can be seen from the figures of reference, the channel of the invention, having the general reference (1), comes already fitted with the pieces (2-2'), said pieces being step-shaped in both cases, the first having an elbow (3) defining a short inward-projecting lip. On said finishing piece (2) is fastened, by means of screw bolts (4), a special piece (5) which in part is flush against the internal side facing of the finishing piece (2) and, in part, via a horizontal web (6), rests on the step defined in the former, piece (5) which also comes with an extension (7) situated opposite the elbow (3) of piece (2), defining the upper narrowed mouth opening (8) of the housing (9) formed between the repeated pieces (2) and (5), with the particularity that through said throat (8) it is possible to insert/extract the pin (10) of a hinge of the grating (11), so that in the horizontal or closed position of the latter, as is shown in figure 1, it proves impossible to detach it from the channel (1), i.e., the element or elements of the hinge (10) cannot come out through the throat opening (8) of the housings (9) in which they are lodged, a similar situation existing in the fully open position as is shown in figure 2, said position corresponding to a folded-back angle of 135°. In order to insert and extract the pin of the hinge (10) through the throat opening (8), the grating (11) has to be completely upright. On the opposite side, the corresponding piece (2') is of identical shape to that of finishing piece (2), but lacks the lip (3), so that on this piece (2') the opposite edge (12) of the grating (11) rests directly, in which edge there is a transversal orifice (13) in which is situated a bolt (14) or latch pin which fits into a blind hole provided for this purpose in the finishing piece (2') of the channel (1), said hole having reference number (15). The grating (11), in addition to the pair of hinge (15) elements mentioned above, and the orifice (13) for the bolt (14) or latch pin, can come with non-slip safety stops (16), as well as with slots (17), also anti-slipping. Returning to the bolt (14) or latch pin, this can be operated manually in order to fasten the grating (11) to the channel (1), in the former's closed position, as well as to unlock it, it being furthermore possible to incorporate a spring which acts to retain said bolt (14) in the hole (15) of the channel. Finally, it is to be noted that if, with the passage of time, it becomes necessary to raise the pavement or ground level, due to it having been poorly maintained, and as a consequence of such repair work it results that the inspection holes gradually become lower than the new pavement levels, in anticipation of this problem, provision is made of ancillary pieces (2a) and (2'a), like finishing pieces, having the same shape as the original pieces (2-2') mentioned previously, so that when raising of the pavement occurs, as is shown in figure 4, it is sufficient to insert said ancillary pieces (2a-2'a) mounting them directly on top of finishing pieces (2-2'), the former then constituting the means of assembling the pertinent grating (11), in the same manner as previously explained, it being possible to see in the said figure 4 how, on top of the ancillary piece (2a) and marked with dashed lines, the piece (5) would be mounted, in like manner to that explained above, to constitute the housing for the grating hinges.

Claims: Drainage channel with a collapsible upper closing grating or cover hingedly or pivotally mounted on the channel, the channel being of the type installed in the ground for collecting rainwater or other liquids, channel which is continuous and is provided with a corresponding top-closing cover or grating having hinge elements characterised in that in contact with the opening of the channel (1) finishing pieces (2-2') are provided for mounting the grating (11), having the particularity that to finishing piece (2) is fixed a part (5) which forms with the former a housing (9) with an upper narrowed mouth opening (8), through which it is possible to insert the hinge elements (10) of the grating, (11), when the latter is in the upright position, preventing the removing of the grating (11) from the housing (9) located between the pieces (2) and (5) when the grating (11) is in any position other than upright. Drainage channel with a collapsible upper grating or cover, in accordance with claim 1, characterised in that the piece (2') mounted on the side opposite to the piece (2) in which are fitted the elements of hinge (10) for the grating (1), has an orifice (15) for the insertion of a latch pin or bolt (14) mounted transversally in a sliding arrangement in an orifice or passage (13) provided for this purpose in the edge of the grating (11) opposite to that of the grating hinge. Drainage channel with a collapsible upper grating or cover, in accordance with any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the finishing piece (2) is stepped and at its upper end has an inwardly pointing elbow (3) facing an extension (7) in the piece (5) fastened to the former, determining between said elbow (3) and extension (7) the partly closed opening (8) of the housing (9) in which are fitted the hinge elements (10) of the grating (11), provision having been made for a horizontal web (6) of the piece (5) to rest on said piece (2). Drainage channel with a collapsible upper grating or cover, in accordance with claim 2, characterised in that the piece (2') has a stepped shape, the corresponding edge of the grating (11) resting on the step of said piece (2'). Drainage channel with a collapsible upper grating or cover, in accordance with any of the preceding claims, characterised in that ancillary pieces (2a-2'a) are also included with the intention that, in the event of works which raise the level of the pavement, they can be mounted on top of the original finishing pieces (2-2'), the former then constituting the grating (11) assembly means.

Inventors: TAMAYO ARANGUREN ESTHER, TAMAYO ARANGUREN, ESTHER
Applicants: ULMA HORMIGON POLIMERO S COOP, ULMA HORMIGON POLIMERO, S. COOP.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: E02D29
IPC codes: E03F5, E02D29