Abstract:
A high powered blast or suction of fast moving water to remove solid blockage or obstructions from within sink, bathtub, shower, and toilet bowl drain pipes uses a piston mounted within a cylinder with specifically designed interchangeable rubber plunger tips connected to the end of the piston powered manual water pumping plunger. The present invention provides a high powered blast or suction of fast moving water to remove solid blockage or obstructions from within sink, bathtub, shower, and toilet bowl drain pipes using specifically designed interchangeable rubber plunger tips and a piston powered manual water pumping plunger.

Description:
[0001]    This invention relates to a plumbing plunger for injecting water into or retracting water from a drain pipe to clear a blockage. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Occasionally toilet drain blockage consists of articles children or other careless persons have flushed down toilets, for example toys, toothbrushes and the like. 
         [0003]    Toilet drain blockage is occurring more often now than ever before because of the new legislated use of low-flow toilets in Canada and the United States. These low-flow toilets use less than half the amount of flush water the old style toilets used. Many of these new low-flow toilets have completely different shaped bowls in which the conventional plunger is rendered useless. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    It is one object of the present invention to provide a multiple interchangeable rubber tipped piston powered plunger that provides a high powered blast of fast moving water to suck out or push plumbing drain pipe blockage or obstructions within sinks, bathtubs, showers, and toilets. 
         [0005]    According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a plumbing plunger system comprising: 
         [0006]    a plunger cylinder body; 
         [0007]    a plurality of sealing members each arranged to be separately mounted on a bottom end of the cylinder body with the others of the sealing members removed; 
         [0008]    each sealing member being shaped and arranged to engage or penetrate a drain hole of a plumbing device including a toilet, sink, shower drain, tub drain and floor drain; 
         [0009]    a double acting piston mounted in the cylinder and connected to a shaft having a handle at an upper end of the cylinder for manual movement of the piston within the cylinder: 
         [0010]    the sealing members each having an opening therethrough such that operation of the piston by the handle moves water between the drain hole and the cylinder for pumping water into the drain hole or extracting water from the drain hole. 
         [0011]    Preferably the shaft and handle are arranged such that the piston reaches the sealing member at the bottom of the body when fully inserted. 
         [0012]    Preferably the sealing member provides a stop surface for engaging and halting movement of the piston. 
         [0013]    Preferably the cylinder has a discharge opening above the piston for discharge of air and any water collecting above the piston, the discharge opening including a down-turned nozzle for guiding any discharge water down toward the drain hole. 
         [0014]    Preferably the piston includes top and bottom sealing surfaces for sealing in both directions. 
         [0015]    Preferably one of the sealing members comprises a cylinder portion with a bottom wall defining by an in-turned lip so as to form a sealing ring for surrounding the drain hole. 
         [0016]    Preferably said at least one of the sealing members includes a generally conical wall extending downwardly from a sealing ring. 
         [0017]    Preferably one of the sealing members includes a tube extending downwardly from a bottom wall of the sealing member which tube is offset to one side from a central axis of the cylinder. 
         [0018]    Preferably the tube has a bottom edge lying in a plane at an angle to a radial plane of the axis. 
         [0019]    Preferably there is provided an insert portion for engaging into the tube which has a pipe extending from the insert portion. 
         [0020]    Preferably the sealing member includes downwardly extending duct portion and a flange lying in a plane generally at right angles to the axis and projecting to one side of the sealing member at a position above a bottom end of the duct portion for covering a channel at the drain of the toilet bowl with the duct portion extending into the drain of the toilet bowl. 
         [0021]    Preferably one of the sealing members includes a converging neck portion and an extension tube extending from a bottom of the neck portion generally to at right angles to the axis for insertion into a pipe. 
         [0022]    Preferably the extension tube is flexible. 
         [0023]    Preferably the sealing member is arranged to be readily fastened onto and removed from the end of the cylinder. 
         [0024]    Preferably the sealing members are injection molded in a common family mold. 
         [0025]    According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a plumbing plunger system comprising: 
         [0026]    a plunger cylinder body; 
         [0027]    a plurality of sealing members each arranged to be separately mounted on a bottom end of the cylinder body with the others of the sealing members removed; 
         [0028]    a double acting piston mounted in the cylinder and connected to a shaft having a handle at an upper end of the cylinder for manual movement of the piston within the cylinder: 
         [0029]    the sealing members each having an opening therethrough such that operation of the piston by the handle moves water between the drain hole and the cylinder for pumping water into the drain hole or extracting water from the drain hole; 
         [0030]    a first one of the sealing members comprising a cylinder portion with a bottom wall defining by a lip so as to form a sealing ring for surrounding the drain hole; 
         [0031]    a second one of the sealing members comprising an upper sealing ring and a generally conical wall extending downwardly from a sealing ring coaxial to the cylindrical body, 
         [0032]    a third one of the sealing members comprising a cylindrical portion with a transverse bottom wall and a tube extending downwardly from the bottom wall of the sealing member which tube is offset to one side from a central axis of the cylinder. 
         [0033]    Preferably there is provided an insert portion for engaging into the tube of the third sealing member which has a pipe extending from the insert portion. 
         [0034]    Preferably there is provided a fourth one of the sealing members which includes downwardly extending duct portion and a flange lying in a plane generally at right angles to the axis and projecting to one side of the sealing member at a position above a bottom end of the duct portion for covering a channel at the drain of the toilet bowl with the duct portion extending into the drain of the toilet bowl. 
         [0035]    Preferably there is provided a fifth one of the sealing members which includes a converging neck portion and an extension tube extending from a bottom of the neck portion generally at right angles to the axis for insertion into a pipe. 
         [0036]    The present invention is a multiple interchangeable rubber tipped piston powered plunger that provides a high powered blast of fast moving water to suck out or push plumbing drain pipe blockage or obstructions within sinks, bathtubs, showers, and toilets. Occasionally toilet drain blockage consists of articles children have flushed down toilets such as toys, toothbrushes, etc. To address this type of toilet drain blockage removal the present invention provides piston delivered water based suction force that removes the obstruction right out of the toilet bowl drain. 
         [0037]    The device allows suctioning or forcing drain water with a manually operated piston powered water pumping plunger that comes complete with five purposely designed interchangeable rubber plunger tips. Four of the rubber plunger tips are self sealing. Two of the four self-sealing plunger tips adapt to two toilet bowl shapes. 
         [0038]    A first one of the self-sealing plunger tips is of a universal shape to work on sink and bath tub drain holes. 
         [0039]    A second plunger tip has been purposely designed to fit into all toilet bowl drains without the self-sealing factor. This plunger tip has a small flexible rubber hose that fits up inside the toilet drain to produce a direct suction or force onto the obstruction directly into the toilet bowl drain. This plunger tip is used when the toilet bowl drain is an odd shape which cannot be sealed or when the obstruction is stubborn and needs a close-up suction force. 
         [0040]    For solid obstructions stuck far up inside toilet bowl drain a third plunger tip has a long flexible hose or tube that friction fits onto the second of the tips thus elongating its reach. This special adapter hose is used to suck solid obstructions that are stuck deep inside the toilet drain system. 
         [0041]    A fourth plunger tip is purposely designed for cleaning clogged floor drains particularly shower floor drains. This plunger tip consists of a thick rubber ring that friction fits inside piston chamber tip and acts as a piston stopper and the outer surface acts as the sealing surface for the plunger end. Toilet drain blockage is occurring more often now than ever before because of the new legislated use of low-flow toilets in Canada and the United States. These low-flow toilets use less than half the amount of flush water the old style toilets used. Many of these new low-flow toilets have completely different shaped bowls some of which the conventional plunger is rendered useless. This new multi-tipped plunger system is designed to meet the plunging needs of the low-flow toilets and more. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0042]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a piston powered plunger according to the present invention with a first embodiment of changeable soft flexible rubber to shaped plunger tip. 
           [0043]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the plunger of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0044]      FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view of the plunger of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0045]      FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view of the plunger of  FIG. 1  in the exploded position of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0046]      FIG. 4A  is a side elevational view of the plunger of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0047]      FIG. 4B  is an isometric view of the piston of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0048]      FIG. 4  is a side view of a piston powered plunger with a soft flexible plunger tip that fits up inside of a toilet bowl drain hole trap. 
           [0049]      FIG. 5  is an isometric view of second tip for attachment to the plunger of  FIG. 1  designed for clearing clogged stand up shower door drains. 
           [0050]      FIG. 6  is an isometric view of the first tip of  FIG. 1  separate from the plunger of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0051]      FIG. 7  is an isometric view of third tip for attachment to the plunger of  FIG. 1  with a side plate for use with a toilet. 
           [0052]      FIG. 8  is an isometric view of fourth tip with an extension for insertion into a toilet pipe. 
           [0053]      FIG. 9  is an isometric view of fifth tip for attachment to the plunger of  FIG. 1  with an offset insert. 
           [0054]      FIG. 9A  is side elevational view of the fifth tip of  FIG. 9 . 
           [0055]      FIG. 9B  is an isometric view of the fifth tip of  FIG. 9  for attachment to the plunger of  FIG. 1  with an additional elbow attachment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0056]    The piston powered plunger as shown in  FIGS. 1 to 4  comprises a soft flexible rubber head  7  attached to a cylinder body  16  using a large stainless steel worm clamp  9  which is tightened or loosened by a driving head  8 . The elongated cylindrical body  16  of the piston powered plunger is made from PVC polyvinyl chloride or a clear plastic material. Preferably the wall thickness is ⅛ inch. 
         [0057]    The ⅛ inch pipe wall is preferred and the four inch inside dimension PVC pipe is the same size as the plumbing drain pipe that would be required to be cleared of obstructions when used on a toilet. The cylinder body  16  has a outside dimension of about 4.25 inches also matches well when attaching plunger head  7  onto an open mouth at the bottom portion of the tube defined by the cylinder body  16 . The cylinder body  16  may be wrapped with labeling material to allow for instructions, warranty, and bar code placement. 
         [0058]    The cylinder body  16  is capped off with a PVC cap  17  which is glued into position. Alternatively the cap and the cylinder can be injection molded as an integral piece for attachment to the separate tips at the bottom. 
         [0059]    A hole  18  is formed in the side of the cap  17  and is connected to by a downwardly directed guide surface  19  which directs any material emerging from the hole downwardly toward the bottom end and onto the outer surface of the body  16 . 
         [0060]    As an alternative, the hole may be uncovered and instead a plastic right angled pressure tube is screwed into the drilled and threaded hole  18  forming a pipe. The pipe delivers the wet back pressure produced by the reverse piston action onto the outer surface of the body  16  safely away from the plunger user. 
         [0061]    The cylinder body  16  contains a plunger in the form of a rod  30  with a piston  39  at the lower end and a surrounding handle  33  at the upper end made from soft but yet stiff sponge material and is held in place by friction or a tight fit onto the plunger rod  30 . 
         [0062]    The rod  30  is made of a hollow colored plastic construction. The rubber injection molded piston  39  is formed as a generally annular band with an outside dimension just smaller than the inside dimension of cylindrical body  16  so as to slide inside the cylinder. The band is formed with slightly conical top and bottom portions  40 B which taper outwardly toward the top and bottom respectively to form top and bottom edges which are slightly larger than the diameter of the cylinder and thus act as seals against the inside surface of the cylinder to effectively prevent the passage of air and water. The band is attached to a sleeve  42 B by gussets  42 A at angularly spaced positions extending between the sleeve and the band. The sleeve receives the end of the rod  30  to which it is attached by a screw  41 . The injection molded rubber piston  39  is designed to suck or force water into or out of the bathroom sink drain holes and bathtub drain holes. 
         [0063]    The cap assembly  17  forms a gasket for the rod  30  at a center hole in the cap  17 . The cap is injection molded with the body  16  and includes a 1 inch hole  17 A placed in the top center of the cap  17 . The wall thickness of cap  17  is about 0.125 inch. A nylon or plastic washer  21  which is at least 0.125 inch thick with outside dimension of 2.25 inches contains a neoprene rubber washer gasket  22  which has a thickness of 1/32 inch with outside dimensions of 2.0 inches. The washer gasket  22  is glued to the nylon washer  21  and then mounted and glued centrally to the inside of the cap hole  17 A. The inside edge of the flexible gasket  22  runs against the outside surface of the shaft  15 . 
         [0064]    Turning now to the details of the different arrangement of plunger tips, in  FIG. 6  is shown in more detail the first tip of  FIG. 1 . The tip  1  is attached to plunger body  16  using the stainless steel worm clamp  9  which is tightened or loosened by the driving head  8 . The tip  1  is attached to the body  16  by a sleeve  5  which surrounds the end of the body  16  as a friction fit. The sleeve is reinforced by reinforcing rings  7 A and  11 A located into two positions upper and lower. The tip  1  is removable but still fits snug around plunger body  16 . The plunger body  16  is inserted into plunger head  5  all the way through to the bottom ring  7 A. The ring  11 A locates the clamp  9 . The ring  7 A acts a back stop plate surrounding the upper end of the depending spout  10 . The spout  10  is non-retractable in that it cannot be turned upwardly and remains projecting downwardly at all time. The spout  10  is placed at one end of the sleeve  5 . The spout  10  is frusto-conical shape with a curved wall in side elevation so that the center hole is co-axial with the body of the plunger and is made of very flexible rubber so the plunger body can be tilted to avoid the sink faucet and still maintain a perfect seal over and around the sink or bathtub drain hole. 
         [0065]    In  FIG. 5  a second arrangement of tip is shown where the tip  2  is designed to clear clogged shower floor drains. The tip  2  is generally cylindrical and has a sleeve  5  and a ring  11 A as described above with the slightly greater outer dimensions than the inside dimension of body  16 . Below the ring  11 A, however the tip remains cylindrical so that it does not converge. This defines a large open bottom mouth  5 D with an in-turned lip  5 C at the bottom defines a bottom flat annular surface  5 B which has the same outside dimension as the body  16  and lies in a plane at right angels to the axis. With the tip  5  attached onto the body  16 , an upper surface acts as piston stopper and the bottom surface  5 B acts as a sealing surface between the floor drain outer edges and the plunger. 
         [0066]    In  FIG. 7  a third arrangement of tip is shown where the tip  3  is basically shaped similarly to the tip  1  in that it includes the sleeve  5  and the clamp  9  at the ring  11 A. This tip however is designed to seal some of the new low-flow toilet bowl shape. The toilet bowl shape has a long centered channel grooved into it to centralize and increase bowl water flow. As a result of this toilet bowl design no conventional plunger works on these toilets. The tip  3  defines a plate portion  12  which is about twelve inches in length and six inches wide made of thick flexible rubber. The plate extends at right angles to the axis of the tip outwardly to one side of the tip. The thickness of plate  12  can range from ¼ inch thick to ⅝ inch thick. The plate  12  is reinforced with an upstanding rigid rib  12 A which is positioned down the center of the longest portion of plate  12 . The rigid rib  12 A can be at least one inch high and ¼ inch thick. The tip  3  also has a spout  10 A similar to the spout  10  of tip  1  but in this case the spout  10 A is retractable in that it can be inverted. The plate  12  is flexible enough to curve or cup at the edges to accommodate several different designed toilet bowls. 
         [0067]    In  FIG. 8  a fourth arrangement of tip is shown where the tip  4  has a flexible rubber hose  13 A connected to the bottom of a converging or tapered portion  13  with the flexible portion  13 A extending outwardly at right angles to the axis. The hose  13 A is about two inches in diameter so as to have a size and length that can be inserted up into a toilet bowl drain hole or trap. The purpose of this design is to deliver fast moving water directly into or out of toilet bowl drain trap. This is done because some low-flow toilet bowls are designed in such a manner that no plunger shape will work to seal sufficiently with the bottom opening to inject merely from the bowl area into the pipe. By directing the piston powered plunger water flow directly into the toilet bowl drain, the water force is placed closer to the obstruction which produces better results. Also by inserting rubber hose  13 A into the toilet bowl drain when using the reverse suction force of the plunger caused by pulling on the plunger, the suction force will be closer to the obstruction resulting in a quicker and easier removal of a solid obstruction. In order to reduce the potential for back splash when delivering a large force of water from the plunger, the tip is similar in shape to the tip described above so that it has a converging portion  13  which tapers from a four inch inside dimension down to a two inch inside dimension very quickly within an inch or two of distance. The reason for this quick size transformation is not take up too much space but still be long enough to reach into the toilet bowl drain hole efficiently as the plunger body  15  is far too large to fit into toilet bowl drain holes. The rubber hose  13 A can be four inches to eight inches long and must be made of very flexible rubber so it can fit squeeze and curve into odd shaped toilet bowl drain traps and holes. 
         [0068]    In  FIG. 9 and 9A  a fifth arrangement of tip is shown where the tip  5  arranged to accommodate hard to get at bathroom sink drain holes because the sink faucet is generally center straight above the sink drain hole. In tip  5  there is a flexible round rubber spout  59  just larger than common drain hole sizes in bathroom sink and tubs with an inside dimension of at least two inches which is attached onto a bottom wall  60  of the generally cylindrical tip body. The flexible rubber sprout  59  is offset to one side of the plunger body axis so that the plunger tip can seal around most bathroom sink and tub drain holes while avoiding water faucets. The bottom edge  59 A of the cylindrical tip is cut in a plane at an angle to a radial plane so as to form swivel tip  59 A which allows the piston plunger body to be tipped at large angles from the vertical while still achieving a horizontal seal around sink drain holes and while the plunger body is tilted to avoid the faucet above the drain hole. The bottom wall  60  is at least one-quarter inch thick and acts as the piston stopper in the downward stroke and so as to be rigid enough to transfer the downward force applied when plunger user is sealing a drain hole. 
         [0069]    As shown in  FIG. 9B , an additional component  59 B is shown which is used when a adequate drain seal cannot be achieved with the arrangement of  FIG. 9  because of water faucet obstacles. The component  59 B comprises a soft flexible rubber swivel tip  59 C which can be inserted into the open end of the rubber spout  59 . This swivel tip  59 C is friction fit and pressure sealed and has an inclined surrounding bead which forms a shoulder butting against the bottom edge  59 A of the tip  5 . The insert portion  59 C connects to an elbow  59 E which carries an insert tube portion  59 D which extends at a right angle from the swivel tip  59 C. 
         [0070]    A kit of parts including the plunger and the separate tips can be provided for use in effective cleaning or different types of problem. The sealing members or tips can be injection molded in a common family mold. 
         [0071]    While the tips shown above are attached onto the body  16  using a hose clamp surrounding the body, in an alternative arrangement, the lower end of the body  16  can be threaded and the tips included a top threaded section which engages onto the body  16 . 
         [0072]    Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.