Patent Publication Number: US-2015075624-A1

Title: Telescopic drain hose assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/878,944 filed Sep. 17, 2013 and titled Telescopic Drain Hose Assembly, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Recreational vehicles (RVs), mobile homes, busses, trailers, boats, and a variety of other vehicles and temporary living quarters often provide kitchen, bath, and restroom facilities. These facilities include sinks, showers, and commodes that produce liquid and solid waste that is stored in waste collection tanks or vessels within the vehicle or living quarters. The waste materials are typically divided into grey waste, which includes waste from sinks and showers, and black waste, which includes commode waste. These waste materials must be discharged or drained from the collection tanks from time to time. 
     Draining the tanks typically comprises attaching a flexible hose or conduit between a discharge pipe on the vehicle and a port for a waste receptacle that is often buried underground. Handling of the hose generally requires a user to wear protective gloves and to use caution to avoid contact with the black waste being discharged therethrough because of health hazards associated therewith. Such handling can be problematic due to the flexibility and resiliency of the hose which can become dislodged from the waste receptacle port and/or spring toward a normal orientation thereby slinging waste material in an unwanted direction. It is also preferable to maintain the hose with a downward slope between the vehicle discharge pipe and waste receptacle port to aid flow therethrough. This may require a user to hold the hose during emptying of the waste materials or to employ additional components to properly position the hose. 
     There is a need for an easily positionable drain hose that is self-supporting and that avoids user exposure to the waste materials flowing therethrough. 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments of the invention are defined by the claims below, not this summary. A high-level overview of various aspects of the invention are provided here for that reason, to provide an overview of the disclosure, and to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described in the Detailed-Description section below. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. In brief, this disclosure describes, among other things, a telescopic drain hose assembly useable to aid emptying of waste holding tanks, such as black and grey waste holding tanks in a recreational vehicle into waste receptacles or sewage systems for disposal thereof. 
     The drain hose assembly includes a flexible, extensible drain hose or conduit coupled to a tank coupler at a first end and to an endpiece at a second end. The hose is disposed within an outer body that is comprised of a flexible sleeve and a telescopic tube. The sleeve extends between the tank coupler and the telescopic tube to enable bending of the drain hose assembly along the sleeve and about a coupling with a discharge outlet. The telescopic tube provides a rigid portion that supports the hose between the sleeve and the endpiece. The endpiece includes a handle for easy handling of the assembly and includes surface features for coupling to one or more attachments, such as an elbow, nozzle, extension, or the like. 
     In use, the drain hose assembly provides a user with an drain hose that can be flexed about its coupling with a discharge outlet and can be extended to a desired length for discharging fluids and waste materials into a waste receptacle. The drain hose assembly can be manipulated without contact between the user and the waste materials and the rigid telescopic tube supports the hose without the necessity for additional components. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a drain hose assembly depicted in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the drain hose assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional elevational view of the drain hose assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an illustrative view of a drain hose assembly coupled to a discharge outlet of a recreational vehicle depicted in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 5  is another illustrative view of the drain hose assembly depicted in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is an enlarged illustrative view of the coupling of the drain hose assembly of  FIG. 4  coupled to the discharge outlet of a recreational vehicle. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The subject matter of select embodiments of the invention is described with specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. But the description itself is not intended to necessarily limit the scope of embodiments of the invention. Rather, the claimed subject matter might be embodied in other ways to include different components, steps, or combinations thereof similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. Terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described. 
     With initial reference to  FIGS. 1-3 , a drain hose assembly  10  is described in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The drain hose assembly  10  is described herein with respect to its use and application with a recreational vehicle (RV), but such is not intended to limit embodiments of the invention to such applications. The assembly  10  might be employed for use with mobile homes, busses, trailers, boats, or similar vehicles containing waste holding tanks, or with any variety of other vessels that might employ the assembly  10  for draining thereof. 
     The drain hose assembly  10  comprises a conduit or hose  12 , a tank coupler  14 , an endpiece  16 , a sleeve  18 , and a telescopic tube  20 . The hose  12  is a conventional sewage hose that is flexible and extensible in length but is generally rigid in cross-section to prevent collapsing thereof. The hose  12  may be comprised of a metallic coil encased in a plastic material to provide an accordion-like body. The hose  12  is liquid- and air-tight. 
     A first end of the hose  12  is coupled to the tank coupler  14  using one or more of a glue, adhesive, welding, hose clamp, or the like. The tank coupler  14  includes a body  22  having a bore therethrough with an annular flange  24  extending from a first end and dimensioned to receive the first end of the hose  12  and plurality of engaging members  26  disposed about a second end thereof. The engaging members  26  are configured to mateably couple with a discharge port  28  of a waste holding tank, such as a black or grey waste tank of an RV. As depicted in  FIGS. 1-6 , the engaging members  26  comprise arms configured to form a bayonet-style coupling with a plurality of nubs  30  ( FIG. 6 ) on the discharge port  28 , however any available form of coupling can be employed in embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope described herein. 
     A second end of the hose  12  is coupled to the endpiece  16  using one or more of a glue, adhesive, welding, hose clamp, or the like. The endpiece  16  is comprised of a hollow body  32  having a bore extending therethrough. A proximate end of the endpiece  16  forms an annular flange  34  for receiving the second end of the hose  12 . A plurality of coupling elements  36  are disposed about a distal end of the endpiece  16  for coupling with an attachment (not shown), such as a pipe elbow, a nozzle, an extension, a secondary hose, or the like. The coupling elements  36  comprise nubs disposed about the outer surface of the body  32  for engaging mating elements on an attachment in a bayonet-style engagement. Or the coupling elements  36  can comprise flanges, ribs, ridges, threads, slots, or another surface feature for providing a coupling with the attachment. 
     The endpiece  16  includes a handle  40  extending from the body  32  and coupled thereto or integrated therewith. The handle  40  may be pivotable about its coupling with the endpiece  16  to lie generally flat thereagainst for storage and may be rotatable about an axis extending radially outward from the body  32  to provide a user with a comfortable orientation. As depicted in  FIGS. 1-5 , the handle  40  comprises a looped form, but the handle can be provided in any desired graspable configuration. 
     The hose  12  is disposed within an outer body formed by the sleeve  18  and the telescopic tube  20 . The sleeve  18  encloses the first end of the hose  12  and includes a proximate end section  42 , a flexible section  44 , and a distal end section  46 . 
     The proximate end section  42  is coupled to the tank coupler  14  using one or more of adhesives, glues, welding, fasteners, clamps, or the like. The proximate end section  42  is substantially rigid and encloses the coupling between the hose  12  and the tank coupler  14 . The flexible section  44  is configured to enable flexure thereof and of the hose  12  disposed therein. The distal end section  46  is configured for receipt by the telescopic tube  20  and for coupling thereto. A plurality of surface features  48  are provided on a surface of the distal end section  46 , such as threads, ribs, or the like for coupling to mating features on the telescopic tube  20 . Or one or more glues, adhesives, fasteners, or the like can be employed to couple the distal end section  46  to the telescopic tube  20 . 
     As depicted in  FIG. 2 , the telescopic tube  20  is comprised of an outer tube  50  and an inner tube  52 , however any number of tubes can be employed to provide a desired maximum and minimum telescoping length of the telescopic tube  20 . The outer and inner tubes  50 ,  52  are substantially rigid, non-flexible cylindrical tubes having dimensions configured to receive the hose  12  within the inner tube  52  and to receive the inner tube  52  and the hose  12  within the outer tube  50 . 
     The inner and outer tubes  52 ,  50  may include obstructing surface features, such as opposing annular flanges or other surface features (not shown) on opposing surfaces thereof that resist the removal of the inner tube  52  from within the outer tube  50 . Or the inner and outer tubes  52 ,  50  may include a frusto-conical configuration in which a maximum diameter of the inner tube  52  is greater than a minimum diameter of the outer tube  50  such that inner tube  52  cannot pass completely through the outer tube  50 . 
     A proximate end of the outer tube  50  is coupled to the distal end section  46  of the sleeve  18  and a distal end of the inner tube is coupled to the endpiece  16 . The endpiece  16  may include one or more surface features for coupling to the inner tube  52  or the endpiece  16  and inner tube  52  may be coupled via one or more glues, fasteners, clamps, or the like. As such, the hose  12  is enclosed by the telescopic tube  20  and sleeve  16  and between the tank coupler  14  and the endpiece  16 . 
     With continued reference to  FIGS. 1-6 , operation of the drain hose assembly  10  is described in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The assembly  10  may initially be collapsed or the telescopic tube  20  may be moved to a minimum length for storage. The minimum length may be configured to fit within a standard size compartment on an RV, or similar vehicle, associated with a waste collection tank system. A cap or plug is removed from the discharge port  28  of the RV and the waste collection system readied for dumping or emptying. The tank coupler  14  is coupled to the discharge port  28 , such as by engaging the engaging members  26  with the nubs  28  on the discharge port  28  and rotating to provide a bayonet-style engagement therebetween. 
     The handle  40  is used to extend or telescope the assembly  10  to extend from the discharge port  28  to a port on a waste receptacle into which to discharge the waste materials. The handle  40  may also be used to pivot or bend the assembly  10  along the flexible section  44  of the sleeve  18  in order to align the assembly  10  with the port. The hose  12  remains contained within the assembly  10  and is extended and flexed along with the telescopic tube  20  and the sleeve  18 , respectively. 
     An attachment, such as an elbow pipe fitting, may be connected to the endpiece  16  to aid directing of the waste materials into the port of the waste receptacle. The endpiece  16  or the attachment is positioned appropriately to discharge into the port and the waste collection tank is emptied in a conventional manner. 
     Accordingly, the user can handle the assembly  10  using handle  40  which is disparate from an open end of the endpiece  16  and is positioned away from any waste materials discharged therethrough. The user is thus distanced from contact with the waste materials and can operate the assembly without protective gloves or the like. Additionally, the rigidity of the telescopic tube  20  supports the hose  12  therein in a constant downward sloping orientation between the discharge port  28  and the port of the waste receptacle without the need for additional components or the user to hold the hose  12  in such an orientation. The rigidity of the telescopic tube  20  may also resist movement of the endpiece  16  out of engagement with the port of the waste receptacle as waste materials flow therethrough. 
     Upon completion of discharging the waste materials from the waste collection tank, the handle  40  may be employed to withdraw the inner tube  52  into the outer tube  50  to reduce the assembly  10  to a minimum length. The tank coupler  14  is uncoupled from the discharge port  28  and the assembly stored as desired. 
     Many different arrangements of the various components depicted, as well as components not shown, are possible without departing from the scope of the claims below. Embodiments of the technology have been described with the intent to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to readers of this disclosure after and because of reading it. Alternative means of implementing the aforementioned can be completed without departing from the scope of the claims below. Certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations and are contemplated within the scope of the claims.