Patent Abstract:
A unitary removable barrier for installation in a cylindrical water line to selectively block the water line to passage of water therethrough. The unitary removable barrier is composed of a single piece body having at least one cylindrical section sized to receive upstream and downstream pipes of the water line. A unitary planar disc molded with the cylindrical section is of a circular circumference and which completely blocks the water line but which is selectively removable from the cylindrical section thus removing the barrier to the passage of the water through the line. Tabs are provided on both the upstream and downstream sides of the planar disc to facilitate its removal from either the upstream pipe or downstream pipe.

Full Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/401,252, filed on Sep. 23, 1999, which is, in turn, a continuation of provisional application No. 60/101,758, filed on Sep. 25, 1998. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention deals with a unitary removable barrier for installation in a cylindrical water line for temporarily blocking the passage of water through the line. When plumbing a structure such as a house intended to carry water, the structure goes through several waste line tests to confirm the integrity of the various plumbing joints. This requires temporarily blocking the waste line so that the water lines within the structure can be filled and leakes detected. The present invention involves an improved means of temporarily blocking the water waste line in order to create a suitable water head to conduct such testing.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    When plumbing a structure such as a house, the structure is subjected to at least two different waste water tests. A first test is intended to determine the integrity of the water lines at ground or slab by filling the structure&#39;s waste lines with water to create a pressure head. A second test is conducted at “top-out” meaning that, after the structure is vented and tubs, sinks and other fixtures are installed, the waste lines are again filled with water to create yet another pressure head. Under pressure, the various lines are inspected for leakage prior to the installation of sheetrock which would obviously mask the detection of any leakage.  
           [0004]    As background, plumbers are required to “stub out” or create an external waste line outlet two or three feet from the permimeter of the structural foundation. The “stub out” line is typically capped off in order to run the above-described water tests. There are a variety of currently available caps designed to accomplish this task. For example, a plumber may employ a rubber cap with a stainless steel band. However, a rubber cap is prone to being blown off of the “stub out” if subjected to sufficient water head pressure. In order to prevent this from occurring, the plumber will oftentimes drive a wooden stake in front of the rubber cap. This entails a good deal of additional effort and is not particularly effective in preventing blow-off. As an alternative, a plumber may glue the plastic test cap to the “stub out” which can be knocked off after the test has been conducted. However, this requires applying and setting a suitable adhesive which obviously must later be removed once the test has been completed. At removal, the plumber is likely to get quite wet as the water head pressure is released. There are additional problems associated with caps employed at “sub out.” For example, when a sewer line to the street or septic is about to be connected, the plumber is oftentimes not the party responsible for making the connection. If someone else makes the connection who is unfamiliar with this process, the cap will be cut off or otherwise removed releasing the water head within the structure perhaps prematurely before the plumber has had an opportunity to check the structure for leaks. Even if the plumber is the part responsible for connecting the sewer line to the “stub out,” he may still be forced to release his test and then recap the line after the connection has been made thus requring that the water head be restablished. This is time-consuming and also is a waste of water. Ideally, the plumber would like to maintain a water head throughout the sheetrock process so that any accidental nailing into the waste line would be visible by observing water leakage.  
           [0005]    In addition to the above, once the sewer has been connected, it is traditional for the plumber to return to the project to reset his waste lines at which point a plumber employs a wye, a one-eighth bend and a clean-out plug at the point where the sewer has been connected. A plumber typically employs a long test ball which is inserted into the one-eighth bend and wye and is inflated at the appropriate position. The test ball is intended to temporarily block the waste line to again create a suitable pressure head within the structure. However, these test balls are extremely expensive and by reducing pressure within the test ball, they can be removed and oftentimes stolen from the job site. Further, they can inadvertently lose air, slip down the line and cause a major stoppage which must be dealt with by excavating and exposing the sewer line. The air balls, which exhibit external ribs, crack after repeated usage and tend to leak under tests. Leakage from the side wall of the test ball as well as from its air stem obviously result in water leakage to the sewer and reduction of water head thus reducing the effectiveness of the test.  
           [0006]    One way of dealing with this issue has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,501. The invention disclosed in the &#39;501 patent is to a disk-shaped sealing device which is molded as an integral, unitary piece. The sealing device comprises a circular disc and an angled flange extending outwardly and upwardly from the perimeter of the circular disc. The disc-shaped device fits snugly within a barrel of a plastic fitting such that the circular disc is coaxially received in the barrel of the plastic fitting and the angled flange mates with and lies against a bevel in the barrel of the plastic fitting. A lug extends donwardly from the circular disc whereby first and second elongate grooves are formed in one of the surfaces of the disc. It is taught that the disc-shaped device can be ripped out of the barrel of the fitting so as to remove the device in its entirety from the fitting by pulling on the lug and ripping the circular disc along the first and second grooves in a spiral ripping motion that ultimately pulls the circular disc and the angled flange from the fitting.  
           [0007]    Although the invention disclosed in the &#39;501 patent constitutes a dramatic improvement over devices of the prior art described above, it, itself, is notwithout its limitations. Specifically, the disc-shaped sealing device must be employed only in a waste line which will accept an angled flange. As such, the device cannot be used when a water line is provided with a consistent and uniform interior diameter throughout its length. In addition, the disc-shaped sealing device must, itself, be sealed to the receiving ledge or flange of a waste line to ensure that the disc remains in sealing engagement with the water line during tests. This requires either the use of a glue or wax to ensure that the disc-shaped sealing device remains in place. It is hypothesized that these limitations have prevented the device described in the &#39; 501  patent from being universally accepted in the plumbing trade.  
           [0008]    It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a means of temporarily blocking a “stub out” or water line which can effectively and temporarily prevent passage of water through the wase line thus creating a suitable pressure head within the structure while being easily removable from the waste line and while addressing all of the drawbacks recited above.  
           [0009]    These objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended drawings.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    The present invention is directed toward a unitary removable barrier for installation in a cylindrical water line to selectively block the water line to the passage of water therethrough. The unitary removable barrier is composed of a one-piece body having at least one cylindrical section having at least one cross-sectional area, longitudinal axis and sized to receive an upstream pipe and downstream pipe of the water line. The upstream pipe and downstream pipe are captured by said at least one cylindrical section either frictionally or by use of stainless steel bands. The unitary removable barrier includes a disc molded as a unitary structure with said at least one cylindrical section which is characterized as being of circular circumference and which completely blocks the water line when in place. The disc is provided with a diameter which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and which is selectively removable from the cylindrical section both from the upstream pipe and downstream pipe thus removing the barrier to the water line. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a unitary removable barrier of the present invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a side plan view of the unitary removable barrier of FIG. 1.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a side cross sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIGS. 4A and 4B are similar in view of FIG. 3 showing a further variation whereby magnets are employed to help retrieve pull cords used to remove the removable barrier after use.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]    In referring to FIG. 2, pipes  21  and  22  comprise “sub out” or “clean out lines” which, as noted, extends from a house or other structure for connection to a sewer or septic line. In a first embodiment, the present invention is in the form of coupling  10  for placement between and to capture pipes  21  and  22  by frictionally receiving them within cylindrical section  11 . In other words, the outer diameter of pipes  21  and  22  approximate inner diameter of cylindrical section  11  although the present invention contemplates the use of any well-known clamping means such as stainless steel bands  51  (FIG. 3) to ensure a watertight snug fit between cylindrical section  11  and pipes  21  and  22  along longitudinal axis  20 .  
         [0017]    The unitary removable barrier is composed of rubber, plastic or any moldable material. It is molded as a unitary article whereby a cylindrical section  11  and planar disc section  12  are of a single piece. In this regard, it is preferred that the planar face of disc  12  is substantially perpendicular to longitudinal axis  20  passing through upstream and downstream cylindrical water line  21  and  22 . Again, as previously noted, as one embodiment, unitary removable barrier  10  is sized such that the inside diameter is cylindrical section  11  is to frictionally receive water lines  21  and  22  along longitudinal axis  20 .  
         [0018]    Planar disc  12  is intended to be removable when no longer needed to block the waste line under test. This is accomplished by providing first tab  13  and second tab  33  molded as unitary elements long the upstream face and downstream face of planar disc  12 , respectively. The first and second tabs provide contact surfaces for pulling planar disc  12  along circumferential score line  14  to selectively remove the planar disc through either the upstream pipe or downstream pipe while employing cords  6  or  7  (FIG. 2). Although not shown, the planar disc can be withdrawn from the water through a wye or tee traditionally fabricated within such a line. Removal of disc  12  is carried out when hydraulic testing of the plumbing system of structure is no longer required. As such, when disc  12  is removed, the waste water line as established by pipes  21  and  22  is opened providing a free water path for the structure.  
         [0019]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is noted that upon the removal of planar disc  12 , a portion of the disc remains as defined by a ledge  15  of planar disc material. Ledge  15  is sized such that inner diameters  24  and  25  of cylindrical lines  21  and  22 , respectively, coincide with the inner circumference of ledge  15  so that an uninterrupted substantially uniform inner pipe diameter is created thus minimizing any adverse effect that the present invention would otherwise have on the free flow of water through the subject waste line. Stated differently, when planar disc  12  is removed from cylindrical section  11 , ledge  15  of the planar disc remains providing a circular opening with cylindrical section  11  substantially equal to inside diameters  24  and  25  of upstream and downstream pipes  21  and  22 .  
         [0020]    To summarize, although others have taught the use of removable blocking means to selectively prevent water from passing through a waste line in order to hydraulically test the plumbing of a structure, there have been no prior attempts to construct such an element which works as conveniently and which provides less obstruction as the invention disclosed herein and which is readily removable from both the upstream and downstream sides of the barrier. The present invention requires no gluing, waxing or other sealing means to attach the removable blocking disc to the waste water line. Further, in the embodiment show in FIGS. 1 and 2, upon its removal, the disc provides the line with an opening substantially equal to the inside diameter of the line itself. As such, there represents little or no obstruction to the line upon removal of the disc.  
         [0021]    In a second embodiment, reference is made to FIG. 3. In this instance, it is commonplace, for example, to provide PVC pipe  41 , eminating from a structure, to act as a wasteline for connection to PVC pipe  42  of a different, in this instance, larger diameter. In such an installation, coupling  49 , again composed of a unitary molded article, is provided with upstream cylindrical section  43  of a first (smaller) diameter and a downstream cylindrical section  44  of a second (larger) diameter. Cylindrical sections  43  and  44  are connected by diagonally extending side wall  49  as shown.  
         [0022]    As in the previous embodiment, cylindrical sections  43  and  44  of unitary article  40  can be sized to frictionally capture pipes  41  and  42 , respectively, along longitudinal axis  50 , thus obviating the need for any further coupling means. However, any suitable capturing device can further be employed such as stainless steel bands  51  to ensure a water tight and secure fitting.  
         [0023]    Again, as in the previous embodiment, unitary removable barrier  45  molded as a unitary article to cylindrical sections  43  and  44  and transitional section  49  remains in place during test but is selective removable after a suitable water pressure test has been conducted. In doing so, pull cords  47  and  48 , appended to molded tabs  13  and  33  is drawn through a wye or tee (not shown) traditionally found within the typical water waste line. The same groove or score line  14  shown in FIG. 1 can be fabricated within disc  45  circumferentially extending from tabs  13  and  33  along the side wall defined by cylindrical section  44 . As such, planar disc  45  can be removed either upstream or downstream of such barrier.  
         [0024]    As noted in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, PVC pipes  41  and  42  do not abut one another although, ideally, pipe  42  is caused to abut removable disc  45 . As such, the unitary removable barrier  40  as depicted in FIG. 3 acts to retain pipes  41  and  42  in a pre-determine orientation whereby void space  55  remains between the end of each pipe length.  
         [0025]    As noted once the subject hydraulic testing has been completed, a user would pull on either cords  47  or  48  to remove the subject disc  45 . However, in the field, it is not always convenient to insure that the terminal ends of the cords remain external to the waste lines. When such cords fall back into the waste line, it can be inconvenient to recapture them for later use. In dealing with this issue, it is proposed that magnet  60  be attached to a pull cord such as pull cord  48  (FIG. 4A) which can reside loosely upon disc  45  until needed. When the user intends to remove disc  45  after testing, pull cord  48  can be drawn from disc  45  by use of an externally applied magnet  62  (FIG. 4B).  
         [0026]    Another variation of the present invention is depicted in FIG. 5. In this instance, planar disc  73  is again shown with tabs  74  and  75  for its possible removal either upstream or downstream of planar disc  73  after hydraulic testing of the waste line via pull cords  77  and  78 , respectively. In this instance, however, cylindrical side walls fit internally of pipe  71  making for a much more compact orientation than that shown in FIG. 3. The unitary removable barrier still acts as a coupling for connecting pipes  71  and  72 , but acts as a male member to pipe  71  and female member to pipe  72 .

Technology Classification (CPC): 5