Abstract:
A roof drain receiver for a site cast construction is provided comprising: a hollow main body partially buried in a wall of the construction near its bottom portion during the site casting and having one or more top inlets for receiving a number of vertical drain pipes extending interior of the construction wall to channel drain water collected from the top of the construction, and a large rectangular spout extending from the main body to an exterior side of the construction wall for emitting the channeled water off the wall. The main body has an anchoring flange for securing the same to an inner surface of the construction, a replaceable faceplate having a large rectangular opening in the center and a check door pivotally connected to the faceplate for allowing water down flowing while it normally blocks a forced entry of foreign objects into the main body.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation of international application number PCT/US2008/007972 (publication WO2009/157900) filed Jun. 26, 2008, to same inventor Jeffrey Paul May, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    A. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a water drain fixture for tilt-up construction. More particularly, the present invention relates to a roof drain receiver for installation in a tilt-up building. 
         [0004]    B. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0005]    Prior art roof drains for conventional wood or steel framing with no cement has 16″ center to center spacing between studs. Typically, the roof drains are pipes that terminate at the base of a wall. Traditionally, a receiver has not been implemented for conventional frame buildings. 
         [0006]    Briefly, tilt-up or tilt-slab refers to construction for factory, commercial building and the like by molding concrete wall panels on site and erecting them by a crane and securing them together with the use of studs, gussets, attachment plates, and fasteners. A roof is then constructed on top of the finished slab walls. For structural stability, various reinforcements are also built in. To maintain building functionality, a roof drain system is necessary for collecting rainwater and channeling it safely away from the tilt-up. Typical concrete tilt-up buildings have a roof drain leading to a drainpipe running down the wall interior and exiting through a cut aperture near the base of the building. The water then drips outside the building. The typical roof drainpipe terminates at a 90-degree flush cut pipe which leaves stains running down the outside of the building and also leaves a hole where debris and small animals can enter resulting in blockages and other malfunctions of the drain system. 
         [0007]    It is known to attach a drain nozzle to the outer end of drain receiver for emitting water. However, a water-stained nozzle protruding from the building is still unsightly and may continue to invite birds and rodents. An esthetically clear and functionally advantageous solution is yet to be in existence. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    According to the present invention, there are different embodiments of an improved roof drain receiver provided. 
         [0009]    A roof drain receiver for a site cast construction according to the present invention comprises a hollow main body partially buried in a wall of the construction near its bottom portion during the site casting and having one or more top pipe sleeves for receiving a number of vertical drain pipes extending interior of the construction wall to channel drain water collected from the top of the construction, a large rectangular spout extending from the main body to an exterior side of the construction wall for emitting the channeled water off the wall and a check door pivotally connected to the spout for allowing water down flowing while it normally blocks a forced entry of foreign objects into the main body. 
         [0010]    The main body further comprises a rectangular spout with a protruded end face partially recessed; an anchoring flange circumferentially extending in a plain perpendicular to the spout for securing the main body to an inner surface of the construction; and a faceplate having a large rectangular opening in the center, a plurality of bolt holes for accepting threaded fasteners driven though the faceplate to the protruded face of the spout, a generally U-shaped rear flange for mating internally with the recess of the protruded face, and a generally U-shaped front flange slanted downwardly for emitting drain water away from the construction. 
         [0011]    The rectangular spout may be 3 inches long for casting into a 3 inch deep portion of the construction wall and the anchoring flange has two opposite arrays of bolt holes to permit bolts to fasten the receiver to two adjacent studs embedded in the cast construction and wherein the bolt hole arrays are spaced 16 inches apart from each other to meet the spacing of the studs so that the drain receiver is mounted in a stud bay formed by the adjacent studs. 
         [0012]    The rectangular spout of the main body is 6 inches long for penetration through a 6 inch depth of the construction wall during the site casting to channel drain water collected from the top of the construction away from the wall through the check door pivotally connected to the spout. The drain receiver is generally made of molded plastic and the faceplate is replaceable for matching color to the exterior of the wall as well as the maintenance purpose. 
         [0013]    The drain receiver of present invention is preferably cast in place with the building concrete tilt up wall so that it becomes a part of the wall. Because the drain receiver is integrated into the wall, the preformed structure saves the major concrete cutting process. In one embodiment, a drain receiver is provided for receiving two vertical drain pipes coming from the roof. In an alternative embodiment, there is provided a drain receiver having a single pipe connection from the roof. 
         [0014]    On the outside, a cover is placed over the drain receiver body. The cover swings from the face of the wall in response to the outpouring of drain water. The drain receiver body lies flush with the exterior surface of the wall. The cover protrudes from the face of the wall and has a slightly overhanging lip that helps direct water away from the exterior of the wall so that the wall does not get stained from rainwater. The outside cover is interchangeable and has preferably six screws driven into the drain receiver body. 
         [0015]    The tube sleeves are oriented substantially vertically. In the double tube embodiment, there are provided two tube sleeves, which are preferably round and spaced apart from each other opening upward. The tube sleeves can be of different diameters so that the inside surface of the tube sleeve is approximately slightly larger than the outside diameter of the roof drain pipe. 
         [0016]    Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a roof drain receiver according to a first embodiment of the present invention wherein a spout between the receiver body and a faceplate is shorter for application to relatively thin studs. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of the faceplate of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  is a side elevational view of the faceplate of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a front view of the roof drain receiver of  FIG. 1  assembled. 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view the drain receiver taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  is a side elevational view of the drain receiver of  FIG. 4  showing a door opened to let water out in operation of the drain receiver. 
           [0023]      FIG. 7  is a schematic side view of a drain receiver according to a second embodiment of the present invention having a lengthened spout for application to a typical 8″ thick tilt-up wall. 
           [0024]      FIG. 8  is a rear perspective view of a roof drain receiver according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0025]    Similar reference numbers denote corresponding features throughout the attached drawings. 
       CALL OUT LIST OF ELEMENTS 
       [0026]      
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 10: 
                 Drain Receiver 
                 15: 
                 Main Opening 
                 25: 
                 Back Wall 
               
               
                 26: 
                 Bottom Wall 
                 27: 
                 Slanted Wall 
                 30, 31: 
                 Pipe 
               
               
                 33: 
                 Sleeve Bevel 
                 37: 
                 Pipe Bottom End 
                 40: 
                 Main Recv Body 
               
               
                 41: 
                 Pipe Sleeve 
                 42: 
                 Receiver Outlet Slope 
                 43: 
                 Bolt Recv Area 
               
               
                 44: 
                 Main Body Flange 
                 45: 
                 Spout 
                 46: 
                 Lower Bevel 
               
               
                 47: 
                 U-shaped Recess 
                 48: 
                 Receiver Top Opening 
                 49: 
                 Body Liner 
               
               
                 50: 
                 Door 
                 51: 
                 Pivot Arm Opening 
                 52: 
                 Door Pivot Arm 
               
               
                 55: 
                 Gasket 
                 56: 
                 Pivot Pin 
                 57: 
                 Pivot Hole 
               
               
                 58: 
                 Gasket Bolt Hole 
                 59: 
                 Opening 
                 61: 
                 Face Plate Flange 
               
               
                 62: 
                 Face Plate Rear Flange 
                 63: 
                 Faceplate 
                 64: 
                 Flange Sidewall 
               
               
                 65: 
                 Overhang 
                 66: 
                 Rear Flange Sidewall 
                 67: 
                 Face Plane 
               
               
                 68: 
                 Bolt Hole 
                 69: 
                 Hinge Portion 
                 70: 
                 Notch 
               
               
                 78: 
                 Bore 
                 88: 
                 Screw 
                 90: 
                 Wall 
               
               
                 100: 
                 Drain Receiver 
                 120: 
                 Outlet Frame 
                 140: 
                 Receiver Body 
               
               
                 141: 
                 Pipe Sleeve 
                 144: 
                 Front Opening 
                 145: 
                 Screw Holes 
               
               
                 146: 
                 Spout 
                 148: 
                 Top Wall 
                 149: 
                 Bottom Wall 
               
               
                 150: 
                 Outlet Slope 
                 152: 
                 Exterior Side 
                 154: 
                 Tilt-up Wall 
               
               
                 156: 
                 Channel Bracket 
                 158: 
                 Clamp Half 
                 160: 
                 Eyelet 
               
               
                 162: 
                 Pipe Sleeve 
                 165: 
                 Cutout 
                 166: 
                 Sidewall Recess 
               
               
                 200: 
                 Drain Receiver 
                 230: 
                 Single Pipe 
                 240: 
                 Main Body 
               
               
                 241: 
                 Pipe Sleeve 
                 244: 
                 Anchoring Flange 
                 245: 
                 Screw Hole 
               
               
                 265: 
                 Door Stop 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a drain receiver  10  according to a first embodiment of the present invention has a main body  40  molded of plastic material such as PVC used to fabricate drainpipes in the shape of a frontally open box. In this embodiment, body  40  is wide enough to mount two typical drainpipes  30 ,  31  side by side on its top surface, which has two vertical pipe sleeves  41 . Drain receiver  10  is adapted to be cast into a 3″ deep wall portion of 6″ total wall depth of the wall as shown in  FIG. 6  where receiver  10  is to be fastened primarily to wood or steel studs embedded in the wall. The wall may have a standard stud spacing of 16″ measured between adjacent stud centers. So, drain receiver  10  is appropriately designed for mounting in the stud bay formed between the studs. 
         [0028]    Pipe sleeves  41  have inwardly slanted bevels  33 , respectively for easily introducing bottom ends  37  of pipes  30 ,  31  into sleeves  41 . In comparison, the bottom of main body  40  may slant up in the back but descends in the front to let water from vertical pipes  30 ,  31  flows through main body  40  fast and easy. In order to provide a broad attachment surface, a main body flange  44  is formed integrally to the junction between main body  40  and a spout  45 . Spout  45  may be 3″ long measured from flange  44  and put in the mold for forming a wall  90  of 3″ depth. Flange  44  may be rectangular in proportion to main body  40  and has three screw holes  145  along each of the lateral sides. At attachment, the front surface of flange  44  will bear against two adjacent studs buried in the construction wall to which screws (not shown) are driven from behind flange  44 . 
         [0029]    Protruding centrally of flange  44 , spout  45  surrounds a front rectangular opening  144  of main body  40 . Generally rectangular flange face  120  extends between spout  45  and front opening  144  to form a protruded base to which a removable faceplate  63  is fastened. To make a waterproof engagement with faceplate  63 , protruded face  120  is partially withdrawn along its lower inner sides to form a U-shaped flange recess  47  with two opposite sidewall recesses  166  that receive a rear flange  62  and its lateral extension of two sidewalls  66  protruding rearward of faceplate  63 . At approximately even intervals, flange face  120  has six bores  78  for accepting screws for attaching faceplate  63 . Faceplate  63  has six bolt holes  68  at the corresponding locations to bores  78  of flange face  120 . Faceplate  63  may be sized to overhang all around flange face  120  constituting a front vertical flange as opposed to the flange  44  in the back. Between two flanges  44  and  63 , a surrounding construction wall will be interposed to secure drain receiver  10  in place. 
         [0030]    Faceplate  63  also has a wide rectangular opening  15  in the center, which is closed by a rectangular swivel door  50 . Upwardly of sidewalls  66 , faceplate  63  has hinge arms  69  as shown clearly in  FIGS. 2 and 3  while door  50  has two L-shaped pivot arms  52  with pivot holes  57  formed on the rear upper corners of door  50  so that via pivot pins  56  arms  52  and  69  are connected so that door  50  is hung on its own weight from faceplate  63  normally closing the opening  15 . There are two door stops  265  formed inwardly of sidewalls  66  of faceplate  63 . In order to receive door stops  265 , two opposite small cutouts  165  are provided on face  120  merging with flange recess  47  inwardly thereof to accommodate two door stops  265  when faceplate  63  is attached to flange face  120 . 
         [0031]    Extending flush with the bottom side of opening  15 , a short downwardly slanted flange  61  spans almost the full length of faceplate  63  and terminates at opposite ends with small sidewalls  64 . Thus formed faceplate  63  assembled with door  50  may be attached by screws  88  to face  120  of body flange  44  with a soft gasket  55  interposed therebetween. Gasket  55  is sized and shaped in conformity to flange face  120  having bolt holes  58  at aligned positions with bolt holes  68  of faceplate  63  and bores  78  of flange face  120 . Gasket  55  also has a larger opening  59  formed at its lower side to expose U-recess  47  so that rear flange  62  and sidewalls  66  of faceplate  63  may pass. Openings  51  in gasket  55  conform to notches  70  of flange face  120  for letting pivot arms  52  to penetrate. 
         [0032]    Turning now to the front view of  FIG. 4 , the door  50 /faceplate  63  assembly is generally centrally positioned in front of main body flange  4 . Door  50  lies flush with faceplate  63  within wide opening  15  with a slight clearance therebetween. Depending freely from hinge arms  69  of faceplate  63 , door  50  is prevented from being pushed in by two stops  265  described above to keep off unwelcome creatures. However, whenever water drops through pipes  30  and  31  door  50  opens in response to the amount of water to open to just a degree as necessary for the draining purpose. The fall of slanted flange  61  is obvious in this drawing. 
         [0033]    The structure of drain receiver  10  of the present invention will be better understood with reference to  FIG. 5  wherein pipe  30  is held in pipe sleeve  41 , which extends upwardly of receiver body  40  leaving a top opening  48  in the center of sleeve  41 . The penetration of pipe  30  may be limited by having sleeve  41  converge at a lower bevel  46  that merges into the smaller diameter of top opening  48  compared to the inner diameter of sleeve  41 . So, bottom end  37  of pipe  30  may rest on bevel  46 . Yet, top opening  48  is larger than the inner diameter of pipe  30  not to interfere with the natural flow of drain water. 
         [0034]    Supporting pipe sleeve  41 , receiver body  40  mainly comprises a longitudinal back wall  25  and a latitudinal bottom wall  26  connected to back wall  25  via a slanted wall  27  extending at a descending angle such as 45 degrees. Bottom wall  26  continues at a slightly descending angle to an outlet slope  42  that extends into the opening  144  defined by spout  45 . Spout  45  has an ample thickness to constitute a bolt receiving area  43  to support faceplate  63  and door  50  together. A plastic body liner  49  may be optionally put in receiver body  40  to partially cover the same against a contamination buildup over time. At the time of replacing faceplate  63 , liner  49  may be changed also. Body liner  49  further extends to cover outlet slope  42  terminating short of door  50  so that the drain water entering receiver body  40  flows down to meet door  50 , which readily opens outwardly about pivot arm  52 . 
         [0035]    Faceplate  63  attached to spout  45  with gasket  55  interposed therebetween provides an overhang  65  that extends along the exterior of spout  45 . Therefore, drain receiver  10  with pipes  30 ,  31  inserted may be placed in a relatively thin wall area during concrete casting of the wall, which will be sandwiched between main body flange  44  and overhang  65  to solidly hold receiver  10  in place. Then, drain receiver  10  may be secured to the set concrete wall by driving bolts through screw holes  145  ( FIG. 4 ) aligned to studs, which are integrated with the wall during the casting. A face plane  67  represents the exterior of the construction on which faceplate  63  abuts. In another embodiment of the present invention, spout  45  may be long enough to be embedded in an 8″ thick wall leaving the same faceplate  63  and door  50  laid flat on the outer surface of the building. 
         [0036]      FIG. 6  shows the operation of the drain receiver  10  installed to provide the gated exit of drain water. The receiver  10  of the present invention provides a neat appearance of the building exterior by its thin profile due to the function of door  50 . And the streamlined internal passage of water and the guiding flange  61  advantageously isolate discharged water to help maintain the building free of water stain and save a cleaning labor. 
         [0037]    Although  FIG. 1-6  relate to conventional stick built walls made of wood or steel studs, the thin profile could also be applied to a concrete wall, where the concrete wall has a hollow area of approximately the same dimensions as a stick built wall hollow area. 
         [0038]    Therefore, the drain receiver can be adapted for thin concrete wall applications also. The PVC and ABS materials are preferred for the drain body in wood or steel frame applications. And a metal such as iron or cast bronze is preferred for concrete tilt up applications. 
         [0039]      FIG. 7  illustrates a drain receiver  100  according to a second embodiment of the present invention adapted to cast on site into a thick tilt-up wall. Because drain receiver  100  will become a part of the strong concrete wall body along a substantial depth flange  44  of receiver  10  may be omitted. A receiver body  140  comprises a pipe sleeve  141 , longitudinal back wall  25  and a latitudinal bottom wall  149  connected to back wall  25  via slanted wall  27  extending at a descending angle such as 45 degrees. In this embodiment, receiver  100  has an extended spout  146 . Spout  146  has a face structure similar to the flange face  120  shown in  FIG. 1  in order to be compatible with faceplate  63 . Spout  146  has a top wall  148  of an even general thickness while the bottom wall  149  is gradually thinned to provide a downward water chute until it turns into an even more slanted outlet slope  150  resting on rear flange  62  of faceplate  63 . 
         [0040]    From faceplate  63 , multiple screws  88  are driven into spout  146  through gasket  55  to secure faceplate  63 , which lies thin and flat on an exterior side  152  of a typical 8″ thick tilt-up wall  154 . Extending flush within the frame of faceplate  63  is door  50  hinged to the upper side of face structure  146 . The rectangular spout  146  may have four concrete anchor tabs (not shown) that slightly protrude from the respective sides of spout  146 . On the interior surface of wall  154 , a unistrut pipe fixture may be used wherein a channel interlocking bracket  156  is horizontally attached to wall  154  and a pair of clamp halves  158  are slidably held in bracket  156  to clamp each received pipe  30  cooperatively. To permanently secure pipe  30 , clamp halves  158  may have side eyelets  160  aligned for threading a bolt that binds two clamp halves  158  around pipe  30 . Along the height of pipe  30  over the wall  154  there may be multiple similar fixtures for stability. 
         [0041]    Drain receiver  100  may be dimensioned to have two of pipe sleeves  162  side by side for receiving pipes  30  at a preferable distance of about ⅞″ from the wall  154 . Hence, channel bracket  156  is preferably selected to extend the same ⅞″ or less from wall  154  to pipe  30 . 
         [0042]      FIG. 8  shows the rear of a drain receiver  200  according to a third embodiment of the present invention wherein a main body  240  is similarly shaped into a frontally open box. Main body  240  is virtually identical to the main body  40  of receiver  10  of the first embodiment except that it has a scaled down horizontal dimension including a width just enough to mount a single pipe  230  on its top surface with a pipe sleeve  241  and the correspondingly narrowed spout (not shown) in the front. Still, main body  240  may have a large anchoring flange  244  with three vertically aligned screw holes  245  at each of the lateral sides thereof with 16″ distance between the two sides of holes  245 . 
         [0043]    Drain receiver  200  may be made for a relatively short  3 ″ application that is designed primarily for wood or steel studs. Alternatively, the receiver  200  may be modified to have a longer spout similar to receiver  100  of the second embodiment to make a single pipe wall cast receiver that has the same advantage of the present invention. As in the case with the second embodiment, the longer spout may obviate the need for flange  244 . 
         [0044]    Although  FIG. 7-8  relate to a tilt up wall made of concrete, it could also be applied to a variety of constructions where the wall is thick, such as hay bale construction where the wall has a substantial thickness of approximately the same dimensions as a tilt up wall. Therefore, the tilt up version of the drain receiver can be adapted for thick traditional wall applications also. Again, PVC and ABS materials are preferred for the drain body in wood or steel frame applications, and a metal such as iron or cast bronze is preferred for concrete tilt up applications. 
         [0045]    Therefore, while the presently preferred form of the tilt-up roof drain receiver has been shown and described, and several modifications thereof discussed, persons skilled in this art will readily appreciate that various additional changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as defined and differentiated by the following claims.