An Improved Appliance for Removing Obstructions from Closet- traps, Soil-pipes, Drains, Stack Pipes, and the like.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Nov., 1892-Accepted, 4th Feb.,
1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Appliance for Removing Obstructions from Closet-
traps, Soil-pipes, Drains, Stack Pipes, and the like.
I, ABRAHAM THOMAS COOPER, of No. 92, Moray Road, Finsbury Park, in
the County of Middlesex, Fitter, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in appliances for removing obstructions
from closet-traps, soil-pipes, drains, stack pipes and the like, and consists in a novel
combination of handle, rigid plates, elastic disc and ports. In order that it and the
best means of carrying it into practical effect, may be thoroughly understood, I
will describe both in detail, referring in so doing to the accompanying figures which
are to be taken as part of this Specification, and read therewith.
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of an appliance made according to the present
invention.
Fig. 2 is a plan corresponding therewith.
Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation illustrating the use of my invention on the drain
from a bason.
Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation illustrating the use of the same appliance in a
closet.
Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation illustrating the use of the same appliance in a rain
water gutter to clear the stack pipe.
Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of a modification.
a is the handle of the appliance. It is represented as a plain rod fitted with a
crutch top. The particular shape and material of it are both immaterial, and either
may be of any which is convenient.
b is a flat metal plate. c is a disc of rubber and is the operative member. of
the appliance. d is a second flat metal plate and e are holding screws.
The metal plates 6 and d and the rubber disc c stand in planes at right angles
with the axis of the handle and are held therein and to the handle by, preferably,
screws, as described more fully further on. They are shewn as circular in
shape, but they may be of any shape as also explained more particularly
further on.
b
The plate 6 serves as a rigid backing plate to the rubber disc c.
In diameter, it
is less than that of the drain pipe in which the appliance is to be used. It is
necessary that this difference in diameter be sufficient to allow of the rubber disc
being forced into a cup shape as the appliance is pushed into the pipe, and after-
wards turning inside out as the handle is pulled back, without being damaged by
the edge of the said plate. The removal of the plate will at any time adapt
the appliance for use in a smaller pipe than that for which it was made.
With reference to the disc c which I have already spoken of as the operative
member of the appliance, it must be pointed out that it must be of rubber and rubber
of good quality. Common rubber is almost as inefficient as. leather, and leather
A disc of
will not answer the purpose of my invention because it is too stiff.
leather fastened to the end of a rod can be pushed into and along a pipe of the
same diameter or, at any rate, of one not much smaller, but it would not make an
air tight joint with the side of the pipe if it were pushed hard enough to cup it,
because the edge would then buckle and the disc would not turn inside out when
the handle was pulled back. My invention requires rubber because it is elastic.
The central portion c¹ of the disc is made thicker than the edge, because it is
necessary that that portion should be rigid, and the annulus c³ between the central
portion and the outer annulus c is intermediate in this respect. It is equally

page_text: necessary that the outer annulus the one next the edge-should be thin enough
to cup and afterwards turn back without buckling sufficiently to break the air
tight joint between the disc and the pipe. Further, the thickness of this annulus
gradually diminishes in the direction of the edge. The latter is as thin as is
consistent with proper strength, inasmuch as the thinner the disc is at and close to
the edge, the more certain it is to maintain a tight joint with the surface of the
pipe during the acts of both cupping and turning inside out. There is a further
advantage which results from the use of indiarubber, especially when it is made
up into a disc of the same cross section as illustrated. The disc is so elastic that.
it will answer with pipes, drain grates, sink grates, and the like, of a range of
sizes, instead of being restricted to one only.
The second plate is about the same diameter as the handle. It is held to the
handle by, preferably, three screws e arranged in a circle near the edge of the plate.
The advantage of screws in a circle is the successful resistance that they offer to the
strong suck that may be set up in pulling the appliance out of a pipe which it fits
tightly. If there were only one screw under such circumstances, the central hole
in the disc would be expanded and made large enough to let the plate be pulled
backwards through it.
The three preceding paragraphs indicate the use of my appliance to clear a drain
pipe into which it has to be pushed, without using it as a plumber's "force". is used.
The appliance made and combined as above described is adapted to be used
"force" by being provided with ports and a cavity in the following
as a
manner.
el, el are ports in the rubber disc. There may be only one or more of these-
their number is a matter of no moment-but as many as there may be, all open
upwards within the edge of the disc for a reason which will appear farther on.
f is a cavity in the under face of the disc, and of the same size as the plate b.
This cavity discharges the function of a cylinder.
fis an automatic valve to be used on appliances made for use in drains of large
size. It is made, preferably, of rubber and is held in position by any suitable
means. Its seat is the under face of the central portion c¹ of the disc and its
function is to ensure the perfect closure of the ports. This arrangement is useful
in stubborn cases, as the obstruction must yield to the action of the appliance,
although the effect upon it at first may be to harden or consolidate it.
In
The appliance is used in the following manner for expelling an obstruction from
the drain pipe of a sink or bason. In the case of either of the latter, the drain
pipe is comparatively small and the grate is very often made fast to its seat.
either case, the pipe is too small for the appliance to be thrust into it, and it is to
meet such a case that the appliance is provided with the ports and cavity. The
sink or bason, as the case may be, is filled nearly full of water. The disc c is
then placed upon the bottom of the bason so as to completely cover all the ports
in the grate g and to rest by its annulus e³ outside and clear of them-see Fig. 3.
The under face of the disc c outside the cavity f forthwith attaches itself to the
adjacent surface h, and the handle a is worked up and down. As it is pulled up,
the plate uncovers the ports e through which water flows into the vacuum
between the disc c and the surface h. This volume of water is forced down the pipe
by the next downstroke of the handle, and the working up and down is continued
until the obstruction is removed.
When the obstruction to be removed is in a soil pipe, the pan i-see Fig. 4-is
filled nearly full of water, and the appliance pushed into the throat of the pan.
The thin edge forthwith makes a tight joint with the adjacent surface, and
the handle a is worked up and down as already described with reference to
Fig. 3.
When the obstruction is in a drain pipe to the interior of which access can be
had, the disc is thrust forward or downward according to the direction of the
drain, cupping itself as it is pushed forward, and turning inside out or back again
when the handle is pulled back. Of course the appliance can be used as a

page_text: force
a sink pipe.
in a drain, or upon the grate of a drain, as well as on the grated end of
The plates and disc are made of any suitable shape according as the particular
place for which they are intended may require them to be, round, square or oblong,
and of any size. The rubber disc must always be large enough to quite include
under it all the air passages through the drain grate or around it to the drain.
Fig. 5 illustrates the use of the appliance to clear a circular and straight pipe
without pushing the disc thereinto. ; is a rain water gutter and k is the stack pipe
which is supposed to have been choked at some point of its length. Instead of
it now being necessary to take part (at any rate) of the stack down, the disc is
applied to the bottom of the gutter. Being flexible, it adapts itself to the shape of
the latter and bites at once round the socket therein. The handle is then worked
up and down as before described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The hereinbefore described combination of handle, rubber disc tapered
towards the edge in the way and for the reason specified, rigid backing plate inter-
posed between the said handle and rubber disc, one or more ports through the said
rubber disc, and a holding device, as set forth.
2. The hereinbefore described combination of handle, rubber disc tapered
towards the edge in the way and for the reason specified, rigid backing plate
interposed between the said handle and rubber disc, one or more ports through
the said rubber disc, an automatic valve on the under side of the rubber disc and
a holding device, as set forth.
Dated this 7th day of November 1892.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.