An Improved Grease Trap or Intercepter.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Apr., 1891-Accepted, 23rd May, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by THOMAS GRIFFITHS, of 137, Elizabeth Street,
Sydney, in the Colony of New South Wales, Civil Engineer.]
An Improved Grease Trap or Intercepter.
I HENRY EDWARD NEWTON of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings,
Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, 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 has been specially designed for the purpose of intercepting all
grease, fat, or oleaginous substances that find their way from a washing-up sink
into a sewer, and thereby choke the same and the connections. The sink and
intercepter may be enclosed in one box, or they may be made separate from one
another, and connected together by pipes.
In the accompanying drawings the sink and intercepting tray are shewn designed
all in one, and not independent of one another.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the sink and intercepter, the section being taken on
the line 1-2 of Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same, on the line 3-4 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a sectional plan on the line 5-6 of Fig. 2.
A is the washing-up sink, which may be emptied by an ordinary down pipe, or
by means of a syphon, as shewn in the drawings. The sink A. occupies the upper
part of a receptacle or box B, while the lower part of the box contains the grease
trap or intercepter C, which is so arranged that the water that pours into it from
the sink shall be made to travel over a considerable extent of surface. The means
adopted in the drawings (having this end in view) is by dividing the tray of the
intercepter into a number of separate compartments by transverse partitions D, D,
with openings d made in the partitions at their alternate ends, so that the water
that enters the tray shall be caused to take a serpentine course (as shown by the
arrows in Fig. 3) along the tray of the intercepter. E is the overflow pipe that is
placed at the bottom of the water-course, and at such a height from the bottom of
the tray as to ensure the openings d being constantly covered by the water in the
tray (see Figs. 1 & 2). The overflow pipe E should discharge over a gully or
outside sink. Ventilation being of considerable importance to make the apparatus
work satisfactorily, the overflow pipe E is also used as an air inlet pipe. The cool
air from outside will enter the box through the pipe E, will pass over the surface
of the liquid in the intercepter, thereby cooling the same, and will enter the upper
part of the box B through the opening in the partition F that separates the
upper from the lower part of the box, and from thence will pass back to the outer
atmosphere by way of the pipe G, the ventilation taking the direction indicated by
the wavy arrows in the drawings (Figs. 1 and 2). The mode of operation of the
apparatus is as follows:-The sink A will contain the hot water used for washing
up, the water being mixed up with the debris from the dishes that are being washed
up, and the grease from the same in a melted form. The sink will be discharged,
either through the syphon or the down pipe, into the first compartment formed on
the tray or intercepter C, the water that is already in that compartment being
forced into the next compartment, and so on. It will be understood that as much
water will be discharged from the intercepter tray through the overflow pipe E, as
is introduced to the intercepter from the sink, the water that overflows being cold
in comparison to the water that is introduced. It has been ascertained by
experiment, that the water in each successive compartment is several degrees
cooler than the water in the compartment just before it, and from whence it has
flowed but recently. Owing to the impediments to the free flow of the water

page_text: caused by the partitions D, the flow of water is retarded, and the water will become
comparatively, still on the surface, thus allowing the grease to rise to the surface of
the water above the openings d, where it will rapidly cool, and be retained in that
compartment, and from whence it may be removed as a cake, when the intercepter
is to be cleaned. It will be evident that the form of intercepter C shewn in the
drawings, may be varied; for instance, the same result may be obtained by con-
structing the tray with a continuous spiral or snail-shaped water-course, having
transverse divisions, with openings at the bottom, so that the water would be
impeded in its flow, as before; or a circular tray may be used with concentric
divisions, with the openings in the concentric partitions close to the bottom, so as to
afford the necessary impediment to the flow of the water, for the purpose herein-
before set forth. Any other arrangement of divisions may be adopted that would
be suitable for the purpose, it being borne in mind that the object of having a
serpentine course, with divisions and openings near the bottom, is to allow time for
the water to cool by impeding the flow, and at the same time to skim or intercept
the grease from the surface of the water, and thereby prevent it from entering the
sewer. It is not necessary to use the intercepting tray in connection or com-
bination with the sink A, as the greasy water from bowls or other receptacles may
be emptied directly into the first compartment of the intercepting tray.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A grease intercepter or trap consisting of a tray that is divided by partitions
into compartments, each compartiment being in direct communication with the next
adjoining compartment by means of an opening made in the partition near the
bottom of the tray, in order to allow the water to cool, the tray being provided
with an overflow pipe placed at such a height that sufficient water will be retained
in the dish or tray to cover or seal the openings in the partitions, as herein specified,
and for the purposes set forth.
2. The combination with a grease intercepter or trap such as referred to in
Claim 1, of a box or receptacle provided with an air inlet and an air outlet so
arranged that the air arriving through the inlet shall be caused to circulate over
the surface of the liquid in the grease trap, and then exit through the outlet pipe,
thus cooling the liquid in the trap, and at the same time carrying off any noxious
gases or bad smells, as herein set forth.
Dated this 21st day of April 1891.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.