Protective covers for P-shaped traps and for water supply valves

• US 5,363,517 A
• Filed: 01/13/1994
• Issued: 11/15/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Carol M. Botsolas
• Original Assignee: Carol M. Botsolas
• Inventors: Botsolas, Christos J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fetsuga, Robert M.
• Application Number:
  US08/180,677
• Time in Patent Office: 306 Days
• Field of Search: 4/418, 4/661, 4/654, 137/375, 138/157, 138/167, 138/169, 150/154, 150/156, 150/901
• US Class Current: 4/661
• CPC Class Codes: E03C 1/122 Pipe-line systems for waste water in building pipe-line systems in general F17D
• CPC Class Codes: E03C 2001/321 Siphon or angle valve covers

Abstract

Protective covers for an exposed horizontally disposed P-shaped sink trap and for an exposed water supply valve for protecting a wheelchair bound person from burning when using the sink. Select embodiments of the P-shaped trap protective covers can be adjustably installed with P-shaped traps of varying size and which have been installed at varying angles, and select embodiments of the water supply valves can be installed with water supply valves of varying size.

Claims

1. A protective cover for an exposed horizontally disposed P-shaped sink trap, said sink trap having a vertical drain pipe connected to and extending downwardly from a sink drain outlet and a horizontally disposed P-shaped trap section having a vertical front leg connected to said vertical drain pipe, an arcuate section extending rearwardly therefrom to a vertical back leg connected to an elbow, and an outlet pipe extending from said elbow, for protecting a wheelchair bound person from burning when using the sink, said protective sink trap cover comprising:

an expandable housing for substantially enclosing said P-shaped trap section, said housing having a front section and a vertically disposed upper section for substantially enclosing said vertical drain pipe,

said housing being comprised of a pair of oppositely disposed substantially mirror-image portions comprising a left portion and a right portion,

each of said left and right portions comprising a partial housing portion including said front section and a partial upper section portion;

whereby, by partially and temporarily deforming and inserting one of said left or right portions into the other said left or right portion and disposing said portion around the vertical drain pipe and the P-shaped trap section, the left and right portions are rotatable relative to each other around an axis extending vertically through the center of the upper section,

and the volume of space inside the housing can be enlarged or reduced to accommodate a variety of sizes of P-shaped traps and a variety of angles of installation of P-shaped traps.

2. A protective cover for an exposed horizontally disposed P-shaped sink trap, said sink trap having a vertical drain pipe connected to and extending downwardly from a sink drain outlet and a horizontally disposed P-shaped trap section having a vertical front leg connected to said vertical drain pipe, an arcuate section extending rearwardly therefrom to a vertical back leg connected to an elbow, and an outlet pipe extending from said elbow, for protecting a wheelchair bound person from burning when using the sink, said protective sink trap cover comprising:

an expandable housing for substantially enclosing said P-shaped trap section, said housing having a curved front section and an open rear, said housing further having a vertically disposed cylindrical upper section for substantially enclosing said vertical drain pipe, said housing being substantially wedge shaped from said front section to said rear,

said housing being comprised of a pair of oppositely disposed substantially mirror-image portions comprising a left portion and a right portion,

each of said left and right portions comprising a partial housing portion including said front section and said rear and a partial upper section portion including said cylindrical upper section, said partial housing portion comprising a curved front, a bottom, a top and a side, said partial upper section comprising a curved front and a curved rear joined by a curved side formed in a C-shaped substantially cylindrical configuration;

whereby, by partially and temporarily deforming and inserting one of said left or right portions into the other said left or right portion and disposing said portions around the vertical drain pipe and the P-shaped trap section, the curved fronts of the partial upper sections overlap and the curved rears of the partial upper sections overlap and thereby surround the vertical drain pipe, and the curved front sections of the partial housing portions overlap, the bottom sections of the partial housing portions overlap, and the top sections of the partial housing portions overlap and thereby substantially surround the P-shaped trap section with the outlet pipe extending from and out of the rear opening, and such that the left and right portions are rotatable relative to each other around an axis extending vertically through the center of the upper section,

the rear opening can be enlarged or reduced and the volume of space inside the housing can be accordingly enlarged or reduced to accommodate a variety of sizes of P-shaped traps and a variety of angles of installation of P-shaped traps, and

the substantially wedge-shaped housing acts to deflect the legs of the wheelchair bound person apart from each other and around the P-shaped trap so as to prevent burning or other injury.

3. The protective cover of claim 2 in which the left portion and the right portion are made of resilient thermoformed PVC.

4. The protective cover of claim 3 in which the left portion and the right portion are fabricated by injection molding, blow molding, thermoforming, spray molding or reaction injection molding.

5. The protective cover of claim 4 further comprising a cylindrical sleeve of insulating material disposed between the outside of the vertical drain pipe and the inside of the vertically disposed cylindrical upper section.

6. The protective cover of claim 5 further comprising means for attaching said left and right portions to each other and around the vertical drain pipe and the P-shaped trap section.

7. The protective cover of claim 6 in which said attachment means comprises PVC tape.