Washing facility

• US 5,819,335 A
• Filed: 07/12/1996
• Issued: 10/13/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Frank J. Hennessy
• Original Assignee: Frank J. Hennessy
• Inventors: Hennessy, Frank J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eloshway, Charles R.
• Application Number:
  US08/680,562
• Time in Patent Office: 823 Days
• Field of Search: 4/507, 4/559, 4/584, 4/619, 4/631, 4/650, 4/651, 4/653, 4/675, 4/676, 4/678, 4/680, 4/682, 4/683, 4/687, 4/694, 4/572.1, 4/541.1, 251/229, D23/233, D23/238, D23/241, D23/242, D23/245, D23/250, D23/252, D23/284, D23/291, D23/293, D23/293.1
• US Class Current: 4/619
• CPC Class Codes: A47K 1/04 Basins connected to waste pipe E03C1/12; Jugs; Holding devices therefor
• CPC Class Codes: E03C 1/18 Sinks, whether or not connected to the waste-pipe

Abstract

A washing facility including a receptacle fabricated in sheet material with deck portions. The preferred receptacle has vertical front and rear planar walls joined by an arcuate central wall. The rear wall has an inlet, and the front wall has an overflow and an outlet, the former being visible but the latter being obscured from the front of the facility. A water supply unit on the exterior of the receptacle under the deck includes a nozzle over the inlet, for ejecting water from the inlet in an arcing laminar sheet, and valves connected to the nozzle. Valve control handles are slidably mounted on the deck and connected to the valves through the deck. A water drainage unit on the exterior of the receptacle has a chamber over the overflow and the outlet, stopper slidable between open and closed position, and a drain conduit leading from the chamber. A stopper handle located on the inner surface of the receptacle is attached to the stopper for moving the stopper between its two positions. The installed facility eliminates the undesirable projection of conventional spouts and handles into the washing area.

Claims

1. A washing facility comprising:

a water receptacle having an upper rim, a bottom, and opposed front and rear walls extending down from the rim to the bottom, said walls having inner surfaces facing into the receptacle,

the front wall having a receptacle outlet extending therethrough adjacent to the bottom thereof,

the rear wall having a receptacle inlet extending therethrough adjacent to the rim, said inlet having an inner edge facing into the receptacle,

the bottom having a slope that declines from the rear wall to the outlet and that lies in a first vertical plane passing through the inlet and the outlet,

means including the front wall for obscuring the outlet from the view of a person positioned in front of the front wall looking along a line of sight extending down to the receptacle from a point above the receptacle immediately adjacent to but in front of a second vertical plane containing the rim of the front wall;

means for forcing water through the inlet past and in contact with the inner edge so that the water ejects from the inlet into the receptacle in a smooth, laminar stream that arcs forwardly and downwardly along the first vertical plane in spaced relation to the rear wall, that strikes said slope and flushes the same toward the outlet, and that is in the view of such a person positioned in front of the front wall and having said line of sight,

wherein the front and rear walls are planar and substantially vertical,

wherein the receptacle has an intermediate wall including the bottom and extending downwardly and inwardly from the rim to the bottom, and

wherein the intermediate wall is joined to the front and rear walls,

wherein the receptacle is a sink, and

wherein the intermediate wall including the bottom has a continuously smooth curvature radially spaced from a substantially horizontal axis above the receptacle.

2. A washing facility comprising:

a water receptacle having an upper rim, a bottom, and opposed front and rear walls extending down from the rim to the bottom,

the front wall having a receptacle outlet extending therethrough adjacent to the bottom thereof,

means including the front wall for obscuring the outlet from the view of a person positioned in front of the front wall looking along a line of sight extending down to the receptacle from a point above the receptacle immediately adjacent to but in front of a first vertical plane containing the rim of the front wall,

the rear wall having a receptacle inlet adjacent to the rim and visible to such a person looking along said line of sight,

the bottom sloping to a low point adjacent to the outlet,

means for supplying water to the inlet so that the water ejects from the inlet into the receptacle in a visible arcing stream that extends over the sloping bottom along a second vertical plane, and

means for draining water from the outlet,

wherein there is a deck having substantially horizontal surface portions extending outwardly from the rim,

wherein the water supply means is mounted under the deck,

wherein handle means is slidably mounted on the deck,

wherein means interconnect the handle means and the water supply means to control the flow of water out of the inlet,

wherein the inlet and the outlet lie generally along said second vertical plane, and

wherein said handle means is movable lengthwise of said second plane.

3. The washing facility of claim 2,

wherein the receptacle has inner and outer surfaces,

wherein the inlet and outlet are flush with the inner surface,

wherein there is a stopper for the outlet,

wherein there are means mounting the stopper outside of the receptacle for movement between a position closing the outlet and a position opening the outlet,

wherein there is a handle on the stopper extending into the receptacle, and

wherein except for the stopper handle, the washing facility has no structural element which extends into or over the receptacle.

4. A washing facility comprising:

a washing receptacle having an upper rim, a substantially vertical planar front wall extending downwardly from the rim, said front wall having an inner surface facing into the receptacle and a lower edge, and a bottom portion that meets the front wall along the lower edge thereof,

the front wall having an outlet formed in the lower edge of the front wall and adjacent to said bottom portion so that the periphery of the outlet is defined by the front wall and the bottom portion, the front wall also having an overflow adjacent to said upper rim,

said bottom portion sloping downwardly toward the outlet,

means for supplying water to the receptacle,

a one-piece stopper having a lower gate and an elongated main body extending upwardly from the gate,

an upper handle extending transversely from said body, and

means mounting the stopper on the front wall with the body and the gate outside of the receptacle and the handle projecting into the receptacle adjacent to the inner surface of the front wall for up and down movement between a closed position with the gate closing the outlet and the handle exposing the overflow and an open position with the gate exposing the outlet and the handle covering the overflow.

5. A washing facility comprising:

longitudinally extending first, second and third walls having inner wall surfaces defining a washing receptacle therebetween, the first and second walls being planar and upstanding in transversely spaced relation to each other, each of the first and second walls having an upper edge, the third wall having a pair of side edges respectively joining the first and second walls and also having a pair of upper edges from which the third wall curves continuously downwardly to a center thereof;

a deck joining the upper edges of the first, second and third walls and providing horizontal top deck surfaces extending outwardly therefrom,

the first wall having a substantially horizontal slot therethrough relatively adjacent to its upper edge and constituting a fluid inlet into the receptacle,

the second wall having an upper overflow and a lower outlet therethrough respectively adjacent to its upper edge and to the side edge of the third wall near said center;

a stopper;

means mounting the stopper outside of the receptacle for movement between positions alternately covering the overflow and closing the outlet;

handle means projecting outwardly from one of said wall surfaces for operating the stopper;

valve means outside the receptacle and under the deck for controlling the supply of washing fluid to the inlet;

valve handles above the level of the deck;

means interconnecting the valve handles and the valve means for operating the same; and

conduit means outside the receptacle and under the deck for removing washing fluid from the outlet and the overflow,

the deck surface and the inner wall surfaces of the first and third walls being smooth and unobstructed except for said handles and handle means.

6. A washing facility that is adapted to be pre-plumbed prior to installation at the job site comprising:

a deck having top and bottom surfaces and extending outwardly from a rim around a washing area, the deck having openings extending therethrough from the top surface to the bottom surface;

a water receptacle having opposed planar walls and an arcuate central wall and inner and outer surfaces, said walls being joined to the rim of the deck in pendent relation thereto, one of the walls having an upper inlet adjacent to the rim and another of the walls having a lower outlet below the inlet and an upper overflow above the outlet, each of the inlet, outlet and overflow extending through its wall of the receptacle from the inner surface to the outer surface and being aligned with each other along a common vertical plane;

a water supply unit attached to the outer surface of the receptacle over the inlet and under the openings including hot and cold water valves connected to the inlet and water supply conduits connected to the valves;

a water drainage unit attached to the outer surface of the receptacle having a chamber over the overflow and the outlet, a drain conduit connected to the chamber, and a stopper slidably movable between a first position exposing the overflow and covering the outlet and a second position covering the overflow and exposing the outlet;

a pair of valve handles slidably movable in side-by-side relation on the deck over the openings;

means extending through the openings individually interconnecting the handles and the valves for opening and closing the valves in response to movement of the valve handles; and

a stopper handle located adjacent to the inner surface of the receptacle and attached to the stopper for movement relative to the receptacle while moving the stopper between its first and second positions.

7. The washing facility of claim 6,

wherein the planar walls are front and rear walls,

wherein the inlet is in the rear wall and the outlet and overflow are in the front wall, and

wherein all of the handles have top arcuate surfaces with similar geometric curvatures.

8. In a washing receptacle having inner and outer surfaces, an upper rim, a bottom, and an upstanding planar wall having upper and lower edges respectively joining the rim and the bottom, said wall having an upper overflow and a lower outlet;

a drainage housing attached to the outer surface of the wall and providing a drain chamber in fluid communication with the overflow an outlet, and means for connecting the chamber to a drain pipe;

a one-piece stopper located in the chamber having upper and lower ends and having a length greater than the distance between the overflow and the outlet, a lower end moveable into and out of an overlapping relation with the outlet, an intermediate portion, and an upper end;

a handle attached to the upper end in overlapping relation with the inner surface of the wall; and

means mounting the stopper in the chamber with the handle extended into the receptacle and for movement of the lower end into and out of an overlapping and sealing relation with the outer surface of the wall over the outlet and for movement of the handle into and out of a covering and concealing relation to the overflow in response to up and down movement of the handle, said lower end being in its overlapping relation when the handle is out of its concealing relation and vice versa.

9. The washing receptacle of claim 8,

wherein the body of the stopper is plastic and has an intermediate arcuate portion between the upper and lower ends and is moveable through the overflow to insert the stopper into and to remove the stopper from the chamber, and

wherein the mounting means releasably mounts the stopper in said chamber so that the stopper can be withdrawn from the chamber through the overflow.

10. A washing facility comprising:

first, second and third walls having inner wall surfaces defining a washing receptacle therebetween, the first and second walls being planar and upstanding in opposed spaced relation to each other, each of the first and second walls having an upper edge, the third wall having a pair of side edges respectively joining the first and second walls and also having a pair of upper edges from which the third wall curves smoothly and continuously downwardly to a center thereof;

a deck joining the upper edges of the first, second and third walls and providing horizontal top deck surfaces extending outwardly therefrom,

the first wall having a substantially horizontal slot therethrough relatively adjacent to its upper edge and constituting a fluid inlet into the receptacle,

the second wall having a lower outlet therethrough adjacent to the side edge of the third wall near said center;

valve means outside the receptacle and under the deck for controlling the supply of washing fluid to the inlet;

valve handle means above the level of the deck;

means interconnecting the valve handle means and the valve means for operating the same; and

conduit means outside the receptacle and under the deck for removing washing fluid from the outlet,

the deck surface and the inner wall surfaces of the first and third walls being smooth and unobstructed except for said handle means.

11. The washing facility of claim 10,

wherein the third wall is concave.

12. The washing facility of claim 10,

wherein the third wall has upper convex portions radially spaced from horizontal axes below the receptacle and blending into a concave portion that is radially spaced from a substantially horizontal axis above the receptacle.

13. The washing facility of claim 10,

wherein the walls meet without forming compound curves.

14. The washing facility of claim 10,

wherein the outlet is obscured from the view of a person positioned adjacent to the second wall looking along a line of sight extending down to the receptacle from a point above the receptacle immediately adjacent to a vertical plane containing the upper edge of the second wall but on the side of said plane opposite the outlet.

15. The washing facility of claim 10,

wherein the receptacle is made by a process selected from the group consisting of casting;

stamping; and

cutting, bending and bonding.

16. The washing facility of claim 10,

wherein the receptacle is made from a material selected from the group consisting of metals, plastics, and composites.

17. A washing facility comprising:

a plurality of walls having upper edge portions and inner wall surfaces, the inner wall surfaces defining a washing receptacle therebetween, the walls including first and second planar walls upstanding in spaced relation to each other and a third wall having a pair of side edges respectively joining the first and second walls, said third wall having a pair of upper edges from which the third wall curves smoothly and continuously downwardly to a center thereof;

a deck extending from the upper edges of the first, second and third walls and providing horizontal top deck surfaces,

means for supplying water to the receptacle from one of the first and second walls,

the other one of the first and second walls having a lower outlet therethrough adjacent to said center;

valve means outside the receptacle and under the deck for controlling the supply of water to the receptacle;

handle means positioned over at least one of said surfaces;

means interconnecting the handle means and the valve means for operating the valve means; and

conduit means outside the receptacle and under the deck for removing fluid from the outlet,

the deck surfaces and the inner wall surfaces of the third wall and one of the first and second walls being smooth and unobstructed except for the handle means.