Vertical stack plumbing systems 10 such as the one shown in FIG. 1 are frequently used in mid-rise and high-rise buildings. These systems allow for efficient plumbing of mid-rise and high-rise buildings 1. However, as further evidenced by FIG. 1, these vertical stack plumbing systems are often a complex, labyrinth of interconnected toilet waste pipes 11, sink waste pipes 12, shower waste pipes 13, various venting and other miscellaneous pipes 14 extending throughout mid-rise and high-rise buildings.
While these vertical stack plumbing systems allow for efficient plumbing especially during construction and for the first few years post-construction of these mid-rise and high-rise buildings, cleaning and maintaining these systems is quite problematic. For example, as mid-rise and high-rise buildings age, routine maintenance and cleaning is necessary to maintain operability of these systems otherwise frequent drain blockage and leaks occur. Conventional plumbing snakes and augers are currently used in an attempt to clean and maintain operability of these vertical stack systems. However, due to the labyrinth-like construction of these vertical stack systems, using plumbing snakes and augers is often less than ideal because little control may be maintained over the plumbing snakes/augers while attempting to clean these systems—often resulting in snake/auger movement being hindered within the vertical stack system consequently resulting in sub-optimal cleaning of the vertical stack plumbing system.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds