It is a requirement of environmental legislation that waste outlets from plumbing installations, such as sinks, basins, bathtubs, urinals, and the like, incorporate a waste trap between the installation and the mains outflow. Such waste traps prevent emission of noxious gases from the mains outflow, and help to provide a barrier between the plumbing installation and the mains outflow. A typical waste trap provides a water or other fluid seal within the plumbing, such that fluids may flow from the plumbing outflow, through the fluid seal, and into the mains outflow without disrupting the integrity of the fluid seal and hence the risk of emission of gases.
The traditional form of a water trap is the conventional U-bend; that is, a U-shaped section of piping which retains a water seal within the bend of the U. While this arrangement is adequate for many purposes, it does require a certain minimum amount of space for installation, which may not always be available. Further, as the importance of interior design increases, and customers become more sensitive to aesthetic appeal of products, the traditional U-bend is becoming less popular, due to its perception as unsightly. Generally U-bend traps have been installed in hidden plumbing arrangements, and so there has been little or no pressure for aesthetic appeal from the traps. However, as fashions move towards the use of more exposed plumbing, there are pressures towards the use of more compact and more aesthetically pleasing exposed waste traps.
More compact waste traps are known, which may be used in more restricted spaces than conventional U-bend traps. For example, compact injection-moulded plastics traps may be produced having an internal partition to create a water seal in use between an inlet and an outlet. Such traps are produced in two or more separate parts, a main body including the inlet, outlet, and partition, and a closure member which is subsequently sonic welded to the lower part of the body to form the complete trap; however, this method of production involves high initial costs, and is only economically viable for large production runs. These traps are known as ‘bottle traps’; bottle traps may be excluded from certain markets for regulatory reasons, in that typical bottle traps may be unable to meet particular stringent relevant legislation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,135 to Palmer describes an elongate drain trap including a metal insert slidably received in the body of the trap. The insert is intended to be removable from and repositionable within the trap. Further, the insert is not intended to form a water seal within the trap, but is intended to serve to conduct heat into the interior of the trap; to assist in the melting of ice plugs should the water in the trap freeze.
U.S. Pat. No. 294,489 to McCloskey describes a bottle trap formed of metal into which is received a metal inlet pipe. The inlet pipe is releasably screwed into a tubular sleeve to locate it within the trap body, and is described as being removable from the body of the device.
UK Patent Application GB 2 070 093A to Carter describes a plastics drainage trap for a shower tray, which includes a dip tube bonded to a cover, with the tube being received into a body. The cover and the tube together are upwardly removable from the body of the trap.
Many traditional plumbing products are now being produced from unusual materials for aesthetic reasons; for example, glass or marble basins and the like. These materials do not fit well visually with plastics traps. Traps are typically produced from injection-moulded plastics, but for aesthetic reasons many customers prefer to have a metallic appearance to the trap; hence the plastics trap may be plated with a thin layer of metal. Again, this increases the costs of manufacture. Further, the trap nonetheless retains the weight and feel of a plastics trap, which may deter some customers. However, plating technology now makes available a large range of different and unusual plating finishes, such as brushed, hammered, or weathered finishes of a range of different colours. Many of these finishes are not suitable for plating onto plastics products, and are thus excluded from use with conventional bottle traps.
It is among the objects of embodiments of the present invention to obviate or alleviate these and other disadvantages of known waste traps.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds