Drain fixtures, such as floor drains, for plumbing applications are typically manufactured as a single component that includes a drain pan or body with an integral outlet fitting extending from a bottom surface thereof. These fixtures have several drawbacks: they must be manufactured from a single material thus requiring the entire fixture to be made from either relatively expensive metals or from a glueable or solvent weldable plastic material in order to provide an outlet fitting that is glueable or solvent weldable; the integration of the outlet fitting with the drain pan gives the fixtures a form or shape that is difficult to stack for storage and shipping; and the types of outlet fittings available are limited by manufacturing and tooling costs, among other drawbacks.
Attempts have been made to provide drain fixtures with separate drain bodies and outlet fittings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,602 to Cuschera discloses a drain having an enlarged drain body with a hole through a lower floor thereof. A hollow coupling member with an annular flange at a first end and a threaded portion adjacent thereto is provided. A second end of the coupling member is inserted through the floor to form a stem for the drain fixture. A nut is threaded onto the threads from beneath the floor to thereby secure the floor of the drain body between the nut and the annular flange on the coupling member. Downstream fittings for the drain system can then be coupled to the second end of the coupling member using a sleeve or other fitting. Such a design requires subsequent fittings to be coupled to the stem of the coupling member and relies on a threaded coupling which may be difficult to appropriately tighten and has the potential to loosen over time.
It would be advantageous to provide a drain fixture having a separate drain body and outlet fitting that can be mechanically coupled to provide an engineered seal and that can be manufactured from dissimilar materials. It would also be advantageous to provide a plurality of styles of outlet fittings, e.g. Ts, 45s, elbows, or the like, that can be selectively coupled to a drain body via a common coupler disposed in the drain body. A drain fixture that is adaptable to a variety of outlet fittings and downstream tubing sizes or diameters would also be advantageous.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds