IL128880A - Condensate drain - Google Patents

Abstract

A condensate drain unit (34) particularly useful for attachment to a air- conditioner evaporator, comprising a rigid member (10) having a first and a second edge, an inlet (16) being disposed on said first edge, an exit (18) being disposed on said second edge, a hollow path (20) connecting said inlet and said exit, said path being sized to accept and bend a flexible tube (22) therealong and being shaped to include a siphon-like U bend. 2755 ו' בתשרי התשס" ג - September 12, 2002

Description

CONDENSATE DRAIN Eitan, Pearl, Latzer & Cohen-Zedek P-2258-IL The present invention relates to drainage of condensate.

More particularly, the invention provides a drainage conduit for condensate generated by the evaporator of an air conditioning unit.

As is well known air conditioning systems generate external water condensate which should be, but too often are not, drained in a proper manner. Moist ambient air coming into contact with the cold coils of the evaporator unit causes water accumulation in a tray arranged under the evaporator to collect same; this water should be drained in a manner not offensive to pedestrians walking thereunder. An example of an evaporator drain pan is described in US Patent No. 3,741 ,290 to Nenadal.

The provision of a simple drain pipe would seem to serve the purpose ofleading the condensate to a drain. However, air conditioner manufacturers do not recommend such pipe as it would also serve as a conduit to allow hot air to enter the air-conditioned area in summer, or in the winter allow entry to cold air. Consequently manufacturers recommend the use of a siphon drain having a U trap for continuously holding water therein. Thus air leakage which would add to the air conditioning load is prevented.

Surprisingly, such a drain can be a source of substantial expense and trouble, the manufacturers of air conditioner system recommended that a professional plumber be employed to prepare the drain, which should be made of rigid PVC tube, and be located near the evaporator which is to be drained. The drain pipe is to include a siphon before its connection to a general drain pipe or its discharge, in order to facilitate water discharge. The drain is to be installed at a gradual downward angle, from the inner unit to the nearest drain point. The tube is to be laid and supported so as to ensure a continuous gradient without intermediate ups and downs, so as to eliminate possible air traps.

P-2258-IL Siphon drain units for household, particularly kitchen use, are of course well known to all householders. Special forms of such drains are described in US Patent No 5,075,905 to Rutherford and No. 5,267,361 to Lai. The primary problem dealt with concerns of avoidance of drain blockage by kitchen waste particles.

Prior art regarding condensate draining is mainly concerned with the problem of extracting condensate from inside a pressurized vessel. Solutions are proposed by Schumacher in US Patent 4,892,045 which is concerned with condensate from a furnace, and Page in US Patent 5,655,570 where a wicking disk is used to extract condensate without substantial pressure loss inside the system.

A prior art search did not reveal a cost-effective way to drain air conditioner evaporators.

It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to obviate the disadvantages of prior art evaporator drains and to provide a drain siphon which is both leak-proof and cost effective.

The present invention achieves the above object by providing a condensate drain unit, particularly useful for attachment to an air-conditioner evaporator, comprising a rigid member having a first and a second edge, an inlet being disposed on said first edge, an exit being disposed on said second edge, a hollow path connecting said inlet and said exit, said path being sized to accept and bend a flexible tube there along and being shaped to include a siphon-like U bend.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a drain unit further comprising a flexible tube inserted along said path substantially taking up the form of said path and projecting from said rigid member inlet to enable connection of said tube inlet to an air-conditioner condensate outlet.

In a most preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a drain unit wherein said rigid member is composed of a base slab containing said hollow path, and a cover member attachable to said base slab to cover said path.

Yet further embodiments of the invention will be described hereinafter.

P-2258-IL It will thus be realized that the novel device of the present invention serves to quickly and cheaply provide the required drain unit. The base slab can easily be attached, for example by means of a metal clip to a stationary item, for example an adjacent wall or the evaporator drain pan itself.

Alternatively an attachment extension can be formed by plastic casting to the base slab itself.

The invention will now be described further with reference to the accompanying drawings, which represent by example preferred embodiments of the invention. Structural details are shown only as far as necessary for a fundamental understanding thereof. The described examples, together with the drawings, will make apparent to those skilled in the art how further forms of the invention may be realized.

In the Drawings: FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the drain unit slab according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an embodiment including the tube; and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a drain unit slab, shown without the tube, which has an openable cover.

There is seen in FIG. 1 a condensate drain unit, particularly useful for attachment to an air-conditioner evaporator (not shown).

A rigid member 10 has a first and a second edge 12, 1 . An inlet 16 is disposed on first edge 2, and an exit 18 is disposed on second edge 14. In the shown embodiment edges 12, 14 are opposed minor edges.

A hollow path 20 connects inlet 16 and exit 18. The path 20 is sized to accept and bend a flexible tube 22 there along, the tube being seen in FIG. 2.

The path 20 has a down-sloping first section 24, connected to a siphon-like U bend 26 having a first leg 28 and a slightly shorter second leg 30. An exit portion 32 of the path 20 slopes down from the horizontal by a few degrees.

P-2258-IL Preferably the rigid member 10 is made of a rigid foamed plastic such as polystyrene, 'Such material can be easily cast to the required shape using low-cost tooling. Material costs are very low; such material being widely used among other purposes in building construction and for disposable packaging.

With reference to the rest of the figures, similar reference numerals have been used to identify similar parts.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is seen a drain unit 34 further comprising a flexible tube 22 inserted along the path 20. The tube 22 substantially takes up the form of path 20 and projects from the rigid member inlet 16 to enable connection of tube inlet 36 to an air-conditioner condensate outlet 38.

The flexible tube 22 is inserted by pushing it into the rigid member 10 through the inlet 16 or outlet 18.

Suitably the flexible tube 22 is made of polyvinyl chloride j FIG. 3 illustrates a further embodiment of a drain unit 40 into which assembly of tube 22 seen in FIG. 2 is easier.

The rigid member is composed of a base slab 42 containing at least half of the depth of the hollow path 44, and a cover member 46 attachable to base slab 42 to cover the path 44 and to provide any remaining depth of the path. The present embodiment eases the task of inserting the tube 22 into the slab 42. The cover member 46 is retained to the base slab by any suitable means; the figure shows screws 48 used for this purpose.

In an embodiment (not shown) where part of the depth of the path 44 is cast into the cover member 46, this eases correctly locating the cover 46 to the base slab 42, and no other location projections for this purpose are needed.

The scope of the described invention is intended to include all embodiments coming within the meaning of the following claims. The foregoing examples illustrate useful forms of the invention, but are not to be considered as limiting its scope, as those skilled in the art will readily be aware that additional variants and modifications of the invention can be formulated without departing from the meaning of the following claims.

P-2258-IL

Claims (8)

1. A condensate drain unit, particularly useful for attachment to an air-conditioner evaporator, comprising a rigid member having a first and a second edge, an inlet feeing disposed on said first edge an exit being disposed on said second edge, a hollow path connecting said inlet and said exit, said path being sized to accept and bend a flexible tube there along and being shaped to include a siphon-like U bend.

2. The drain unit as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a flexible tube inserted along said path substantially taking up the form of said path and projecting from said rigid member inlet to enable connection of said tube inlet to an air-conditioner condensate outlet.

3. The drain unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said rigid member is composed of a base slab containing said hollow path, and a cover member attachable to said base slab to cover said path.

4. The drain unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said rigid member is 1 made of a rigid foamed plastic.

5. The drain unit as claimed in claim 4, wherein said plastic is polystyrene.

6. The drain unit as claimed in claim 2, wherein said flexible tube is made of polyvinyl chloride.

7. The drain unit according to any of claims 1 - 6, substantially as described hereinabove. P-2258-IL

8. The drain unit according to any of claims 1 - 6, substantially as illustrated in any of the drawings. P-2258-IL