US20180155916A1 - Low profile overbalanced backwater valve - Google Patents

Abstract

A backwater valve has a hollow valve body with an inlet defined by a vertical surface, an outlet, and a bottom. A pivoting valve member is pivotally movable about a pivot axis between a normally open position along the bottom of the valve body and a closed, vertical position sealing the inlet. The valve member has a hinge end, the pivot axis being positioned at the hinge end. An overbalancing member carried by the valve member biases the float toward the closed position. The overbalancing member comprises at least one of a counterweight and a magnetic element. The overbalancing member is positioned at the hinge end and spaced from the pivot axis such that the overbalancing member is vertically above the pivot axis when the valve member is in the open position and horizontally over from the pivot axis when the valve member is in the closed position.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
• This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/520131, filed Oct. 21, 2014, of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD
• The present invention relates to a backwater valve used to prevent a backflow of sewage into a home.
BACKGROUND
• U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,972 (Coscarella et al.) relates to a backwater valve which prevents a backflow of sewage into a home. This backwater valve needs a minimum amount of clearance space. As a result, there are some installations for which the valve is not suited because there is insufficient clearance space.
SUMMARY
• According to an aspect, a backwater valve comprises a hollow valve body having an inlet defined by a vertical surface, an outlet, and a bottom. A pivoting valve member is pivotally movable about a pivot axis between a normally open position along the bottom of the valve body and a closed, vertical position sealing the inlet. The valve member has a peripheral edge comprising a hinge end, a remote end, and opposed sides, the pivot axis being positioned at the hinge end. An overbalancing member carried by the valve member biases the float toward the closed position when in the closed position. The overbalancing member comprises at least one of a counterweight and a magnetic element. The overbalancing member is positioned at the hinge end and spaced from the pivot axis such that the overbalancing member is vertically above the pivot axis when the valve member is in the open position and horizontally over from the pivot axis when the valve member is in the closed position.
• According to another aspect, the overbalancing member is a magnetic element and the valve body comprises a second magnetic element, where at least one of the magnetic element and the second magnetic element is magnetized.
• According to another aspect, the overbalancing member is a counterweight.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:
• FIG. 1 is a side elevation view in section of a low profile backwater valve.
• FIG. 2 is a top plan view in section of the low profile backwater valve.
• FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a variation of the low profile backwater valve with the valve body removed.
• FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of a further variation of the low profile backwater valve.
• FIG. 5 is a side elevation view in section of a further variation of the low profile backwater valve.
• FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a variation of a low profile backwater valve.
• FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the low profile backwater valve inFIG. 6.
• FIGS. 8-10 show the backwater valve moving from the closed position to the open position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• A low profile backwater valve generally identified byreference numeral10 will now be described with reference toFIGS. 1-7.
• Structure and Relationship of Parts:
• Referring toFIG. 1,backwater valve10 has ahollow valve body12 having aninlet14, anoutlet16, and abottom18. Apivoting valve member20 is pivotally movable between a normally open position alongbottom18 ofvalve body12 and a closedposition sealing inlet14. Valvemember20 has ahinge end22, aremote end24, and opposedsides26.
• In the example depicted inFIGS. 1-7,backwater valve10 is a low profile backwater valve and this is described below. It will be understood that the overbalancing element depicted inFIGS. 6 and 7 may be applied to other types of backwater valves as well. However, it has been found that lowprofile backwater valve10 of the type depicted are particularly susceptible to “flutter,” where changes in the backflow may causevalve member20 to open prematurely.
• Afloat28 is positioned as an appendage along at least one opposedside26 ofvalve body12. Referring toFIG. 2,floats28 are preferably positioned along bothsides26. Float28 adds buoyancy tovalve member20, such thatvalve member20 floats into the closed position in the presence of a backflow. Valvemember20 may be made from buoyant material itself, in which case it may not be necessary to providefloats28. However, it may be desired to enhance the buoyancy ofvalve member20 by including other floats. By placingfloats28 on the side, it enablesvalve member20 to be designed with a lower profile withinvalve body12 than would otherwise be possible. Referring toFIG. 1, in some embodiments, a locking means, such as alocking member33 as shown, may be provided to lockvalve member20 into the closed position. In the depicted embodiment,locking member33 is inserted overvalve member20 in the closed position and engages apin34 to hold it in position. Referring again toFIG. 1, the portion offloat28 atremote end24 ofvalve member20 preferably defines aninclined plane30, such that the force of a backflow strikinginclined plane30lifts valve member20 toward the closed position. Referring toFIG. 5,inclined plane30 may also be independent offloat28. For example,inclined plane30 may be an outward extension of, or otherwise attached tovalve member20, with floats either positioned away frominclined plane30 as shown, or not included onsides26 ofvalve member20. In some embodiments, wherevalve member20 is sufficiently buoyant, it may not be necessary to includefloats28.
• It has been found that debris and other contaminants can cause difficulties in the operation ofbackwater valve10. To counter this, certain features may be used. Referring toFIG. 3,baffles32 may extend vertically frombottom18 ofvalve body12 to defineflow channels35 directing flow towardfloat28. Referring toFIG. 4, ahose coupling36 may be provided onvalve body12 with a passage indicated byarrows38 to flush underneathvalve member20 to remove debris that might collect betweenvalve member20 andbottom18 ofvalve body12. Referring toFIG. 3, baffles ordams37 extend vertically from the bottom of the valve body protecting the hinge end of the valve member from contamination. Alternatively, referring toFIG. 5,baffles37 may extend from the bottom ofvalve body20. In addition tobaffles32 and37,valve member20 may carry aseal42 atremote end24 to help prevent any debris carried by water from flowing undervalve member20. Referring toFIG. 4,valve body12 may also have atransparent top40 to facilitate visual inspection.
• Operation:
• Referring toFIGS. 1 and 2, lowprofile backwater valve10 is installed to allow water to flow frominlet14 tooutlet16. If the flow of water reverses to flow fromoutlet16 toinlet14, the flow is directed bybaffles32 towardinclined plane30 onfloat28. The flow againstplane30, as well as the buoyancy offloats28, causesvalve member20 to rise and ultimately close to prevent flow out ofinlet14. The actual combination of these forces that closesvalve member20 will depend on the rate of flow of backwater. For example, if the rate of flow is high, the force of impact oninclined plane30 may be sufficient to causevalve member20 to close, or merely enough to liftvalve member20 partially. If the rate of flow is slower, the buoyancy ofvalve member20 will causevalve member20 to close.
• Referring toFIG. 3, bottom18 is contoured and provided withbaffles32 to direct the flow of water to closevalve member20 as well asbaffles37 to allow water that may carry debris and contaminants, such as dirt, to drain away fromvalve member20 and hingeend22. This helps preventvalve member20 from accumulating debris betweenvalve member20 and bottom18, or by causinghinge end22 to become immobilized. Referring toFIG. 4, transparent top40 allows a visual inspection ofbackwater valve10. If it becomes apparent from a visual inspection or otherwise thatvalve member20 is not operating properly,hose coupling36 allows a cleaning fluid to be flushed through to cleanbackwater valve10.
• Referring toFIGS. 6 and 7, in a preferredembodiment valve member20 is provided with additional support to remain in the closed position. This may be done by providing an overbalancingelement44, such as a counterweight or magnet, to help maintainvalve member20 in the closed position until sufficient pressure from the regular flow has been achieved and the backwater flow has receded. Overbalancingelement44 may be positioned on one side ofvalve member20 or both sides ofvalve member20.Valve member20 is shown in a closed position inFIGS. 6 and 7. Referring toFIGS. 8, 9, and 10,valve member20′ is shown moving between the closed position inFIG. 8 and the open position inFIG. 10.
• In one embodiment, overbalancingelement44 may be a counter weight, such that the additional weight maintainsvalve member20 in the closed position. As can be seen, overbalancingelement44 is positioned at thehinge end22 ofvalve member20 and spaced from thepivot axis23 such that, in the closed position,counterweight44 moves along a path that is initially vertical or substantially vertical, to maximize the amount pressure required to liftcounterweight44 asvalve member20 pivots to the open position and that, in the open position, it is directly abovepivot axis23, so thatcounterweight44 initially moves horizontally to minimize the amount of upward force required to movevalve member20 to the closed position.
• In another embodiment, overbalancingelement44 may be a magnetic element carried byvalve member20 that is magnetically attracted to a secondmagnetic element48 carried byvalve body12. At least one ofmagnetic element44 and secondmagnetic element48 is magnetic and the other may be ferrous. To increase the attraction, bothelements44 and48 may be magnetic with opposite poles facing the other. Overbalancingelement44 is preferably positioned in the same general position as in the embodiment that involves a counterweight as overbalancingelement44 may increase the weight and also act as a counterweight. In addition, the spacing of magnet iselement44 frompivot axis23 acts as a lever to increase the effect of the magnetic attraction betweenmagnetic element44 and secondmagnetic element48. Depending on the size and type of magnetic material,magnetic element44 may be heavy enough that it also acts as a counterweight.Magnetic element44 engages secondmagnetic element48 near hinge end22 ofvalve member20 whenvalve member20 is in a closed position.
• In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.
• The scope of the following claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples above and in the drawings, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

Claims (3)

1. A backwater valve, comprising:

a hollow valve body having an inlet defined by a vertical surface, an outlet, and a bottom;

a pivoting valve member pivotally movable about a pivot axis that is positioned below the inlet between a normally open position along the bottom of the valve body and a closed, vertical position sealing the inlet, the pivoting valve member having a peripheral edge comprising a hinge end, a remote end, and opposed sides, the pivot axis being positioned at the hinge end, the pivoting valve member comprising a float; and

a first magnetic element carried by the pivoting valve member and a second magnetic element attached to the hollow valve body adjacent to the inlet, such that, as the pivoting valve member approaches the closed position, the first magnetic element is magnetically attracted toward the second magnetic element to bias the pivoting valve member toward the closed position and to maintain the pivoting valve member in the closed position until sufficient pressure is applied from the inlet to the pivoting valve member to open the valve member.

2. The backwater valve ofclaim 1, wherein one of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element is magnetized and the other of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element is ferrous.

3. The backwater valve ofclaim 1, wherein each of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element are magnetized and with opposite poles facing the other along a travel path of the pivoting valve member.

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