Drain cleaning tool

Inventor: Patrick Gwen (Houston, TX)

E03C1/302

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 9,217,243
App. No.: 13/886,171
Granted: Dec 22, 2015
Kind: B2

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Abstract

The tool for cleaning a drain includes a handle, a strip member, and an end piece. The handle inserts and removes the tool from the drain. The strip member has an elongated and undulated shape and is formed by segments. Each segment has a curvature with a concave side and convex side, which alternate from adjacent segments. Each segment also has barbs on each concave side. The barbs are shielded by an adjacent convex side of an adjacent segment. The end piece connects to a bottom segment of the strip member and has a collar and tip. The collar has a protective shoulder to shield barbs of the bottom segment and an actuatable spike to collect debris when bent. The tip has a distal point with prongs and a distal shoulder, which shields the prongs. The tip may also include a shaft with shaft barbs protected by a shaft shoulder.

Claims (29)

1. A tool for cleaning a drain, comprising:

a handle with an attachment end and a pulling end, wherein said pulling end has finger grips;

a strip member having an elongated and undulated shape, said strip member being comprised of a plurality of segments, wherein a top segment connects to said attachment end of said handle, wherein each segment has a curvature, each segment being joined end to end to each other to form said strip member, wherein curvatures of adjacent segments alternate, and wherein each segment is comprised of a plurality of barbs on said curvature; and

an end piece connected to a bottom segment of said strip member, said end piece having a collar and tip and being positioned on an opposite end of said strip member from said handle.

2. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 1 , wherein said pulling end has two holes.

3. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 1 , wherein each segment has a curvature with a concave side and convex side, and wherein said barbs are placed on said concave side and shielded by an adjacent convex side of an adjacent segment.

4. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 1 , wherein each segment has a curvature with a concave side and convex side, and wherein said barbs are placed on said convex side.

5. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 1 , wherein said collar has a protective shoulder, said protective shoulder being a convex surface shielding barbs of said bottom segment.

6. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 5 , wherein said collar has an actuatable spike, said actuatable spike being in a retracted position when said collar is in a neutral state, and said actuatable spike being in an extending position when said collar is in a bended state.

7. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 1 , wherein said tip is comprised of a distal point with a plurality of prongs and a distal shoulder, and wherein said distal shoulder shields said plurality of prongs, extending beyond ends of each prong.

8. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 7 , wherein concentration of said plurality of prongs is greater than concentration of said plurality of barbs on each segment.

9. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 1 , wherein said tip is comprised of a shaft extending from said tip to said collar, said shaft being comprised of a plurality of shaft barbs distributed along a length of said shaft, and a shaft shoulder between said plurality of shaft barbs and said collar, wherein said shaft shoulder shields said plurality of shaft barbs.

10. A tool for cleaning a drain, comprising:

a handle with an attachment end and a pulling end, wherein said pulling end has finger grips;

a strip member being comprised of a plurality of segments, wherein a top segment connects to said attachment end of said handle, and wherein each segment is comprised of a plurality of barbs; and

an end piece connected to a bottom segment of said strip member, said end piece having a collar and tip and being positioned on an opposite end of said strip member from said handle, wherein said collar has a protective shoulder, said protective shoulder being a convex surface shielding barbs of said bottom segment, wherein said tip is comprised of a distal point with a plurality of prongs and a distal shoulder, wherein concentration of said plurality of prongs is greater than concentration of said plurality of barbs on each segment, and wherein said distal shoulder shields said plurality of prongs, extending beyond ends of each prong.

11. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 10 , wherein said collar has an actuatable spike, said actuatable spike being in a retracted position when said collar is in a neutral state, and said actuatable spike being in an extending position when said collar is in a bended state.

12. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 10 , wherein said tip is further comprised of a shaft extending from said distal shoulder to said collar, said shaft being comprised of a plurality of shaft barbs distributed along a length of said shaft, and a shaft shoulder between said plurality of shaft barbs and said collar, wherein said shaft shoulder shields said plurality of shaft barbs.

13. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 10 , wherein strip member has an elongated and undulated shape, wherein each segment has a curvature, each segment being joined end to end to each other to form said strip member, and wherein curvatures of adjacent segments alternate.

14. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 10 , wherein each segment is comprised of a plurality of barbs on said curvature in close proximity, and wherein each curvature has a concave side and a convex side.

15. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 14 , wherein said barbs on placed on a concave side, said barbs being shielded by an adjacent convex side of an adjacent segment.

16. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 14 , wherein said barbs on placed on a convex side.

17. A tool for cleaning a drain, comprising:

a handle with an attachment end and a pulling end, wherein said pulling end has finger grips;

18. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 17 , wherein each segment has a curvature with a concave side and convex side, and wherein said barbs are placed on said concave side and shielded by an adjacent convex side of an adjacent segment.

19. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 1 , wherein each segment has a curvature with a concave side and convex side, and wherein said barbs are placed on said convex side.

20. The tool for cleaning a drain, according to claim 17 , wherein said collar has an actuatable spike, said actuatable spike being in a retracted position when said collar is in a neutral state, and said actuatable spike being in an extending position when said collar is in a bended state.

Continuity (1)

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