Telescoping drum auger extension tool
View Patent ↗An apparatus for cleaning drains has a drum auger with a coiled snake cable mounted on a telescoping extension tube. The tube has a rear and a forward handle with a cable lock on top of each handle. By alternately locking/unlocking each handle's cable lock and extending/folding the telescoping extension tube, the user can project the cable down a clogged drain without touching the cable. A second key feature is that the telescoping extension tube prevents kinking of the cable. Turning the auger handle twists the cable's auger tip when a wing screw locks the cable to a rotatable nose on the drum auger.
1. A drain cleaner comprising:
a drum auger having a frame for rotatably holding a drum;
a cable affixed to the drum;
wherein rotating a drum handle on the drum twists the cable and a nose on the drum auger when a wing screw on the nose locks the cable to the nose;
a rear clutch handle having a manually activated trigger which locks the cable at a top segment of the rear clutch handle;
said rear clutch handle having a rear neck to receive the nose;
a telescoping pipe attached to a front of the rear clutch handle;
a forward clutch handle a distal end of the telescoping pipe attached to a rear of the forward clutch handle;
said forward clutch handle having a manually operated trigger which locks the cable at a top segment of the forward clutch handle;
said forward clutch handle having a connector to engage a drain;
wherein releasing the forward clutch handle while locking the rear clutch handle and releasing the wing screw from the cable and moving the rear clutch handle forward inserts an auger tip of the cable into the drain; and
wherein rotating the drum handle with the wing screw locked on the cable causes the auger tip to rotate.
2. The drain cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the triggers of the forward and rear clutch handles each further comprise a pivot with an upper fixed arm attached to a movable upper arm that drives a clutch upward to lock the cable at a top inner point of the respective clutch handle.
3. The drain cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the connector on the forward clutch handle further comprises a pipe and a hose clamp.
4. The drain cleaner of claim 1 , wherein rotating the drum handle counter clockwise, with the wing screw and both clutch handles unlocked, winds the cable around the drum.
5. The drain cleaner of claim 3 , wherein the pipe further comprises a soft washer that encircles the cable, thereby removing debris from the cable during extraction of the cable from the drain.
6. The drain cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the nose further comprises a rotatable base mounted in a fixed member of the frame, wherein a cylinder connects the rotatable base to a rotatable rear drum handle base from which the handle projects.