Flexible plunger boot
AssigneeAdam J oab Tash & Rachel J oy Tash Living Tri
InventorGeorge Tash
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A flexible plunger boot used with a plunger to unclog a drain includes a coupling section, bulbous seal, and periphery seal. The coupling section couples to the bottom end of the plunger. The bulbous seal has a hollow spherical shape with a maximum outside diameter that is larger than a diameter of a drain that the bulbous seal is inserted into and deforms inwardly to create an interference fit with the walls of the drain. The periphery seal has an annular ring shape that is smaller in diameter than the maximum outside diameter of the bulbous seal but larger in diameter than a drain opening whose diameter is too small for the bulbous seal to fit into. Whenever the periphery seal is pressed down against the surface surrounding the drain opening it flattens against the surface to create a mechanical seal with the surface.
Claims19
A flexible plunger boot that is releasably attachable to a bottom end of a drain plunger and which is used with the drain plunger to unclog an obstructed drain in a plumbing fixture, comprising:
- a coupling section comprising an annular ring-shaped structure with a central aperture, said coupling section having a size and shape that facilitates releasably coupling the coupling section to the bottom end of a drain plunger, said drain plunger comprising of a deformable head with an air chamber, a seal at said bottom end of the drain plunger which is configured to interface with a drain and an elongated handle mounted to a top end of the deformable head, and wherein said coupling section releasably couples to the drain plunger via an annular closed-loop protrusion which extends inwardly from an interior surface of the coupling section into the central aperture and which interfaces with an exterior surface of the seal at said bottom end of a drain plunger;
- a bulbous seal comprising a spherical shape that is truncated at a top end and a bottom end and has a hollow interior, wherein said top end of the bulbous seal depends from a bottom end of the coupling section and the hollow interior of the spherical shape opens into the central aperture of the coupling section, and wherein the bulbous seal has a maximum outside diameter that is larger than a diameter of a plumbing fixture drain that the bulbous seal is inserted into and is flexible enough to deform inwardly and form an interference fit with the walls of the plumbing fixture drain whenever the bulbous seal is inserted into the plumbing fixture drain;
- and
- a periphery seal comprising an inwardly concave annular ring shape with a central aperture that depends at its top end from the bottom end of the bulbous seal, said periphery seal being smaller in diameter than the maximum outside diameter of the bulbous seal but larger in diameter than a drain opening of a plumbing fixture whose drain diameter is too small for the bulbous seal to fit into, and wherein the periphery seal is flexible enough so that whenever it is pressed down against a surface surrounding a drain opening of said plumbing fixture, a lower portion of the periphery seal flattens against the surface to form a flat annular ring which creates a mechanical seal between the periphery seal and the surface.
A flexible plunger boot that is releasably attachable to a bottom end of a drain plunger and which is used with the drain plunger to unclog an obstructed drain in a plumbing fixture, comprising:
- a coupling section comprising an annular ring-shaped structure with a central aperture wherein the exterior surface of the coupling section is inwardly concave and the interior surface of the coupling section has an annular closed-loop protrusion which extends inwardly from the interior surface of the coupling section into the central aperture, said coupling section having a size and shape that facilitates releasably coupling the coupling section to the bottom end of a drain plunger, said drain plunger comprising of a deformable head with an air chamber, a seal at said bottom end of the drain plunger which is configured to interface with a drain and an elongated handle mounted to a top end of the deformable head, and wherein said coupling section releasably couples to the drain plunger via the annular closed-loop protrusion which interfaces with an exterior surface of the seal at said bottom end of a drain plunger;
- a bulbous seal comprising a spherical shape that is truncated at a top end and a bottom end and has a hollow interior, wherein said top end of the bulbous seal depends from a bottom end of the coupling section and the hollow interior of the spherical shape opens into the central aperture of the coupling section, and wherein the bulbous seal has a maximum outside diameter that is larger than a diameter of a plumbing fixture drain that the bulbous seal is inserted into and is flexible enough to deform inwardly and form an interference fit with the walls of the plumbing fixture drain whenever the bulbous seal is inserted into the plumbing fixture drain;
- a periphery seal comprising an inwardly concave annular ring shape with a central aperture that depends at its top end from the bottom end of the bulbous seal, said periphery seal being smaller in diameter than the maximum outside diameter of the bulbous seal but larger in diameter than a drain opening of a plumbing fixture whose drain diameter is too small for the bulbous seal to fit into, and wherein the periphery seal is flexible enough so that whenever it is pressed down against a surface surrounding a drain opening of said plumbing fixture, a lower portion of the periphery seal flattens against the surface to form a flat annular ring which creates a mechanical seal between the periphery seal and the surface;
- and wherein
- the flexible plunger boot is molded as one integrated part from natural rubber and exhibits a varying flexibility with height owing to a varying wall thickness with the coupling section being the least flexible part of the flexible plunger boot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.