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US 12,222,225 B2Granted
Systems and methods for identifying points of interest in pipes or drain lines
AssigneeRidge Tool Company
InventorsAlex M. Cole, Anthony Greer, Ryan Lattimer, Christopher Schmauder
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for identifying one or more points of interest in pipes or drain lines are described. Examples of points of interest include blockages caused by debris in the pipe or drain line. The systems are incorporated into drain cleaning machines. Also described are drain cleaning machines utilizing the systems.
Claims13
A drain cleaner comprising:
- a drain cleaning cable;
- a rotatable drum, the drum storing at least a portion of the cable;
- a motor for rotating the drum;
- a counter configured to determine a length of the cable dispensed from the drain cleaner;
- a current sensor configured to determine electrical current draw of the motor;
- and
- a controller configured to determine occurrence of a distal end of the cable encountering a point of interest in an enclosed region based on data received from the current sensor;
- wherein the controller includes communication provisions for communicating to a mobile device, the controller communicating at least one point of interest and the linear amount of the cable dispensed from the drain cleaner;
- wherein the mobile device is configured to generate graphical illustrations representative of the enclosed region including the at least one point of interest with respect to the linear amount of the cable dispensed from the drain cleaner.
6 more elements
A drain cleaner comprising:
- a drum;
- a motor for rotating a cable, the cable at least partially housed in the drum;
- a counter configured to determine a length of the cable dispensed from the drain cleaner;
- a current sensor configured to determine electrical current draw of the motor;
- and
- a controller configured to determine occurrence of a distal end of the cable encountering a point of interest in an enclosed region based on data received from the current sensor;
- wherein the controller includes communication provisions for communicating to a mobile device, the controller communicating at least one point of interest and the linear amount of cable dispensed from the drain cleaner;
- wherein the communication provisions provide wireless communication with the mobile device;
- wherein the mobile device is configured to generate graphical illustrations representative of the enclosed region including the at least one point of interest with respect to the linear amount of cable dispensed from the drain cleaner.
6 more elements
A drain cleaner comprising:
- a drain cleaning cable;
- a rotatable drum, the drum storing at least a portion of the cable;
- a motor for rotating the drum;
- a counter configured to determine a length of the cable dispensed from the drain cleaner;
- a current sensor configured to determine electrical current draw of the motor;
- a controller including data storage provisions for storing data received from the counter and the current sensor, the controller configured to communicate stored data to a mobile device;
- wherein the mobile device is configured to generate graphical illustrations representative of an enclosed region including data received from the current sensor with respect to the linear amount of the cable dispensed from the drain cleaner.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.