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US 5,031,276 AGranted
Drain cleaning machine
AssigneeEmerson Electric Co.
InventorsLarry F. Babb, Michael J. Rutkowski
Life of this patent
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AssigneeEmerson Electric Co.
InventorsLarry F. Babb, Michael J. Rutkowski
Estimating the term…
A drain cleaning machine is disclosed which is of the character comprising a frame supporting a rotatable drum which is driven by a motor through an endless belt. The drum contains a flexible drain cleaning snake which is rotatable with the drum and axially displaceable into and out of the drum, and the frame supports a snake feeding device through which the snake extends and by which the snake is displaced into and out of the drum. The frame is wheeled to facilitate transportation of the machine from one location to another. The drum, drum shaft and bearing are constructed as a unit removably mounted on the frame. The drive motor is pivotally mounted on the frame and spring biased to tension the drive belt and to facilitate separation of the drive belt from the drum to facilitae removal of the drum unit from the frame. Stabilizer members are associated with the wheels on the frame and are pivotal between storage and use positions in which the wheels respectively engage an underlying surface and are elevated above the surface to stabilize the machine against rolling and tipping dipslacement during use. The snake feeding device includes three rollers which engage the snake to feed the latter inwardly and outwardly of the drum in response to rotation of the drum, and two of the rollers are radially adjustable relative to the snake through corresponding cam arrangements so that the feeding device can accommodate snakes having different diameters.
A sewer cleaning machine comprising frame means, drum unit means, and means removably mounting said drum unit means on said frame means, said drum unit means including a drum shaft providing a drum axis, drum housing means coaxially surrounding said drum shaft, bearing means between said drum housing means and said drum shaft and supporting said drum housing means for rotation relative to said drum shaft about said drum axis, and means interconnecting said drum shaft, drum housing means and bearing means as a unitary assembly removably from said frame means, said means removably mounting said drum unit means on said frame means including mounting member means rigidly secured to said frame means and means releasably securing said drum shaft to said mounting member means.
A sewer cleaning machine comprising frame means, drum means mounted on said frame means for rotation about a drum axis, said drum means having an axially outer end flexible snake means in said drum means, said snake means being rotatable with said drum means and axially displaceable inwardly and outwardly thereof relative to said outer end, means to rotate said drum means, said frame means including support means and wheel means for engaging an underlying surface to support said machine in a first position, and stabilizing means supported on said frame means for pivotal displacement between storage and use positions, said stabilizing means in said storage position being spaced above said underlying surface, and said stabilizing means in said use position engaging said underlying surface and cooperating with said support means to support said machine in a second position in which said wheel means is spaced above said underlying surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.