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US 6,418,570 B1Granted
Drain closure
AssigneeWCM Industries, Inc.
InventorWilliam T. Ball
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A drain closure that maintains a stopper in any open position by force exerted by the post against the internal surface of the bore of the stopper. The post has ridges that extend outwardly from the outer surface of the post. The post also has an open elongated slot that extends through the post. When the post is received in the bore of the stopper the ridges are compressed toward the open slot and expand outwardly against the bore to maintain the stopper in place.
Claims6
A drain closure device comprising:
- a strainer body having a threaded vertical bore therethrough;
- an elongated cylindrical post comprised of resilient material threadingly mounted in the vertical bore of the strainer body, the post having a vertically elongated slot extending laterally therethrough along a central longitudinal axis of the post;
- a pair of opposing resilient annular ridges rigidly secured on a diameter or circumferential surface of the post laterally adjacent to the slot so as to protrude radially outward from the diameter of the post to define an effective diameter;
- and
- a stopper having a cylindrical vertical bore for slidably receiving the post, the bore having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the post and slightly smaller than the effective diameter at the ridges so that the ridges frictionally engage the stopper at the bore and are urged radially inward toward the slot such that the resilient material of the post around the slot responds by exerting substantially constant outward forces on the ridges to maintain the stopper in any position moved thereto along the post even when the post and stopper are rotated relative to each other.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.