Drain filter apparatus and method

A drain filter apparatus, comprising:

• a filter housing having a watertight filtering chamber;
• a filter element mounted within the watertight filtering chamber with an inlet and an outlet and having
• a plurality of filtering openings through which drain water may pass, and
• a closable drain hole for draining water from the filtering chamber when the plurality of filtering elements become clogged;
• and
• an access hatch in the chamber for access to the filter element for removal and installation of the filter element;
• and
• a removable watertight hatch cover for closing the access hatch opening and carrying a drain hole plug for selectively closing the closable drain hole.

A filter apparatus, comprising:

• a watertight housing with
• an inline section with an inlet and an outlet at opposite ends for connection with an upstream drain pipe and a downstream drain pipe, respectively;
• a lateral section in fluid communication with, and laterally extending outwardly from, the inline section;
• a filter element mounted within the housing to enable movement of a distal end portion of the filter element between
• a fully blocking position between the inlet and the outlet, and
• another position in which a part of the filter element is moved away from a fully blocking position to allow passage of an unclogging tool between the inlet and the outlet.

A drain filter apparatus, comprising:

• a filter housing with a filtering chamber and an access opening to the filtering chamber;
• a releasably mounted filter element with a surface resting on an underlying filter support member within the filtering chamber;
• and
• a removable cover for closing the access opening, said cover carrying a filter securement member that extends inwardly from the access opening into the chamber and engages a surface of the filter element opposite to said one surface when in a fully closed position, said filter element being held in place between the support member and the securement member;
• and in which
• the securement member has a filter engagement surface from which extends an inwardly located, downwardly extending plug that is received within a mating hole in the filter element when the engagement surface of the securement member engages the filter element,
• location of said plug within the mating hole blocking relative lateral movement, and
• the engagement surface and the filter support member block relative vertical movement of the filter element.

A drain filter apparatus, comprising:

• a filter housing having a watertight filtering chamber with an inlet and an outlet;
• a filter element with a preselected filtering area releasably mounted at a location between the inlet and the outlet within the chamber and dividing the chamber into an upstream part having a top with the inlet and a downstream part with a bottom with the outlet;
• means for connecting an upstream drain pipe the inlet of the upstream part of the chamber;
• means for connecting a downstream drain pipe to the outlet of the downstream part of the chamber;
• and
• a closable access hatch for access to the filter element for removal and installation of the filter element, said closable access hatch being located only in the top of the upstream part of the filtering chamber and facing upwardly to reduce spillage when the access hatch is opened.

A drain filter apparatus, comprising:

• a filter housing with a filtering chamber, an inlet, an outlet and connectors for connecting the inlet and the outlet to upstream and downstream drain pipes, respectively;
• a filter body within the chamber in filtering relationship between the inlet and outlet said filter body having
• a plurality of filtering holes extending through the filter body and located at one end portion of the filter body for passage of water to be filtered during filtering, and
• a drain hole extending through the filter body and located at another end of the filter body opposite the one end, said drain hole being larger than any of the filtering holes for draining the filtering chamber when the filtering holes become clogged;
• and
• a plug removably mounted to the filter body and receivable within the drain hole to block passage of water when the filter holes are not clogged.

A drain filter apparatus, comprising:

• a filter housing with a filtering chamber, an inlet, an outlet and connectors for connecting the inlet and the outlet to upstream and downstream drain pipes, respectively;
• a filter element contained within the housing and having
• a primary filtering section with a concave portion with a plurality of filtering holes and a periphery partly shaped to conform to an interior of a drain pipe conforming surface of the filtering chamber extending between the drain pipes;
• and
• an aft, substantially planer and relatively larger secondary filtering section with a plurality of filtering holes extending from the primary filtering section for filtering after the forward section becomes clogged.

A filter apparatus, comprising:

• a filter housing with a filtering chamber, an inlet, an outlet and connectors for connecting the inlet and the outlet to upstream and downstream drain pipes;
• and
• a filter element contained within the housing and having
• a generally planer filter body with a plurality of filtering holes with a forward section and an aft section,
• a pre-weakened area of the filter body to facilitate relative bending between the forward section and the aft section.

A method of filtering drain liquid with a drain filter apparatus, comprising the steps of:

• connecting a filter housing with a watertight filtering chamber between a pair of drain pipes;
• installing a filter element with a plurality of filtering holes within the watertight filtering chamber by inserting the filter element through an access hatch in the chamber;
• closing the hatch with a removable watertight hatch cover for closing the access hatch opening,
• passing liquid from one of the drain pipes through the filter element until the filter element becomes clogged;
• draining any water collected above the filter element through a drain hole that bypasses the plurality of filtering holes while the hatch is still at least partly closed;
• removing the hatch cover after the filtering chamber has been drained through;
• and
• replacing the clogged filter element with a clean filter element installed into the filtering chamber;
• re-closing the hatch to resume filtering with the clean filter element.

A method of filtering with a filter apparatus, comprising the steps of:

• passing waste water through opposite ends of an inline section of a watertight housing connected between an upstream drain pipe and a downstream drain pipe,
• filtering the waste water with a filter body having a filtering portion located in a blocking position between the opposite ends;
• moving the filtering portion out of the blocking position while the housing remains watertight;
• passing an unclogging tool through the opposite ends to clear a clog in the downstream pipe when the filtering portion is removed from a blocking position;
• withdrawing the tool from the housing after the clog has been removed;
• and
• returning the filtering portion to the blocking position for further filtering.