US 8,910,322 B2Granted

Drain chain systems and methods for cleaning drains

OwnerGifford L. Briggs, Jennifer Briggsinventors

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Drain chain systems include a cap connected to a chain. The cap rests on a drain and can include holes to facilitate the passage of water through the cap. The cap can include a decorative shape. The chain is flexible and is placed in the drain, sometimes through a hole in a drain cover. The chain can be detachably connected to the cap by a coupling element to facilitate easy replacement of the chain, or can be integrally connected to the cap. During use, hair gathers on the chain. The chain is pulled out of the drain by the decorative cap positioned over the drain. The chain can be cleaned of entangled hair and reused, or the chain can be discarded with or without the cap, by either leaving the chain connected to the cap or by detaching the chain from the cap and replacing it with a new chain.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A drain chain system configured in size and shape to be at least partially placed within a drain of a shower or tub and to maintain a position within the drain during use of the shower or tub and in such a manner as to entangle hair within the drain and for removing the hair from the drain, the drain chain system comprising:

a cap, the cap comprising:
a substantially flat top surface;
a substantially flat bottom surface;
and
a defined shape that is greater than at least 0.5 inches in diameter or width;
and
a plurality of edges in the top and bottom surfaces defining a plurality of holes or spaces disposed between different portions of the cap, thereby facilitating passage of water through the cap during use of the drain chain system;
a flexible chain, the chain being detachably connected to the bottom surface of the cap and having a plurality of flexibly interconnected elements;
and
a coupling element that connects the chain to the bottom surface of the cap.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.