Sewer cleaning device

Nov. 26, 1940.

F. J. KERBER

SEWER CLEANING DEVICE

Filed Sept. 2, 1938

2,223,005

Sheets-Sheet 1

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Nov. 26, 1940. f. j. KERBER 2,223,005

SEWER CLEANING DEVICE Filed Sept. 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

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Patented Nov. 26, 1940

2,223,005

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,223,005

SEWER CLEANING DEVICE Frank J. Kerber, Chicago, ΙΠ. Application September 2,1938, Serial No. 228,206

Claims. (Cl. 15—104.30)

My invention relates to sewer cleaning devices or machines designed for quickly, efficiently, thoroughly and economically cutting and cleaning or removing obstructions or material clog5 ging up and stopping flow of waste or drain water through a sewer pipe or drain, such as roots or similar fibrous growths or foreign matter which usually obstructs a sewer pipe, thus either removing or severing clinging parts and 10 comminuting, cutting or reducing the same to small parts which will drain off or can be flushed out so as to restore effective drain use of the pipe without the necessity of the expensive and slow process of digging with the attendant diffi15 culties, expense including permit, damage to basement cement, street, pavement or lawn, trees or shrubbery.

The device is designed to project a flexible rod with a cutting element or head at the lead end 20 thereof, into a sewer or drain pipe and trap or other tortuous part or connection to clean out obstructions or stoppages, and the invention comprehends a novel, simple, compact and relatively cheap and foolproof power, preferably electrically 25 driven sewer cleaning machine or auger of the character referred to, for forcing and turning a flexible or coil spring rod into a sewer or drain, including a trap or other tortuous fitting or length of pipe to quickly and effectively clean 30 out the same to restore its efficient and maximum use and service.

•My invention further comprehends a novel sewer cleaning machine in which the parts, are enclosed in a casing protected and capable of 33 passing through a doorway and yet so constructed with the rod disposed or coining out at right angles to the wheeling direction when the device is moved about so as to stand rigid in use and resist torque backward forces tending to shift 40 or turn the macMne over, and yet having the same lightness in weight and being capable of being conveniently wheeled about like a wheelbarrow, and which further embodies an internal drum in which the sewer rod is coiled or wound, 45 and from which it is unwound and guided through a feeding device or means, preferably hand operated to feed the rod into a sewer when desired, either fast or slow, or retarded or retracted, according to the nature and degree of 50 obstruction encountered, or to withdraw or retract the same under complete control of a single operator at all times.

The invention further comprehends a simple and novel rod feeding or withdrawing device, a 55 head or auger for use with the rod arid device, means to compensate for the resistance to the feeding or advancement of the auger head or cutter and rod and to adjust the friction thereon as desired to insure positive feeding or not, to take care of any recoil or resistance according, 5 to the obstruction encountered, means to effectively guide the rod to and from the drum and sewer entrance opening or pipe to prevent recoil ‘ or springing loose of the coil rod or spring and Whipping or doing damage or injury to the op- 10 erator, to provide a novel belt driven drum upon which the coil spring rod is wound internally and from which the same is unwound in use with means for supporting the drive motor and pulley thereof to insure that the belt will be kept taut 15 at all times and thereby insure positive driving and still compensate for unusual resistance or obstruction, and to generally improve, simplify, lighten, cheapen and enhance the value of and render more efficient devices Of this class. 20

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel auger and cutter head and root cutter for use with the improved and novel machine as an especially efficient accessory.

With the above and other objects in view, 25 the invention consists in certain novel structure and arrangement of parts and combinations to be hereinafter more particularly specified and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:30

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine with the casing broken away to disclose the interior structure and mechanism.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional elevation of the upper part.35

Figure 3 is a central vertical section at right angles to Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional plan view of the coil, spring rod feeding device.40

Figure 5 is a vertical section at right angles to Figure 4, taken on the line 5—5 thereof.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a root cutter head or auger for use with the device.

Figure 7 is a reduced fragmentary vertical sec- 45 tion showing the supporting wheels.

Referring to the drawings in detail in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the device or machine is shown as comprising a cas- 50 ing I made up of a rectangular frame 2 with sheet metal or other panels 3 and closed at the bottom but provided with a hinged or other cover 4 shown hinged at 5 and provided with depending flanges at the front and back edges of the cover 55

2,223,005 as shown at 6, but forming the sides of the casing. At the front and bottom, the casing is provided with suitable anti-friction supporting and transporting means, shown in the form of wheels 5 7 within the sides of the casing mounted on a shaft 7 α held in bearings 7 b on the bottom side angle frame members 2, and held thereby against endwise movement. At the back, the bottom of the casing is provided, with spring feet or legs 10 forming rests 8 to give and keep the device level even on uneven ground or supporting surfaces to support the device horizontally against movement but rigidly and still permit the device to be wheeled about like a wheelbarrow, through 15 the medium of extensible and retractable handles arranged horizontally as at 9. These handles are made of tubes or pipes and slide through apertures i 0 through the vertical members of the frame and casing at the back and about midway 20 of the height of the same, while the inner ends of the handles engage apertured brackets 11 mounted on and secured to horizontal frame members 12 and 13 in the form of angle members or the like secured to the sides immediately be25 low the apertures and running longitudinally and spot welded or otherwise secured in position. On the ends of the handles are caps 14 adapted to engage said members and form stops to limit movement in either direction inwardly and out30 wardly to retracted or extended positions when moved into inoperative and operative positions of use.

Also mounted inwardly of the frame member or support 12 and parallel to both frame members 35 12 and 13, and at the front and back or ends of the casing and frame, is another horizontal frame member or support 15, also of angles, which together with the frame member 12 supports a bearing plate 16 suitably secured thereto and hav40 ing a vertical transverse sleeve 17 at the casing side with an enlarged bore 1 8 adjacent an aperture 19 in said side. At the other frame member is a similar bearing 20 for a tubular shaft 21 which has its other end journaled in a bearing ⁴³ 22 on the frame member 13 provided with a lubricating oil cup 23. On the shaft 21 is a pulley 24 of considerable diameter and made up of plates 25 with peripheral flanges 26 forming a groove ft for an endless belt, chain or^drive member 27 > ⁵⁰ which is also trained around a pulley 28 on the shaft 29 of the motor 30 for rotating the pulley 24 at a moderate speed by reason of the reducing < gear thus provided. The motor 30, preferably of -r the electric type, is mounted on a supporting ° frame 31 pivoted on a horizontal axis 32 on the ' _t angle 33 supported on the aforesaid frame members 12, 13 and 15 at tlfe back of the machine casing and frame. Bolts 34 are provided through the frame at the back and through the supporting ^u frame 31 at the top horizontally substantially but preferably slightly inclined inwardly and forwardly, being passed through an angle member 35 at the top of frame 31 with nuts 36 threaded ₆₅ thereon at the inner ends of the bolts and coil springs or cushioning members 37 on the bolts interposed between the back of the casing and the frame 31, to resiliently support the motor and permit adjustment of the tension of the springs, 70 but tending to normally bias the frame and motor outwardly to maintain the belt taut at all times and insure a positive driving of the pulley 24, but permitting adjustment of the bolts and frame 31 to tighten the belt 27 when necessary. 75 The cover is adapted to be thrown back against the side of the casing as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1.

The pulley 24 is preferably made up of the plates as specified and anchored at the hub 38 and bolted or otherwise rigidly secured or fixed 5 thereto as at 39 while the hub is fixed to the tubular shaft 21 as at 40 or otherwise keyed thereto to rotate together. Rotatable on the tubular shaft 21 is a drum 41 fixed as at 42 to the hub sleeve 43 thereof and formed at the inner side 10 of plates or disks 44 similar to the plates 25 but anchored or riveted to an annular flange 45 of the hub 43. The drum further comprises a peripheral wall 46 flanged at the inside as at 47 for attachment to the plates 44 and an inturned 15 annular flange 48 at the front relatively deep but leaving the drum open in the center as at 49. The coil spring sewer rod as designated at 50 is wound and anchored within the drum 41 against the peripheral wall thereof at the inside and passes 20 over a guide bracket 51 having arcuate free end and intermediate portions 52 and 53 and anchored at the other or inner end at 54 to a tubular guide member 55 running spirally and axially into the bore of the tubular shaft 21 at the end thereof 25 adjacent the bearing or sleeve 20 and out through an aperture in the inner wall of the bearing 17 and through the aperture 19 and a spiral flexible guide tube 56 to the sewer pipe, said tube being 6 or 8 feet in length and shown broken away in 30 Fig. 1. The tube 56 is anchored by a set screw 57 in the bore 18 and prevents the rod from whipping when rotated with the drum as the latter is driven, together with the spiral head or drain cleaner anchored against rotation at the free end 35 of the rod.

In order to feed the rod into the sewer pipe or retract the same from a normal rotating position without rectilinear movement, the bearing plate 16 has a bearing 58 for a vertical shaft 59 re- '40 tained at the bottom by a collar 60 and on the bearing, a worm gear or spirally grooved roller 61 with the concaved diagonal grooves thereof conforming to the coils of the rod and the comer edges beveled as at 62. A gear 63 is fixed to the 45 shaft 59 on the worm gear or roller 61 and also pinned or fixed to the latter as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The plate 16 has a slot 64 in which is a bearing collar 65 receiving the reduced lower end of a stud shaft 66 parallel to and spaced from the 60 shaft 59 and retained in position by suitable means such as a washer and nut 67. The shaft 66 passes through an angular slide 68 and bears a similar worm gear or roller 69 corresponding to the gear or roller 61 and gripping the rod 50 65 therebetween. A gear 70 is fixed to the gear or roller 69 as by bolts or screws 71 through arcuate slots 72 to permit rotative adjustment of the gear 70 so that the teeth of,the gears 63 and 70 may be properly mated. The bearing plate 16 60 also is angular, the vertical or angular portions of the plate 16 and the slide having apertures in horizontal alinement and the aperture of the slide being threaded to take a bolt 73 on which a coll spring 74 is mounted between the ears and ad- 65 justable by a nut 75 to regulate the tension by which the slide is held so that the gears are held in mesh and the rollers or worm gears against the rod, to insure positive feeding or retracting, that is axial or rectilinear movement of the coil 70 spring sewer rod. For this purpose, the shaft 59 extends to the top of the casing where it is guided in a bearing 76 secured to the casing frame,* the upper end of the shaft adapted to take a crank 77 for turning the shaft by hand to feed the rod 75

2,223,005 as slow or as fast as desired as it is driven, or rotated with the drum by reason of the gears and rollers or worm gears arranged as described.

A tool box 78 is arranged upon the bars 12 and 5 13 and suitably secured in position, to take the crank and any tools. When the handles are pushed in, they are out of the way, arid the device is preferably of such size that it may be passed through a doorway, an advantage especially for 10 cellar or basement use, in which case, the flexible guide tube 56 is removed and placed in the casing and the top closed. The current for the motor may be taken from the house wiring at the plug 79 with a switch 80 to control the same through ¹³ the wires or conductors in the conduit 81. An auger head or root cutter 87 as shown in Fig. 6 may be employed at the end of the rod 50. It may also be mentioned that the hand feed is very sensitive and permits the operator to feel the ²θ nature and degree of the obstruction so that the machine may be operated accordingly, and the feed advanced, retarded or left as is. Also, the guide 51 being pivoted where anchored at 54, per_ mits the guide to swing to the left or right and ^2o deposits the sewer rod 50 snugly as its coils wind within the drum, guides the rod and keeps the coils thereof close together as it winds, as well as from buckling- and snarling and prevents backlash.

³⁰ From the foregoing, it is thought that the operation will be readily understood without further description, and while I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, I am aware that various modifications and changes ^3j may be made therein without departing from the principles of the Invention, the scope of which may be determined by reference to the appended claims.