Catch basin apparatus and method of use for the same

Abstract

Apparatus for optimizing fluid flow while maximizing selective filtration of select debris and detritus functions as catch basin in conjunction with conventional sewers. Proximate to a curb inlet a diverter is located, and at least one sieve-member or element is disposed within the catch basin defining a primary and supplemental space for collecting solid materials, in combination with a drain access aperture allowing for ingress and egress to the supplemental space from the primary space to preclude blockage by facilitating access to the catch basin drain.

1 . In a catch basin for selectively removing gross particulate matter of a predetermined dimension from a flow path, having a plurality of collection areas terminating in a drain opening, the improvement comprising, in combination: 
 an inlet diverter;    a supplemental collection area; and    a sieve element for filtering matter disposed in a liquid medium flowing through the catch basin defining a border between at least a primary and the supplemental collection areas, wherein the sieve element further comprises an aperture and cover assembly located in proximal spaced relation relative to the drain opening.    
     
     
         2 . An apparatus for filtering trash in a catch basin, wherein the catch basin has inner walls, a floor, an inlet opening, and a drain opening, and wherein said apparatus comprises: 
 one or more conventional supports for securing one or more parts of the apparatus inside the catch basin;    a trash collecting container located within the catch basin, wherein the container comprises: 
 a filter sheet forming at least part of the bottom of the container, said filter sheet having a plurality of apertures through it, wherein the bottom of the container is located above the floor a sufficient amount to provide clearance for fluid and at least some of the trash to flow along the floor and into the drain opening; and  
 an overflow wall, wherein the overflow wall is a wall of the container, is located between the filter sheet on the inside of the container and an overflow area on the outside of the container, and has a top that is low enough for excess fluid and excess trash to pass over the overflow wall into the overflow area, wherein said excess fluid and excess trash are the fluid and trash respectively that has accumulated in the container beyond a predetermined maximum capacity of the container;  
   a diverter, wherein said diverter is located and oriented relative to the inlet opening for diverting at least some inbound fluid-borne trash away from entering the overflow area and toward entering the container.    
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the bottom of the container covers at least seventy percent of the floor area.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the overflow wall has a plurality of apertures through it.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the overflow wall has a plurality of apertures through it.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it.  
     
     
         10 . An apparatus for filtering trash in a catch basin, comprising: 
 a trash collecting container located and supported by conventional supports within a catch basin, the catch basin having an inlet opening, one or more inner walls, a floor, and a drain opening, wherein the container comprises: 
 one or more filter sheets, each of the filter sheets having a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that will allow fluid to pass through the filter sheet but block such passage of at least some trash; wherein the one or more filter sheets form at least part of the bottom of the container, and the one or more filter sheets are located above the floor and higher than the lowest part of the drain opening;  
 container walls, wherein the container walls form the lateral bounds of the container and comprise an overflow wall, wherein the top of the overflow wall is lower than the tops of all the container walls that are not overflow walls, and wherein the top of the overflow wall is lower than the bottom of the inlet opening;  
   a relief channel located within the catch basin but outside the container, wherein the relief channel encloses an overflow area and leads to the drain opening, wherein the overflow area is the area into which the fluid and the trash that overflows the overflow wall passes, and wherein the minimum inside dimensions of the relief channel are large enough to allow passage through the relief channel of at least some of the fluid and at least some of the trash that overflows the overflow wall; and    a diverter located within the catch basin, wherein the diverter is connected to at least one of the inner walls at a location whereby the diverter will intercept at least some of the trash that enters the catch basin through the inlet opening at a point where it would fall outside the container if the diverter were not present, wherein the diverter is located higher than the top of the overflow wall, wherein at least part of the diverter extends within the lateral bounds of the container, and wherein the diverter is oriented to divert at least some of the trash into the container.    
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the bottom of the container covers at least seventy percent of the floor.  
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein at least one of the container walls comprises at least a portion of one of the inner walls.  
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the container walls comprises at least a portion of one of the inner walls.  
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein at least one of the container walls has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through said at least one container wall but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the container walls has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through said at least one container wall but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein at least one of the container walls has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through said at least one container wall but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein at least one of the container walls has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through said at least one container wall but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through the diverter but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through the diverter but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through the diverter but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through the diverter but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through the diverter but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through the diverter but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through the diverter but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through the overflow wall but blocks such passage of at least some trash.  
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , also comprising a filter hole, wherein the filter hole passes through at least one of the filter sheets, wherein the filter hole is large enough to accommodate insertion through it of predetermined types of drain clean-out equipment, and wherein the filter hole location in the installed apparatus is close enough to the drain opening to enable the clean-out equipment to be inserted through the filter hole and into the drain opening.  
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 26 , also comprising a filter hole cover, wherein the filter hole cover is movably connected to the container bottom, covers the filter hole, and can be moved by human power to uncover the filter hole enough to enable the clean-out equipment to be inserted through the filter hole and into the drain opening.  
     
     
         28 . An apparatus for filtering trash in a catch basin, comprising: 
 a trash collecting container located and supported by conventional supports within a catch basin, the catch basin having an inlet opening, one or more inner walls, a floor, and a drain opening, wherein the container comprises: 
 one or more filter sheets, each of the filter sheets having a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that will allow fluid to pass through the filter sheet but block such passage of at least some trash; wherein the one ore more filter sheets form at least part of the bottom of the container, the one or more filter sheets are located above the floor and higher than the lowest part of the drain opening, and the bottom of the container covers at least seventy percent of the floor;  
 container walls, wherein the container walls from the lateral bounds of the container and comprise an overflow wall, wherein the top of the overflow wall is lower than the tops of all the container walls that are not overflow walls, and wherein the top of the overflow wall is lower than the bottom of the inlet opening, wherein at least one of the container walls comprises a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through said at least one container wall but blocks such passage of at least some trash, and wherein at least one of the container walls comprises at least a portion of one of the inner walls;  
   a relief channel located within the catch basin but outside the container, wherein the relief channel comprises an overflow channel and a floor channel, wherein 
 the overflow channel encloses an overflow area, the overflow area being the area into which the fluid and the trash that overflows the overflow wall passes, and leads downwardly and connects with the floor channel, wherein the floor channel runs between the floor and the bottom of the container from the overflow channel to the drain opening, and wherein the minimum inside dimensions of the relief channel are large enough to allow passage through the relief channel of 
 the fluid in a volume needed to match a predetermined requirement for rate of drainage from the catch basin, and  
 the trash of a size and shape that is within a predetermined requirement for trash to be permitted into the drain opening,  
 wherein both of said predetermined requirements are limited by the maximum capacity of the drain opening and its associated drainage system; and  
 
   a diverter located within the catch basin, wherein the diverter is connected to at least one of the inner walls at a location whereby the diverter will intercept at least some of the trash that enters the catch basin through the inlet opening at a point where it would fall outside the container if the diverter were not present, wherein the diverter is located higher than the top of the overflow walls and at least part of the diverter extends within the lateral bounds of the container, wherein the diverter is oriented to divert at least some of the trash into the container, and wherein the diverter has a plurality of apertures through it, said apertures being of a size and shape that allows fluid to pass through the diverter but blocks such passage of at least some trash.    
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein the diverter is comprised of a diverter bottom and a diverter wall, wherein the diverter wall is connected to the diverter bottom to form a barrier against at least some trash crossing over the diverter bottom and falling into the catch basin outside the container.  
     
     
         30 . A method for filtering trash in a catch basin, the method comprising the following steps: 
 diverting fluid-borne trash into a trash collecting container located in a catch basin after the trash enters the catch basin through an inlet opening;    retaining at least some of the trash in the container while permitting fluid to pass through apertures in at least part of the container;    accumulating the retained trash and any back up fluid until the retained trash, backed up fluid, or any combination of them reaches the top of the overflow wall;    channeling the trash and the fluid that overflows the overflow wall, via one or more channels that direct the overflowing trash and overflowing fluid through an overflow area downwardly to the floor of the catch basin and thence between the floor of the catch basis and the bottom of the container to a drain opening.    
     
     
         31 . In a catch basin for selectively removing gross particulate matter of a predetermined dimension from a flow path, having at least one collection areas terminating in a drain opening, the improvement comprising, in combination: 
 an inlet diverter;    a supplemental collection area; and    a sieve element for filtering matter disposed in a liquid medium flowing through the catch basin, wherein the sieve element further comprises a maintenance access hatch located within said sieve element.