Manually Operable Drain Device

Abstract

A method for preventing waste materials from clogging a household drain, the method comprising: a) receiving a quantity of waste material contained in a flow of liquid toward a drain receptacle; b) guiding the flow of liquid to a predetermined position adjacent a part of a manually operable device mounted within the drain receptacle and gathering the quantity of the waste material from the flow of liquid in a first location adjacent a member of the manually operable device located in the drain receptacle; c) maintaining the quantity of waste material generally perpendicular to the vertical motion of a manually moving size reduction assembly; d) manually moving the size reduction assembly portion of the device so as to subject the quantity of waste material to abrading action, thereby producing an abraded portion of waste material as a plurality of smaller pieces; and e) carrying the abraded pieces away from the drain receptacle and through a drain conduit in the flow of water.

1 . A method for preventing waste materials from clogging a household drain, the method comprising:
 a) receiving a quantity of waste material contained in a flow of liquid toward a drain receptacle;   b) guiding the flow of liquid to a predetermined position adjacent a part of a manually operable device mounted within the drain receptacle and gathering the quantity of the waste material from the flow of liquid in a first location adjacent a member of the manually operable device located in the drain receptacle;   c) maintaining the quantity of waste material generally perpendicular to the vertical motion of a manually moving size reduction assembly;   d) manually moving the size reduction assembly portion of the device so as to subject the quantity of waste material to abrading action, thereby producing an abraded portion of waste material as a plurality of smaller pieces; and   e) carrying the abraded pieces away from the drain receptacle and through a drain conduit in the flow of water.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  including the step of using the flow of water to align the quantity of waste material in a predetermined arrangement within the device prior to manually moving the size reduction assembly. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein, the predetermined arrangement includes arrangement of at least some of the waste materials into a strand. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3  including the step of using the flow of water to place the strand of waste material in a location spanning a plurality of neighboring water passages through a containment portion of the device. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the step of comminuting the waste material includes moving the size reduction assembly downward, thereby urging a plurality of fingers into contact with the strand and into respective ones of the water passages, thereby tearing the strand into small pieces. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1  including the step of mechanically carrying a portion of the waste material along a roughened abrasive surface, thereby abrading the waste material into smaller pieces. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6  including the step of mechanically carrying a portion of the waste material along a plurality of roughened abrasive surfaces, thereby abrading the waste material into smaller pieces. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1  including the steps of gripping a plurality of parts of a strand of the waste material while pushing the plurality of parts of the strand simultaneously into a plurality of respective apertures, thereby ripping the waste material into smaller pieces. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1  including the steps of gripping a strand of the waste material at a plurality of locations along a length of the strand while pushing a plurality of parts of the strand into a plurality of respective apertures, thereby ripping the waste material into smaller pieces. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1  including the steps of simultaneously holding and pushing on a plurality of locations along a length of a strand of the waste material, thereby pushing the strand simultaneously into a plurality of neighboring apertures and thereby pulling and ripping the waste material into smaller pieces. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1  including the step of closing the drain by engaging the size reduction assembly with a part of the drain receptacle and thereby holding a sealing member carried on the size reduction assembly in sealing contact with a surface of the drain receptacle. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1  including the step of closing the drain by using a spring included in the size reduction assembly to hold a sealing member carried on the size reduction assembly in sealing relationship with a surface of the drain receptacle. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1  including the further steps of thereafter moving the size reduction assembly back to an initial position and thereafter repeating the steps of  claim 2 . 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1  including gathering and entwining a plurality of hairs included in the waste materials as a part of the step of aligning the quantity of waste materials, and using the flow of water to align a strand of hairs transversely across the flow of water. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1  including the step of gripping a strand of waste material at a plurality of places along the strand and thereafter forcing respective parts of the strand simultaneously into apart-spaced openings of the manually operable device, thereby elongating the strand sufficiently to cause it to break into a plurality of shorter pieces. 
   
   
       16 . A manually operable device for use in a household drain inlet receptacle, the device comprising:
 (a) a stationary main body;   (b) a strainer portion associated with the stationary main body and positioned to receive a flow of liquid and to catch relatively large pieces of solid waste material and temporarily hold the relatively large pieces at the strainer;   (c) a manually movable size reduction assembly extending within the stationary main body and reciprocally movable with respect to the stationary main body, between an upper position and a lower position; and   (d) an abrasive material associated with at least one of the stationary main body and the size reduction assembly;   wherein when the manually movable size reduction assembly engages at least some of the relatively large pieces of waste material it acts cooperatively with the stationary main body to abrade and reduce at least some of the engaged pieces of waste material to a smaller size while the movable size reduction assembly is being moved between the upper and lower positions thereof.   
   
   
       17 . The device of  claim 16  wherein the stationary main body comprises an abrasive surface. 
   
   
       18 . The device of  claim 16  wherein the size reduction assembly comprises an abrasive surface.