Bilge Scavenger

Abstract

Scavenger comprises inverted channel-shaped body to be positioned with lower edges of sides resting on bilge bottom. A screen, shaped correlative to body lines, is spaced from sides of body. The screen is carried by a plate pressed between lower side edges of body. Screen and plate form a removable, box-shaped receptacle for trash filtered out of water by screen. Outlet nipple at top of body is to be connected to pump which sucks water into body through end openings of receptacle. Replaceable end covers for receptacle each comprise an elastic plastics frame snapped over end of receptacle. Frame carries gate formed of a plurality of flexible, elastic plastics material, flat, tapered fingers secured to top of frame. Fingers overlap lower edge of frame on inside so they can swing in but not out, thereby to trap trash by admitting trash to receptacle and retaining same therein.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to strainer-traps and more particularly to a bilge scavenger for preventing the entrance of trash into a bilge pump and for removing trash from the bilge.

Any boat owner or captain of a motor vessel knows that a very serious problem arises when the bilge of a boat accumulates trash and debris. This trash cannot be removed from the bilge while the boat is at dock because it will settle to the bottom of the boat and become lodged in various parts of the bilge and remain there even though bilge water is pumped out. This trash and debris will be come very much a threat when the boat is operating at sea and water again leaks into the bilge. The slushing of the bilge water from side to side causes the trash to be suspended in the bilge water, and, when an attempt is made to pump this water out, often the trash stops up the pipes and pumps. Bilge strainers that are on the market today, or home made strainers used in some boats, do not overcome this problem.

When its bilge pumps or pipes are stopped up, a vessel must return to port before sufficient water accumulates in the bilge to cause the vessel to sink. Airlifting portable pumps to boats in distress because of stopped up pipes and pumps is an every day occurrence with the Coast Guard. Many lives and much property has been lost due to this problem, and there is considerable cost to the public incurred by the Coast Guard answering distress calls and aiding vessels that have this problem.

Prior art devices for protecting bilge pumps against entrance of trash include strainers which clog up with trash when the pump is running and which release the trash when an attempt is made to clean the strainer, especially if the pump is shut off. The trash then floats away so that when the pump is operating after cleaning of the strainer the trash returns and again clogs up the strainer. This is a frustrating procedure, especially in view of the inaccessibility of the strainer and the consequent difficulty in cleaning it.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a bilge scavenger which will not only strain out the trash to protect the bilge pump but which will positively trap the trash so that it can be removed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bilge scavenger incorporating a removable trash receptacle for collecting trash filtered out by the strainer and retained by the trap, whereby the trash can be easily eliminated by removing the receptacle.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a removable trash receptacle which will not bind or become jammed or unremovable or interlocked with debris during use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bilge scavenger trash receptacle that is easily replaced after removal and cleaning or for which a like clean trap can be easily substituted.

A further object of the invention is to provide a trash gate, or entrance and egress controller, for the inlet of a bilge scavenger trash receptacle, wherein the gate will not become frozen, i.e., immovable, and hence inoperative, through corrosion or fouling during use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a readily replaceable trash gate for a bilge scavenger.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a replaceable trash gate which will not become unreleasable or unreplaceable in use due to corrosion or fouling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, the foraminous element, e.g., screen, of a pump inlet strainer is made removable from the supporting body of the strainer and is combined with a base and gates to form a trap and removable trash receptacle. The body of the screen is an inverted channel and the receptacle, which is box shaped, is manually press fitted into the bottom of the body. Each gate comprises an elastic, plastics material end frame manually telescoped over an end of the trash receptacle, with a skirt comprising a plurality of flexible elastic, plastics material, flat, tapered fingers secured to the upper edge of the frame, the free small ends of the fingers overlapping the lower edge of the frame on the inside thereof.

The bilge scavenger, or cleaner and strainer, embodying the invention eliminates the problem of bilge trash completely and permanently. It not only strains the water going to the pumps but traps and holds all trash and debris until changing of the pressed in strainer elements, which can be done in seconds. It removes all trash from the bilge permanently and keeps the bilge clean in the future. Because of oil, grease, trash, and corrosive materials present in the water, the bilge scavenger has been constructed with no parts that are easily fouled or frozen thus insuring top efficiency at all times.

Strainers on the market today are used a short period of time and discarded because of rust and corrosion and new ones purchased, but because of two small replaceable parts the bilge scavenger embodying the invention will last the life of the boat or longer. Even without using the end gates the strainer still has the advantage of providing over twice as much straining area as any strainer on the market today.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the interior of a ship showing a bilge scavenger embodying the invention resting on the bilge bottom and connected to a bilge pump;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the scavenger, partly in section, with the screen-trap trash receptacle portion thereof removed;

FIG. 3 is partially exploded isometric view of the trash receptacle;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of one of the end gates for the trash receptacle;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken at plane 5--5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the assembled scavenger;

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the scavenger; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary horizontal section looking up at plane 8--8 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a boat hull 10. A bilge pump 12 has its inlet 13 connected to a pipe line including one or more horizontal pipes 14, there being one or more flexible couplings 15 interconnecting the pipes so that they can be lifted off the floor. A flexible plastics elbow 16 connects to the end of the horizontal portion of the pipe line remote from the pump and leads down through floor opening 17 to a flexible vertical pipe or bilge line 18.

A bilge scavenger 19, resting on the bilge bottom, includes an outlet nipple 20 in the top thereof, which is slipped into the lower end of the bilge line. A clamp, not shown, may be placed around the lower end of the bilge line to secure it to the scavenger outlet if desired. But usually there is sufficient elasticity in the bilge line to make a fluidtight connection which will also support the weight of the scavenger when it is being lowered into or lifted out of the bilge.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the scavenger includes an inverted channel-shaped body 21 having sidewalls 22, a top 23, and inturned end and bottom flanges 24, 25. The outlet nipple 20 is screwed into opening 26 in top 23. The nipple 20 and body 21 are preferably made of an inexpensive lightweight material that is resistant to corrosion in bilge brine and has enough strength and toughness to withstand a certain amount of rough handling. Brass, wood, and plastics materials would be suitable.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown screen-trap trash receptacle 30 comprising a base or bottom plate 31 and a foraminous member 32. The foraminous member, preferably a wire screen, is of inverted channel shape, including a flat horizontal top wall 33 and flat vertical sidewalls 34. The sidewalls are secured at their lower edges to bottom plate 31. Preferably plate 31 is made of tough, light weight, corrosion resistant material, e.g., a plastics material, such as vinylidene chloride, commercially available under the trade name Saran. The lower edge of the screen may be molded in place, which is the construction shown in the drawing. If the plate is made of metal, the screen can be attached to the plate by brazing or soldering. If the plate is made of wood or cellulose material, the screen can be cemented in place. It is desirable to avoid metal fasteners because of cost but corrosion resistant fasteners might be employed if desired.

The screen is reinforced at each end by metal strips, such as 35, the edges of the screen being turned inward over such strips and soldered thereto. Gates 36 are slipped over the ends of the screen and base with a stretch fit. If desired, bars such as 37 may be soldered around the edges of the screen forming enlargements behind which the elastic frames of the gates are retained.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, each end gate includes a rectangular frame comprising a rectangular plate 41 having a rectangular opening 42 thereon and a flange 43 adapted to slip over the end of the receptacle 30 with a snap fit. To effect the snap fit, the frame, or at least the flange portion 43 thereof, is made of flexible, elastic plastics material such as a vinyl tape, or a neoprene band.

A skirt 44, also of a flexible, elastic, plastics material, which may be made of the same material as the frame, depends from the top of the frame over opening 42. The upper edge 45 of the skirt is cemented or thermally bonded to the frame. Below the upper edge 45, which is continuous, the skirt is serrated to form a plurality of tapered fingers 46. The fingers and skirt can swing into the receptacle but are prevented from swinging out by overlapping the plate 41 at the lower end of the gate and at the sides of the gate.

Referring now to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8, there is shown the assembled scavenger including the body 21 and receptacle 30 manually pressed into the bottom of the body between the side flanges 24 and the bottom flanges 25 of the body. The ends of the receptacle, with the gates 36 manually pressed thereon, extend beyond the body at each end thereof, but the reinforcing strips for the end edges of the screen block entrance of fluid through the protruding ends of the screen so that fluid must enter the scavenger through the gates.

As best shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the flanges 24, 25, space the top and sides of the screen from the top and sides of the body forming therebetween fluid passageways 60, 61 leading from the screen through the body to outlet 20. The inverted channel-shaped screen provides a large strainer area without occupying a large volume.

When the bilge pump is operating bilge, water is sucked into the scavenger through the end gates and thence through the screen and outlet nipple into the bilge line. Debris suspended in the agitated bilge water, such as gaskets, cigarette packages and butts, used rolls of electric tape, and the like, goes past the end gate skirts, cannot pass through the screen at the top and sides of the receptacle, and remains trapped in the receptacle. When the receptacle fills up, it is easily removed by slipping it out the bottom of the scavenger body. One or both end gates are then removed from the receptacle and it is emptied and cleaned. The end gates are then replaced and the receptacle is reassembled with the scavenger body. It is not necessary to disconnect the scavenger body from the bilge line. If a spare receptacle is provided, it can be substituted when a receptacle in use fills up, thereby avoiding any shut down time during cleaning of the receptacle. If the end gates are damaged, they can be replaced at low cost.

It is to be noted that the skirts of the end gates are made of flexible elastic plastics material. The flexibility permits them to swing in to open position and the elasticity causes them to swing back to normal or closed position. The plastics material provides both the flexibility and elasticity without danger of corrosion. Hinged or pivoted members incorporating relatively rotating sliding metal to metal surfaces which might freeze up are thereby avoided.

The skirt is preferably connected to its frame at its top edge so that trash suspended close to the bottom of the bilge can readily enter the receptacle.

It is further to be observed that the end gates are snapped into place, the elastic frames retracting behind the reinforcing bars at the ends of the receptacle to hold the gates in position. No metal to metal contact area is involved in this means for securing the gates to the receptacle, thereby avoiding the possibility of the securing means becoming corroded and unreleaseable.

Another feature worthy of special comment is the dropout trash receptacle. A sliding drawer might jam or bind or become interlocked with debris.

It is important that the area of the end gates, match the pump capacity. If the area of the end gates is too large for the pump, there will not be sufficient flow to draw the trash through the end gates. For the usual bilge pumps present on shrimp boats it has been found that if the openings 42 in the end gates are rectangular having sides approximately 2 inches by 4 inches in length, and the skirts are serrated to leave about one-third of the gate area clear, and the skirt material has a stiffness equivalent to that of 1/64-inch thick sheet of celluloid, satisfactory results will be obtained. In a preferred embodiment the weight of a U.S. penny midway of the 3/4-inch length of one of the fingers is sufficient to cause a 1/4-inch deflection at the end of the finger.

In matching the intake area of the scavenger to the pump capacity it is to be noted that the base or bottom plate of the removable receptacle forms a closure for the bottom of the inverted channel-shaped body of the scavenger, so that fluid enters the scavenger only through the end gates, even if the scavenger is resting on an irregularly shaped portion of the bilge bottom.

Together, the scavenger body and the bottom plate of the receptacle form a chamber having inlet means through the ends of the body defined by flanges 24, 25 and the bottom plate, and having outlet means through the nipple 20, with the screen 32 disposed in the chamber separating the inlet from the outlet, and with the gates disposed downstream from the screen adjacent the inlets and controlling flow of trash into and out of the space between the gates and the screen.

The screen has been described as a foraminous element because it could be replaced by a perforated metal sheet or other strainer. Preferably the foraminous element is made of corrosion resistant material such as monel or brass wire. However it would also be made of a perforated sheet of rigid plastics material such as vinylidene chloride.

Although the reinforcing strips 35 block entrance of liquid through the ends of the screen where such ends protrude beyond the body of the scavenger, leakage at this point will not allow any trash to enter the bilge line. The reason for blocking off this area is merely to cause a larger flow through the end gates to trap trash inside the receptacle.

The screen is made longer than the body of the scavenger to permit attachment of the end gates without complicating the assembly of the screen-trap trash receptacle with the body of the scavenger. The screen is preferably long enough so that when the screen is centered relative to the scavenger body, the end gates will not contact the body and hence will neither interfere with assembly of the receptacle with the body nor be damaged when the receptacle is being removed. However if desired this clearance could be omitted. Reliance could then be placed on the end gate frames for sealing the protruding ends of the screen, instead of relying on strips 35 for that purpose.

Claims

I claim:

1. Scavenger adapted to operate in the water in a boat's bilge and be connected to the lower end of the bilge line extending down into the bilge from a boat's bilge pump to prevent the entrance of trash into the bilge line and bilge pump and to trap such trash for ready removal from the bilge, comprising

water compatible chamber means having a base adapted to rest on the bilge bottom,

water compatible foraminous means in the chamber separating it into upper and lower portions,

said lower portion together with said foraminous means forming a trash receptacle that is manually quickly connectable and separable from said upper portion,

outlet means for the outflow of water from said upper portion of said chamber,

inlet means for the inflow of water and trash into said trash receptacle,

and water compatible gate means carried by said receptacle controlling trash flow through said inlet means and resiliently urged to a closed position but constructed and arranged to open under the action of the inflow of water to allow trash to move with the water into said trash receptacle provided by the lower portion of said chamber and being free to move to a closed position and automatically closing when said liquid flow ceases and thereby trapping said trash in said receptacle prior to separation of said receptacle from the rest of the scavenger for emptying the trash.

2. Scavenger according to claim 1 wherein said gate means is formed of flexible elastic material affixed to the receptacle across its inlet means and adapted to bend inwardly under fluid pressure to open the gate means and to resiliently return to close the gate means.

3. Scavenger according to claim 2 wherein said gate means is formed of a sheet of material that is affixed to the receptacle across its inlet means along one edge of the sheet, the opposite edge of the sheet being serrated to form a plurality of fingers with liquid flow spaces therebetween.

4. Scavenger according to claim 3 wherein said sheet is affixed to said receptacle across its inlet means along an upper edge of the sheet, whereby said sheet forms a depending skirt.

5. Scavenger according to claim 1 wherein said gate means includes four coplanar elongate members disposed to form the perimeter of a rectangle and each connected to the two adjacent members forming a rectangular frame having an opening therethrough between the members,

an elastic flange around the periphery of the frame extending to one side thereof and perpendicular to the plane defined by said four members, said elastic flange being disposed around the outer periphery of said receptacle in gripping engagement therewith,

a sheet of elastic plastics material coextensive with said frame and disposed on said one side of the frame and having an edge secured to one of said members of the frame, the opposite edge of the sheet being serrated to form a plurality of Vee shaped fingers with spaces therebetween, the spaces being wider near the tips of said fingers than near said edge that is secured to the frame, said fingers overlapping inside said receptacle the one of said members of the frame that lies adjacent their free ends.

6. Scavenger according to claim 1 said gate means being manually removable from and replaceable on said receptacle to permit emptying and cleaning of said receptacle.

7. Trash gate in combination with a scavenger according to claim 1 comprising four coplanar elongate members disposed to form the perimeter of a rectangle and each connected to the two adjacent members forming a rectangular frame having an opening therethrough between the members,

an elastic flange around the periphery of the frame extending to one side thereof and perpendicular to the plate defined by said four members,

a sheet of elastic plastics material coextensive with said frame and disposed on said one side of the frame and having an edge secured to one of said members of the frame, the opposite edge of the sheet being serrated to form a plurality of Vee shaped fingers with spaces therebetween, the spaces being wider near the tips of said fingers than near said edge that is secured to the frame, said fingers overlapping the one of said members of the frame that lies adjacent their free ends.

8. A scavenger comprising

chamber means having inlet means and outlet means,

foraminous means in the chamber means separating said inlet means and outlet means,

gate means associated with said chamber means opening to permit entrance of trash into the space in the chamber means between the gate means and the foraminous means and closing to retain such trash therein,

said foraminous means being connected to said chamber means,

receptacle means comprising said gate means and said foraminous means together with the portion of said chamber means to which said foraminous means is connected,

said receptacle means being manually separable from the rest of said scavenger, and

wherein said foraminous means is of inverted channel shape, the lower edges of said foraminous means being secured to a baseplate formed by said portion of said chamber means and

the remainder of said chamber means comprises a body of inverted channel shape adapted to receive said receptacle,

said body including means positioning said receptacle with said foraminous means disposed inside of said body adjacent to but separated from the interior of said body forming fluid passages between the foraminous means and said body communicating with said outlet means, said outlet means being disposed in the top of said body.

9. Scavenger according to claim 8 wherein said means positioning the receptacle comprises inturned flanges on the ends of said body and said receptacle is longer than said body whereby said foraminous means engages said flanges, the engagement of said foraminous means and flanges being a manual press fit.

10. Scavenger according to claim 9 wherein said foraminous means and baseplate support said gate means, said gate means being manually removable from said foraminous means and baseplate to permit emptying and cleaning of said receptacle.

11. Scavenger according to claim 10 wherein said gate means includes a frame adapted to fit over the end of said foraminous means and baseplate and a flow control means hung on said frame.

12. Scavenger according to claim 11 wherein said frame is resilient and snaps on to said screen and base with a stretch fit.

13. Scavenger according to claim 12 including an enlargement at the end of the screen and baseplate engageable with said frame of the gate means.

14. Scavenger according to claim 12 wherein said foraminous means comprises a sheet of wire screen with its end edges reinforced by sheet metal strips over which said edges are inwardly turned.

15. Scavenger adapted to operate in the water in a boat's bilge and be connected to the lower end of the bilge line extending down into the bilge from a boat's bilge pump to prevent the entrance of trash into the bilge line and bilge pump and to trap such trash for ready removal from the bilge, comprising

an imperforate flat base adapted to rest on the bilge bottom,

an imperforate concave body manually press fitted at its edges to the base forming therewith a chamber having a lower portion provided by said base and an upper portion provided by the part of said body opposite from said base and side portions provided by the remainder of said body,

outlet means in said part of the body forming the upper portion of said chamber,

a concave foraminous member with open ends connected at its edges to said base forming therewith a trash receptacle, said foraminous member extending inside said chamber between said body and base with space between the foraminous member and the top and side portion of said chamber providing passages for the flow of liquid therebetween,

said open ends comprising inlet means of larger size opening than the foramina of said foraminous member and extending through said foraminous member and said portion of said body forming the side portions of said chamber and providing for the inflow of liquid and trash into said receptacle, and

freely movable gate means connected to said scavenger over said inlet means and opening under the action of the inflow of liquid to allow trash to move with the liquid into said receptacle through said inlet means and constructed and arranged to close when said liquid flow ceases to trap said trash in said receptacle.