Water Assisted Toilet Plunger

Abstract

A typical toilet plunger is disclosed that allows the operator to optionally choose to manually vent a plunger's cup of the air that is naturally trapped within the cup that renders the plunger less efficient as a result of the compressibility of air. The venting of air is accomplished by the opening of a shut off valve located within the inside and top of the cup. The shut off valve is connected to a longitudinal rod supported within the hollow shaft of said plunger. The rod protrudes through the grab handle of the plunger and terminates at a depressible button attached to the rod. Venting occurs when the operator depresses the button, which causes the rod to move longitudinally within the shaft, resulting in the shut off valve moving sway from its seat. Air entrapped is allowed out through holes located in the shaft.

Description

REFERENCES CITED[0001]U.S. Pat. No. 7,962,974 B2 June 2011 Lanier 4 / 255.02U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,417 B1 February 2004 Schneider 4 / 255.12U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,702 November 1986 Allen 4 / 255U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,763 B1 May 2002 Schneider 4 / 255.11D464,775 S October 2002 Larson D32 / 35[0002]U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,301 March 2000 Wang 4 / 255.06U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,895 December 2000 Davenport 4 / 255.06U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,613 August 1996 Davenport 4 / 255.05BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE[0003]The embodiment of the improvement in this disclosure is contained within the plunger and does not require the cumbersome connection of an external source of water to the plunger as previous disclosures demonstrate. The disclosed improvement differs in previous disclosures that vent the enclosed trapped air by means of a self actuating vent valve that must be employed in the use of plunger without giving the operator any option of whether to include the use of the vent valve or not during the application of the plunger. T...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]The usefulness of the disclosure is readily apparent: a single plunger containing the improvement can now be used instead of having two or more plungers each having beneficial features; the use of the existing water in a clogged toilet for the inclusion of hydraulic force for obstruction removal instead of the cumbersome import of an external water source for this purpose. In addition, the quick, simple application of the improvement is evident—the plunger is immersed in a toilet bowl partially or completely filled with water as a result of a clog and positioned onto the trap opening, the operator depresses the button until air bubble cease to exit from the shaft of the plunger, and the plunger is ready for the downward thrust used to expel the obstruction.

Problems solved by technology

Venting occurs when the operator depresses the button, which causes the rod to move longitudinally within the shaft, resulting in the shut off valve moving away from its seat.

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