US 12,110,674 B1
Self-supporting vacuum plumbing assembly
Gabriel J. Massa, Neptune, NJ (US)
Filed by Gabriel J. Massa, Neptune, NJ (US)
Filed on Sep. 22, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/472,396.
Application 18/472,396 is a continuation of application No. 17/525,033, filed on Nov. 12, 2021, granted, now 11,788,270.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/271,409, filed on Oct. 25, 2021.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. E03F 1/00 (2006.01)
CPC E03F 1/006 (2013.01) 33 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vacuum plumbing assembly for attaching a plumbing fixture to a water supply and to an overhead vacuum-assist waste removal system at an overhead location above a floor, the assembly comprising:
a premanufactured, self-supporting accumulator assembly including:
a. an accumulator having a bottom, sides, and a top defining an interior volume, the accumulator being configured to receive wastewater from the plumbing fixture through a wastewater inlet opening defined in the accumulator and to hold the wastewater received in the interior volume;
b. a wastewater outlet conduit having a first end rigidly attached to the accumulator and a second end configured for attachment to the overhead vacuum-assist waste removal system, the wastewater outlet conduit being configured for directing wastewater from the accumulator to the overhead vacuum-assist waste removal system;
c. an air intake conduit having a first end rigidly attached to the accumulator and a second end, the air intake conduit being configured for allowing flow of air into the accumulator through the air intake conduit when the overhead vacuum-assist waste removal system is removing wastewater from the accumulator through the wastewater outlet conduit; and
d. a sensor conduit having a first end rigidly attached to the accumulator and a second end, the sensor conduit configured for at least assisting in at least one of generating a signal and relaying a signal when a level of the wastewater in the accumulator reaches a predetermined level, the signal indicating that the overhead vacuum-assist waste removal system should remove the wastewater from the accumulator by applying suction to the second end of the wastewater outlet conduit;
wherein each of the wastewater outlet conduit, the air intake conduit, and the sensor conduit communicate with the interior volume through the top of the accumulator wherein when the bottom of the accumulator is adjacent the floor the wastewater outlet conduit, the air intake conduit, and the sensor conduit extend substantially vertically, linearly, and parallel to one another from their respective first ends to their respective second ends with their respective second ends connecting to the overhead vacuum-assist waste removal system at the overhead location, and are configured with the accumulator as a unit that is pre-manufactured, the unit being substantially rigid and sufficiently self-supporting to be transportable in a peripherally frameless configuration and sized to extend from adjacent the floor to the overhead location of the overhead vacuum-assist waste removal system.