Accumulation of solid and fibrous debris in drain pipes can cause backup of unsightly and unhygienic fluids in showers, kitchen sinks and lavatories. Clogged residential and commercial pipes are often cleared with abrasive chemical solutions which may harm individuals and the environment. The prior art discloses numerous systems employing traps, filters and strainers for preventing materials from clogging drain pipes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,843 discloses a drain strainer for installation into the vertical drain pipe of a bathing water drain for a shower or tub. The drain strainer includes a sieve receptacle having a substantially cylindrical basket, a bristle extension with a stem having a plurality of bristles, a support structure to suspend the sieve receptacle and bristle extension within the drain pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,729 B2 discloses a hair and fibrous shower trap that comprises a material trapping system loop structure. The loop structure is comprised of multiple, concentric circles fixedly attached to each other. The loop structure has a large opening at one end and a smaller opening at the other. The loop structure is dimensioned to fit pop-up, plunger, or push-pull drains for showers, bathtubs, or sinks. In one embodiment, the loop structure is called a salon trap which is shaped in such a manner as to fit within the screw-on opening to a sink trap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,862 discloses a drain filter for preventing hair and debris from entering a drain of a bathtub, shower stall, lavatory, sink and the like having a liftable stopper and a flange. The filter has a body shaped and dimension to be adapted to extend entirely around the lifted stopper periphery and extends around the external periphery of the drain. The body is fabricated of a filamentary material with openings to allow for the free passage of water down into the drain, and has a plurality of outward projections above the opening to entangle hair and debris.
These approaches do not present an optimal system for trapping and removing hair from a drain pipe. Solutions which employ a basket-like structure to trap fibrous materials may be circumvented if the basket becomes clogged with small debris. Debris that accumulates in the lowest point of the basket may impede flow down the drain and inhibit the trapping action of the basket. Furthermore, unpleasant odors may be emitted from the drain pipe if debris, such as hair, is trapped in the low point of basket placed at an insufficient depth in the drain pipe. Solutions that place a filter in only the trap region of a drain will likely result in blockage and ineffective capture of fibrous materials since the trapping action takes place at the lowest point instead of the vertical drain pipe. Furthermore, removal of such a filter may be cumbersome since the filter would have to be removed from the bottom of the trap region. Solutions that employ a one system approach do not provide redundancy in the event that the capturing mechanism is compromised. Solutions that require modifications to be made such as altering the pop-up stopper can be both costly, difficult and unsanitary to remove.
In light of the shortcomings in the prior art, a system for trapping is desired that employs an ensnaring systems that has a multiple backup ensnaring mechanisms in the event that the primary ensnaring mechanism is circumvented. The ideal system will be easy to remove from a drain pipe, disposable, and extend from the vertical drain pipe up to or beyond the trap, thereby providing a large surface area for ensnaring materials.