Leaching chamber having pillars and wide peak corrugations

Abstract

A plastic leaching chamber has an arch shape cross section, corrugations, and one or more hollow pillars extending downwardly within the interior of the chamber, to support the top of the chamber when the chamber is under load during use. Chambers nest within one another to form a stack of chambers for transport or storage. Chambers have peak corrugations which are substantially wider than the intervening valley corrugations. Chambers having different widths and profiles have common size connectors.

1 . A molded plastic chamber for collecting, receiving, detaining, or dispersing water when buried, comprising:
 (a) a first end and a second end separated along a lengthwise direction;   (b) a first side and a second side separated along a widthwise direction perpendicular to the lengthwise direction;   (c) a first side base, flange, at least part of which extends lengthwise along part of the first side, and a second side base flange, at least part of which extends lengthwise along part of the second side, which side base flanges are separated from each other in the widthwise direction and are substantially coplanar with a base plane;   (d) a chamber wall connecting the first side base flange to the second side base flange and forming a concave interior below the chamber wall, wherein at least a portion of the chamber wall comprises alternating peak corrugations and valley corrugations; and,   (e) one or more pillars, each pillar comprising a pillar wall which
 (i) is integrally connected with the chamber wall at the perimeter of a hole in the chamber wall and extends downwardly within said concave interior; 
 (ii) has an inward taper from the chamber wall down to a pillar base, which pillar base comprises a portion which is proximate to the elevation with said base plane; and, 
 (iii) surrounds a hollow space which is in communication with the space above the chamber. 
   
     
     
         2 . The chamber of  claim 1  wherein the pillar base is substantially parallel to the base plane and substantially co-planar to the base plane. 
     
     
         3 . The chamber of  claim 1  wherein the chamber height is less than 11 inches and the chamber width is greater than 30 inches. 
     
     
         4 . The chamber of  claim 1  wherein the chamber wall and pillars are shaped to enable the chamber (a) to be nestable on top of a like chamber and (b) to be removable from the like chamber below by lifting one side base flange and rotating the chamber about the opposing side base flange. 
     
     
         5 . The chamber of  claim 1  wherein the chamber meets the testing requirements of an H-10 load rating in Section 6 Testing Requirements of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, Material and Property Standard for Plastic Leaching Chambers IAPMO PS 63-2005. 
     
     
         6 . The chamber of  claim 1  wherein the bearing footprint area of the chamber divided by the effective length of the chamber equals or exceeds 20 square inches per lineal foot, wherein the open base area divided by the effective length exceeds 2.2 square feet per lineal foot and wherein the chamber volume divided by the effective length exceeds 0.9 cubic feet per lineal foot. 
     
     
         7 . A plastic leaching chamber having an arch shape cross section, for receiving and dispersing water when buried, which chamber comprises:
 opposing side base flanges, for providing bearing area to support the chamber during use;   opposing sidewalls, each sidewall running upwardly and inwardly from a base flange;   a top, connecting the upper ends of the sidewalls;   the interconnected combination of opposing sidewalls and top forming an arch-curve wall which defines a concave chamber interior;   a plurality of alternating peak corrugations and valley corrugations running in said arch-curve wall, transverse to the length of the chamber, from proximity of one base flange to proximity of the opposing side base flange; and,   one or more pillars, each pillar having a pillar wall extending downwardly into the chamber interior from the top portion of the arch-curve wall of the chamber, and each pillar comprising a pillar base having an elevation which is proximate the elevation of the plane of said base flanges.   
     
     
         8 . The chamber of  claim 7  wherein the peak corrugations decrease in width and the valley corrugations increase in width with elevation from the base flanges; and wherein, when measured along the chamber length in a first horizontal plane which is at an elevation proximate the upper surfaces of said opposing side base flanges, the width of each peak corrugation within said plurality is at least about 2 times greater than the width of an adjacent valley corrugation. 
     
     
         9 . The chamber of  claim 7  wherein the base of each pillar is substantially coplanar with the plane of the base flanges. 
     
     
         10 . The chamber of  claim 7  wherein each pillar is integral with said arch curve wall; wherein the upper end of the pillar wall surrounds the periphery of a hole in said top portion; wherein the pillar wall tapers inwardly so that the pillar cross section decreases in the downward direction. 
     
     
         11 . The chamber of  claim 10  wherein each pillar has a vertically running corrugation or sponson. 
     
     
         12 . The chamber of  claim 10  wherein each pillar base comprises a portion running parallel to said base plane; the portion having one or more through holes. 
     
     
         13 . The chamber of  claim 10  wherein the upper end of the pillar interrupts a peak corrugation or a valley corrugation or both; wherein the pillar and the interrupted portions of said corrugations have contouring sufficient to enable a first nested chamber to be lifted from a second underlying nested identical chamber, by rotatably lifting the first chamber upwardly by one base flange 
     
     
         14 . The chamber of  claim 10  wherein said one or more pillars is located substantially along the centerline of the chamber. 
     
     
         15 . The chamber of  claim 10  comprising a multiplicity of pillars, wherein the pillars are symmetrically disposed on either side of the lengthwise center plane of the chamber. 
     
     
         16 . The chamber of  claim 10  wherein each pillar has a width which is greater than the pillar length. 
     
     
         17 . The chamber of  claim 7  having a pillar with a length that extends from proximity of one end to proximity of the opposing end; wherein the base flanges have C-shape configurations in said base plane. 
     
     
         18 . The chamber of  claim 7  wherein the chamber wall and pillar are made of a single piece of injection molded thermoplastic; wherein at least the sidewall portions of said peak corrugations have a plurality of horizontally and vertically spaced apart slot perforations. 
     
     
         19 . The chamber of  claim 1  wherein the bearing area of all the pillar bases is between 4 and 25 percent of the total bearing area of the chamber. 
     
     
         20 . The chamber of  claim 7  wherein the bearing area of all the pillar bases is equal or less than about 2 percent of the leaching area of the chamber. 
     
     
         21 . The chamber of  claim 7 , wherein the chamber has an effective length of about 4 feet, a leaching area of at least about 428 square inches per foot of effective length, and a weight of less than about 2.8 pounds per foot of effective length. 
     
     
         22 . The chamber of  claim 7  made of polyethylene, polypropylene or polyolefin, having at least 160 square inches of leaching area per pound of plastic; and, having a ratio of storage volume to plastic volume of at least about 20 to 1. 
     
     
         23 . In a plastic leaching chamber having an arch shape cross section, for receiving and dispersing water when buried; wherein the chamber comprises opposing side base flanges, wherein the space between the opposing side base flanges providing for leaching area beneath the chamber during use; wherein opposing sidewalls run upwardly and inwardly from opposing side base flanges to a top which connects the upper ends of the sidewalls; wherein the opposing sidewalls have a plurality of perforations; wherein the interconnected sidewalls and top form an arch curve wall which defines a concave chamber interior; wherein a plurality of alternating peak corrugations and valley corrugations in the arch curve wall run transverse to the length of the chamber; the improvement which comprises: at least one hollow pillar, integral with the top of the chamber, having a wall which extends downwardly into the concave chamber interior from the periphery of a hole in the wall of the chamber, the pillar comprising a pillar base for bearing on soil beneath the chamber during use.