It is well known that so called single-handle faucets are utilized in sinks, lavatories, showers and tubs in many homes. In such a faucet, the handle of the faucet is lifted to cause the flow of water to commence, with the handle thereafter being pushed down to cause the flow volume to diminish, or to shut off entirely. In addition, moving the handle to one side, such as to the left, brings about the flow of hot water, whereas moving the handle to the right typically causes the flow of cold water to commence. With a bit of experimentation with regard to movements of the faucet handle, the user can relatively easily bring about the desired volume of water, and at the desired temperature, flowing from the faucet.
One manufacturer of faucets, including single-handle faucets, is Moen Incorporated of North Olmsted, Ohio. Inside the valve body of a Moen single-handle faucet is a cartridge, such as a cartridge manufactured under U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,840,048, 3,916,950 or 4,330,011.
Typically, such a cartridge is slightly under ¾″ in diameter and approximately 4″ in length, being made of brass or plastic. A plurality of apertures are located in the exterior of such a cartridge, and a plurality of O-rings are arrayed around the circumference of the cartridge. This arrangement is utilized in order to prevent leakage occurring between the cartridge and the interior of the valve body in which the cartridge is operatively mounted.
Slidably yet relatively tightly mounted inside the cartridge is a stem having apertures at preestablished locations therein, which can on occasion be caused to line up with apertures in the cartridge. The volume of water flowing from the faucet in which the cartridge is utilized, as well as the temperature of the water, is determined by the relationship of the apertures of the stem with respect to the apertures in the cartridge in which the stem is mounted. At the top of the stem is an internally threaded connector, which enables a desired connection to be made to the faucet handle.
Because of the above-described arrangement, when the faucet handle is lifted, the stem is caused to move up with respect to the cartridge, to cause the flow of water to commence. Movement of the faucet handle to the left or to the right causes rotation of the stem, which in turn causes hot water or cold water to flow from the faucet, in accordance with the user's positioning of the faucet handle. All of this is well known.
From time to time, a faucet may begin to leak, which may occasion the cartridge and its stem being removed from the valve body. That this may be readily accomplished, Moen provides a “T” shaped cartridge removal tool that can be used to engage the stem of the faulty cartridge after the faucet handle has been removed. A handle is located at one end of this “T” shaped tool, with the other end of the tool being configured to engage the end of the cartridge. An elongate screw loosely disposed along the centerline of the tool body represents an intrinsic part of the T-shaped tool, with the threaded inner end of the elongate screw being able to threadedly engage the internally threaded connector located at the upper end of the previously mentioned stem.
The proper engagement of the cartridge removal tool with the stem of the cartridge enables the plumber or other user of the tool to grasp the handle of the tool firmly, and then proceed by a rotating, pulling motion to cause the faulty cartridge to be withdrawn from the valve body. In most instances this procedure takes place without incident, following which the new cartridge can be installed into the valve body.
From time to time however, the cartridges fails or fractures during the withdrawal procedure, meaning that, for example, only the stem portion of the faulty cartridge is removed from the valve body. Quite unfortunately, this permits some or all of the outer portion of the cartridge to remain in an interior portion of the valve body.
In many instances it is quite difficult to remove the fractured portion of the cartridge remaining in the valve body, with this causing the plumber to improvise an arrangement for removing the remaining, dismembered portion of the cartridge. The plumber may use a screwdriver, needlenose pliers, a tap, or other such tool in an attempt to grasp and remove the fractured cartridge portion. This is not only an inexact, time consuming procedure, but also there is a distinct risk of the interior of the valve body being damaged. It is a fact that if the interior of the body becomes scratched or scarred, there is a distinct risk of undesirable leakage occurring after the replacement cartridge is in place in the valve body.
It is therefore obvious that if the function of the conventional T-shaped cartridge removal tool could be extended to permit a dismembered cartridge to be engaged and then readily removed, the task of the plumber could be greatly simplified. It was in an effort to enable such an expanded role for the conventional T-shaped tool that the present invention was evolved.
I am aware of the existence of certain tools having some similarity to the conventional T-shaped cartridge removal tool with which my novel elongate threaded device is intended to be used. For example, the Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 1,382,835 entitled “Bushing Tool” involves a device involving a T-shaped handle, to which is attached a tapered, externally threaded component.
The Abbott U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,832 entitled “Ratchet Tap Wrench” teaches a device having a T-shaped handle having jaws 71 for engaging three or four tap shank sizes.
The Hedspeth U.S. Pat. No. 6,643,904 entitled “Shank Removal Tool for a Carburetor” is somewhat relevant, but the Hedspeth device has no capability for removal of a faulty cartridge from a valve body, and its utilization could not be increased to accommodate an elongate threaded member for utilization should a cartridge fracture during the cartridge removal procedure.
It is clear that an improved device is needed for utilization with the conventional cartridge removal wrench or tool, for improving and expanding upon the utilization of such tool.