Patent Application
20240181612
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR 1.71(d).
This invention relates generally to water filters, and more specifically to water filters within plumbing fixtures.
Prior art water filter tools have been designed to grab or attach to water filters and either rotate or pull them to remove them from their in-situ position within their respective fixtures. However, damage to the fixture occurs when a person pushes, pulls, and twists the filter and thereby on the fixture when attempting to remove the filter. Stripping of threads and loosening of connections between parts and pipes, especially over time and repeated filter changes, is a common occurrence and problem. Thus a need exists to provide a filter extraction tool that avoids the aforementioned problems.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of filter extraction tools or the like in the prior art, the present invention provides a filter extraction tool adapted to be removably attached to a plumbing fixture and simultaneously to a water filter within the plumbing fixture to thereby remove the water filter from the plumbing fixture. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a filter extraction tool including a fixture connecting sleeve, a linear screw, and a filter connecting cup rotatably attached to the linear screw, with all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments according to the teachings of the present invention.
The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings.
The embodiments of the present disclosure described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present disclosure.
The following embodiments and the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form part of this disclosure, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention can be employed and the subject invention is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
The instant filter extraction tool 100 was originally designed to be used to remove the rear half 300 of Delta shower filter cartridges (models RP19804 and RP46074). After removing the trim, bonnet nut, and top half of the filter cartridge, the fixture connecting sleeve 130 of the filter extraction tool is screwed onto the valve body 310 in place of the bonnet nut. Then the rotatable handle 140 of the filter extraction tool is used to lower the filter connecting cup 150 to meet the rear half of the filter cartridge. The cup will lock onto the rear half of the filter cartridge with a ΒΌ turn to the right. Then the rotatable handle can be used to remove the filter connecting cup, pulling the rear half of the filter cartridge with it. Finally, the rear half of the filter cartridge is removed from the filter extraction tool.
Turning now descriptively to drawing, referring to
When in use, the fixture connecting sleeve 130 is adapted to be connected to the plumbing fixture, then the filter connecting cup 150 is releasably connected with the water filter 300, then the rotatable handle 140 is rotated counter clockwise such that the retention member 146 contacts the filter connecting cup and pulls the filter connecting cup and the water filter from the plumbing fixture 400, and then the connecting sleeve 130 is removed from the plumbing fixture along with the water filter.
The retention member 146 may be formed having a spherical shape, the fixture connecting sleeve 130 may be formed having a cylindrical shape, and the filter connecting cup 150 may be formed having a bell shape. Furthermore, the main body and the rotatable handle 140 may be formed from stainless steel or copper, the filter connecting cup 150 may be formed from ceramic, stainless steel, copper, or plastic.
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement, which is calculated to achieve the same purpose, may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention.
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
