Patent Application
20180304451
The present invention relates, generally, to maintenance tools for cartridge-type faucets and, more particularly, to tools designed to extract Moen®-type cartridges from Moen®-type valve bodies.
Alfred M. Moen was the inventor of the Moen® single-handle “Dialcet” mixing faucet and the founder of Moen, Inc., a manufacturer of single-handle faucets and other plumbing products. Born in Seattle, Wash. on Dec. 27, 1916, Moen graduated from Franklin High School in 1934 and later studied mechanical engineering at the University of Washington. In 1959, Fortune Magazine listed the Moen “one-handle mixing faucet,” along with inventions such as Henry Ford's Model T and Benjamin Franklin's Franklin stove, as one of the top 100 best-designed mass-produced products. This distinction was the result of a survey among the world's leading industrial designers, architects and university professors of industrial design conducted by industrial designer Jay Doblin. Al Moen was nominated to the National Inventors Hall of Fame and was named to the Kitchen & Bath Industry Hall of Fame in 1993.
The inspiration for Al Moen's invention came in 1937 after he turned on a two-handle faucet and burned his hands. Over the next decade, Moen made several faucet designs and improvements. With the advent of World War II, he went to work as a tool designer at a military shipyard plant in Seattle. Moen could not find a manufacturer free to start production until after the war. In 1947, he persuaded Kemp Hiatt at Ravenna Metal Products of Seattle to finance and produce his latest design for a single-handled mixing faucet. This led to the creation of Moen, Inc., one of the nation's major producers of plumbing products. Moen faucets were soon included in many homes built in the United States during the post-World War II building boom. In 1956, Stanadyne, a major manufacturer of diesel injection pumps, struck with Ravenna Metal Projects to acquire rights to the Moen single-handle faucet. By 1979, Moen faucet revenues had reached $100 million, one quarter of Stanadyne's total revenue. Al Moen served as head of the company's research and development until his retirement in 1982. Stanadyne was acquired by Forstmann-Little & Company in 1988 and then purchased by the consumer-products holding company Fortune Brands. Fortune Brands then spun off its related product lines to form the Fortune Brands Home & Security company on Oct. 3, 2011.
Most Moen kitchen, washbasin, and bathtub/shower faucets are of the single-handle design, and almost all have used the same basic water-controlling cartridge since the 1960s. Known as the Moen 1225, it is a plastic (older versions were brass) cylinder approximately 4 inches long by ¾ inches in diameter. As the core component in most Moen single-handle faucets, it has undergone at least two revisions since its inception though newer versions remain compatible with older faucets. Pulling up the stem of the cartridge opens the water supply; rotating toward the left opens the hot water passages while rotating to the right opens the cold water passages (using the standard North American convention of the hot water control on the left).
Later Moen bathtub/shower controls with single handles use a larger cartridge with a pressure balancing mechanism which compensates for sudden pressure changes in either the hot or cold water supply inputs to the valve (as caused by a toilet being flushed while someone is showering). The design goal is to maintain the temperature of the shower for safety and comfort reasons, even if the volume of water is reduced. The cartridge is known as the 1222. The operation is similar to the 1225 (above) though the cartridge is approximately 1 inch in diameter to allow space for the pressure balancing mechanism.
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Moen cartridges are so reliable that many remain in place for more than 30 years without servicing. A problem associated with the longevity of Moen valve cartridges is that hard water deposits build up within the valve body over time and interfere with extraction of the cartridge from the cylindrical bore of the valve body. A cylindrical bore coated with hard water deposits is of smaller diameter than the rubber seals on the cartridge that must be removed. Invariably, the removal of an old cartridge from the valve body results in complete destruction of the cartridge seals. Consequently, without the proper extraction tools, replacement of a Moen valve cartridge can be extremely difficult.
A number of different tools have been designed to facilitate the extraction of a Moen valve cartridge from the valve body. Some are more effective than others.
Danco, a company having its headquarters at 2727 Chemsearch Blvd. in Irving, Tex. 75062, manufactures a four-piece 86712A Cartridge Puller for Moen cartridges. This tool is nothing more than an attachment device with a handle that allows a user to twist on pull on the cartridge until it is extracted. Except for a single 10-24 screw that is used to secure the tool to the cartridge core, the tool is machined from soft aluminum. For a tough jobs, it can be considered a one-time use tool, as the aluminum tends to bend and break.
JAG Plumbing Products, a company having its headquarters at 901 Dillingham Road, Pickering, Ontario, Canada L1W 2Y5 supplies a more robust, three-piece Moen cartridge extractor tool, manufactured entirely of steel, that uses a right-hand-threaded central puller shaft having a 10-24 pilot screw that engages the threaded aperture of the brass cartridge core. A sleeve slides over the puller shaft until it abuts the lips of the valve body opening in which the cartridge is installed. A threaded collar is then screwed onto the puller shaft and tightened against the sleeve with a wrench to extract the cartridge. Thus, removal of the cartridge is a three-step process: first, thread the pilot screw into the cartridge core; second, slide the sleeve over the puller shaft; and three, tighten the collar against the sleeve.
The present invention provides a new tool that can extract 1-inch diameter Moen®-type Posi-Temp valve cartridges, such as the 1222 valve cartridge, as well as ¾-inch diameter Moen®-type cartridges, such as the 1225 valve cartridges from the valve body in a single step. The term Moen®-type cartridges is used because the patents have long expired on the basic valve designs. Companies other than Moen manufacture compatible valves and cartridges. The tool fundamentally comprises two pieces. The first piece is an extractor shaft having a right-hand threaded shank protruding from the fore end of the extractor shaft that screws into the 10-24 threaded handle securing aperture in the exposed end of the rotatable control shaft of a Moen single-handle faucet cartridge, a much larger diameter left-hand male Acme thread along a major portion of the shaft, and a hexagonal drive shaft at the aft end of the extractor shaft that couples to a portable electric drill motor. The second piece is a tubular extractor body having left-hand Acme female thread at the aft end thereof that threadably engages the left-hand male Acme thread of the extractor shaft. The fore end of the tubular extractor body abuts against the lips at the opening of the cylindrical cartridge socket of the valve body. The tubular extractor body is also equipped with a pair of opposed longitudinal slots, which provide clearance for the plastic tabs of the Posi-Temp® cartridge as it is extracted. Although the threaded 10-24 shank of the extractor shaft is removable so that it can be replaced if the tool is dropped and the shank breaks, the shank could be machined as part of the extractor shaft. In any case, once the shank is installed in a threaded aperture in the fore end of the extractor shaft, the shaft and the threaded shank function as a single integrated component. Although a two-piece tool can be made for each size of Moen cartridge, the sake of enhanced functionality and reduced procurement cost, a two piece tool is provided that fits the larger one-inch-diameter Moen cartridge, and an adapter sleeve (a third piece), is provided that enables the tool to also be used to extract ¾-inch-diameter cartridges from the earlier style Moen valves which do not incorporate the pressure-balancing feature.
The cartridge extractor tool of the present invention is unique in that it incorporates both a right-hand male thread and a left-hand male thread on the same shaft. Because the extractor shaft is equipped with both a left-hand thread and a right-hand thread, any Moen cartridge can be extracted from the valve body in a single step following removal of the retainer clip. With the exposed tip of the threaded shank about even with the fore end of the tubular extractor body, the threaded shank is driven into the female threaded aperture of the cartridge control shaft, using the hand-held electric drill motor for rotational movement of the extractor shaft. At the same time as the threaded shank is being driven into the female threaded aperture of the cartridge control shaft, the tubular extractor body is being driven forward toward the valve body by the action of the left-hand Acme thread. As soon as the fore end of the tubular extractor body contacts the lips of the cartridge socket, extraction of the cartridge from the valve body begins. Because the cartridge control shaft is free to rotate within the cartridge, it spins freely, driven by the extractor shaft, as the cartridge is extracted from the valve body.
As previously stated, in order to extend longevity of the tool, the pilot screw is not unitary with the extractor shaft. The fore end of the extractor shaft is drilled and tapped to receive a 10-24 threaded shank. For a preferred embodiment of the invention, a 10-24 nut is secured to the 10-24 threaded shank with a cyano-acrylate thread locking compound, and the shank is screwed into the drilled and tapped aperture at the fore end of the extractor shaft until the 10-24 nut is tight against the fore end of the extractor shaft. Thus, if the tool is inadvertently dropped and falls on the pilot screw, the pilot screw will fracture in front of the 10-24 nut, thereby enabling the remaining threaded shank to be removed from the extractor shaft by engaging the nut with a wrench and rotating the shank counterclockwise. A new, unbroken threaded shaft with nut secured thereon can be installed in the fore end of the extractor shaft, thereby restoring complete functionality to the extractor shaft.
Some, but not all models of the Moen Posi-Temp valves have lip extensions at the opening of the valve cartridge containment chamber of the valve body. Why this feature exists is a mystery. Nevertheless, because of the presence of lip extensions on some of the valve bodies, the fore end of the tubular extraction body has shallow cutouts which fit over the lip extensions on the valve cartridge containment chamber opening. For Posi-Temp valve bodies without the lip extensions, the cutouts serve no purpose.
The invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawing figures. It should be understood that the drawings may not be drawn to exact scale and are intended to be merely illustrative of the invention.
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Here is a brief history and explanation of the benefits of Acme threads. An Acme thread is a screw thread profile with a trapezoidal outline. Such threads are the most common forms used for both power screws and lathe leadscrews. They offer high strength and ease of manufacture. They are typically found where large loads are required, as in a vise or the leadscrew of a lathe. Standardized variations include multiple-start threads, left-hand threads, and self-centering threads. The Acme thread, which is the original trapezoidal thread form, is still probably the one most commonly encountered worldwide. The Acme thread was developed in 1894 as a profile well suited to power screws that has various advantages over the square thread, which had been the form of choice until that time. It is easier to cut via either single-point threading or die than the square thread because the latter's shape requires a tool bit or die tooth geometry that is poorly suited to cutting; it wears better than square because compensation can be made for wear; it is stronger than a comparably sized square thread; and it makes for smoother engagement of the half nuts on a lathe leadscrew than does square threading.
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The cartridge extractor tool of the present invention is unique in that it incorporates both a right-hand male thread and a left-hand male thread on the same shaft. Because the extractor shaft is equipped with both a left-hand thread and a right-hand thread, any Moen cartridge can be extracted from the valve body in a single step following removal of the retainer clip 103 or 209. With the exposed tip of the threaded shank 401 about even with the fore end of the tubular extractor body 600, clockwise rotation of the extractor shaft 400 (seen from the rear of the extractor shaft 400), while holding and preventing the tubular extractor body 600 from rotating allows the threaded shank to coaxially engage the internally-threaded end of the control shaft 106 or 207, while simultaneously pushing the tubular extractor body 600 toward the lip 104 or 202 at the open end of the cylindrical valve cartridge containment chamber 101 or 201, once the fore end of the tubular extractor body 600 abuts the lip 104 or 202, the cartridge 102 or 205 is extracted, all in a single step. Because the cartridge control shaft 106 or 207 is free to rotate within the cartridge 102 or, it spins freely, driven by the extractor shaft 400, as the cartridge 102 or 205 is extracted from the valve cartridge containment chamber 101 or 201.
Although only a single embodiment of the improved cartridge extractor tool has been shown and described, it will be obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
