Patent Application
20150075334
The present disclosure relates to a wrench for installing fire protection sprinklers and more particularly, to a protective cover for a sprinkler wrench.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Coated fire sprinklers are installed where the desire for matching color of the sprinkler and the surrounding area is wanted. Sprinklers are typically installed with a special wrench that is designed to turn the sprinkler into the fitting by two flat areas on the wrench mating with the two flat areas on the sprinkler frame. When these two areas meet, the torque that is applied often times will allow the wrench to have only a small point contact on the sprinkler frame. This small point contact along with the thin coating on the sprinkler allows the coating of the sprinkler to become marred or scratched.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
During the installation of coated fire sprinklers the current wrenches that are used often times will mar or scratch the coating that is on the sprinkler. In order to avoid this marring and scratching a sprinkler wrench protective cover boot has been developed to prevent this from happening. This cover slips onto the sprinkler wrench and protects the coated sprinkler from being marred or scratched during the installation process. The cover can be replaced when it becomes worn.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
With reference to
With reference to
As shown in
The protective cover boot 20 can be made from a flexible and loadbearing material such as rubber, silicone or other elastomeric or thermoplastic material. The protective cover boot 20 easily slips over the metal sprinkler wrench 10 and can be used for several coated sprinkler installations. The protective cover boot 20 stays on the wrench 10 during installation, but is easily removed if needed and another cover boot 20 can be put on the wrench 10 when the cover boot 20 becomes worn. The protective cover boot 20 is flexible enough that the flange portion 36 can be flexed to engage the perimeter 24 of the sprinkler engaging portion 28 while the flat cover portions 38 and the capture flange 40 can be flexed to engage the flats 22. As shown in
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/879,838, filed on Sep. 19, 2013. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61879838 | Sep 2013 | US |
