Patent Application
20240198497
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The disclosure relates to angle fixing wrenches and more particularly pertains to a new angle fixing wrench for preventing rotation of a valve while installing or removing the valve. The present invention discloses an angle fixing wrench that has a handle with is selectively positionable relative to a wrench being used to tighten or loosen a nut of a compression fitting.
The prior art relates to angle fixing wrenches, which may comprise housings that fit over valve assemblies and which have handles extending therefrom which are parallel planarly with wrenches being used to tighten nuts of compression fittings of the valve assemblies. What is lacking in the prior art is an angle fixing wrench comprising a handle to which a drive is attached, and a threaded tube that attached to an outlet port of a valve assembly. The drive is selectively engageable to the tube, at an angle that is selectable by a user. The handle thus can be positioned so as not to interfere with a wrench being used to tighten a nut of a compression fitting of the valve assembly.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a tube, which is internally threaded so as to be complementary to an outlet connector of a valve assembly. The valve assembly has a compression fitting that is nonlinear with the outlet connector. The tube is configured for threaded attachment to the outlet connector. The openings of a pair of openings are opposingly positioned in the tube substantially equally distant from opposed ends of the tube. A drive is attached to and extends substantially perpendicularly from an elongate handle proximate to a first end of the elongate handle. The drive is complementary to, and thus selectively insertable through, the openings, which are noncircular, to engage the elongate handle to the tube. The elongate handle is configured to be grasped in a hand of a user to prevent rotation of the valve assembly as a nut of the compression fitting tightened or loosened. Tightening of the nut is done with a wrench and fixedly attaches the valve assembly to a pipe by compressing a flange onto the pipe.
Another embodiment of the disclosure includes a method of installing a valve assembly. A valve assembly, as discussed above, a wrench, and a valve installation and removal device, according to the disclosure above, are provided for the method. Installation steps of the method entail threading the tube onto the outlet connector, positioning the compression fitting onto a pipe, inserting the drive through the pair of openings so that the handle is readily accessible, inserting the nut of the compression fitting into the wrench, grasping the handle to prevent rotation of the valve assembly, and rotating the wrench to tighten the nut so that a flange within the nut is compressed between the nut and the pipe to attach the valve assembly to the pipe. Removal of a valve can be accomplished by loosening the nut rather than tightening the nut.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure 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. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The tube 12 may comprise a first segment 20 and a second segment 22, with the first segment 20 having an associated internal diameter 24 that is larger than and that of the second segment 22. As such, the first segment 20 is complementary to an outlet connector 14 having a first diameter and the second segment 22 is complementary to an outlet connector 14 having a second diameter. For example, the first segment 20 may be complementary to a ½″ outlet connector 14 and the second segment 22 may be complementary to a ⅜″ outlet connector 14.
As shown in
The openings 28 of a pair of openings 28 are opposingly positioned in the tube 12 substantially equally distant from opposed ends 30 of the tube 12. The openings 28, which are noncircular, may be hexagonal, square, or the like.
As shown in
The elongate handle 34 is configured to be grasped in a hand of a user to prevent rotation of the valve assembly 16 as a nut 40 of the compression fitting 18 is tightened or loosened. Tightening of the nut 40 is done with a wrench 42 and fixedly attaches the valve assembly 16 to a pipe 44 by compressing a flange 46 onto the pipe 44, as shown in
The valve installation and removal device 10 also may comprise a fastener 48, which is attached to the drive 32 distal from the elongate handle 34. The fastener 48 is positioned to engage the tube 12 upon insertion of the drive 32 through the pair of openings 28 to prevent inadvertent extraction of the drive 32 from the pair of openings 28, as may occur when working in tight spaces or when the valve assembly 16 is positioned overhead. As shown in
The valve installation and removal device 10 enables a method of installing a valve assembly 58. The method 58 comprises a first provision step 60 entailing providing a valve assembly 16 having a compression fitting 18 that is nonlinear with an outlet connector 14 of the valve assembly 16. A second provision step 62 of the method 58 is providing a wrench 42 complementary to a nut 40 of the compression fitting 18. A third provision step 64 of the method 58 is providing a valve installation and removal device 10, according to the specification above.
A first installation step 66 of the method 58 is threading the tube 12 onto the outlet connector 14. A second installation step 68 of the method 58 is positioning the compression fitting 18 onto a pipe 44. A third installation step 70 of the method 58 is inserting the drive 32 through the pair of openings 28 so that the handle is readily accessible. A fourth installation step 72 of the method 58 is inserting the nut 40 of the compression fitting 18 into the wrench 42. A fifth installation step 74 of the method 58 is grasping the handle to prevent rotation of the valve assembly 16. A sixth installation step 76 of the method 58 is rotating the wrench 42 to tighten the nut 40 so that a flange 46 within the nut 40 is compressed between the nut 40 and the pipe 44 to attach the valve assembly 16 to the pipe 44. As will be obvious to one skilled in the art of pipe fittings, removal of a valve assembly 16 can be accomplished by loosening the nut 40 rather than tightening the nut 40.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
