GB2184673A

GB2184673A - Tap reseating tool

Info

Publication number: GB2184673A
Application number: GB08627664A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Malcolm Curran; Dorothy Dail Curran
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1985-11-20
Filing date: 1986-11-19
Publication date: 1987-07-01
Also published as: GB8627664D0; AU551015B3

Abstract

The tool has a main body portion 11 adapted to be engaged with a tap body, a cutter shaft 14 supported for rotational movement in said body portion and longitudinally slidable relative thereto, said shaft being provided at one end with a cutter head 16 and being adapted to be engaged at its opposite end with driving means whereby said cutter head may be driven in use, said cutter head having a plurality of outwardly extending teeth, each said tooth having a cutting edge with a recess formed therein, said recesses being arranged on a common radius whereby said cutter in use will form in said valve seat a raised annular rib against which a valve member may sealingly act. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tap reseating tool This invention relates to a tap seat reconditioning tool and in particularto a tool which may be associated with a power drill suitably a battery driven power drill to recondition the seat of a tap, cock or the like.

Hand operated tap reseating tools are well known and generally comprise a rotatable spindle having a cutting tool mounted at one end and a handle atthe other end with the spindle being supported rotatably in a plug which is adapted for engagement with the tap body. In use of such a tool, the tap bonnetand washer are initially removed to expose the valve seat and sothatthe plug may be engaged with thetap body and the cutting tool forced into engagement with the seat and rotated by the handle to cause imperfections in the tap seat to be removed. These presently known tools are not particularly efficient in use as the cutting tool often tends to become misaligned. Furthermore,the abovetools aretime consuming and laborious in use.

The present invention aims to overcome or at least alleviate some of the above disadvantages by providing an improved tap reseating tool particularly adapted to be driven buy a powertool suitably a battery driven power drill. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

With the above and other objects in view th is invention resides broadly in a tap reseating tool including a main body portion adapted to be engaged with a tap body, cutter shaft means supported for rotational movement on said body portion and being longitudinallyslidable relative thereto, said cutter shaft means being provided at one end with a cutter head and being adapted to be engaged at its opposite end with driving means whereby said cutter head maybedriven in use, said cutter head having a plurality of outwardly extending teeth, each said tooth having a cutting edge with a recess formed therein, said recesses being arranged on a common radius whereby said cutter in usewill form in said valve seat a raised annular rib against which a valve member may sealinglyact.

In orderthatthe invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein: Figure lisa part sectional elevational view ofthe tool according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figures2 and 3 are respective enlarged elevational and plan views ofthe cutter of the tool; and Figure 4 is a sectional elevational view of the cutter.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a tap reseating tool 10 according to a preferred form of the present invention including a main body portion 11 which is externally threaded at 12so as to be screw engageable with a tap body and which is provided with a central bore 13 to rotatably and slidably receive in bearing like manner, a cutter shaft 14. The shaft 14 is screwthreaded at 15 at one end so asto be screw engageable with a replaceable cutter head 16 whilst the other end 17 is adapted forengagement with a drill chuck.Preferably,the shaft 14 is provided with an annularenlarged portion 18 adjacent its end 17 and a coil spring 19 is interposed between the portion 18 and body portion 11 to normally bias the shaft 14 and its associated cutter head 16 away from the tap valve seat.

As shown more clearly in Figures 2 to 4, the cutter head 16 is ofgenerallayannularform having a central threaded bore 20 and an annular cutting area 21 defined by a plurality of outwardly extending cutting teeth 22 of saw tooth like configuration. Each cutting tooth 22 includes a cutting face 23 having a cutting edge 23' with a recess 24 formed therein arranged on a common radius with the recesses 24 in the other teeth 22. Preferably the recesses 24 are part circular in cross section and machined into the cutting teeth 22 in any suitable fashion.

In use, the tap bonnet is removed together with the washer or valve to expose the valve seat and the main body portion 11 screw engaged with the tap body. The shaft 14 is then attached to the chuck of a drill after which the drill is rotated several times whilst being pressed down into the tap to cause the shaft 14to slidably move within the body portion 11 until the cutter head 16 engages the valve seat. This will causethevalve seat to be machined by the cutter head 16 which by virtue of the configuration of its cutting faces 23 and the recesses 24 therein causes an annular raised ribto be formed ontheseat.This rib then functions as a seal ing surface against wh ich the tap washer may seat.If a suitable seat is not formed as above, the process may be repeated. The spring 19 will be compressed when the tool is in use in machining the seat and will facilitate withdrawal of the cutter from the seat. The spring 19 however may be eliminated if desired.

The tool ofthe present invention is particularly suited for use with normally low speed battery operated drills so that suitable control can be achieved. Preferably, the body portion 11 of the tool is formed of bronze whilstthe cutter shaft is suitably formed of stainless steel. Preferably the cutter head 16 is hardened and tempered by means of a conventional heat treatment process and in this embodiment the cutter head 16 is provided with twelve cutting teeth 21 with recesses 24 having a radius of approximately 0.5 mm.

The tool ofthe present invention may be employed for raising the seat of standard recess cocks, pillar cocks, bib cocks, laboratory cocks, path cocks, main stop cocks or any other tap or cock. For this purpose, the cutter shaft may be reduced or elongated in length to suit varying depths of common taps and a longer shaft is suitably provided for deep vanity taps.

In this embodiment the cutter shaft 14 is approximately 12.7 mm diameter and a sliding fit within the body bore 13 and furthermore is reduced to 9.5 mm at the end 17 to be receivable in the chuck of standard 10 mm battery drills. Preferablytheteeth cutting faces 23 in this embodiment extend tangentially to a circle concentric with the cutter head 16 having a diameter of approximately 3.2 mm whilstthe cutter head has an outer diameter of approximately 20 mm. Preferablyalso,the outer annular surface of the cutter head 16 is cut away at approximately 150 so that the teeth 22 tapers in thickness towards the centre ofthe cutter head 16 as shown.

It will befound thatthe raised annular seat formed by the tool ofthe present invention will be easily sealedbycommontapwasherswith minimum effort. Of course, the recesses 24may be of any suitable configuration as desired to enable an annular raised seat to be formed.

Many other variations and modifications as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art may be made to the invention without departing from the broad scope and ambit thereof as herein setforth.

Claims

1. Atap reseating tool including a main body portion adapted to be engaged with a tap body, cutter shaft means supported for rotational movement on said body portion and being longitudinally slidable relative thereto, said cutter shaft means being provided at one end with a cutter head and being adapted to be engaged at its opposite end with driving means whereby said cutter head may be driven in use, said cutter head having a plurality of outwardly extending teeth, each said tooth having a cutting edge with a recess formed therein, said recesses being arranged on a common radius whereby said cutter in use will form in said valve seat a raised annular rib against which a valvemembermaysealinglyact.

2. A tap reseating tool according to Claim 1, wherein said cutter shaft means is spring loaded so as to normally bias said shaft means and said cutter head awayfrom atapvalveseat

3. Atap reseating tool according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein said cutting edges form parts of cutting faces of said teeth, said cutting faces extending tangentially to a circle concentric with said cutter head.

4. Atap reseating tool according to any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein said teeth taper in thickness towards the centre of the cutter head.

5. Atap reseating tool constructed and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.