Water filtering system with replaceable cartridge for a refrigerator

A water filter cartridge for replaceable attachment to a mounting head of a water filtering system comprising:

• a housing for enclosing a filtering medium, said housing including an upper surface portion;
• a stem projecting axially away from the upper surface portion, said stem being adapted to be inserted into a port of the mounting head through which water flows to be purified, said stem being provided with at least one O-ring, at a position spaced from the upper surface portion, for creating a seal between the stem and mounting head;
• at least one mounting lug projecting radially outwardly beyond the stem, said at least one mounting lug being adapted to interengage with a support element of the mounting head upon insertion of the stem in the port and at least partial rotation of the housing relative to the mounting head;
• a first cam element adapted to interengage with the mounting head to draw the stem within the port upon rotation of the housing relative to the mounting head in a first direction;
• and
• a second cam element adapted to interengage with the mounting head to withdraw the stem from within the port upon rotation of the housing relative to the mounting head in a second direction.

A method of replacing a filter cartridge of a refrigerator water filtering system comprising:

• manually rotating the filter cartridge relative to a mounting head of the water filtering system to cause a mounting lug of the filter cartridge to become disengaged from a support element on the mounting head;
• continuing to rotate the filter cartridge while a camming action between the filter cartridge and the mounting head causes the filter cartridge to be axially shifted relative to the mounting head and a stem portion of the filter cartridge to become at least partially withdrawn from within a filter port formed in the mounting head;
• axially removing the filter cartridge from the mounting head;
• positioning a new filter cartridge with an axial stem portion projecting into the filter port of the mounting head;
• and
• rotating the new filter cartridge to interengage a mounting lug thereof with the support element of the mounting head.