Sink flange ring installation tool

An installation tool useful for advancing a split retainer ring conformed as a flexible circular metallic hoop extending between the adjacently opposed first and second ends thereof onto the end of a sink drain fitting and thereafter into the ring groove formed therein for retaining a mounting flange, comprising in combination:

• a generally tubular segment formed of a resilient polymeric material defined by a circular peripheral wall having an upper edge and a lower edge generally parallel to said upper edge defining a circular interior bounded space dimensioned to compress said circular metallic hoop forming said retainer ring upon the receipt thereof within said interior space, said peripheral wall including a plurality of axially aligned and radially spaced separations extending from said upper edge partly therethrough to form a corresponding plurality of partial wall strips therebetween extending in cantilever from the remaining portion of said wall;
• a helical support shoulder formed in generally contiguous increments on the interior of each said tubular segment each one of said increments being distributed over the corresponding inner surfaces of said segments for providing a helical support of one or less interior circumference for said ring in the course of the axial advancement of said upper edge over said drain fitting, whereby said advancement is accompanied by an outward flexure of said cantilevered strips to align one end thereof adjacent said groove;
• and
• a bottom plate extending across said tubular segment from said lower edge of said peripheral wall including an annular opening formed therein.