CA1308564C - Kitchen appliance for removing twist-off caps - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure A kitchen appliance for removing twist-off caps including an operator driven by a motor which is activated by a switch responsive to the user's holding a twist-off cap against the operator or releasing same therefrom, said operator including means for positively gripping and resisting removal of a cap pressed therein. Means for releasing a cap held in the operator are provided in a preferred embodiment and in a hand held version of the operator.

Description

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XITCHEN APPLIANCE FOR REMOVING TWIST-OFF CAPS
The present inv~ntion relates to an opener ~or opening twist-off caps on bottles, jars or the like.
More and more food, beverage, medicine, cosmetics and toiletries are coming in plastic bottles with twist-off caps and the number of glass containers for these items is similarly increasing. These facts are supported by figures compiled by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
There are many sizes and kinds of closures and bottles and jars come in many shapes and sizes. In the kitchen they range from a small vanilla jar with a five-eighths inch cap to a peanut butter jar with a four inch cap and include small medicine bottles and large three liter beverage bottles. Closures include pressure twist-off caps like that found on cheese spread, screw off capslike tnose found on mayonnaise jars, and depress and twist safety caps found on medicine bottles. Caps may be metal or plastic and have both smooth or serrated edges. Home canned products, syrup and honey jars are especially hard to open and then reopen after storage in the refrigerator.
Most bottles and jars are made of plastic or glass which can be broken or cracked if the cap is hit with a hard object such as a hammer or by pounding it on the edge of a kitchen counter. In addition, many jars are filled with a liquid such as found in pickle and beet jars and care is needed when opening to prevent spilling.

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Practically every housewife has difficulty opening jars and bottles. Many housewives have small hands and most housewives have hands that are not as strong as their husbands~ There are about seventeen million adults in the United States la 6~

alone With ~oma degree of arthrltis and there are also many peoplc With other type8 of lllne55 or ln~ury that aau5e a decrease ln hand atrength. It i8 also a fact that our population is gettlng older and with age comes a decrease in strength and doxterity. In addltlon, the numbor of small electrlc appllances on the market shows that people like the convenience of such devlces.

There are fow hand operated openers on the mar~et tl-at lo are very effective and there are even fewer, if any, which are motorlzed. All devices for openlng tw16t-off caps increase the amount of torque applled to opening a lld. Most of them include a ~aw for gripping the twist-off cap connected to a l-andle for applying inarea8ed torque bUt the eXaCt form of the ~aw and of the handle dlffer widely. One difflculty wlth devices of thi5 type ig that tho uaer must hold the vessel being opened with one hand whlle trylng to manlpulate the opener with tho other.
Included ln thls prOCQ83 i8 the problem of locklng the ~aw on the cap wlth one hand and the problem of gripping thc vessel with oufflcient force so that it does not turn with the cap. People wlth small hAnds or wlth physical dis~bllltles such as arthritis find lt partlcularly difficult to accomplish thc above-mentioned operations.

There have bcen ~ar openlng devlce5 5Uch a5 that descrlbèd in U. 9. patent No. 4,102,226 whlch address the problem of how to hold tho oontalner whlle oporatlng the opener by providing clamps for clamplng tlle vessel. These devices are operable but not practical in that lt ls too cumbersome to clamp the vossel befoxe beginnlng the opening operation.

Another solutlon to the problem is offered by two Companies who have added a mechanical wedge shaped device to thelr electric can openers but these openers are dangerous to use because a slip can cause the user to slice his hand on the blades 13(;~8564 making ~p the wedge. In addition, these openers do not hold the cap in the opener after it has been geparated from the container.

In view of the above, there i8 a need for a motorized twi~t-off cap opener which allows the user to devote both hands to holdlng the vessel belng opened such that the user can resist the force applied to the cap wlth both hands. There is also a need for a twist-of~ cap opener whlch holds the cap in the opener after it ha3 been separated from the container and which can be engaged by simply presaing the cap into the open~ng devlce. It is therefore an ob~ect of the present invention to provide a motorized twist-off cap opener which has the above-mentioned features. Other ob~ect~ and features o~ the invention wlll be ln part apparent and in part polnted oUt hereinafter.

The lnvention accordingly comprlses the constructlons herelnafter described and equlvalents thereof, the scope oE the lnvention belng indlcated by the subioined claims.

In the drawings in which one Oe several possible embodlments o~ the lnvention is illustrated, correspondlnq reference numerals refer to corresponding parts and in which:

Fig. 1 i~ a front View~ partly in sectlon, of a 2S motorized twist-off cap opener and an operator in Accord~nce with the prasent inventlon:

Fig. 2 18 a top view o~ the opener taken along line 2-2 in Pig. l:

Fig. 3 is a left side vlew of the opener as shown in Fig. 2:

Fig. 4 is a top view of the operator:

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Fig. 5 i~ a sid0 vlew of the operator: and, Fig. 6 i~ taken along line 6 - 6 in Fig. 5.

~eferring to the drnwlngs more particularly by reference number, reference numeral 10 refers to a motor~zed twist-oPf cap opener ln accordance with the present inventlon lncludlng an operator 12 driven by a motor 14 which i5 actuated by a switch 16 re~pon~ive to the user's holdlng a twist-off cap against the operator or releasing the same therefrom.
While lt is essential that there be an operator, motor and swltch, the exact form of these elements 18 qub~ect to wide vnrlatlon. In the embodiment illustrated, operator 12 is suspended on a ~haft 18 connected to motor 14 and shaft 18 ls made up of first and second telesaoping sectlons 18a and 18b.
Sectlon 18a is attached to sectlon 18b by pin 20 which extends through a clooed keyway 22 provided in that end of ~haft 18b dl8tal operator 12. Wlth reference to the draw1ngs, it will be ~een that pln 20 limlts movements of sectlon 18b wlth respect to sectlon 18a between a flrst and second or upper and lower llmit.

With contlnulng reference to Flgs. ~ and 3, a houslng 24 18 shown as n generally reotangular enclo~ure with upper and lower walls 26 and 28, respectively, encircled by sldewalls 30.
Operator 12 is shown depending below housing 24 but it may be recessed therein lf deslred. In Flgs. 1 and 3, shaft 18a is illustrated a8 depending from upper wall 26 and ls ~ournaled in a bearlng 32. Nounted on shaft 18a is a toothed gear 34 ln mesh wlth a worm gear 36 which i9 driven by motor 14. Motor 14 rotates shaft 18a in a counterclockwi~e motion vlewlng the lld from above but can be reverslble, ln whlch case, opener 10 can serve both to remove and to tighten a lld. A palr oP lateral side ~upports 38 provide a bearing 38a and bridge shaft 18 between opposing sidewalls 30 and are provided generally intermediate upper and lower walls 26 and 28. That end of shaft ~308S64 16b dlstal its attachment to ~haft 18a extends through an aperture wlth a collar 40 provlded in lower wall 23 for attachmont to operator 12. A sprlng biaslng mean~, shown as coll spring 42, 18 threaded on 8haft 18b between lower wall 28 and operator 12 biasing shaft 1~ to lts longest length and pln 20 agalnst the lower limlt of keyway 22.

In the embodlment shown~ swltch 16 18 mounted on shaft lsb ~uch that movements of operator 12 compres~lng spring blasing lo means 42 actuate motor 14. By way of example, this may be accomplished by mean~ of a switch contact ring 44 mounted on shaft 18b such that the contact ring actuate3 or toggles switch 16 on aB spring biasing means 42 is compressed and pln 20 18 brought agalnst the upper limit of keyway 22 and then toggles the swltch off as pressure on the sprlng blasing means i8 released.

Generalizlng the above, it 18 essential that motor 14 be operatively connected to operator 12 to cause operator 12 to rotate when motor 14 is actuated. Switch 16 must also be respon~ive to the user~s lnsertlon of a twlst-off cap into the receesed opening of operator 12 as more particularly described below nnd to presslng the cap agalnst the interior surface thereof or releaslng the same thereerom.

Details of a preferred operator 12 are shown in Figs.
4-6. ~eferrlng now to those drawings, operator 12 comprises a gener~lly conlcally shaped body shown attached to motor 1~ by agency of shaft 18b. Operator 12 may be made detachable from shaft 18b, a8 for example by a set screw (not shown) or the like, such that lt can be readily removed for cleanlng or for use of the operator as a hand operated openlng devlce. In some lnstances, on the other hand, operator 12 may be provlded as a hand operated opening device wlthout provision for attachment to a motor. In regards to opener 10 whlch is illustrated in Figs.
1-6, it has not been found necessary to remove operator 12 for 13~8S6~

cleaning as there is little reason for it to become soiled.

Operator 12 has a recessed opening 46 which is flared for fr ctionally engaging larger sized twist-off caps towards outer portions thereof and smaller sized twist-off caps cf lesser diameter more deeply therein to the end that the opener is capable of accommodating a range of cap sizes found in a kitchen without need for changing the operator. Recessed opening 46 is provisioned with an interior exposed surface having teeth 54 facing the interior of the operator with their tips 50 slanted towards the apex of the operator providing positive gripping means and resisting removal of a cap pressed therein. It is preferred that the interior exposed surface be only partly covered with teeth 54 to facilitate removal of a cap after it has been separated from a container and for this purpose teeth 54 are preferably located on toothed portions 52 radiating from the apex of the operator and spaced from each other to permit access to the cap for dislodging it as more particularly described below. It is intended that the term radiating be understood in a generalized sense to include continuous and discontinuous strips, spirals or the like and teeth 54 may consist of ridges or serrations which may be arranged in rows on toothed portions S2 and the rows can be slanted towards the apex of the operator. Toothed portions 52 may widen as they approach the flared end of the cone operator and teeth 54 may be longitudinally disposed. In the preferred embodiment shown in Figs.

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4-6, three equally spaced toothed portions 52 have been found entirely adequate with teeth 54 radiating in a helix which for convenience of manufacture is shown as a continuous spiral tangential to the interisr exposed surface.

A support structure for toothed portions 52 may be provided such as ring 56 attached to and containing their otherwise free end. Other support structures will be lo apparent to those skilled in the art. When operator 12 is designed to hold a 6a 13~8564 tw13t-of~ cap after lt ha~ been removed from a container, some provlslon muat be mada for releasing the cap. This can be accompllshed by providlng one or more open seators 58 in the conlcally shaped body of operator 12 between toothed portlons 52 to permlt access to the c~p for dlslodging same from the operator after the cap has been twlsted off the contalner.

At the beglnning of a duty cycle, switch 16 has motor 14 off. A user with a twist-off cap on a container in need of lo being opened~ inserts the cap into the open end of operator 12.
~e then pushes the lld lnto engagement wlth toothQd portion5 52 with su~flclent force to tUrn motor 14 on wedging the cap into the operator where it is posltively grlpped and held by teeth 4-3.
Motor 14 then causeo operator 12 to rotate thus twlstlng off the cap. When the cap has been separated from the container, tlle Us~r rQleases the pressure agalnst operator 12 causlng swltch 16 to turn motor 14 off. When the cap 18 caught ln the operator between toothed portlons 52, the user can dlrect his complete attentlon to the contents of the contalner belng opened and can tap the lid out of the opener through open sector 5~ whenever lt is convenient to do 80.

In the embodlment lllustrated, twist--off cap opener 10 is deslgnQd for advantageous attachment as a space savlng under-the-counter cablnet appllance to ellmlnate kltchen counter clutter. It 18 to ba understood, however, that the opener may be wall mounted, mounted on a stand or hand held and modified accordlngly as necessary for the partlcular mountlng arrangement a8 wlll readlly occur to one skilled in the art.

In vlew of the above, lt wlll be seen that the several ob~ects of the lnventlon are achieved and other advantageous results attalned. For example, it 18 seen that the present machine provldes a means for openlng ~ twist-off cap whereln the user has both hands free to hold the container being opened and 1~0~3S6~

wherein the lid is held ln thu devioe after lt has been separated from the container and the opener can be engaged by Dimply pressing the lid into the device. As various change~ could be made in the above described construction without departing from th~ scope of the lnvention, it i~ intended that all matter aontained in the above descriptlon shall be lnterpreted a~
illustrative and not in a limiting sen~e.

Claims (10)

1. A motorized kitchen-appliance type opener for removing twist-off caps having a range of diameters found in a kitchen from containers without need for manual twisting of same and allowing the user to have both hands free to hold the container during the cap removal operation, said opener comprising:
(a) an operator having a generally conically shaped body with open sectors about the wall of the body and with a recessed opening having a partially toothed interior exposed surface disposed between said open sectors, said toothed portions facing the interior and radiating from the apex of the operator, the recessed opening being flared for receiving and frictionally engaging larger sized twist-off caps towards outer portions thereof and smaller sized twist-off caps of lesser diameter more deeply therein whereby said opener accommodates a range of cap sizes found in a kitchen without need for changing said operator;
(b) a motor operatively connected to said operator to cause rotative movement thereof when said motor is actuated; and (c) a switch for turning said motor on or off responsive to the user's insertion of the twist-off cap into said recessed opening and pressing the cap against the surface thereof, or releasing the same therefrom.

2. The opener of claim 1 wherein the tips of the teeth on the toothed portions of the operator are slanted towards the apex of the operator.

3. The opener of claim 2 wherein the operator has an open sector in the conically shaped body between adjacent toothed portions to permit access to the cap for dislodging same from the operator after the cap has been twisted off the container.

4. The opener of claim 3 wherein the teeth of said toothed portions of the operator are arranged in rows.

5. The opener of claim 4 wherein the rows of teeth are slanted towards the apex of the operator.

6. The opener of claim 5 wherein the rows of teeth are spiralled in a helix tangential to said interior exposed surface.

7. The opener of claim 3 wherein the toothed portions are generally equally spaced about the interior exposed surface.

8. A motorized kitchen-appliance type opener for removing twist-off caps having a range of diameters found in a kitchen from containers without need for manual twisting of same and allowing the user to have both hands free to hold the container during the cap removal operation, said opener comprising:
(a) an operator having a generally conically shaped body with open sectors about the wall of said body and with a recessed opening having a partially toothed interior exposed surface disposed between said open sectors, said toothed portions facing the interior and radiating from the apex of the operator and having an open sector in the conically shaped body between adjacent toothed portions to permit access to the cap for dislodging same from the operator after the cap has been twisted off the container, the recessed opening being flared for receiving and frictionally engaging larger sized twist-off caps towards outer portions thereof and smaller sized twist off caps of lesser diameter more deeply therein whereby said opener accommodates a range of cap sizes found in a kitchen without need for changing said operator and whereby a cap held in the operator can be accessed through the open sector in the conically shaped body;
(b) a motor operatively connected to said operator to cause rotative movement thereof when said motor is actuated; and (c) a switch for turning said motor on or off responsive to the user's insertion of the twist-off cap into said recessed opening and pressing the cap against the surface thereof, or releasing the same therefrom.

9. The opener of claim 8 wherein the tips of the teeth on the toothed portions of the operator are slanted towards the apex of the operator.

10. The opener of claim 9 wherein the toothed portions are generally equally spaced about the interior exposed surface.