DE102022124152A1 - Hand tool for opening foil packaging - Google Patents

Abstract

Hand tool (2) for opening film packaging, comprising two pliers parts (6, 10), each of which has a gripping part (18, 22) and an actuating part (26, 30) connected thereto, which are arranged rotatably relative to one another about an axis of rotation (14), wherein the gripping parts (26, 30) each have a roughened gripping tip (34, 38), the ratio between a first distance between the tip (40, 42) of the respective pliers part (6, 10) and the axis of rotation (14) and a second Distance between the axis of rotation (14) and one end (44, 46) of the actuating part (26, 30) is between 1:2.5 and 1:3.5, in particular 1:3.

Description

The invention relates to a tool for opening film packaging according to the preamble of claim 1.

Many items, especially ready meals, are shrink-wrapped in plastic film. It is often difficult or impossible for seniors or people with little hand strength to open or tear open such packaging. Especially if only a small corner is intended to be ripped open, it is difficult for these people to grasp this corner firmly enough with their fingers.

Using household tools such as conventional pliers, scissors or knives to open foil packaging can be dangerous or unsuccessful for older people.

Opening peel-off food packaging for sausage and cheese packaging, for example, regularly requires a lot of effort for fingers and hands. For seniors or people with limited strength and mobility of the hands such as arthritis, arthrosis, Parkinson's or with limited vision, coordinating the index finger and thumb and holding the top film while simultaneously pulling to separate the connected top and bottom film is uncomfortable and expensive Power.

From the DE 297 03 346 U1 a tool for opening packages is known, which is designed as a pair of pliers with roughened surfaces and which can be held with two fingers. The disadvantage of this known tool is that the pliers have to be held between two fingers, so that very precise movements are necessary to operate them. The tool can slip from your fingers, especially when shaking, making handling even more difficult. If your fingers are wet, it becomes even more difficult to hold the tool. The well-known tool is very small and unergonomic to use and difficult to grip. It can be misplaced by seniors and is then difficult to find. Due to the arrangement of the return spring in the housing, the lever travel is unfavorable.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a hand tool which enables improved handling.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a hand tool with the features of claim 1.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the subclaims.

The invention is based on the idea that a hand tool intended for opening film packaging should enable easy handling, so that the film parts can be held easily but at the same time reliably, thus enabling comfortable tearing.

As has now been recognized, these requirements can be met by designing the pliers parts and their arrangement in relation to the position of the axis of rotation, which enable a large leverage effect. This means that only a small amount of pressure is enough to be able to grip and hold the film firmly. In order to achieve a large holding force on the film to be removed, the translation of the levers is dimensioned accordingly.

The gripping part and the actuating part connected to it are preferably designed in one piece. In an alternative embodiment, the gripping part and the actuating part are two parts connected to one another.

Advantageously, the entire length of the gripping part and the actuating part is between 13 cm and 18 cm, in particular 13.5 cm. The length from the axis of rotation to the tip of the gripping parts is preferably 32 mm.

The two actuating parts are preferably connected to one another by a return spring. The return spring is preferably connected to the ends of the actuating parts facing away from the axis of rotation. This means that it can also be used in particular as a hanging device for the hand tool. The entire length from the tip of the gripping tips to the edge of the return spring is preferably approx. 12-17 cm, in particular 15.5 cm.

The return spring and the actuating parts are preferably made in one piece, whereby an economical and component-saving design is achieved. In an alternative preferred embodiment, these are separate and interconnected parts. The return spring is advantageously made of elastic material, for example plastic or rubber.

The return spring is advantageously designed as an arcuate leaf spring, which makes it easy to produce due to low complexity. The hand tool is preferably designed such that the opening angle between the two gripping tips when not actuated Condition is between 5° and 10°, in particular 5.8°.

In a preferred embodiment, the two gripping tips each have teeth, such that when the two gripping tips are brought together, an interlocking toothing is formed. The roughening of the gripping tips is thus achieved with the help of these teeth of the serrations. The interlocking teeth enable the film to be gripped and held particularly firmly.

The respective actuating part preferably has a grip area. The grip area accommodates the fingers or inner surface of the hand when the hand tool is operated.

The respective grip area is advantageously made of elastic, in particular non-slip, material. This enables precise handling of the tool. Even if your hand is wet, the tool can still be used reliably.

The length of the respective gripping tip essentially corresponds to a distance between the end of the gripping tip facing the axis of rotation and the axis of rotation. The small gripping tip has a large force effect and essentially exerts point pressure, because the shorter the lever, the greater the force effect in relation to the handling lever.

The two gripping parts are advantageously designed with an oblique overlap in a head area of the hand tool. This ensures a positive fit and prevents the user from becoming trapped.

Preferably, a recess with a circular segmental cross-section is formed on the inside of the respective pliers part. With the help of the two opposite recesses, an object can be gripped.

The respective recess preferably has a groove structure, which enables firm gripping.

The radius of the circular segment-shaped recess is advantageously between 14 mm and 16 mm, in particular 15 mm, so that in particular it is possible to open screw caps on beverage bottles. The hand tool can therefore also be used as a bottle opener.

The advantages of the invention are, in particular, that due to the inventive design of the hand tool, only little force has to be used to open a film packaging. The gripping of the film is further strengthened by interlocking teeth in the gripping parts. The return spring ensures that the pliers are in the open position when not actuated, so that no opening movement has to be carried out. It also serves as a hanging device.

• 1 ein Handwerkzeug zum Öffnen von Folienverpackungen in einer bevorzugten Ausführungsform in einer seitlichen Darstellung;
• 2 das Handwerkzeug gemäß 1 in einer perspektivischen Darstellung;
• 3 das Handwerkzeug gemäß 1 in einer Vorderansicht;
• 4 das Handwerkzeug gemäß 1 in einer Hinteransicht, und
• 5 das Handwerkzeug gemäß 1 in einer Draufsicht.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is explained below with reference to a drawing. It shows in a highly schematic representation:

• 1 a hand tool for opening film packaging in a preferred embodiment in a side view;
• 2 the hand tool accordingly 1 in a perspective view;
• 3 the hand tool accordingly 1 in a front view;
• 4 the hand tool accordingly 1 in a rear view, and
• 5 the hand tool accordingly 1 in a top view.

The same parts are given the same reference numbers in all figures.

One in the 1-5 Hand tool 2 shown comprises two pliers parts 6, 10, each of which has a recess for receiving a, in particular plugged, rotation axis 14 or shaft and is rotatably mounted around it. The respective pliers part 6, 10 has a gripping part 18, 22 and an actuating part 26, 30 connected thereto. In the advantageous embodiment shown, the gripping part 18, 22 and the actuating part 26, 30 are each formed in one piece. The axis of rotation 14 is designed with a metal screw sleeve and screw for a long service life. In alternative preferred embodiments, it is formed as a plugged axle made of another material, for example plastic, or is designed as a rivet.

The respective gripping part 18, 22 each has a roughened gripping tip 34, 38. The hand tool 2 is designed to enable film packaging to be opened with as little force as possible. For this purpose, the ratio between a first distance between the tip 40, 42 of the respective pliers part 6, 10 or the respective gripping tip 34, 38 and the axis of rotation 14 and a second distance between the axis of rotation 14 and an end 44, 46 of the actuating part 26, 30 between 1:2.5 and 1:3.5, in particular it is 1:3.

This design or dimensioning creates an advantageous leverage effect, so that the two can be pressed together slightly Actuating parts 26, 30 leads to a firm grip of the gripping parts 18, 22.

In order to further strengthen the holding of the film, the two gripping tips 34, 38 are roughened. For this purpose, the respective gripping tip 34, 38 has a toothing 50, 54, the two toothings 50, 54 being designed to face one another and being designed or offset from one another in such a way that when the two gripping tips 34, 38 are brought together, an interlocking toothing is formed. This means that the film is held tightly in the teeth.

The entire length of each gripping part 18, 22 and actuating part 26, 30 is approximately 160 cm in the exemplary embodiment shown. The dimensions of the hand tool 2 are approximately L 160 x W 50 x D 30 (cm each). A length of approx. 16 cm makes it possible to hold the hand tool 2 safely and comfortably.

The two actuating parts 26, 30 are connected to one another at their ends 44, 46 by a return spring, which is designed as a curved leaf spring 58 in the exemplary embodiment shown. The leaf spring 58 keeps the hand tool 2 open in the unactuated state, so that the operator does not have to carry out a separate opening movement, which further simplifies the handling of the hand tool 2.

Because the leaf spring 58 is attached to the ends 44, 46 of the actuating parts 26, 30, only a comparatively weak spring is required due to the advantageous lever. The leaf spring 58 can therefore be formed from light material. It also serves as a hanger for the hand tool 2. The leaf spring 58 is preferably made of elastic plastic or metal. The entire width of the hand tool 2 viewed from left to right 4 is preferably between 26 mm and 28 mm, in particular 27.2 mm. The entire height of the hand tool 2 seen from bottom to top 4 is preferably between 59 mm and 61 mm, in particular 60.76 mm.

As in 5 can be seen, the two gripping tips 34, 38 overlap laterally perpendicular to a longitudinal direction 80 of the hand tool 2 in a contour. The pliers or the hand tool 2 is designed according to the shearing principle, i.e. with crossing levers or actuating parts 26, 30 as handles and grippers or gripping parts 18, 22 in the front area, and with a (inserted) axis of rotation 14. The pliers or . The hand tool 2 can be made in one piece or in several parts from plastic or metal. For example, it can be manufactured using a two-component injection molding process.

The actuating parts 26, 30 each have toothed recesses 60, 64 facing one another, each of which has a cross section in the shape of a segment of a circle. The recesses 60, 64 are dimensioned such that they allow a rotatable beverage bottle cap to be gripped around. The hand tool 2 can therefore also be used as a bottle opener.

The respective actuating part 26, 30 has a grip area 70, 74, which can be designed as a part connected to the respective actuating part 26, 30 and is made of non-slip material.

The easy handling of the hand tool 2 is further supported by an appropriate choice of material. The hand tool 2 can be manufactured using a two-component injection molding process. The handles of the pliers or the hand tool 2, i.e. the gripping parts 18, 22 and actuating parts 26, 30 can be made of elastic, anti-slip material, in particular bioplastics. In particular, the material PA can be used for the gripping parts 18, 22 and actuating parts 26, 40, and the material TPE can be used for the gripping areas 70, 74.

Reference symbol list

2

Hand tool

6

Pliers part

10

Pliers part

14

Axis of rotation

18

gripping part

22

gripping part

26

Actuating part

30

Actuating part

34

Gripping tip

38

Gripping tip

40

Great

42

Great

44

End

46

End

50

gearing

54

gearing

58

leaf spring

60

recess

64

recess

70

Grip area

74

Grip area

80

Longitudinal direction

QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of documents listed by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• DE 29703346 U1 [0005]

Claims (13)

Hand tool (2) for opening film packaging, comprising two pliers parts (6, 10), each of which has a gripping part (18, 22) and an actuating part (26, 30) connected thereto, which are arranged to be rotatable relative to one another about an axis of rotation (14), wherein the gripping parts (26, 30) each have a roughened gripping tip (34, 38), characterized in that the ratio between a first distance between the tip (40, 42) of the respective pliers part (6, 10) and the axis of rotation (14 ) and a second distance between the axis of rotation (14) and one end (44, 46) of the actuating part (26, 30) is between 1:2.5 and 1:3.5, in particular 1:3. hand tool (2). Claim 1 , the entire length of the gripping part (18, 22) and actuating part (26, 30) being between 130 mm and 150 mm, in particular 140 mm. hand tool (2). Claim 1 or 2 , wherein the two actuating parts (26, 30) are connected to one another by a return spring. hand tool (2). Claim 3 , wherein the return spring is designed as an arcuate leaf spring (58). hand tool (2). Claim 3 or 4 , wherein the opening angle between the two gripping tips (34, 38) in the unactuated state is between 5° and 10°, in particular 5.8°. Hand tool (2) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the two gripping tips (34, 38) each have a toothing (50, 54) such that when the two gripping tips (34, 38) are brought together, an interlocking toothing is formed. Hand tool (2) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the respective actuating part (26, 30) has a grip area (70, 74). hand tool (2). Claim 7 , wherein the respective grip area (70, 74) is made of elastic, in particular non-slip, material. Hand tool (2) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the length of the respective gripping tip (34, 38) essentially corresponds to a distance between the end of the gripping tip (34, 38) facing the axis of rotation (14) and the axis of rotation (14). Hand tool (2) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the two gripping parts (18, 22) are designed with an oblique overlap in a head region of the hand tool (2). Hand tool (2) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a recess (60, 64) with a circular segment-shaped cross section is formed on the inside of the respective pliers part (6, 10). hand tool (2). Claim 11 , wherein the respective recess (60, 64) has a groove structure. hand tool (2). Claim 11 or 12 , the radius of the circular segment-shaped recess (60, 64) being between 14 mm and 16 mm, in particular 15 mm.