GB2041806A

GB2041806A - Cap Removing Tool

Info

Publication number: GB2041806A
Application number: GB7904690A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: GILL MENTOR Ltd
Current assignee: GILL MENTOR Ltd
Priority date: 1979-02-09
Filing date: 1979-02-09
Publication date: 1980-09-17

Abstract

A device 1 for removing screw or twist-on caps from jars comprises a pair of arms each comprising a laterally-bowed metallic e.g. steel inner portion 3, and a handle portion 4, the arms being pivoted together at inner ends of said bowed portions, and these bowed portions carrying non- metallic cladding 6 having non- metallic e.g. resilient plastics gripping projections 7, 10 for engaging opposite sides of a jar cap. The arrangement can enable a good grip on the cap to be achieved and the positioning of the device in relation to the cap need not be very critical. The gripping projections 7, 10 have gripping faces or gripping edges, parallel to the pivotal axis at 5. The device 1 also has teeth 9 which collectively with abutments 10a, constitute means via which pressure and torque can be applied to a smaller cap. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Device for Removing Screw or Twist-on Caps from Jars This invention relates to a device for removing screw or twist-on caps from jars and, preferably, also for removing screwcaps from bottles such as, for example, soft-drink bottles.

An object of the invention is to provide a device, for removing screw or twist-on caps from jars, which can be of a simple and robust construction which enables a good grip on the cap to be achieved, and which does not require a very critical positioning of the device with relation to the cap.

According to the invention, there is provided a device for removing screw or twist-on caps from jars, said device comprising a pair of arms each comprising (a) a laterally-bowed metallic inner portion, and (b) an outwardly-extending outer portion constituting a handle, the said arms being pivoted together for movement about a pivotal axis at inner ends of said laterally-bowed metallic inner portions, and said metallic inner portions being bowed in opposite directions away from each other, and said metallic inner portions carrying non-metallic cladding having nonmetallic gripping projections for engaging opposite sides of a jar cap and via which projections pressure and torque can be applied to said cap when the handle portions of the deivce are squeezed towards each other.

Preferably, said gripping projections have gripping faces or gripping edges extending parallel to the pivotal axis of the arms.

The cladding may comprise, on each of said metallic inner portions of the arms, two lengths of resilient plastics cladding which respectively clad two mutually converging lengths of the metallic inner portion of the arm, with the length of cladding on one of such two mutually-converging lengths of the inner portion of the one arm, and the length of cladding on a corresponding one of such two mutually-converging lengths of the inner portion of the other arm, each having integral with a body portion thereof, and arranged in a row extending longitudinally thereof, a plurality of the gripping projections, and with, on each of the said metallic inner portions of the arms, the length of cladding on the other of said two mutually-converging lengths of the arm having, integral with a body portion thereof, a single one of the gripping projections.The said two lengths of cladding on each arm may be constituted by opposite ends of a single piece of cladding on said arm.

The inner portions of the arms may be provided in the vicinity of the handle portions of the arms with gripping projections for engaging a bottle screw cap, and the cladding may have nonmetallic abutments which, collectively with said gripping projections for engaging a bottle screw cap, constitute gripping means via which pressure and torque can be applied to said bottle screw cap when the handle portions of the device are squeezed together.

In the accompanying drawings, which show, by way of example, an embodiment of the invention: Figure 1 is a plan view of a device, constructed in accordance with the invention, for removing screw or twist-on caps from jars and also for removing screw-caps from bottles such as for example soft-drink bottles, a screw or twist-on cap of a jar being shown, in this Figure, in dotdash lines; Figure 2 is a cross-section through one side of the device shown in Figure 1, and is on the line Il-Il, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a fragmentary view, of the device shown in Figure 1, showing the device engaged with a soft-drink bottle screw-cap; and Figure 4 is a cross-section, through one side of the device shown in Figure 1, on the line IV--IV, Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, a cap removal device 1 comprises a pair of steel arms 2 each comprising (a) a laterally-bowed steel inner portion 3, and (b) a straight outwardly-extending steel outer portion 4 integral with said portion 3 of the respective arm 2 and constituting a handle, the arms 2 being pivoted together at 5, for example by a rivet, at inner ends of the laterallybowed inner portions 3 of the arms. The inner portions 3 of the arms are, as shown, bowed in opposite directions away from each other. The handle-forming portions 4 may, if desired, be provided with plastics sheaths 1 2.

Each steel arm 2 carries, on its laterally-bowed inner portion 3, non-metallic material in the form of an elongate piece of resilient plastics material 6 which dads mutually-converging lengths 3a, 3b of said inner portion 3, one end 6a of the plastics piece 6 cladding the length 3a, and the other end 6b of said piece 6 cladding the length 3b. The one end 6a of the plastics cladding piece 6 has, integral with a body portion thereof, a row of gripping projections in the form of gripping teeth 7 for gripping the periphery of a screw or twist-on cap of a jar, and the other end 6b of said piece 6 has, integral with a body portion thereof, a single gripping projection 10 for gripping such cap periphery.The teeth 7 each have a flat gripping face 7a parallel to the pivotal axis of the arms at 5, and the projections 10 each have a gripping edge 1 Oa likewise parallel to said pivotal axis of the arms at 5. The cladding piece 6 on the one arm 2 is identical, in the embodiment now being described, with the cladding piece 6 on the other arm 2.

When it is desired to remove a screw or twiston cap of a jar by means of the device 1, the cap, for example that indicated at 8, is positioned between the laterally-bowed portions 3 of the arms and the handle-forming portions 4 of the device are then squeezed towards each other so that the gripping projections 7, 10 of the cladding pieces 6 grip the periphery of the cap, and manual torque is then applied to the cap via the said handle-forming portions 4 in a direction to unscrew or disengage the cap from the jar. The gripping projections 7, 10 constitute robust gripping means for engaging the cap.

Said projections 7, 10 have, as mentioned above, gripping faces or edges, 7a or 1 Oa, parallel with the pivotal axis of the arms at 5, and better contact with the cap can thereby be obtained than would be the case if gripping surfaces for engaging the cap were (viewing the arm portions in cross-section) of arcuate form. The length / of each projection, 7 or 10, is substantially greater than the thickness t of the metal arms 2, and the positioning of the device in relation to the cap need not be so precise, than would be the case if the steel arm portions 3 constituted gripping portions for directly engaging the jar cap. The use of resilient plastics material for the gripping projections 7, 10 obviates or considerably reduces the risk of causing distortion of the cap when using the device.Also, since the cladding pieces 6 project transversely (by a distance a, Figure 2 at the teeth 7, and by a distance a', Figure 4, at the projections 10) beyond the respective steel arm portions 3, the handleforming portions 4 are not, when they are in a position in which the projections 7, 10 of the cladding pieces 6 on the arm portions 3 grip a given jar cap, required to be spread apart so much as might be the case if the said steel arm portions 3 had to engage the said cap directly. Use of the device is thus facilitated, and it can be easier for a disabled or infirm person to hold and operate the device than would be the case if a conventionai jar cap opening device were used.

The inner portions 3 of the steel arms 2 are provided, in the vicinity of the handle-forming portions 4, with integral metallic gripping teeth 9, and the projections 10 are provided with abutment faces 1 Oa which, with the teeth 9, collectively constitute means via which pressure and torque can be applied to a relatively small screw-cap, for example the bottle cap indicated at 11 in Figure 3, when the latter is placed between them, for the purpose of unscrewing said cap.

The device 1 is of simple and robust construction, and can be simply manufactured.

The cladding pieces 6 may be moulded directly onto the steel arm portions 3, or they may, for example, be sleeves slidingly forced along the arms into place, or be split sleeves forced laterally into place on the arms.

If desired instead of the cladding portions 6b each having a single gripping projection 10, they may each be provided with a plurality of gripping projections, for example with a row of teeth similar to the teeth 7.

If desired, each arm may carry a plurality of separate pieces of cladding, for example one piece on the length 3a and the other piece on the length 3b, instead of said arm having thereon a single piece of cladding.

The non-metaliic gripping projections may be of any other suitable form. The non-metallic portions of the device may be of any suitable nonmetallic material and the metallic portions of the device may be of any suitable metallic material.

If desired the handle portions of the arms may comprise integral extensions of the laterallybowed arm portions, and profiled body parts, which may be non-metallic, secured to, for example moulded over, such extensions. Or, the handle portions may be of any other suitable form.

If desired the means, exemplified by the teeth 9 and abutment faces 1 Oa, for removing a relatively-small screw-cap from a bottle, may be omitted.

Claims

1. A device for removing screw or twist-on caps from jars, said device comprising a pair of arms each comprising (a) a laterally-bowed metallic inner portion, and (b) an outwardlyextending outer portion constituting a handle, the said arms being pivoted together for movement about a pivotal axis at inner ends of said laterallybowed metallic inner portions, and said metallic inner portions being bowed in opposite directions away from each other, and said metallic inner portions carrying non-metallic cladding having non-metallic gripping projections for engaging opposite sides of a jar cap and via which projections pressure and torque can be applied to said cap when the handle portions of the device are squeezed towards each other.

2. A device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said gripping projections have gripping faces or gripping edges extending parallel to the pivotal axis of the arms.

3. A device as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the gripping projections are of resilient plastics material.

4. A device as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the cladding comprises, on each of said metallic inner portions of the arms, two lengths of cladding which respectively clad two mutuallyconverging lengths of the metallic inner portion of the arm.

5. A device as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the length of cladding on one of the two mutuallyconverging lengths of the inner portion of the one arm, and the length of cladding on a corresponding one of the two mutualiyconverging lengths of the inner portion of the other arm, each have integral with a body portion thereof, and arranged in a row extending longitudinally thereof, a plurality of the gripping projections.

6. A device as claimed in Claim 5, wherein, on each of the said metallic portions of the arms, the length of cladding on the other of said two mutually-converging lengths of the arm has, and has integral with a body portion thereof, a single one of the gripping projections.

7. A device as claimed in Claim 5, wherein, on each of the said metallic inner portions of the arms, the length of cladding on the other of said two mutually-converging lengths of the arm is that nearest the handle portion of the arm and has, integral with a body portion thereof, a single one of the gripping projections.

8. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 7, wherein, on each arm, the two lengths of cladding are constituted by opposite ends of a single piece of cladding on said arm.

9. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inner portions of the arms are provided, in the vicinity of the handle portions of the arms, with gripping projections for engaging a bottle screw cap, and the cladding has non-metallic abutments which, collectively with said gripping projections for engaging a bottle screw cap, constitute gripping means via which pressure and torque can be applied to said bottle screw cap when the handle portions of the device are squeezed together.

10. A device as claimed in Claim 9 insofar as dependent upon Claim 7, wherein, on each arm, said non-metallic abutment is a face of said single one of the gripping projections.

11. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the handle portion of each arm comprises a length of metal in one piece with the laterally-bowed inner portion of said arm.

12. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the non-metallic cladding is moulded on to the arms.

13. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the non-metallic cladding is in the form of sleeves slidingly forced along the arms into place.

14. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the non-metallic cladding is in the form of split sleeves forced laterally on to the inner portions of the arms.

1 5. A device for removing screw or twist-on caps, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.