US1664047A - Bottle-cap remover and holder - Google Patents

Description

March 27, 1928. 1,664,047

a. M. SACERDOTE BOTTLE CAP REMOVER AND HOLDER Filed Jan. 27. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 2 4 I m w 6 m .w. 1 a e a, m

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March 27, 1928.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I 5 I '0 f 71 02/1 (or am a/ W llllllllllllllllll Patented Mar. 27, 19 28. i 1'? UNITED srA s PATENT OFFICE." r

v GUIDO M. SACEBDOTE, OF BAYSIDE, NEW 'YORK.

BOTTLE-CAP REMOVER Ann HOLDER.

. Application filed 'raiiuar aa sze. Serial No. 84,127.

This invention relates to means for removmoveris that if the device is operative, the 7 ing paper caps such as ordinarlly used for cap is moved away from its seat and is not sealing milk bottles and its primary ob ect held well EI Ugh by the p O to is to provide a cap remover of a novel and 1 beagain used as a covering for the bottle as 6 improved design by'means of which a paper long as. a covering is needed. 60 cap may easily and quickly be removed from The devices forming the object of the the top of a bottle. present invention afford an easier removal Another object'of this invention is to pro of the cap by forcing the same to rotate in vide a bottle cap remover of a simple and the plane of its seat, previous to being actu- 1 inexpensive construction, adapted to be'used ally detached from said seat, thus causing a 66 for removing paper caps and the like from much more effective and gradual action, peri the top of bottles sealed thereby and adapted mitting the cap to leave its seat without any at the same time to hold'said capsothat noticeable'difficulty; I p r 1 i it may be used as a removable covering for Another advantage is that .the cap can the bottle until such time when the bottle be replaced in its closing position by means has been entirely emptied of its contents, of thecap remover and holder to which it I when the paper cap may be removed from has become temporarily attached, so that its holder and the device may be used fon the cap? thus becomes a permanent covering removing the cap from another bottle. for the bottle as long as needed.

20 Other objects and advantages of the pres- A still furtheradvantageis the possibility ent invention will more fully appearas the of easy removal of the cap from the holder description proceeds and will be set forth so'that when thecap is no longer needed, and claimed in the appended claims. it can easily be detachedand thrown away.

A method very widely used for the seal- In the drawings, I show several embodiing of milk and cream bottles is that of forc ments of my inventive idea, which are ining a paper disc or cap within a suitable retended for illustrative purposes only and not cess provided at the" top of the bottle neck. in. a limiting sense; and in the same A disc thus placed in closing positionres F ig; 1 isa plan view of a bottle cap remains firmly held n said position due to mover and holder, of a simple design; 30 the fact that it its very tightly in the hous- [Fig 2 1s a cross sectional view in elevas5 ing provided therefor-j In order to remove tion of the same; such caps it is generally necessary to insert 3 is a cross sectional View in'elevaa knife blade betweenthe edge of the cap tion of the same as applied to the topof a and the wall surrounding it and to force the milk bottle previous to the removal of the cap out using-the knife as a'lever. A cap cap, I h r removed inthis manner is generally distorted Fig. 4 is a side view in elevation of the a and made unlit for further use, and the op.- same, moved away from the. top of the bottle eration itself is rather inconvenient and. apt together'with the cap, 1 to cause soiling of 'the hands of the operator Fig. 5 is a plan view of a bottle cap re-. -10 by milk which hasspilled or splashed or mover and holder of a. somewhat different by the layer of cream which generally adconstruction, being means for the ejection of heres to the cap. the capfrom the holder when the cap is no Devices for removing caps of this descrip longer needed; r tion have been made, utilizing the cork screw Fig; 6 is across sectional view in elevation 45 action of a spiral depending from a metal of the same; I

cap which may be placed on top of. the bottle Fig. 7 is a cross sectional View in eleva-. and rotated, the sharp end of the spiral ention of the same as applied to the top of tering the cap'and gradually pulling it the bottle previousto the removal of the away from itsseat. However, Ihave found cap; I 50 such devices to be most inconvenient because Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view in elevation the pulling action required to detach the of the same moved away from the top ofthe cap from its seat is very considerable and bottle together with the cap; 1 I the paper is likely to be torn rather than Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view in elevaremoved. tion of a. device similar to that'shown in 55 Another objection of this type of c'apre- Figs. 1 to 4, in a, modified form, 4

Fig. 10 is a plan View of a device somewhat similar to that of Fig. 9 made from a single piece of sheet metal;

Fig. 11 is a cross sectional view in eleva-' Fig. leis a cross sectlonal view in elevation of the same. in a position where it is about to be inserted through'a cap Fig. 15 is a similar view illustrating the manner of ejecting thecap from the holder; Fig. 1.6 is a cross sectional. view in eleva tion of the device: of Fig. 12,]tln-ough line 16+-16 of Fig. 12, without the ejecting means; i y

Fig. 17 is across sectional view of a device of a simplified type, having an opening through'which the thumb may be inserted in order to eject the cap; and

Fig. 18 is a fragmentary cross sectional view in elevation in anenlarged scale illustrating the manner of sharpening the prongs of the devices previouslyillustrated.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 10 designates a bottle cap remover-and holder consisting of a disc or body portion 11 preferably formed with a beaded rim portion 12 adapted to fit upon the top of the bottle neck and provided with a plurality of depending lugs or clips registering with the outer circumference of the neck of the bottle andactingt-herefore, as positioning means for the device when it is placed in position, permitting axial displacement of the device only when the same is centrally placed in relation to the neck of the bottle. I

The deviceis. provided or formed with two or more downwardly projecting prongs such as '14, adapted to pierce the paper or other ,inat'erial of, which the cap is made, when the device is forced against the top of the neck of the bottle; the distance of said prongs from the center of the device is therefore. slightly less than the radius of the opening in the bottle neck underneath the cap.

The device isplaced in position as shown in Fig. 3, where 15 designates the top portion of the neck of an ordinarymilk bottle and 16 designates a paper cap such as ordinarily used for sealing such bottles, and. is

forced at the top of opening 17 of neck portion15, within anupper recess 18, the diame ter of which is somewhat larger than the diameter of opening 17.

The device is forced downwardly uponthe top-of the neck. of the bottle with sutiir-ient pressure to force its prongs 1 1- to pierce the paper-cap; in order to obtain an effective piercing action it is. advisable to sharpen the points of said prongs and it is also advisable to have the prongs within the range 7 slow pressure to give a quick tap to the device to force its prongs through the paper, because this insures a quicker and more effective action; therefore, the top of the device is preferably made free from upward projections of any kind so as'to be well adapted for this'mode' of operation.

By now rotating the device around its axis, the cap engaged thereby is also forced to rotate and by this action is loosened from its seat and made easily detachable therefrom; in fact, it is sufficient in order to detach the cap torotate the device of a small angle and then by removing the device from the top of the bottle, the cap will follow as a matter of fact being frictionally held by the prongs inserted through it. p

, In the form shown, the prongs are provided with a horizontally extending notch 19 at a point calculated to register with the 9 thickness of the paper cap when the device has been inserted in position and the inner surface of the samerests against the top of the neck-rim; or else the prongs are formed with a lateral extension 20 on a levelwith the top edge of the notch, or the device is otherwise provided with means for limiting its downward travel to a point where the,

notches will register with the thickness of the papercap:

It is obvious that by means of this an rangeinent, once the device has been pressed downwardly, forcing the prongs to pierce through the paper cap, until the means limitingthe downward travel'of the device come to abut against their arresting surface, a slight rotation of the device will causeits notches 19 to engage the paper cap and to hold it aga-inst. axial movement in. relation to the holder before the paper cap is actually forced to follow the rotation of the holder; and when the holder is subsequently moved away from the bottle, the cap will also be removed being aetuallycarried away by the holder, due to its positive interlocking therewith, due to the thickness of-the paper cap entering notches 19.

The paper cap s thus permanently positioned in an axial direction in relation to the holder and the two together form asuit able covering for the bottlewhichcan be used over and over again.

The arrangement thus described, therefore,.provi'des a very convenient means of removing-therap' of amilk bottle without tearing it and at the same time it also affords a convenient means for as long asneeded.

preservingsaid cap lift) iii The cap is obviously a mostfconvenient means for. closing the bottle, not only because i it perfectly fits the seat providedtherefor,

but also because it is thoroughly sanitary, having been sterilized before use. When the bottle has finally been emptied of its contents the cap can be removed from its holder by hand and thrown away, leaving the holder free for use in connection with 'the next the present case cause the cap to follow owbottle. I v

In Figs. 5 to 8, I illustrate another device designed for the same purpose but of a somewhat different construction. Like in theprevious case, the same comprises a body portion, preferably provided with a beaded rim portion'22 and with guiding lugs 23, similar in'every respect to the device previously described. "Also in this case, the device is formed or-provided with means foripiercing thepaper cap which are, shown in the form of sharp points 24, projecting from the top of the deviceand distributed around a circumference which is slightly smallenthan that of opening 17 in the neck of the bottle.

The features which distinguish thepresent device from the one previously described, are a cork screw member 25 rotatably' mountb edcentrally of the topofthe device and operable by means of a handle or ring 26 projecting from said top and springs 27 interposed between the inner surface 'of the top of the device and the upper surface of the paper cap, said springs being; forced in wardly by the paper cap when the device is pressed into position.

The device 18 inserted over the top of the bottle, being positioned centrally'of said top by lugs 28, and is then forced downwardly causing prongs or points 24 to pierce the paper cap. The cork screw member 25 is preferably shorter than prongs 24, therefore the prongs have already pierced the cap before the corkscrew member reaches it. Now, while downward pressure upon the device is maintained by one hand, the cork screw member is rotated by the other hand and forced to penetrate the paper cap until the lower surface of the topof the device abuts against the top of the rim and the bottle.

It'will be observed that the point atwhich the cork screw member pierces the paper cap shouldbe at a distance from the center equal to'th'e radius of the'coil forming the cork screw member; that is, the piercing point should be bent parallel to the axis of the coil from a point along itscircumference. However, if preferable, the, piercing end'of the cork screw membermay be made centrally thereto and in this case the cork screw member should be attached loosely to the body of the device so as to be free to swing-at anangle to the central line of the device from its point of attachment to enable its coil to follow the opening through the paper without tearing the paper itself. 1

In this position, whi h is illustrated in Fig. 7, springs 27 have been'pressed inwardly due to the gradual diminishing distance between the under surface of the device and the upper surface of the cap, thecap being maintained against axial'displacement by the retaining action of the cork screw member. I

A slight rotation of the device will also in other hand inorder to detach the paper cap as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8.

The action of the cork screw member which is obvious, forces the cap outwardly, the cap being prevented from rotating by the prongs passing through it, and the energy accumulated in the springs will assist'the cork screw member in expelling the cap,

which can thus be disposed of without the necessity of touching it at any time. It will be understood that the use of the springs is optional, because'the action of the cork screw member is usually suflicient to expel the cap.

It will also be understood that while the screw member acts as positioning and inter locking means holding the cap in a definite axial position in'relation tothe holder, said cork screw memberisnot the means actually used to loosen the cap from its seat. It has been explained before, that a pulling action in an axial direction is likely to be ineffective due to the considerable resistance offered by the cap; but a slight angular movement of the cap around its axis is thoroughly effective in this respect and permits the easy subsequent removal of the cap by the cork member-or by any other means.

Also 'in'this case, it is preferable to operate the device by giving a quick tap against its upper surface, and therefore, ring 26 is prefthe previous case, of a body portion 29 pro- 'vided with a plurality of downwardly directed centering or gulding lugs 30, registering with the outer circumference of the neck of a milk bottle. From the underside of said body portion 29, extend downwardly projecting prongs 31, which may be two, or three, or more in number arranged along a circumference of a diameter slightly less: than-that of opening 17 in the neck of the ill milkbott-le, These prongs are merely made with irregular shaped or rough edges, for instance, in the shapeof an arrowhead, illuss trated.

The result is that when the paper is. pierced by these prong-s. it. becomes frictionally attached thereto, due to the difii'culty in extracting the prongs from the openings made bythem, .and the cap will outright become a. part of the devicewithout the necessity of providing; the prongs witlthorh zontally retaining slots such as 19.

This construction is somewhat le s eXpe h sive than that of the device shown in Figs.

- l, to4,requirin g dies and tools 'of less ex" pensive construction for its production, and its action is quite as effective.

Prongs 31, can, of course, be bient downwardlyfrom the top of the device as shown in the case of prongs let in Figs. 1 to 4.. However, it may atv times be preferalile to make, the body of the device ofa certain material selected on account of its appearance, while it may be preferable to; make the prongs of some other material selected. 11 a ount of its. strength; forinstance, the body of the device may be made of light gauge aluminum, which might not be strong enough, for the piercing action to be performed by the prongs;therefore, the prongs may beproduced from a piece of light sheet steel of the. proper gauge and strength, which may be secured to the alum: inum body in any suitable manner. Fig. 9 illustrates a device built. along these lines, where prongs 31 are bent downwardly from a disk or plate 82; of sheet steel or of some other material having a sufficient resistance, said disk: 32 being attached to. the underside of the body portion of the device, fpr instance, by means of rivets 33.

It will be observed! that a device of this character, must answer several require ments; one is an attractiveappearance, another one is sufficient strength to perform the work of piercing the'paper, another one is the-ease of cleaning; and of keeping clean, and still another one is to be preferably made of metal notattacked by the contents of the bottle. nor by the elements, so as to insure sanitary conditions throughout. If material of sufliciently heavy gauge is used, aluminium answers. all these conditions well.

For a lighter gauge article, if aluminum is used for the body portion, the prongs should be of steel, preferably stainless steel; or else the entire device maybe made from a piece of sheet nickel or. Monel' metal, both these materialsanswering sanitary and appearance rquirements and having the necessary strength. e

In Figs. and 11, I illustrate a, device somewhat similar to. the one of F 9 but having its prongs made integral with they body thereof. In the; same 34 designates res ore the body proper. which may be. fiat or headed;

and which, like in the previous Case is provided with. depending centering or guiding lugs 35 assisting in the proper positioning of the; device. The prongsgfi. are also in this case arranged around a circumference of slightly less diameter than the opening in. the ,neck of the milk bottle underneath the caplfbut in this instance, the prongs are cut andberrt. directly downwardly from thebody Ofthefdevice,asshown. v i The shape of the prongs iS. also different from. that of prongs 31 in. thisxres'pect. that. prongs 31 have the shape of an arrowhead comprising a barb,.'a narrow neck portion above the herb and a tapering shank, while prongs, 36. are made in. the shape of cone tinuous tapering points with side notches at a suitable distance from. their. lower end which ,rovidie convenient means for effecti-n the angular movement of the device neces: sary toloosen the cap.

.gIt will be observed that. the devicesso far described, separately illustrate features which are new and important in devices of "thischaracter; one feature being the simplified" construction of a device having a Pillrality of prongs formed together with the body from asingle. piece of sheetmetah-this providing an eflicient, reliable and-at the sametinfle inexpensive construction, These prongs naturally very thin and easy cutting, and furthermore, owing tothe construction of the device they can be positioned so that they are quite close'tothe sideoffthe opening 17 of the milk bottle. This is quite important, becau-seif the prongs are placed even at amoderate distance from the side of the opening, the papercap is likely to bulge and. to give, especially when wetgso. that no piercing action would take place and the very object for which the device is intended would bedefeatedw I 7 Another feature is the provision of means for ejecting the cap from the holder. I havefound. that the latter feature is extremely desirablebecause the cap can only bedetached from the holder with difiiculty, and:

the sharp prongs are apt to, injure thefingers of the user. However, the ejecting" means shown, in Figs. 5 to 8, while'eflicient are of a rather expensive character, and therefore, I

and consists of a body 39 which is substanv tially the same as that of the device of Figs. 10, 11 except that it has a central opening 40 limited by downwardly and inwardly bent segmental sections 41, forming a guide for an ejector 42. Said ejector is capable of limited axialmovement in relation to the body of the device and has its outer circumferential portion close to the inner side of the prongs so thatwhen the ejector is forced inwardly in an axial direction, its lower surface will bear against the cap, held by the prongs and will force the cap away from the holder. After the ejector is insert-ed in its housing it may be retained therein by means ofinwardly. bent lugs such as 13 openedby piercing and bending inwardly portions of the body of the device close-to the central opening 40. The

device is also in this case preferably pro-l vided with dependingpositioning lugs 44 and with lateral or radial extensions 45 in order to facilitate its use. i

The device is placed in position as shown in Fig. 14 with the'assistance'of the centering lugsfld insuring proper positioning of the prongs 46. The device is then forced V j I caps of the character described, abody portion provided with a plurality of members extending adapted topierce the 'paper' cap .to be redownwardly, causing the prongs to pierce the cap and to engageit by means of their notches 17, so that the cap can be subsequently removed in the manner previously explained, becoming .attached to the holder as shown in Fig. 13. Also in this case, the

cap remains so positioned in an axial relation to the holder that it can be used over and over again to seal .the milk bottle as long as needed, and when removal ofjthe cap is desired, it is suflicient to force the ejector 4-2 downwardly as far as it willrgo as shown in Fig. 15 by inserting the thumb through opening 40f'and thefc'ap' will be forced away from its position of engagement by the prongs,andthen can easily beremoved by hand.

Referring toFigs. 16 and 18 it will be observed that the prongs 46 which are circumferentially arranged may be conveniently sharpened bymeans of a tapering grinding wheel 48 which will'shar'pen all the three or four prongs in a single operation, by forcing the device against the grinding wheel in an axial direction, I In Fig. 17, I illustrate a device of a still different construction which is the preferred type on account of its utter simplicity, efii ciency and low costof manufacture. The

device comprises a body 49 which may be fiat or headed to fit the top of the milk bottle, provided as in the previous case with a plurality of circumferentially arranged prongs 50 adapted to pierce and engage the cap in the manner previously descrlbed. The device is alsoprovided with positioning or guiding lugs 51 registering-with the outer circumference of the rim of the bottle neck and isjalso preferably provided with lateral or radial extensions 52 affording means for facilitatingthe angular movement of the device after piercing the cap.

A novel feature of the present device is a central opening 53, which permits the thumb to be inserted to be pressed directly against the cap in order to force the cap away from the prongs as [the drawing, shows. In this mannertliei'e are no ejecting means proper provided but the opening itselfpernlits of ejecting the cap from the rear making its.

removal much easier and doing away with all possibility ofcausing injury to the hands of the user. Therefore, in this preferred form, the device" possesses an. thedesirable features mentioned before and very conven iently serves the purpose for which'it has been designed.

. It is obvious that the invention maybe carried into practice in ways different from those shown ;"therefore, I reserve myself the right to use my invention in anyway or forin which may come fairly within the scope of the appended-claims.

I claim;

1. In a device forremoving paper bottle from the underside. thereof,

moved when said. body'portionis forced towards said paper capin an axial direction, said body P01131011 being provlded with an opening through which an e ecting action moved when said bo'dy'portion is forced towards said paper cap in an axial direction, said .body portion being provided. witlian opening through which an ejecting action may be exerted in order to force the cap away from the said members.

'3. In a device for' removing paper bottle caps'of the character described, a body por tion, positioning means therefor depending therefrom, and a plurality of members extending from the underside of said body portion, adapted to pierce the paper cap to be removed when. said body portion is forced towards saidpapercap in an axial. direction, said body portion being provided withan opening through which an ejecting action may be exerted in order to force the cap away from the said members. I

4. In a device for removing paper bottle 1' caps of the character described, a body portion, positioning means therefor, depending therefrom, and a plurality of members integral therewith, extending from the under side thereof, adapted to pierce the paper cap to be removed when said body portion is forced towards said paper cap in an axial direction, said body portion being provided with an-opening through which an ejecting action maybe exerted in order to force the 'cap away from the said members.

5. In adevice for removing vpaper"bottle caps v of the character described, -,a body portion,

a plurality of circum terentially arranged positioning lugs depending therefrom, a plurality of prongs integral with saidfbody portion downwardly extending therefrom,

:said ,prongs being arranged along .a circumi'erence ofa diameter slightly less than that of the opening underneath the ,paper cap to be removed, and being adapted Ito;pierce and] engage wsaid ,paper cap, and an opening in said body ,portion through which an ejecting action maybe exerted, to force the cap away from said prongs. I i V I 6. In a device for removing paper bottle caps of the character described, a body portion, and a plurality of members extending from the underside thereof, adapted to pierce the vpaper cap to be removed when said body portion is forced towardssaid paper cap in an axial direction, thereby engaging saidcap, said body portion being provided with an opening :through which the finger of the .usermay be inserted in order "to torce the cap away from S3111 members. 7

3'. In :a devlce forremoving paper bottle caps of the 'character described, a body ,portion, and a plurality of prongs integral therewith, extending from the underside '8. In a device for removing paper bottle caps of the character described, a body poring therefrom, said prongs being. arranged alongacircumierence of a diameter slightly Y .1 r a p less than that of theopemngunderneath the paper cap to beremo'ved, and being adapted,

to pierce and to engage said cap,'said body portion being provided with an opening f through' which the-fingeroi: the user can be inserted .in order to force fr'omsaid prongs. v I 19. In 'a device for removing caps of the eharacter des'cribed, a body portion, a plurality 'ol ,prongs integral therewith and depending therefrom, sa'id prongs said cap away paper fbottle being adapted to pierce and I to engage the paper cap :to be removed, positioning means for said body portion depending therefrom,

lateral extensions from said body portion,

mentfithereof, and an opening through saidf body portion through which the finger of the user canbe inserted inorder to iI'OTC e the cap away from saidjp'rongs.

10. In a device of thedescribed, the

coinhinatlon'with a"body"portion or a prong 'adaptecl to piercea paper cap, depending {from said bodyportion, said prong being iilI lIIIIQCl dCfWD to a sharp. poi'ntin thesense of'i ts thickness in order to improve its'piierci ng ac'ti on, sa i'd hotly portion being provided j with an opening through which. an "ejecting action may b e e'xertedl in order to force the fi' we r r .s [11. Itnadvlce for removing paper bottle caps of the character described, the combination [with paper/cap piercing means, cit a body portion w from the underside of which said piercing means extend, said "body 1001:-

which the finger'of "the usermay be inserted piercing means.

GUIiDo lvif isironnno'rn.

"in order to force/the :cap awz'iy from said 50 'tion a plurality of positioning lugs depend ing there-from, and a plurality oat prongs in-,. iteg-rail with said body portion and depend-

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