US2335777A - Cover remover - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 30, 1943. J. w.. MARCELLUS 2,335,777

COVER REMOVER Filed April 29, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JW/vmd/w Q lm crzfor Alia/ways Nov. 30, 1943. J. w. MARCELLUS COVER REMOVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed-April 29 1942 FF I JM/VdICEZZZAS 14 zforneys Patented Nov. 30, 1943 COVER REMOVER James Wilburn Marcellus, Morewood, Ontario, Canada Application April 29, 1942, Serial No. 441,007

3 Claims.

My invention relates to cover removers.

A specific object of the invention is to design a device for removing tight-fitting lids or covers from cans which will operate to lift or remove the lid by the manipulation of a single operating lever.

Another specific object of the invention is to design such a device so that the lid, following its removal from the can, will automatically 'fall back loosely upon the can.

Generally, the objects of the invention are to improve on devices for removing or lifting tightfitting lids or covers from cans, a device made in accordance with the invention being efiicient, sturdy and simple of manufacture and of use.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the various figures,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device made in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan View of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of Figure l, as Viewed from a slightly difierent angle so as to show the guiding function of the legs supported I by the can engaging ring.

Figure 4 shows a modified form of the device.

Referring now by numerals to the drawings, C indicates a typical milk can which includes a lid L fitting onto the neck portion K of the can. Such a can usually has a ring or bead R welded to the can at or about the lower end of the shoulder or frusto-conical portion of the can body. This ring may conveniently be made use of in supporting the device of the present invention in operative position, although the device will operate whether or not such a ring is part of a can.

The device comprising a supporting member Ill, preferably in the form of a ring adapted to surround the upper portion of the can and rest upon the slanted portion thereof, and a mechanism including jaws l5 for engaging the lid and pulling the same way from the body of the can.

Secured to and spaced from the ring it! as by legs or supports II is a rigid base or member i2. Suspended below the base l2 by a link I3, is a bar or member M to which the jaws l5 are pivoted as at It.

The link l3, which is pivotally connected to the member l4 as at H, is in turn suspended by a lever l8 fulcrumed as at IS in a bracket rising from the base l2, the link being pivctally connected to one end of the lever l8 as at 2!. Thus, the member l4 may be moved toward and away from the base l2 by turning the lever in a clockwise direction and in an anti-clockwise direction, respectively. In order to increase the mechanical advantage or purchase of the lever l8, a second lever 22, fulcrumed to the bracket 20 as at 23, includes a transverse web 24 adapted to ride on a roller 50 journalled adjacent the free end of the lever Hi, all as best shown in Figure 1.

A U-shaped member 25 secured to the member l4 and having parallel upright portions 21 slidably mounted in the base l2, serves to guide the member l4 when moving relatively to the base l2 and to maintain the base l2 and member It in substantially parallel relationship; such U- shaped member also serves as a means for lifting or handling the lid-removing device bodily, as when it is applied to the can or removed therefrom.

The jaws l5 are formed at their lower ends with hook portions 29 adapted to project under the rim of the usual skirt of the lid whereby the lid may be lifted away from the can. Springs 39 are tensioned between the jaws and the bar It, tending to turn the jaws toward the lid. The jaws are formed'with tails or extensions 3i adapted to engage the lower face of the base l2 and cause the jaws to swing and'release the lid, when the bar M has been sufliciently moved toward the base l2 by the action of the lever 22. Thus, the lid will be automatically released by the jaws, and drop loosely upon the neck of the can, after the lever has been operated to lift the lid from the can. In order to determine the swinging movement of the jaws toward lid engaging position, a web 5! is provided between the two adjacent jaws which is adapted to engage the adjacent end of the bar I4.

The 1egs ll may be formed and disposed as best shown in Figure 3. Thus, the legs are disposed at right angles to the plan of the base member 12 and are substantially straight except that their lower ends are curved or flared outwardly as at 55. The straight portions of the legs should comfortably clear the lid L when the device is in operative position upon the can, while the curved portions will similarly clear the slanted portion or shoulder of the can. The legs when so formed and disposed will serve as a guide to better and more easily apply the device into operative position upon the can.

The operation of the device will be easily understood. The device is bodily lifted as by the handle or U-shaped member 26 and deposited upon the can the lid of which is to be removed. As the device is being lowered onto the lid, the jaws engage the lid (more particularly the slanted portion), and swing away from the lid against the action of the springs 30. As the jaws clear the rim of the lid, they swing toward the lid under the action of the springs to grasp the lid. The operating lever 22 will now be in the operative or raised position shown in Figure 1. By pushing the lever downwardly, the member M, with jaws IE, will be raised bodily toward the base l2, which is supported in fixed position above th can, and the lid will be removed from the can. Continued movement of the member M will cause the tails 3| of the jaws to engage the base l2 and the jaws will be swung away from the lid to withdraw the hook portions 29 from under the skirt of the lid, whereupon the lid will fall back loosely upon the can.

Where the cans are on an endless conveyer, the device may take the form shown in Figure 4. Thus, two parallelly-arranged members 35 are pivotally connected at one end to a hub 36 rotatably mounted on a rigid, upright post 31, and connected at the other end to a bracket 60 secured between the base l2 and the ring I 0. Tensioned between one of the members 35 and a second rotatable hub 39 is a spring (or springs) 40. Set screws 42 threaded through the hubs to engage the post may be used to releasably lock the lid-lifting device in selected rotary positions, above or away from the endless conveyer (not shown).

The hubs may be supported by collars 51 slidable on the post and releasably locked in selected positions longitudinally of the post as by set screws 58 threaded through the hubs to engage the post.

The operation of the lid-lifting device is the same as described with respect to the form shown in Figures 1 and 2.

What I claim is,

1. In a device for removing a lid from a can, a ring adapted to be lowered onto the can to be supported thereby clear of the lid, a member rigid with said ring, a member between said ring and said first-named member, a lever pivotally mounted to said first-named member, a link pivotally connected between said lever and said secand-named member is supported by said lever and may be moved toward and away from said first-named member thereby, guiding means between said members whereby said members are retained in substantial parallelism irrespective of their relative positions, jaws pivotally suspended from said second-named member adapted to engage an under portion of the lid, and springs urging said jaws toward lid-engaging position, said jaws having portions adapted to engage said first-named member to operate said jaws to lidreleasing position when said members have been moved one toward another a predetermined distance.

2. In a device for removing a lid from a can, two members operatively connected for relative movement toward and away from one another, a ring adapted to engage the can to be supported thereby clear of the lid, legs rigid between said ring and one of said members to support said member above the can, means on the other of said members adapted to engage an under portion of the lid, and means for relatively moving said members one toward the other to remove the lid, said legs being disposed relatively to one another to clear the lid when the device is in operative position upon the can while serving as a means for maintaining the device in substantially vertical operative position.

3. In a device for removing a lid from a can, two members operatively connected for relative movement toward and away from one another, a ring adapted to engage the can to be supported thereby clear of the lid, legs rigid between said ring and one of said members to support said member above the can, said legs being disposed relatively to one another to clear the lid when the device is in operative position and having their lower ends curved outwardly toward said ring whereby said legs form a guide by which the device is easily applied upon the can, jaws pivotally suspended by the other of said members adapted to engage an under portion of the lid, and means for relatively moving said members one toward the other to remove the lid.

JAMES WILBURN MARCELLUS.

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