US2695536A - Screw cap remover with impaling means - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 30', 1954 c. F. VOYTECH SCREW CAP REMOVER WITH IMPALING MEANS Filed May 21, 1953 United States PatentOfiflce 2,695,536 Patented Nov. 30, 1954 SCREW CAP REMOVER WITH IMPALING MEANS Charles F. Voytech, Chicago, Ill. Application May 21, 1953, Serial No. 356,346 8 Claims. (Cl. 81 3.48)

This invention relates to screw-cap openers for bottles, jars and the like.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an opener for bottle and jar caps of the screw type which will be extremely inexpensive to make. More specifically, it is an object of this invention to make an opener for screw caps which can be formed as a single piece stamping.

A feature of this invention is a needle for piercing the cap of a bottle or jar to equalize the pressure on both sides of the cap, the needle being then utilized as a means for impressing a torque on the cap to unscrew it. As an additional feature, the needle is made integrally with the opener and other parts of the opener are utilized to afford protection against any damage being done by the needle when the opener is laid away.

A still further feature of this invention is an opener for bottle caps wherein the opener is provided with spaced tabs for engagement with the corrugated side of a bottle cap and with a needle disposed between said tabs so as to be protected thereby.

These and other objects and features of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a plan view in perspective of an opener embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the opener of Fig. 1 showing the opener applied to a bottle cap;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation in section of the opener and cap taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line 44 of Fig. 3 but with the opener removed;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken through one of the tabs of an opener disposed as shown in the dot-dash circle bearing the number 6 in Fig. 2 and showing how the tab cooperates with a cap; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a modification of the opener of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings for a detailed description of the forms of the invention chosen for illustration, the opener is shown at 10 as a single elongated piece of metal having a handle portion 11 at one end and having a bent-over tab 12 at its other end. The said other end may be of reduced width compared to the width of the handle end, and may be joined to the handle end by a diagonal 13. At the intersection of the diagonal 13 with the side 14 of handle 11 is a bent-over tab 15. The functions of tabs 12 and 15 will be described in detail hereinafter.

Between tabs 12 and 15, are preferably on diagonal 13, is a needle 16, formed integrally with opener 10 from a pointed tab which is bent over in the same general direction as tabs 12 and 15. It will be observed that both tabs 12 and 15 are of substantially the same length and that needle 16 is slightly shorter than said tabs 12 and 15. Thus when opener 10 is laid down or dropped on the side toward which said tabs and the needle are bent, the tabs will contact the surface on which the opener is laid, but needle 16 will not contact the surface and hence will be protected by the tabs against damage. Conversely, needle 16 will not scratch the surface since it will not contact it.

Since needle 16 is disposed between tabs 12 and 15, it will be less likely to cause injury to the user of the opener, the tabs 12 and 15 again serving to avoid contact between the user and the needle.

The purpose of the needle 16 is to provide a means for piercing the cover of a bottle or jar which is to be unscrewed. This establishes'a direct passage to the interior of the bottle or jar through which the pressure on both sides of the cover may be equalized. Once the pressure is thus equalized, very little turning effort is normally required to unscrew the cap, and the extension of the needle through the cap provides a means for gripping the cap to exert such turning effort.

The manner in which the opener is applied to a cap is disclosed in Fig. 2. It will be observed that the narrower end of the opener generally overlies the cap 17 to be unscrewed. Said cap is usually made of very thin gage metal having a flat cover portion 18 and a depending flange 19 (Fig. 3) having threads 20 formed therein to cooperate with threads 21 formed in the side of a bottle or jar 22. A seal is effected between the open end 23 of the bottle and the cap 17 by a washer 24 of rubber or the like which is compressed between cap 17 and said open end 23.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, it is desirable to pierce cap 17 at a point slightly within the open end 23 of the bottle, but still over the region normally contacted by washer 24. Thus the opening 25 made by needle 16 as shown in Fig. 5 is adapted to be closed by washer 24 when needle- 16 is removed, and reestablishes a seal between the interior and exterior of the bottle.

The correct position of needle 16 as illustrated in Figs. 4 and S is assured by the relative disposition of the needle 16 and tabs 12 and 15 around the periphery of cap 17. This disposition is such that when edge 26 of tab 15 and edge 27 of tab 12 engage the periphery of cap 17, needle 16 will be located in the desired position said cap. It will be observed that the upper peripheral region 28 (Fig. 3) of cap 17 is. corrugated. Said edges 26 and 27 are preferably made sharp enough to engaged the corrugations as shown, for example, in Fig. 6. This engagement provides, together with the entry of needle 16 in opening 25, a means for securely gripping cap 17 so that thereafter by turning the opener counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 2, said cap will be unscrewed from bottle 22.

To use opener 10, the portion containing tabs 12 and 15 is placed over the cap to be unscrewed, with the edges 27 and 26 of said tabs engaging the corrugations in the upper peripheral region 28 of the cap. Since the tabs are longer than needle 16, it is possible to use the tabs to locate the opener correctly on the cap prior to its use. With the tabs in contact with periphery 28, pressure is then exerted by the user upon the flat portion of the opener immediately adiacent needle 16. this being readily done by the palm of the hand. Said pressure causes needle 16 to pierce cap 17 whereupon fluid pressure on both sides of cap 17 is instantly equalized and a firm grip is established upon the cap by the opener. Handle 11 is then uregd in a counterclockwise direction as v1ewed m Fig. 2 and cap 17 is unscrewed by the combined action of needle 16 and tabs 12 and 15.

It will be noted from Fig. 4 that needle 16 is disposed over an unsupported region on sealing washer 24 and that needle 16 therefore merely deforms washer 24 to permit opening 25 to be unobstructed for the equalization of pressure on both sides of the cap.

The appearance of opener 10 may be varied to su t the aesthetic taste of the user for whom the opener is intended. The precise location of needle 16 may also be varied. Thus, in the modification shown in Fig. 7, the opener 34 is comprised of a handle portion 29, a bentover tab 30 at the opposite end from handle 29, an intermediate tab 31, and a needle 32 intermediate tabs 30 and 31. Said needle 32 is formed from a relatively wide portion 33 of opener 29 by punching and bending over a triangular section of said wide portion 33. Needle 32 may be identical in shape to needle 16. The wide portion 33 not only provides greater protection from the sharp needle 32, but also provides a greater area to be contacted by the palm of the user when the needle 32 is pressed into a cap 17. Tabs 30 and 31 may be ldentical'in form and disposition with tabs 12 and 15 respectively-in-Figs; 1-3;

Attention is directed to the shape and slope of needle 16 in Fig, 4. It is desirable that tabs 12 and 15 be held firmlyagai'nst the corrugated periphery 28 of the cap 17. By causing needle 16 to be inclined toward a line 35 connectingtabs 1 2 and 15, saidneedle will'exer-t a-pressureonthe opener in the; direction of the tabs; as the needle is pressed into thecap and will helpto hold the tabs against the cap.

It is also desirable that needle 16 be spaced asfar from tab 12 as possible so that the torque arm formed by the taband needle be of maximum length, and the forces exerted by the tab 12 and needle 16 be substantially tangential relative to cap 117'.

It is understoodthat needle 16 may be hardened after it is formed to increase its life and strength. It is also understood that the foregoing; description is illustrative ofpreferred embodiments of the invention and that the scopeof. the invention is not to be limited, thereto, but is; to be determined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An opener for screw-type caps for jars, bottles or the like, said opener comprising an elongated body,

spaced tabs extending transversely from said body and adapted to engage the periphery of the cap disposed on one side-ofav diameter of said cap, and. means on the body for engaging the top of said cap by piercing said top, said means being disposed between the tabs, and said tabs and piercing means depending in. the samedirection from the plane of the body, and said tabs being angularl'y related so that an edge of each tab engages the periphery of the cap to be removed.

2. .An' opener for screw-type caps for jars, bottles or the like, of the type wherein, the caps have a corrugated periphery, said opener comprising an elongated. body having a tab bent over at one end region thereof, a tab bent over at a point intermediate the ends. of the body, and a needle also bent over and disposed between the tabs, saidtabs and needle depending in, the same direction from the plane of the body, and one tab. lying at an angleiwith respect to the other tab whereby an edge of each tab is adapted to engage the corrugated periphery and; said needle will pierce the top of the cap to equalize the pressure of the air on the interior-and exterior of the cap and to provide a means for grippingthe cap.

3. An opener for screw-type caps for jars, bottles or the like, said opener comprising an elongated body having a tab-bent over at one end region thereof; a tabbent over at a point intermediate the ends of the body and a needle between the tabs and disposed closer to the second-mentioned tab than to the first-mentioned tab, said tabs and needle depending in the same direction from the plane of the body, one tab lying at an angle with respect to the other tab whereby an edge of each tab is adapted to contact the. sides of a cap and said needle will pierce the top of said cap to equalize fi'uid" pressure on the interior and exterior. of the cap.

4. An opener as described in claim 3, said needle being formed integrally with: the body of the opener;

5. An opener as described in claim 3, said body being widened between the tabs to provide a substantial area upon which pressure may be exerted by the palm of the user to drive the needle into the cap.

6. An opener as described in claim 3, said needle being formed integrally with the body and being bent over from an edge region of said body in thesame direction. as said tabs.

7. An opener as described in claim 3, said needle being formed integrally with the body andbeing disposed inwardly of the edges of'the body of'the opener;

8. An opener'asdescribed in claim 3, said elongated body being generally flat over the region between the tabs; said needle being inclined relative to the plane of the flat region when the opener is inuse, the inclination being in the direction of a lineconnecting thetabs, such that pressure exerted upon the opener in the direction of the cap to' cause the needle to pierce the cap creates a component of force between the; cap and needle tending tocause a firmer engagement between the tabs and cap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,522,320" Norwood Jan. 6, .1925 1,838,141 Gowen' Dee. 29, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country .Date 314,381 Germany Jan.. 25, 1219 554,431 France Mar. 1, 1923

Images