US2858604A

US2858604A - Magnetic can opener

Info

Publication number: US2858604A
Application number: US551385A
Authority: US
Inventors: Farandatos Denis
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1955-12-06
Filing date: 1955-12-06
Publication date: 1958-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 1975-11-04

Description

1953 D. FARIANDATYOS 2,858,604

' MAGNETIC CAN OPENER Filed Dec. e, 1955 INVENTOR. DENIS FARANDATOS ORNEYS United States 2,858,604 MAGNETIC CAN OPENER Denis Farandatos, New York, N. Y. Application December 6,.1955,.Serialf-No. 551,385.

8 Claims. (Cl. 30--6.4).

I openers and the like which have some form of magnetism operating to reduce the hazards to sanitation. It is another object to improve the magnetic principles of can openers and to accomplish magnetic sanitation with greater success. A further object is to provide a can opener the magnet and magnetized parts of which are readily dismounted for cleaning.

The above and further objects and novel features of the present invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description when the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. Reference for this latter purpose being had primarily to the appended claims.

Fig. l is an elevational view of the novel opener from the side.

Fig. 2 isa section on line 22.

Fig. 3 is a like section with parts moved out of the position of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated a type of opener which is of known construction so far as its cutting apparatus is concerned; It has a frame which may be attached as at 11 to a wall or other support. The frame is generally vertically arranged and is provided with a bearing 12, downwardly inclined, which receives the stud 13 of a circular knife 14, which is spaced out from the support the width of a can edge by the circular abutment 15. A can rotating gear 16 is mounted on eccentric 17, which brings the gear against the lip of the can when the handle 18 is rotated one way, and away from the lip when rotated the other way, also rotating the gear to turn the can against the knife edge. A cap 19, pivoted at 20 on the frame 10, has a part 21 which bears against the frame on one side and supports means, to be described, to hold the knife stud in the bearing.

According to my invention, a spring 22 is mounted in the cap piece 19. The spring is of outwardly curved contour at 23 and is provided with a bend 24 at its lower end which forms an outwardly directed abutment 25. The bend 24 bears against the outer end of stud 13, when cap 19 is in its lower, closed position, to hold such stud and its cutter 14 in place in bearing 12. A support 26 is attached at its

ends

27, 28 to the cap 19, projecting outward and providing an aperture between the spring 22 and its outer part. The spring 22 is made of magnetizable metal such as steel.

A magnet 29 of generally elongated rectangular shape atent O is provided at one polar end: with a curved: face 30 which fits the curve of spring 22, and with a bend below that face. providing an abutment 31 adapted to engage the abutment 25. when the magnet has reached its lowest position in the support frame 26. The opposite polar end of the magnet is provided with upper and lower ears or

flanges

33, 34'. which act as abutments to prevent accidental disengagement of the magnet from its mounted position. The magnet may bereadily slipped out of its frame by. moving. the spring contacting endi upwardor downward; -The length: of the magnet. and the distance between frame 26 and the spring in operatingposition is such as to leave the magnet free to pivot up and down about the arc of part 23, which results in agreater mt tion of its outer than of its inner end.

In operation-one pole of: themagnet magnetizes the knife 14, through spring 22, while the other pole: drops down: into contact with thecan top at a place spaced from the knife, or at lea'stinto attractive-proximity totthe can top. Thus, the magnet magnetizes the blade with one polarity, the center of the can top with another, and the flux travels directly from pole to pole through a path in the can top, which is magnetically efficient, and provided for the magnetic capture of metal scrapings and the sanitary capture of the excised part of the can. The pivotal mounting of the magnet allows it to compensate for the level of the can top during cutting, so that rims of different height or the warping of the top during cutting do not affect the efiiciency of the result. The single magnet energizes both knife and can top, but its force is largely restricted to a single short path through the top, so that the magnetism is not generally distributed with equal force throughout the can but is concentrated in the, knife and the path to the point of contact of the outer pole with the can top, thus assuring the capture of the scrapings by the greater magnetic force residing in the knife.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limitedto the specific embodiments.

What is claimed is:

1. A can opener having a removable knife adapted to engage the can near its periphery, magnetizable means engaging said knife to hold it in operating position, magnetic means having one pole in magnetizing relation to said magnetizable means, and support means holding said magnetic means in such position that the other pole thereof may have magnetically attractive proximity to the can at a point spaced from said knife.

2. A can opener having a quick removable knife, means to hold the knife in operating position comprising a spring, a magnet pivotally mounted in magnetic contact with said spring, and extending from said spring toward the position occupied by the part of the can being cut.

3. A can opener having a frame with an upright part, a bearing in and oblique to said part, a circular knife havng a stud conforming to said bearing, lock means comprising a pivotally mounted bar having means to engage one side of the upright part and magnetizable spring means on the other side adapted to engage the knife to hold it in the bearing, said spring means having a curved outer part ending in an abutment, support means extending out from the bar providing an aperture adjacent the spring means, and magnet means having a curved face fitting the curved outer part of the spring means, an abutment adapted to engage said abutment, and spaced abutments adapted to engage said support means, said magnet being thus mounted for vertical motion toward and away from the top of the can.

4. A can opener having a frame, a rotatable magnetizable knife, means mounting the knife on the frame for quick detachment of the knife in an axial direction, means comprising a retractable magnetizable spring closely overlying the outer surface of the knife to retain the knife in operative position on the frame, and a magnet pivotally mounted on the frame in magnetic contact with said spring, said magnet extending from the spring toward the position occupied by the part of the can being cut.

5. A can opener having a frame, a rotatable magnetizable knife, means comprising a magnetizable spring attached at one end to the frame and extending therefrom in a span closely overlying the outer surface of the knife, and a magnetsupported on the outer end of the span of the spring, one pole of the magnet having magneticcontact with the spring and thus the knife, and the other pole of the magnet closely overlying the top of the can being cut from the can by the knife and extending to a location appreciably removed from the edge of such can top.

, 6. A can opener as claimed in claim 5 wherein the magnet is a substantially straight bar magnet and has one end attached to the free end of the span of the spring.

7. Can opener means having a frame, a circular knife mounted on a shaft rotatably and slidably supported by the frame, a magnet having a surface overlying and in attractive proximity to the location of the part of the can being excised by the knife, and means mounting the magnet on the frame including spring means in effect pivoted on the frame, engaging the shaft to hold it in place and supporting the magnet.

8. The can opener means of claim 7 in which the shaft is received in a bearing in the frame inclined downwardly toward the location of the can top.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Landry Aug. 4, 1953