US2984131A - Metered bottle opener - Google Patents

Description

May 16, 1961 H. J. WALSH METERED BOTTLE OPENER Filed June 8, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M INVENTOR.

May 16, 1961 H. J. WALSH METERED BOTTLE OPENER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 8, 1959 IVJEETOR. l

ATTqeA/y /fmy/ //W United States Patent C "i aignori ofonefhalfito EugeneH. Schaffner, Lud

low, Kif..`V i

Eiledssune 8;. 1959; ser: No, 818,822; s'. (cl. ,s`1f-3.1)f

l 'Ihisiinventi'on relatesAto-a tiert-'le'openeri which automaticallycounts the number ofi bottles opened.-

Iii these-'times ofiefiicientf'selling-y where proprietors of restalvirant'si and bar s are required` to' carry= largev inventoris in-ordeitosatisfy` a public? which demandslquick service; itiissimportant that devices be provided to main'- tainLA an'- accurate check on the inventories= involved' so to' guardi against losseandpilfering; It: willbez appreciated v that whereA a` heavy" BusinessinL bottledl beverages exists; there wil1`b`e the opportunity fori both; intended andi unintendedl error by the counterman-f handling 4 the goods.U Normally; these'errors` are 'noti' discoverediuntil a full inventory is takenand thisi's'inot regularly donc by'mo'stfconcerns butfa fewtimes ad year:

- Ifheinstant invention1 providesA an `accurate meansof maintaining al' running-account oi-thefnumber off bottles t opened byfanyparticular-opener; invention: allows ai proprietor 'ofi an establishment' dealing inV bottled beverages-tocheclehisunit sales-at= any particular time soiaswto enablehimftolcheclo out his cash receipts and provide-mm1 withi information relating to the: over-'all statuer-of hisiinventoryr.-

ItV is` another@ purpose: ofithis inventionv to provide a mechanically meteredrl openen which will not register unless afcapfis'iactually.removectfroma bottle by the use of?` the opener: e

A further purpose of the instant invention'lisstopro'- vide :arbottlev cap receptacle; designed `so that contents are:inaccessible;I thereby? affording a means; off: counting the( number; oftcaps,A and: thereby determining: both-f the number andydifferentf kindsxofrbottled beverages opened by the opener:

. Anotherobjectio therinvention is to` provide. a metered bottle.- openen inyentorfyr dev-ice which-can be used f in I cooperation'. with other inventoryVY devices? to;` provide for an;Y accurateY meansfo. establishing-the ruiming;y inventory of a^ restaurant,.baron` otheri establishment. dealing in bottled beverages v t For, the, attainment of. these and .such other objects as may appear orbe pointedougLhaveshown an embodimentj o f mydnventiofn'fin the accompanying` drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device having it`s-cover`-andj`cap-receptacle mountedl thereon; Figure= isiafrontj'elevationall viewof* anA opener dejvice "incorporating theA principles; of the inventiom Figure 43 islaisid'e elevational viewthereoff FigureLA 4` ise la cross Y' sectional2 view takenalongA lines HSL-410 Figure 2*in"whi`chtlie deviceisy shown in'its non'- actuated position.

t Figure SJi's-afcrossf-sectional view similartotFigureLt showing the device in its actuated position.

i Meteredf bottle openers of the'past-have-been designed sl'oitliat.the-metering"systeinvvoulli record? faulty attempts at Ibottle opening as-y welllas successfuli attempts, thereby -feausingath'e r'm'eteri` reading on the deviceftol beactually Patented May 16, 1961 presenting a:A metered bottle opener designed* so. asn to register only Vwhen a.bottletcapfislactually removedv With referencetoFigure 2, it. may Ybe seen `that the invention 1 comprisesf an? openerf 1; mechanical' linkage 9;' mechanicall counter 24 and'I mountingA plate 11; With reference to Figuref 2,' it may be seen` thatopeneripontion 1, which isattached tosmounting plate 1-1;,is-com prised of a conventional-lclawtype opener'hook 3f' and a'vertically movable contactplater'4.- Contactl'plate14 is Vprovided with a rolledcontact edge 6.- The cooperation ofopener hook- 3 and' contact edge 6 in contactingand removing `a bottlecap is illustrated-inv Figures14vand 5i As can be seen` from Figure 2; contactplate 4=is integral withv the lower portion-ofivertically movable slide; orpiston7; which istcontainedin guide, or guide sleeve 8P Guide 1 sleeve 8 is attached tof mounting plate 11/ as isiillustrated'inl- Figures 4-Yand5';v The upper portion'v of slide 7isaprovided withva slot 17 which receives an fop# erating leverorK arm@ i125. It=maybefseen from Figure 2 that slot'17"is providedwitlil a hardenedbearing pin 18 which contacts the lower-edge 19 ofoperating lever `12 so'- that lower edge p19 doesnotcontact the bottom 21 of slot 17.' Due tof-thisfact, itis not necessaryy to-machine a bearingl V or rolled edge in the bottom of the slot and consequently the slot-maybeY formed by casting;

As= may be seen inf. Figure 2`, operating lever Y12Y is pivotally joined to mountingJplate 11' by pivotpinvl?,` at enel-end; andcon'nect'edato the-upper-portionof spring 14by connecting` pin 221"fatl the other. 'IlielowerY pori tion ofy spring14f isL connected to mounting; platei 1-1- by connectinglpiny 16:

Inview of theconnections just described, it will fur-` therfbe-seen witlrreference` toFigure 2;v that the tension of spring 121 tends to resist upwardl movement'of slide 7 through operating *leverf 12" and normally urges slide 7 downwardlyy against" stop plateZii` Stop'plte23 is at tachedito mounting p late-11 by means* such asy screws 24. It will'bfe'noted that if stopplate 23l is removedby unscrewing screws 24, slide 7i can also be remove'd" for inspection or replacement and at the same time spring 141'wil1'berelaxedsorthat itV might be' more easilyin'- spectedor replaced.A The tension of spring 14l con'- tributes-,totheaccuracy obtained by the' device and will be more fully dscribedilater.

Withv reference to Figure 3, itmay 15e-seen that' mechanical counter 2? isprovidedwith a counter arm 26 ivvhichfoperates-A the-counter anda-countng dia15 which providesA aV reading o f the numberof vtimesl theY counter has been actuated Counter 2 isA ofthe spring-loaded; self-return?? typersothattcounter'arm 26, after being movedto the operating position so vas tolcause the counter to record; will't automatically return to4 its inoperative "errori Phelfinstntl device solves problem byV position upon being released."l Itwill be seen that one endiof counterarm: ZGFis-at'tached to the counter 2 and -thati the-1 other endsisr linkcdl to operating lever p 12 by meansf. off spring: 27.. @then types/of.r linkage would be suitable to; makethi'sL connection; but the' spring means disclosedisfprefeired so that should the operatinglever be overextendedfor anyyreason, itlcould not bring daml aging stress, totbear on counter arm 26'as the spring connector. Z7 wouldv absorb any-force tending to Y damage thecounter, armw The operationfltherdevicef issbest. disclosed with reference to Figures 4 and 5f. Figure.,4discloses the device freshly engagedwithiafbottlelwhich iscovered by a con.- ventional circular bottle cap 29 having a flat upper. sur.- f'ace 31`and"depending, uted', circular, gripping` skirt 32. The` bottle is' inserted into the opener; atsuch, an angle astocause the lower edge. ofthe upper surfacev 31 of the cap to l abuttheiunder surface of rolled contact edge 6', andi theA uppered'ge of ilutedL skirt 32 to engage` opener portion of the bottle, as is indicated by arrow 33, contact edge 6 tends to hold one edge of bottle cap 29 down firmly on the bottle while opener hook 3 engages the under portion of fluted gripping skirt 32. As the lower portion of the bottle is forced further downwardly, as is indicated by arrow 34, the upper portion of the bottle pivots on the contact made by the bite of opener hook 3 under the upperredge of skirt 32 causing slide 7 and contact plate 4 to be cammed upwardly by the contact of the upper surface 31 of the bottle cap with the under surface of rolled contact edge 6.

As slide 7 is cammed upwardly, the lower portion of operating lever 12, a portion of the lower edge of which resides within slide slot 17 (against bearing pin 18), is pivoted upwardly against the tension of spring 14. As the lower portion of the bottle is urged further downwardly, the tension, of spring 14 becomes greater than the force tending to hold gripping skirt 32 on the bottle and at this moment opener hook 3 pries the edge of gripping skirt 32 away from the bottle, causing the cap to be removed. It will be appreciated that the connecting spring 27 drives counter arm 26 upwardly along with the upward movement of the lower portion of operating lever 12, actuating the counter mechanism and thereby recording the removal of the bottle cap 29. As soon as the cap is released, the bottle is removed from the opener and the tension of spring 14 pivots the lower portion of operating lever 12 back downwardly until slide 7 drives the lower edge of contact plate 4 against stop plate 23.

It is lto be appreciated that quite often attempts to dislodge a bottle cap are `frustrated by imperfect bites between the bottlercap and the bottle opener hook. Since many more initial contacts will be made than bottle caps removed, it is important that a device of the instant class be designed so as to provide a means of distinguishing between successful and unsuccessful attempts at bottle cap removal. This distinguishing factor is necessary to provide an accurate recordation of the number of caps actually removed asopposed to recording both successful and unsuccessful removal attempts. This distinguishing characteristic is provided in the instant invention.

It will be appreciated that slide 7 and the lower portion of operating lever 12 (to which the counter arm is connected) must move a certain predetermined distance upwardly before the counting mechanism is actuated. It will be further appreciated that the tension of spring 14 provides the opposing force to the upward movements of the operating lever and the slide. The instant device is designed so that the tension of spring 14, which opposes the upward movement of the operational elements (the slide and operating lever), consequently opposing activation of the counter, is great enough so that these operational elements will not be cammed upwardly sufficientlyl far enough to activate the counter unless the bite or engagement between opener hook 3 and gripping skirt 32 is severe enough to guarantee removal of the bottle cap. In other words, the upward movement of the elements activating the counter and the force opposing their movement is related to the pivotal engagement between the opener hook and the bottle cap skirt in such a manner that this pivotal engagement must be perfect enough to insure cap removal if the pivotal connection is toVbe maintained long enough to cam the operational elements Vfor a sufficient distance to activate the counter. The force exerted against the operation of the counter (the tension of spring 14) is great enough so that should an improper bite or engagement be made between opener hook 3 and skirt 32 of the bottle cap, the engage- 'ment will be insufiicient to overcome the force opposing counter activation, consequently, the imperfect engagement will be broken before the engagement has served as a pivot for a longenough time to cam the operational .elements `into counter operating position. In this way, `faultycontacts betweenvthe bottle and bottle opener will not cause the counter to operate and only those contacts perfect enough to insure cap removal will actually activate the counter.

Cover 36 for the device is shown in Figure 1. It may be seen that the colver is in the form of the conventional rectangular combination bottle opener cover and cap reservoir. The upper portion of the front face 37 of cover 36 is provided with a bottle opening aperture 38 and a counter dial window 39. The cover is a removable one, and is designed so that when it is axed to mounting plate K11 the frame of counter dial window 39 is coincident with counting dial 5 of counter 2, thereby making it possible to read the dial through window 39 when the cover is in place. 'Ihe cover may be locked to mounting plate 11 and mounting plate 1.11 may in turn be secured to a wall (not shown) in some convenient location.

As may be seen with further reference to Figure 1, the lower portion of cover 36 comprises a cap reservoir 41. The back wall 42 of the cap reservoir does not extend all the way to the top 43 of the cover, but instead ends at 44 so as to provide an area for the opening device to protrude into the upper portion of the cover. Bottle opening aperture 38 is designed to allow proper space for the insertion of a bottle so as to provide for optimum bottle opening action. It will be noted that the lower portion 46 is 'U shaped so as to tit the curved neck of a bottle being urged downwardly to pry the cap olf. If desired, the back wall 42 of the cap reservoir may be integral with mounting plate 11 so that the opener is really mounted within the cover.

Although the size of bottle opening aperture 38 is not larger than that which is necessary to allow comfortable bottle opening action and consequently restricts the insertion of the hand or fingers to a great degree, ange 47 may also be provided to extend across a portion of the width and the entire cross section of the reservoir portion at a point immediately below the bottle opening aperture to further restrict any attempt to remove bottle caps through the bottle opening aperture. I-t may be seen that llange 47 is installed at an angle to the horizontal so that when a bottle cap removed by opener hook 3 falls downwardly, it strikes the ange and is deflected to one side and to be bottom of the reservoir 41.

With further reference to Figure l, it may be seen that the lower portion of the reservoir is provided with hinged bottom plate 48. One end of bottom plate 48 is supplied with an apertured fastener portion 51, the aperture 52 of which cooperates with a locking eye 53 which extends from the side of the lower portion of the cap reservoir. It can be appreciated that when the bottom plate is swung upwardly so as to snugly engage the bottom cross section of the cap reservoir, locking eye 53 protrudes through fastener aperture 52 so as to enable the reservoir to be locked by such means as a padlock. The upper lip 54 of fastener portion 52 is bent outwardly at'a slight angle to facilitate gripping in disengaging the bottom portion 38 so as to open the cap reservoir.

It will be appreciated that the locked bottle cap vreservoir provides a means of double checking not only the number of caps opened by the bottle opener, but also the diierent kinds of bottles opened. This feature is important because an operator faced with a total appearing on the counter dial 5 might argue that the device was not functioning properly or that most of the bottles opened were soft drinks instead of premium beer.

The instant device may be utilized by itself or in combination with other similar devices. For instance, a'proprietor serving both local and premium beers and Softdrinks might arrange these three classes of beverages intohsingle bins, placing one ofthe instant devices on the: side.;- of:n each binfso-that the number of bottle openings recorded by each device would signify, the totalnum-` ber of opened bottles in each of the three categories; namely, premiunronlocal fbeer: and softfzdrinksr'.

In most instancesthe. instant` device will operate in combination with otler inventorycontrol" devices such as cash; registers. and,A physicalW inventory checks,. however', it can;,beappreciated, that .itt-may. be used` as* an inventory control device all by itself.

The device may be installed to a wall surface merely by attaching mounting plate 11 to a wall in some conventional manner (not shown) and the cap reservoir 41 may be locked to the mounting plate again in some conventional manner (not shown) so that it cannot be removed and its contents tampered with. In the event mounting plate 11 is integral with the back wall 42 of the reservoir, the entire unit may be installed on a convenient Wall surface in like manner. In this instance, the opener portion is mounted on the back wall of the container, inside the container, so that the entire device is a single unit.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. A bottle opener and counter for a metered bottle opening device having a mounting plate and a counting mechanism mounted thereon, means connecting said bottle opener to said counting mechanism, said bottle opener comprising a tixed element and a vertically slidably mounted element, both of said elements being mounted upon said mounting plate, said elements beingpositioned to receive the head of a capped bottle between them, resilient means resisting the movement of said slidably mounted element being mounted on said mounting plate adjacent said element, whereby the application of opening leverage being exerted upon said bottle causes the slidably mounted element to move vertically against said resilient means to actuate said counting mechanism through said connecting means.

2. A bottle opener and counter for a metered bottle opening device having amounting plate and a counting mechanism mounted thereon, means connecting said bottle opener to said counting mechanism, said bottle opener comprising a fixed element and an element vertically slidable between -two predetermined limits, resilient means urging said vertically slidable element to maintain a position adjacent one limit of its movement, both of said elements being mounted upon said mounting plate, said elements being positioned to receive lthe head of a capped bottle between them, whereby the application of opening leverage being exerted -upon said bottle causes the slidably mounted element to move in opposition to said resilient means to actuate said counting mechanism through said connecting means.

3. A metered bottle opening device comprising a mounting plate, a counter mechanism, a bottle opener having a hook portion and a linearly movable contact portion, resilient means resisting 'the movement of said linearly movable contact portion being mounted on said mounting plate, means securing said counter mechanism, bottle opener and mounting plate together, means transferring movement of said movable contact portion to said counter mechanism in opposition to said resilient means to actuate said counter, an apertured cover for said metered bottle opening device, said cover having a locked bottle cap reservoir and being integral with said mounting plate.

4. A metered bottle opening device comprising a. mounting plate, a self-return, spring-loaded counter mechanism having an actuating arm and a viewable dial, a bottle opener mechanism having a hook portion and a substantially vertically movable slide portion, resilient means resisting the movement of said movable slide portion being mounted on said mounting plate, a guide portion and a stop plate portion, means mounting said hook stop plate and guide. portions and said` counter mechanism upon. said mounting'. plate a part of said slideportionbeinggslidably mounted Within said guide portion, theflower end of saidz verticallyr movable. slide portiony abutting Saidstopf plate, means. connecting the upper` end,r ofsaid` slide.l portiorrto the actuating` arm of said,counter?mechanism,A said means transferring`r verticaLmovement of saidslide portion to said counter actuating arm to actuate saidcounter.

5. A metered bottle opening device comprising a mounting plate, a self-return, spring-loaded counter mechanism having an actuating arm and a viewable dial, a bottle opener mechanism having a hook portion, a vertically movable contact portion, a guide portion, a stop plate portion and an apertured cover portion, spring tension means mounting said hook, stop plate, cover and guide portions and said counter mechanism upon said mounting plate, a part of said contact portion being slidably mounted within said guide portion, the lower end of said vertically movable contact portion being urged to abut said stop plate by said spring tension means, means connecting the upper end of said contact portion to the actuating arm of said counter mechanism, said means transferring vertical movement of said contact portion to said counter actuating arm overcoming said spring tension means to actuate said counter.

6. A metered bottle opening device comprising a mounting plate, a self-return, spring-loaded counter mechanism having an actuating arm and a viewable dial, a bottle opener having a hook portion and a vertically movable slide portion, adopted to receive the head of a bottle, a guide portion, a stop plate portion and an apertured cover portion, means mounting said hook, stop plate, cover and guide portions and said counter mechanism upon said mounting plate, a part of said slide portion being slidably mounted within said guide portion, the lower end of said vertically movable slide portion abutting said stop plate, resilient means resisting the movement of said movable slide portion, said means being fixed to said mounting plate, means connecting the upper end of said slide portion to the actuating arm of said counter mechanism, said means transferring vertical movement of said slide from the force of a bottle inserted in said opener in opposition to said resilient means to said counter actuating arm to actuate said counter, said cover portion enclosing said metered bottle opening device, one of said apertures in said cover yframing the viewable dial of said counting mechanism, another aperture in said cover framing said bottle opener, the lower portion of said cover being provided with a bottle cap reservoir and means to` lock said reservoir.

7. In a bottle opening device for use with a counter mechanism the improvement comprising a bottle opener and a mounting plate, said bottle opener having a bottle cap-gripping portion and a bottle cap contact portion, said gripping portion being iixedly mounted upon said mounting plate and said contact portion being vertically slidably mounted upon said mounting plate, spring means urging said contact portion downwardly with sufficient force to require firm operable engagement of a bottle cap with both portions of said opener to raise said contact portion through the force applied to a bottle during 'removal of its cap.

8. In a bottle opening device including a counting mechanism, the improvement comprising a bottle opener and a mounting plate, said bottle opener having a bottle cap gripping portion and a bottleV cap contact, said gripping portion being firmly mounted upon said mounting plate and said contact being vertically slidably mounted opposite to said gripping portion upon said mounting plate, yieldable means urging said vertically slidable contact toward its lowermost positionon said 7 mounting plate, said contact and gripping portion positioned to relatively engage the underskirt and upper face of `the cap of a bottle inserted therebetween, whereby upon application of leverage to the bottle to remove the cap, the cap trst forces the contact upwardly a predetermined distance counter to said yieldable means, said yieldable means providing sucient resistance to cause removal of the cap, said contact being connected References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Gilbert June 12, 1951 Flores May 11, 1954

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