US3380089A

US3380089A - Combination kitchen tool

Info

Publication number: US3380089A
Application number: US639413A
Authority: US
Inventors: Schober Albert
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1967-05-18
Filing date: 1967-05-18
Publication date: 1968-04-30
Anticipated expiration: 1985-04-30

Description

April 30, 1968 A. SCHOBER COMBINATION KITCHEN TOOL Filed May 18,, 11967 Alberf Schober INVENTOR Attorney United States Patent 3,380,089 COMBINATION KITCHEN TOOL Albert Schober, 40 Irving Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11237 Filed May 18, 1967, Ser. No. 639,413 3 Claims. (Cl. 7-14.2)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE aXlS.

My present invention relates to a combination tool, e.g. for use as a kitchen utensil, having means for performing such diversified tasks as opening sardine cans and other sealed tin boxes, uncapping bottles and punching holes into metal containers.

It is known, e.g. from U.S. Patent 3,224,018, to combine a conventional can and/or bottle opener, having the usual prying formations, with an elongated implement having a slitted end for the unwinding of a sealing strip from a container; with the opener positioned at right angles to the stem of the stripper, the opener can be used as a handle to rotate the stripper in its unwinding motion.

The general object of my present invention is to provide an improvement over this known type of tool in which the stripper, in its turn, is utilizable to exert leverage upon the opener during use of the latter.

The prying formations of most can and bottle openers are so disposed, usually along the longitudinal plane of symmetry of the implement, as to become effective upon rotation of the implement in that plane which extends perpendicularly to the major sides of its generally fiat sheet-metal body. In the improvement device, according to my invention, the hinged connection between the opener and the stripper is so arranged that the pivotal axis thereof lies at right angles to the flat sides of the opener and thus parallel to the plane of its operative rotation which normally is also its plane of symmetry. When, now, the opener is swung from a position at right angles to the stripper stern into an alternate position parallel to that stem, this stem in effect forms an extension of the opener in longitudinal direction thereof and thus acts as a lever for the punching of holes or the removal of bottle caps.

In order to insure maximum relative mobility of the stripper and the opener by the simplest possible means, I prefer to stamp or otherwise form the opener integrally with a lateral lug which is flush with the body thereof and joined by a pivot pin to a bifurcate end of the stripper stem opposite the slotted extremity thereof. By virtue of this arrangement, given suitable dimensioning of the lug and the bifurcation, the opener can be rotated through 180 into alternate positions on opposite sides of the ice stem whereby a prying formation on either one or the other end of the opener can be put to effective use.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded side-elevational view of a combination tool according to my invention;

FIG. 2 is a side-elevational view of the assembled tool taken at right angles to the view of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the tool in either of two alternate positions respectively indicated by full and dot-dash lines.

The tool shown in the drawing comprises a basically conventional can and bottle opener 1 pivotally secured to a stem 2 by a hinge pin 3. Implement 1 has the usual prying formations in the form of a bent point 9 and a tongue 10 at one end as well as a rounded edge 11 and another tongue 12 at the opposite end. This implement has a longitudinal plane of symmetry P bisecting the aforementioned formations.

The body of implement 1 has integrally formed thereon a lateral lug 4 received in a bifurcated end 5 of stem 2. Pin 3 passes through aligned

holes

7, 8 in bifurcation 5 and lug 4, respectively. At its opposite extremity, stem 2 is provided with a longitudinal slit 6 for engagement with a sealing strip of a sardine can or the like.

Hinge pin 3 defines a pivotal axis A which is parallel to plane P and about which the implement 1 is freely swingable in either direction, through from its transverse position shown in FIG. 2 in which the tool is in the shape of a T with the opener 1 serving as a handle for rotation of the stem 2. In one of its two alternate positions, ie, the one shown in full lines in FIG. 3,

prying formations

11, 12 are effective for the removal of bottle caps or container lids upon exertion of either upward or downward pressure upon the free end of stem 2. In the other operative position of implement 1, shown in dot-dash lines, point 9 coacting with tongue 10 can be made similarly effective for the punching of holes. In either case, the torque of stem 2 is readily transmited to the opener 1 through the intermediary of pin 3 and lug 4, without development of any component force which would tend to swing the implement 1 out of its position alongside stem 2 as would be the case with any other orientation of the pivotal axis.

The absence of any discontinuity between the body of implement 1 and its lug 4 allows this lug to be made quite short without impeding the swing of the implement as the flat body thereof passes between the prongs of bifurcation 5.

Naturally, the device described and illustrated may be modified in various ways (e.g. by omission of one of its tongues 10, 12) without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A combination tool comprising a stem with a longitudinally slitted extremity for the unwinding of sealing strips and a generally flat implement with at least one prying formation adapted to be made effective by a rotation of said implement in a plane perpendicular to the major sides thereof, said implement being hingedly secured to the end of said stern opposite said extremity for relative swinging about a pivotal axis parallel to said plane between a position at right angles to said stem and an alternate position substantially parallel thereto, the length of said stem being greater than that of said implement whereby said stem can exert leverage on said implement in said alternate position.

2. A tool as defined in claim 1 wherein said implement has a sheet-metal body provided with a laterally extending lug flush with said body, said opposite end of said stern being bifurcate and straddling said lug, further comprising a pin traversing said bifurcate end and said lug to form the hinged connection between said stem and said implement.

3. A tool as defined in claim 2 wherein said lug and said opposite end are dimensioned to permit a swing of said implement through 180 between two alternate positions alongside said stem.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 731,329 6/1903 Till 220-52 3,224,018 12/1965 Chadwick.

FOREIGN PATENTS 580,630 9/ 1924 France. 930,158 7/ 1947 France.

10 ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner.

R. V. PARKER, J R., Assistant Examiner.