US3509625A - Method to open a tetrahedron shaped container and device for carrying out said method - Google Patents

Method to open a tetrahedron shaped container and device for carrying out said method Download PDF

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Publication number
US3509625A
US3509625A US527684A US3509625DA US3509625A US 3509625 A US3509625 A US 3509625A US 527684 A US527684 A US 527684A US 3509625D A US3509625D A US 3509625DA US 3509625 A US3509625 A US 3509625A
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United States
Prior art keywords
container
opening
apex
edge
cut
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Expired - Lifetime
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US527684A
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English (en)
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Roger Bajulaz
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Individual
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Individual
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
    • B67B—APPLYING CLOSURE MEMBERS TO BOTTLES JARS, OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; OPENING CLOSED CONTAINERS
    • B67B7/00—Hand- or power-operated devices for opening closed containers
    • B67B7/30—Hand-operated cutting devices
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes, or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
    • B65D75/40—Packages formed by enclosing successive articles, or increments of material, in webs, e.g. folded or tubular webs, or by subdividing tubes filled with liquid, semi-liquid, or plastic materials
    • B65D75/44—Individual packages cut from webs or tubes
    • B65D75/48—Individual packages cut from webs or tubes containing liquids, semiliquids, or pastes, e.g. cushion-shaped packages
    • B65D75/50—Tetrahedral packages

Definitions

  • An apex of a paper container for liquids can be cut off by insertion in a pair of telescoping tubes the outer of which has an inclined cutting edge intermediate its length and the inner of which has its internal end formed as a cutting edge of opposite inclination.
  • the cutting edges have a nonrectilinear contour such that when the apex of a paper container is inserted between the cutting edges and the tubular members are pressed together, the apex will be cut off so that the line of cut intersects the edge over which the liquid will be poured, at an angle greater than 45, thereby to facilitate pouring.
  • these containers are somewhat less practical for the user. Users are usually advised to open a tetrahedron-shaped container by cutting ofi? one of its corners or apices along a straight line by means of sci-ssors. A container opened in this way is not properly adapted to have its contents poured out. When such a straight-cut corner is opened out the edges of the opening obtained in this way present a closed curve flattened along a line joining a seamed edge of the container and a folded edge of the container.
  • this opening presents a point or tip which is downwardly directed and aligned with the fold.
  • the present invention aims at overcoming these above disadvantages.
  • FIG. 1 shows schematically opening a tetrahedronshaped container by cutting off one of its corners or apioes along a straight line;
  • FIG. 2 shows in front view the opening obtained by the cut shown in FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 shows in side view the opening shown in FIG. 2;
  • FIG. 4 shows diagrammatically an opening obtained according to the invention
  • FIG. 5 shows in front view the opening shown in FIG. 4;
  • FIGS. 6 to 8 show variants of openings made according to the invention
  • FIG. 9 is a perspective view of one form of device according to the invention for making the openings shown in FIGS. 4 and 5;
  • FIG. 10 is a plan view of the device shown in FIG. 9, and
  • FIG. 11 is a side view showing the device of 'FIGS. 9 and 10 in working position on a container.
  • FIGS. 1 to 3 show clearly the serious disadvantages of the openings made in known manner and shape in tetrahedron-shaped containers.
  • the opening obtained by cutting off an apex along a straight line presents a point downwardly-inclined, whereas the remainder of the cut, seen from the side, forms an upwardly-directed convex curve.
  • the weight of it tends to close the sides of the opening. Further, the angle of the point is very unfavourable, being obtuse.
  • one apex of the container is gripped so that it is flattened along a plane coplanar with the seamed edge of the container. Then the flattened apex is cut along a line which intersects the folded, flattened edge at an angle comprised between 45 and 135 to the line of fold. Preferably this angle is substantially equal to The other end of the line of cut may intersect either the seamed edge, or even the folded edge at a location nearer the apex.
  • the shape of the portion of the opening produced by opening out the flattened apex, adjacent to the line of fold, is generally acute and so leads to controlled pouring from the container.
  • FIGS. 9 and 10 show a device according to the invention for opening tetrahedron-shaped containers.
  • This device comprises means permitting the device to be positioned correctly with respect to a flattened apex of a container to be opened, and cutting means enabling the flattened apex to be cut as desired.
  • the device shown comprises two parts 1, 2 sliding one within the other.
  • the first part 1 presents, seen in side view, the general shape of a sector of a circle. It comprises two walls 3, 4 forming a right angle between them,
  • This curved wall 5 presents in the embodiment shown the shape of an arc of a circle the centre of which is located on the line of intersection of the walls 3 and 4.
  • Each of these plane walls constitutes a positioning member of the device.
  • the straight edges a and b of the flattened apex come into contact with the inner faces of the walls 3 and 4.
  • An opening 6 is provided in the curved wall 5 to give passage to the flattened apex of the container. This opening extends from adjacent the corner of walls 3 and 5 to adjacent that corner of Walls 4 and 5. In the example shown this opening is slightly tapered so that the developed form of the opening is frustoconical, and the central axis of the opening is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the device. One edge 7 of the opening 6 constitutes one of the cutting edges of the device.
  • the part 1 comprises two flanges 8 and 9 folded at right angles with respect to the walls 3 and 4.
  • This part also comprises an abutment constituted by a lug 10 on wall 4 at its end remote from the flanges, and in the vicinity of the wall 3, which lug is slightly folded towards the inside of the part 1.
  • the second part 2 slides freely inside the first part 1 and presents thus a complementary cross-section to that of part 1, the outside dimensions of the part 2 corresponding to the inside dimensions of the part 1.
  • the length of part 2 is less than that of part 1 but is greater than the distance 1 separating the edge of the first part remote from the flanges from that point of the cutting edge 7 which is furthest away from the said edge.
  • This second part also comprises two plane walls 11, 12 which intersect at right angles, and the remote edges of which are connected by means of a curved wall 13, each of the walls 11, 12 and 13 being in sliding contact with the walls 3, 4 and 5.
  • This second part 2 comprises a second cutting edge 14 constituted by the leading edge of the wall 13 and intended to co-operate with the cutting edge 7 for cutting an opening in a tetrahedron-shaped container.
  • this/second cutting edge is slightly inclined with respect to the axis of the opening 6, and in a direction opposite to that of edge 7.
  • This second part 2 is also provided with flanges 15, 16 disposed at right angles with respect to the walls 11, 12.
  • This second part comprises a groove 17 in the inside of which is located the abutment 10 of the first part, that groove extending for a part of the length of the second part.
  • the length of this groove 17 is at least sufiicient to enable the second part to be withdrawn from the first part 1 for a distance which is suflicient to free the opening 6.
  • the user moves the flanges 8, 9 and 15, 16 apart so as to slide the second piece 2 out of the first piece 1 until the abutment 10 comes into contact with the end of the groove 17 in the wall 12.
  • this opening resides in the fact that the angle formed by it with the line of fold b is a right angle, which enables the contents of the container to be poured out easily.
  • the force due to the Weight of the liquid acts approximately along the direction f, which is tangential to the seamed edge a of the container. This removes or reduces any tendency of the edges of the opening to come together under the action of the weight of the container.
  • the cutting edge of the device may present any shape which makes a cut satisfying this condition.
  • the remainder of the cut may be a zig-zag line, a smooth curve, or a sinuous line, provided the opening does not extend to deeply into the container that it reaches the surface of the liquid in the container.
  • FIGS. 6 and 7 show shapes of cut edge which are possible and permit the obtaining of openings which are adequate.
  • the shape of the cutting edges is varied accordingly.
  • FIG. 8 shows a variant in which the opening is formed of two parts, one part 18 to pour out the liquid, and the other part 19 for the introduction of air into the container to replace the poured-out liquid.
  • This opening is readily obtained with a cutting device of the present invention.
  • the shape of part 19 of this opening may be greatly varied and may be constituted by a perforation of the container which leaves the seamed edge a intact.
  • the present invention is not limited to the shapes of openings illustrated, or to the devices for producing these openings.
  • the main characteristic of the device for cutting off a flattened apex resides in the fact that it presents a cutting edge which is not straight. In fact, if the cut does intersect the line of fold at right angles, it is not possible to cut the container along a straight line as it would intersect the level of the liquid in the container. Thus the out has, after intersecting the folded edge, to extend upwardly towards the seamed edge of the container. Such a cut can only be obtained with a non-rectilinear cutting edge.
  • a device for opening a tetrahedron-shaped container by cutting off an apex thereof comprising means defining a pair of cooperative cutting edges which are movable relative to each other to cut off a flattened apex, which is bounded by a seamed edge contiguous with a folded edge, in them in a container is not a straight line and intersects an edge of a container at an angle greater than 45", said means defining said cutting edges comprising two members which are slidable relative to each other one within the other, one said cutting edge being formed by one edge of a longitudinally extending aperture in a curved wall of the outer member, the inner member being slidable in a direction transverse to the length of the aperture and having its leading edge formed as a cutting edge.
  • a device as claimed in claim 1 and means for positioning a flattened apex of the container in a desired position relative to said cutting edges, means defining at least one inner surface which is positioned so as to be contacted by at least one of the apex proper and a boundary edge of the apex when the apex is fully in position for being cut off, and means defining a second inner surface, both said inner surfaces being positioned to be contacted by a respective one of the boundary edges of the flattened apex when the apex is fully in position for being cut off.
  • ROBERT C. RIORDON Primary Examiner 5 G. F. GRAFEL,aAssistant Examiner STATES PATENTS Stevener 30-233 Ashenfelter 30-289 X 30229, 241, 233, 280

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Containers Opened By Tearing Frangible Portions (AREA)
  • Cartons (AREA)
  • Containers And Packaging Bodies Having A Special Means To Remove Contents (AREA)
US527684A 1965-03-15 1966-02-15 Method to open a tetrahedron shaped container and device for carrying out said method Expired - Lifetime US3509625A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CH358465A CH446093A (fr) 1965-03-15 1965-03-15 Dispositif pour ouvrir un emballage en forme de tétraèdre

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3509625A true US3509625A (en) 1970-05-05

Family

ID=4259140

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US527684A Expired - Lifetime US3509625A (en) 1965-03-15 1966-02-15 Method to open a tetrahedron shaped container and device for carrying out said method

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US3509625A (xx)
BE (1) BE677769A (xx)
CH (1) CH446093A (xx)
DE (1) DE1532492A1 (xx)
GB (1) GB1115434A (xx)
SE (1) SE338271B (xx)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4513502A (en) * 1983-02-28 1985-04-30 Gacek John J Beverage lid cutter
US5333381A (en) * 1992-10-21 1994-08-02 Paul J. Gelardi Wrap cutter

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2489285A1 (fr) * 1980-08-26 1982-03-05 Villien Bernard Dispositif permettant de couper l'onglet des boites a lait et jus de fruits, en carton, assurant une ouverture, efficacement et sans effort
GB9315556D0 (en) * 1993-07-28 1993-09-08 Daysh William G E Carton opening device
ES2154202B1 (es) * 1998-12-23 2001-10-16 De La Infanta Enrique Garcia Accesorio de apertura-cierre para envases tipo brik.

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US601309A (en) * 1898-03-29 Envelop-opener
US1194697A (en) * 1916-08-15 Tobacco-biter
US1928120A (en) * 1930-04-29 1933-09-26 American Sealcone Corp Method of and means for forming openings in receptacles
US2435454A (en) * 1945-01-26 1948-02-03 Maldonado Joseph Cigarette package opener and closure

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US601309A (en) * 1898-03-29 Envelop-opener
US1194697A (en) * 1916-08-15 Tobacco-biter
US1928120A (en) * 1930-04-29 1933-09-26 American Sealcone Corp Method of and means for forming openings in receptacles
US2435454A (en) * 1945-01-26 1948-02-03 Maldonado Joseph Cigarette package opener and closure

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4513502A (en) * 1983-02-28 1985-04-30 Gacek John J Beverage lid cutter
US5333381A (en) * 1992-10-21 1994-08-02 Paul J. Gelardi Wrap cutter

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB1115434A (en) 1968-05-29
CH446093A (fr) 1967-10-31
BE677769A (xx) 1966-09-14
SE338271B (xx) 1971-08-30
DE1532492A1 (de) 1970-02-05

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