US471776A - Can-opener - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

A. B. SGHOFIELD. GAN QPENBB..

1 170.471,776. l Patented Mar. '29, 1892.

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l ALBERT B. SOHOFIELD, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK.

CAN-OPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 471,776, dated March 29, 1892.

Application tiled January 18, 1892. Serial No. 418,456. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT B. ScHorIELD, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Can-Openers, of which the following is a specicat-ion.

Myinvention relates to an improvement in can-openers, in which a cutter fixed to an operating-handle is swung around a pivoting device also connected to said handle.

The obj ect is topprovide an opener in which the pivoting device and the knife may be so secured and constructed that the rim around the opening left byv the part of the can removed shall be turned outwardly, openings of various sizes formed, and the device as a whole rendered simple and durable.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view of the can-opener in sidev elevation. Fig. 2 is a top plan view. Fig. 3 is abottom plan view, the pivoting device being detached from the handle; and Fig. isa transverse section through the line of Fig.2.

A represents the handle, which in the present instance is formed integral with the part which carries the knife and pivoting device. That portionof the shank of the handle where the knife is secured is preferably spread out laterally, as shown at a, and provided with a transversely-elongated slot a', down through which the shank of theknife extends. Along a side of the slot a there is formed an uprising lug a2, which in practice may be conveniently cast integral with the handle and its shank, and on the under side of the portion a and on opposite sides of the slot a there are located runners B and B', the former on the side toward the handle and the latter on the side toward the pivoting device. The runner B is preferably formed on a curve, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3, in order to prevent binding as the metal is turned up during the cutting operation. The bottoms of the runners B and B form bearingfaces, against which the metal is pressed by the action ofthe knife during the cutting operation.

The shank of the knife is represented by C, and at its upper portion is preferably widened to provide for fastening devices c screws or rivets--by means of which it is firmly fastened to the face of the uprising lug a2. As the shank extends downwardly through the slot a its shank is rapidly narrowed and .developed into a blade c', which extends forwardly and gradually downward below the bottoms ofthe runners B and B', and the metalv to be cut is drawn between such edge and the bottoms of the runners as the blade is moved along by the handle, and is finally cut as it is forced between the runners by the blade. It will be observed that the edge of the blade is set in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis'of the handle and that its cut is Vupwardly from the under side of the metal. The end of the shank of the handle where the pivoting device is secured is provided with a recess D on its vunder side and extending from the extreme end toward the handle, and from the inner end of said represent instance two e and e-and its shank E is adapted to seat within the recess D and extend upwardly through the opening d. It may be secured in position by upsetting the head of theyshank. The pivoting device is provided at its end with a point e2 for allowing it to be readily inserted through the thin metal of the can.

For general use I find it desirable to locate the pivots e and e about one-quarter of an inch apart, so as to vary the diameter of the circle out by the knife-blade halt' an inch. This I find to be sufficient to. adapt the cutter to cans of the various sizes in common use; but the number of such pivots formed by the shaping of the pivoting device might be increased or their distance apart varied, as experience may dictate.

VThe forming of the recess D as a seat for, the shank of the pivoting device enables me to utilize ordinary round wire for said device IOO central of the portion .which it is desired to remove, and if alarger opening is desired the the point is pushed in until the tin surrounds the pivot e. The handle is then pressed down to insert the point c2 of the cutting-blade through the can and is then swung around in a circle about the pivot e as a center. 1f a smaller opening be desired, the pivoting device is inserted until the tin surrounds the pivot e.

Vhile I have shown two runners or bearings BY and B', and iind it preferable to so construct the device, one of them might be omitted and a cut still be made.

What I claim isl. The combination, with a handle and a cutting-blade carried thereby, of a pivoting device secured to the handle and provided with a plurality of pivots located at'different distances from the blade, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the handle and means for pivoting it to swing in a circle, of a pair of runners on the under side of the handle and a cutting-blade extending between the runners and spaced from them to

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