US935820A - Can-opener. - Google Patents

Description

G. B. RIGG.

CAN OPENER.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. so, 1908.

Patented 001;. 5, 1909.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLINTON B. RIGG, OF MOUNT STERLING, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO VVILLIAIVI B. RIGG, OF MOUNT STERLING, ILLINOIS.

CAN-OPENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909..

T 0 all whom it may concern:

I of which is sharpened or pointed as indicated Be it known that I, CLINTON B. Rico, a at 5.

citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Sterling, in the county of Brown and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Openers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention contemplates the construc tion and arrangement of a can opener, the object of which is to provide an article prin cipally designed to secure the best results in operation, combined with simplicity and economy in cost of production.

The invention comprises essentially a strip of metal of any desired cross sectional formation looped at one extremity to form a handle or grip, and at its opposite extremity with a pointed hooked portion provided with a knife edge designed to cut the closure of a can or other receptacle upon proper manipulation.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction and of the means for effecting the result, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the opener illustrating the first or engaging position upon the receptacle; Fig. Qis a perspective view of the opener illustrating the cutting oroperative position upon the receptacle; Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view of the opener and receptacle; Fig. i is a side elevation of the opener; and, Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of opener hereinafter described.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a receptacle and 2 the end closure thereof upon which the opener is designed to operate. In the preferred construction of the opener a continuous strip of metal or wire of any desired formation in cross section is employed and deflected intermediate its extremities to form a convolution or ring 3 which constitutes the handle or grip. At the opposite extremity of the opener a cutting or operating member is formed by deflecting the metal at right angles to the plane of the ring 8 to form a bill or hooked portion fit, the extremity The numeral 6 designates that portion of the metal intermediate the handle 3 and hooked portion at and may properly be referred to as the shank. The metal strip or wire intermediate the hooked end i and shank 6 and constituting the curved portion 7, is t 'ansversely reduced or sharpened at its inner side to form a knife or cutter 8, and the free end of the strip or wire emanating from the convolution or ring 3 overlaps and partially surrounds the shank 6, as 111- dicated at 9, and thence is extended at right angles to said shank to form a guide 10 designed to follow the periphery of the receptacle 1 and direct the cutter 8 1n its cutting or operating movement, upon the receptacle closure In Fig. 5 a modification of Fig. 4: is shown in which the ring 3 instead of being formed at right angles to the cutter or hooked end portion i is deflected in line with said outter and presents a flat, neat construction which for commercial reasons would require less space for shipment when secured to cans.

In the practical operation of the opener upon a receptacle or can of the character illustrated, the shank G and hooked portion I in the first or engaging position illustrated in Fig. 1, are vertically disposed to the receptacle and the pointed end 5 of the hooked portion is caused to pierce the receptacle closure 2 by pressure exerted either upon the ring 3 or upon the curved extremity 7. When the pointed end 5 has been forced a sufficient distance through the closure 2, the opener is twisted or turned to a horizontal position as illustrated in Fig. 2, and by drawing or pulling upon the ring 8 the closure 2 will be severed by the cutting actlon of the knife or cutter 8. The guide 10 owing to the relatively extended position upon the periphery of the receptacle Wlll direct the opener in its cutting operatlon upon the closure and retain the knife in spaced relation to the edge or periphery as will be understood.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent that I have providedan improved and economically constructed opener for cans or similar sealed receptacles, and for commercial reasons may be advantageously dispensed with receptacles containing food stuffs or other articles.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as new is A can opener constructed of a continuous piece comprising a shank formed at one eX- tremity with a ring or convolution of the piece designed as a handle, a hooked portion formed at the opposite extremity of 10 said shank and having its opposite sides beveled to provide a cutting edge and a guide emanating from the ring and slightly deflected and designed to direct the cutting movement of the opener.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses. OLIN TON B. RIGG. [n s.]

Witnesses JAMES E. ALLISON, ruman 13. Rise.

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