GB2386109A

GB2386109A - Can opener

Info

Publication number: GB2386109A
Application number: GB0204187A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Russell Davis; Jason Parker
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-02-22
Filing date: 2002-02-22
Publication date: 2003-09-10
Also published as: GB0204187D0

Abstract

An opener for ring pull cans comprises a handle of generally elongate form and has a nose 30 at its forward end and an arcuate section 34 at its rearward end. The arcuate section 34 has a pointed tail 32. A tongue 42 integral with the handle 40 extends forward from an abutment 44 and is inclined a few degrees away from the handle 40. In use the tongue 42 is slid under the ring of a can and the handle levered up against the nose 30 to raise the ring. Then the opener is turned around, the tail 32 engaged within the ring, and the handle 40 levered again to remove the ring pull, the arcuate section 34 rolling on the top of the can to reduce the effort required.

Description

CAN OPENER This invention is concerned with openers for ring pull cans.

The invention is particularly but not exclusively concerned with openers for ting pull cans of the kind which are opened by completely removing the ring pull to tear away an attached closure portion of the can. Although such tear-away portions are very carefully formed to enable the can to be opened, the effort required is often beyond elderly or disabled people.

It is therefore an object of the invention to ease the effort required to open ring pull cans.

Thus according to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an opener for ring pull cans, which opener comprises a handle of generally elongate form having at a forward end a nose, at the rearward end of the handle an arcuate section having a tail, and a tongue extending generally parallel to the handle and spaced apart therefrom, the opener being dimensioned and arranged so that (a) the opener may be positioned with the ring pull of a can flat between the tongue and the handle and the opener then levered up against its nose to turn the ring pull up and (b) the opener may be repositioned with the tail engaging a turned up ring pull and the opener then rotated with the arcuate section rolling on the can and the tail moving to open the can by means of the ring pull.

The tongue may extend forwards, preferably at an angle of up to 5 away from the handle, from an abutment arranged to engage a ring pull positioned

between the tongue and the handle. Then, if as preferred the distance from the abutment to the nose is substantially equal to the diameter of the ring pull, the nose will be best positioned for turning the ring pull up with minimum effort.

The tongue, which may taper towards the nose, is preferably integral with the handle and formed therefrom by a stamping or pressing operation which also forms the abutment.

The tail may be pointed for convenient engagement with the ring pull.

A notch may be formed in one side of the handle for opening a crown cap bottle closure.

Other features of the invention will be apparent from the following description which is made by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a metal blank for forming a can opener according to the invention, before stamping and/or pressing; Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of a can opener according to the invention formed from the blank of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a schematic side elevation corresponding to Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, an opener for ring pull cans is made from a flat strip 10 of stainless steel approximately 160mm x 25mm. The opener is formed by stamping and/or pressing (the effect of the operation being shown in broken lines in Figure 1). Thus at a forward end the strip 10 is trimmed at 12 to form a nose 30 and at the rearward end the strip 10 is trimmed at 14 to form a pointed

tail 32 and also bent to form an arcuate section 34. One side of the strip 10 is cut away at 16 to form a rearwardly inclined recess 36 having a tang 38 on its rear comer. The strip 10 is waisted at each side 18 to form a handle 40. And a forwardly tapered tongue 42 is formed out of the body of the strip 10 by cutting and pressing at 20.

At its rear the tongue 42 is attached to the handle 40 by an abutment 44 and that as the tongue 42 extends forward from the abutment 44 it is inclined away from the handle 40. The angle of inclination is 3 but may be more, up to about 5 . It will also be noted that the forward end 46 of the tongue 40 is chamfered.

To open a ring pull can, the opener shown in the drawing is used in the following way. Before opening, the ring lies close to the top of the can. The tongue 42 is slid under the ring pull (which is easily done because of the inclination of the tongue 40 and its chamfered end 46) until the abutment 44 engages the rim of the ring. Next the opener is levered up against the nose 30which is spaced from the abutment 44 by a distance approximately equal to the diameter of the ring-to bring the ring upright. The tongue 42 is then disengaged from the ring and the opener turned around to engage the tail 32 within the ring with the arcuate section bearing on the top of the can. Then the ring pull is easily removed by further leverage, assisted by the rolling motion of the arcuate section 34 on the top of the can. Thus the can is opened.

It will be understood that the benefits of the invention are not limited to opening ring pull cans of the kind in which the ring is completely removed to tear away a portion of the can. For instance, many elderly and disabled people find it difficult to open cans of the fulcrum type, in which a portion of the can is snapped inwards but the ring remains attached, simply because the ring lies so close to the top of the can, and the tongue 42 can be used to deal with these without the need to turn it around and use the tail 32 as described above. The recess 36 allows the opener to be used also to open bottles closed with crown caps, the tang 38 being engaged with the cap and the cap removed by leverage against the forward edge of the recess 36. And the arcuate section 34, as well as providing easy rolling leverage to open a can, also provides means for hanging the opener in a convenient location.

The tail 32 may be formed with a small radius and all corners may be rounded off for comfortable handling, and those skilled in the science will also appreciate that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1 An opener for ring pull cans, which opener comprises a handle of generally elongate form having at a forward end a nose, at the rearward end of the handle an arcuate section having a tail, and a tongue extending alongside the handle and spaced apart therefrom, the opener being dimensioned and arranged so that (a) the opener may be positioned with the ring pull of a can flat between the tongue and the handle and the opener then levered up against its nose to turn the ring pull up and (b) the opener may be repositioned with the tail engaging a turned up ring pull and the opener then rotated with the arcuate section rolling on the can and the tail moving to open the can by means of the ring pull.

2 An opener as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the tongue extends forwards from an abutment arranged to engage a ring pull positioned between the tongue and the handle.

3 An opener as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the distance from the abutment to the nose is substantially equal to the diameter of the ring pull.

4 An opener as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein the forward extension of the tongue is inclined up to about 50 away from the handle.

5 An opener as claimed in any of Claims 2 to 4 wherein the tongue is integral with the handle and is formed therefrom by a stamping and/or pressing operation which also forms the abutment.

6 An opener as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the tongue tapers towards the nose and is chamfered at its end.

7 An opener as claimed in any preceding claim including in one side of the handle a recess formed with a tang for opening a crown cap bottle closure.

8 An opener as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the handle is waisted to provide a hand grip.

9 An opener as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the tail is pointed.

10 An opener for ring pull cans substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawing.