US1562580A - Can opener - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 24 1925.

W. H. NORDHAUS CAN OPENER Filed May 25. 1925 UPI W Patented Nov. 24, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE...

WILLIAM NORDHAUS, OF RIVER FOREST, ILLINOIS.

can ormmn.

Application filed May 25, 1925. Serial No. 32,577.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. Nonn- HAUS, a citizen of the United States, residing at River Forest, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can Openers, of which the following is a speci- This invention relates to can openers, havmg reference more particularly to portable can openers of the type designed to operate on cans having upstanding annular rims or beads on one or both ends thereof, and employing a air, of rim-grippingv wheels, one of which is toothed or knurled to effectively bite into the inner side of the rim or bead and feed the latter through the cutter,

and a rotary cutter disc fast with relation to the other rim-gripping wheel. that cuts through the body of the can just below the plane of the end closure completely shearing off the head of the can; the knurled or toothed wheel being provided with a manually operated shaft rotating the same,

and the rim or head traveling between the gripping wheels and cutter as the shaft is I turned.

In a prior application filed by me on the 20th day of April, 1925, Serial No. 24,314, I

have disclosed and claimed a can opener of the type referred to characterized by the provision of a single handle bar with feed and cutter wheels rotatably mounted on one end portion thereof; the cutter wheel being fixed and the feed wheel bodily shiftable into and out of co operating engagement with the cutter wheel and the rim through the agency of a spring friction washer on the shaft of the feed wheel overlying a slot in the handle bar through which said shaft travels, said washer causing a bodily movement. of the shaftv as the latter is turned through frictional engagement with the portion of the handle bar bordering one side of the slot.

My present invention embodies many of the structural features of the tool forming the subject-matter of the aforesaid application, but includes an improvement t ereon in the nature of a positive feed mechanism fon effecting the travel-bf the knurled rimgripping wheel into full gripping engagement with the rim and the simultaneous piercing of the wall of the can by the cutter disc, which is not dependent upon friction,

.and the primary'purpose and object of my present improvement -1s to provide a vcan opener characterized by a fixed cutter wheel and a gripping wheel bodily movable into and out of working engagement with the rim and the cutter Wheel, wherein the travel of the gripping wheel array be positively effected through a gear relation with a fixed member'on the handle, so as to thereby insure the piercing of the can body by the cutter as the gripping wheel is moved into full working engagement with the rim and the cutter.

Other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which I the rim of a can;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the tool in cutting engagement with the rim;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; p I

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the left hand portion of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates as an entirety a flat metal bar,- approximately one longitudinal half of which is shaped to form a handle 10'. The other longitudinal half of the bar carries the canengaging. parts, comprising preferably a pair of rim-gripping wheels, a rotary cutter, a manually-operated shaft for bringing the gripping wheels into engagement with the rim of the can and rotating the rim between the wheels during the cutting operation, and

opposite or outer side of the slot 11 the end 17 of a shaft 18. .Thisshaft is formed with.

an annularshoulder 19 that overlies and spans the'slot 15' and is drawn by the threaded end 17 of the shaft into a tight bearing with the upper end of the reduced hub-16' of the feed wheel 16. At the junction of the wheel 16 and its hub 16 is an annular shoulder 20 which straddles the slot l5-below the latter, bearing on the llowef surface of the side walls of theslbt, and in co-operation with the shoulder 19 maintaining the feed wheel 16 rigid against lateral yielding. A cross-bar or handle 21 mounted on the upper end of the shaft 18 forms a convenient thumb and finger hold for rotating the shaft an the feedrwheel 16.

In the periphery of the annular shoulder 19 is formed a radial notch 22, with which cooperates a tooth 23 formed on the free end of a flat metal strip 24 that is rigidly attached to the upper-side'of the bar 10, as by rivets 25. This tooth 23 is so disposed relatively to the working and idle positions of the feed wheel 16 that, as the handle 21 is turned clockwise, viewing Fig. 1, to shift the feed wheel from idle to working position, one side wall of the notch 22, through engagement with the adjacent side of the tooth 23, causes a travelvofthe shaft 18 and feed wheel-16 toward the other end of the slot 15. During this travel of the feed wheel torim-engaging position under the thrust of the wall of the slot against the tooth23,.the sharp edge of the cutter 14 is caused to pierce the wall of the can, as shown in Fig. 3; but when the feed wheel is in full working engagement with the rim.

and the cutter, as shown in Fig. 2, the notch 22 becomes wholly disengaged from the tooth 23, and the shaft and feed wheel may be readily. turned duringthe rim-cutting operation. After the can top has been severed, by turning the handle 21 in the 'reverse direction, the feed wheel starts to travel backwardly toward the opposite end of the slot 15 under frictional grip on the severed rim until the notch 22 is re-engaged with the tooth 23, whereupon through engagement of the other sidewall of the notch with the other side of the tooth, the feed wheel and shaft are positively retracted by the reverse turning movement, and the severed head and rim of the can readily drop from between the-feed and cutter wheels.

From the foregoing it will beapparent that my invention provides a positive drive,

in the general nature of spur gearing, for

effecting the bodily travel of the feed wheel and its shaft into and out of working position, without de endingupon the friction between contacting parts to effect such travel. As above stated, the main advantage of the above improvement is that it insures the piercing of the can by the cutter during the final part of the travel of the feed wheel into engagement with the rim, and without requiring any 'sidewise push or thrust on the handle or shaft by the user to.

insure the piercing of the can by the cutter. So long asthe handle is turned in the direction indicated in Fig. 1, the feed wheel is positively forced, through the action of the gearing referred to, to full working position and the cutter is caused to pierce the wall of the can. i

The slit or slot 11 in the wheel carrying member between the feed wheel and the abutment wheel and cutter is not essential to a satisfactory tool otherwise answering the above description; but it is preferably employed because it provides a slightly yielding elastic or resilient grip of the feed and abutment wheels on the rim of the can which automatically takes care of slight variations in thickness of the rim, and insures a positive feed at all points of the latter. It also insures a better friction drive from the outer surface of the rim to the abutment wheel 13 and cutter disc 14 than would be the case were the wheels 16 and 13 rigidly spaced during the cutting operation.

The slightl arcuate form of the slot 15, through whic the feed wheel advances into and retreats from working position, more effectively locks the feed wheel in working position during the cutting of the can against possible back-slip than is possible with a straight slot, since during such back- The slot 11 and the arcuate form of the slot 13, last above described, are both disclosed in my former application above referred to, and no claim specifically thereto is made herein;

The tool of my present'invention requires only a single handle, entirely doingaway with the double handles and pivotin means commonly employed in tools of this character. The structural parts are very few, and easy and cheap to manufacture, it be ing practicaP to stamp out the bar 10 in the form shown in a unch press.

While I have herein illustrated and described one practical-and efli'cient embodiment' of the operative principle of the tool,-

it is manifest that changes in the details of structure and arrangement may be resorted to without departing from the principle of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof. Hence, I reserve all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit and purview of the appended claims.

I claim 1. In a can opener of the type described, the combination of a handle bar formed with a transverse slot in one end portion thereof, a fixed cutter disc rotatably mounted on said bar laterally opposite one end of said slot, a feed wheel spanning said slot and formed with a hub occupying said slot, an operating shaft connected to said hub, and gearing on said shaft and handle bar effecting bodily travel of said feed wheel toward and from said cutter disc through a turning movement of said shaft.

2. In a can opener of the type described, the combination of a handle bar formed with a transverse slot in one end portion thereof, a fixed cutter disc rotatably mounted on and beneath said bar laterally opposite one end of said .slot, a feed wheel underl in and spanning said slot and forme with a hub occupying said slot, an

operating shaft connected to said hub and having an annular shoulder overlying and spanning said slot, and co-operating gear elements on saidshoulder and said bar operative to effect a travel of said feed wheel toward said cutter disc when said shaft is turned in one direction, and a reverse travel of said feed wheel when said shaft is turned in the opposite direction.

3, In a can opener of the type described, the combination of a lnndle bar formed with a transverse slot in one end portion thereof, an abutment wheel and a cutter disc fast therewith rotatably mounted on and beneath said bar laterally opposite one end of said slot, a feed Wheel underlying and spanning said slot and formed with a hub occupying said slot, an operating shaft for said feed wheel at its lower end threaded into said hub and having an annular shoulder overlying and spanning said slot, and interfitting gear elements on said shoulder and said bar operative to effect a travel of said feed wheel toward said outter disc when said shaft is turned in one direction and automatically disengaging when said feed and abutment wheels and cutter disc have been brought into working engagement with the rim of a can to be opened.

4. A specific embodiment of claim 3 wherein the interfitting gear elements consist of a tooth on said handle, and a notch in said annular shoulder, the walls of which notch are in thrust engagement with the opposite sides of said tooth as said shaft is turned to advance said feed wheel toward and retract it from said abutment wheel 05 and cutter disc.

WILLIAM H. NORDHAUS.

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