CN1066125C - Can opener - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a can opener which is provided with two body parts (1, 3) rotating correspondingly, wherein one body part is provided with a rotary shearing wheel (7), and the other body part is provided with a rotary driving wheel (12); the axial lines of the two wheels are parallel; the edge of a can (C) is arranged between the two wheels of the opener; when the driving wheel is rotated, the opener rotates along the can; at the time, the shearing wheel cuts a circumferential notch; during cutting, the shape of the driving wheel (12) can deform the edge of the can; the shearing wheel (7) is provided with parts (10c, 10d) with gradient in the position close to shearing edges (10a, 10b); the parts with gradient are in contact with the outside of the edge below the shearing points, and acting force exists in the direction opposite to that of the driving wheel (12).

Description

can opener

The present invention relates to a can opener which can be cut from the outside into an upstanding rim formed at one end of a can with a circumferential lap portion of the can end wall and side wall to sever the end wall or lid of the can.

Such a can opener is disclosed in European patent publication EP-A-169224. The opener consists of two main parts connected by a pin, one is equipped with a shear wheel and the other is equipped with a driving wheel, and the opener should be used so that the rim of the can to be opened is between the two wheels. The wheel axes are parallel to each other. One problem with such openers is that even if the opener is cut around the entire perimeter of the rim, the severed end wall remains difficult to remove. In the aforementioned patent it is proposed to provide means independent of the shearing wheel for removing the cut end wall. For this purpose, in one embodiment the opener has a release hook and in another embodiment a lever that can deform the side wall of the can.

In our International Patent Application WO 92/02445 we showed that by appropriate choice of the shape of the parts supporting the rim of the can the end wall can be severed and easily removed from the can.

Accordingly, an opener is proposed in WO 92/02445 which cuts the end wall from the body of the can from the outside by cutting into an upstanding rim formed at one end of the can, the rim comprising a lapped portion of the circumference of the end wall and the side wall of the can The can opener consists of two main parts that are relatively rotatable around an axis, one is equipped with a rotatable shearing wheel and the other is equipped with a rotatable drive wheel, and the axes of the wheels are parallel to each other in the same vertical plane ( In the shearing position, it is also parallel to the main axis of the tank), when in use, place the edge of the tank between the two wheels of the opener, and when the driving wheel rotates, the opener rotates around the tank, and at the same time the shear wheel is on the edge of the tank The outer side of the can is cut with a circumferential cut, and the shape of the drive wheel can deform the can rim when the shear wheel shears the can rim, thereby loosening the seam bite between the can end wall and the side wall.

In order to deform the can rim in use, the drive wheel preferably has a portion of the surface which engages the inner side wall of the rim, which surface is inclined relative to the vertical axis of the can at a greater angle than that of the rim.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to propose a can opener by which the separating effect of the snap seams of the end wall and the side wall of the can can be further improved.

To achieve the above objects, the present invention proposes a can opener capable of separating the end wall from the body of the can by cutting into an upstanding rim formed at one end of the can from the outside, the can rim comprising the overlap of the end wall and the circumference of the side wall of the can Part, the can opener includes two main parts that can be relatively rotatably installed around a shaft, one main part is equipped with a rotatable shearing wheel and the other main part is equipped with a rotatable driving wheel, and the axes of the two wheels are located at the same vertical They are parallel to each other in the plane (in the shearing position, they are also parallel to the main axis of the tank body). When in use, place the edge of the tank between the two wheels of the opener. When the driving wheel rotates, the opener rotates around the tank and cuts at the same time. The wheel cuts a circumferential slit on the outside of the rim. The shape of the drive wheel deforms the rim as the shear wheel shears the rim, thereby loosening the lap seam between the can end wall and side wall. The opener is also provided with supports Means for contacting between the drive wheel and the shear wheel at two points spaced apart from each other on the rim of the tank when the support means rests against the top of the tank, the improvement being that the shear wheel bands are cut out by the shear wheel The lower part of the spiral cut supports the sloped part of the tank rim, so that the tank can be kept stable, and the severed lid can be removed from the tank body by hand.

Advantageously, the shearing head of said shearing wheel lies in a vertical plane at an angle to the axis of the drive wheel and the tank. This angle is between 5° and 12°.

In a preferred embodiment, said tapered portion surrounds the entire circumference of the shear wheel.

Preferably, the lower end of the tapered portion is a flange or shoulder surrounding the wheel, the outer surface of the flange or shoulder being parallel to the longitudinal axis of rotation of the shear wheel.

Advantageously, the drive wheel has a portion which, in use, has a surface abutting against the inside of the tank rim, the surface being inclined relative to the vertical axis of the tank at a greater angle than the inclination of the tank rim to this axis.

The rotation of the drive wheel can drive the shear wheel to do passive rotation.

The shearing wheel may have an annular cutting blade body composed of two slopes, the intersection of the two slopes forms a cutting edge, and the two slopes are asymmetrical.

In a preferred embodiment, the intersection angle between the lower inclined portion and the horizontal plane is between 45° and 65°, and the intersection angle between the upper inclined portion and the horizontal plane is smaller than the intersection angle between the lower inclined portion and the horizontal plane.

The tapered portion may be connected to the flange by a shorter, less tapered portion.

The drive wheel may have a frusto-conical portion in contact with the tank rim.

According to the can opener proposed by the present invention, by changing the shape of the shear wheel, it has a sloped portion supporting the can rim below the helical cut cut by the shear wheel, thereby maintaining the can opener. It is stable, and the severed lid can be removed from the can body by hand, thereby further improving the separation effect of the end wall and side wall of the can.

By selecting the appropriate shape of the shear wheel below the shear circumference, the can can be held more firmly in the desired position without undesired turning or rotation. The shear wheel is in an offset position relative to the tank, resting against the more rigid rim, rather than against the thin wall of the tank.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below by way of examples and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The attached drawings include:

Fig. 1 is the bottom view of an embodiment of the can opener of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view along line X-X in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is the partially enlarged view of Fig. 2, shows the detail structure of the can flange in the shearing position and the shearing wheel of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a partial view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a partial sectional view along the line Y-Y in Fig. 2;

Figure 6a is a partial sectional view of the can rim uncut by the can opener of Figures 1-5, and Figure 6b is a partial sectional view of the can rim after being cut.

Figure 6a shows a can C to be opened with a circumferential upright rim R having a top T facing upwards and a lower U facing downwards. The rim R is formed by the overlap of the circumferential edges of the ends of the end wall E of the can and the side wall S of the can.

The can opener shown in the figure can be held by the user in one hand and comprises a relatively large first body part 1 with a handle part 2 and a relatively small second body with a gripping handle part 4 Part 3. The two main parts 1, 3 are each cast parts. A metal die-casting insert 5 fixed on the main body 1 with screws 6 is installed in a U-shaped recess on the bottom surface of the main body 1 . The connecting sleeve 5A on the inlay 5 passes through the two main parts to connect the two main parts together in a rotatable stacking manner.

The two main body parts 1 and 3 of the can opener can rotate relative to each other between the closed position and the open position. The handle 4 of the main body 3 and the handle 2 of the main body 1 are closely attached to each other in the closed position shown in the figure. In the open position shown the two handles are removed.

The shearing wheel 7 is rotatably mounted on the bushing 9 in the groove 9A of the metal insert 5 . The shearing wheel 7 includes an annular shearing blade body 10 protruding from the groove 9A and a flange 11 extending outward from the lowermost end. The blade body 10 includes two slopes 10a and 10b, as shown in Fig. 3, where the intersection of the two slopes forms a cutting edge. These two parts are asymmetrical, that is, the upper half 10a has a smaller inclination angle, for example, an angle of 5° with the horizontal plane, and the lower half 10b is steeper relative to the horizontal plane, with an angle between 45°-65°, preferably about 55°. Such a configuration has been shown to provide high durability of the cutting edge with minimal shear forces. There is also an inclined surface 7a above the shearing wheel 10a, and its function is to generate a gap between the shearing wheel and the driving wheel, which will be described in detail later.

The cutting wheel also has a portion 10c below the blade body portion 10, which protrudes outwards in a direction away from the cutting edge to form a bevel. This section of tapered portion 10c is connected to the aforementioned flange 11 by a shorter, less tapered portion 10d.

The angle of inclination of the beveled portion 10c to the longitudinal axis of the shear wheel may be between 5° and 20°, and the angle of inclination of the beveled portion 10d may be between 25° and 35°.

The flange 11 has an outer annular surface 11a parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shear wheel.

The driving wheel 12 includes a pin shaft 13 passing through the main body 1 at the end away from the handle. The pin shaft 13 can rotate in the shaft sleeve 14 . A T-shaped handwheel 15 is mounted on the top of the pin shaft 13 to rotate the driving wheel 12, and a split spring ring and a spring washer are installed between the bottom surface of the handwheel 15 and the surface opposite to the first body part 1 . The drive wheel 12 includes an inverted frusto-conical portion 17, as shown in FIG.

Most cans currently available for consumption have a rim R, the inner side of which is offset from the vertical axis of the can by about 8° to 10°. We have found that proper selection of the shape of the frusto-conical portion 17 of the drive wheel so that the rim R bends or is deflected outboard by a greater angle than this during shearing can reduce the residual friction between the rim walls on either side of the cut. Bonding is broken. This bending action can also damage the glue or similar seal in the rim of the can and the plastic or similar coating material inside the can. Therefore, the bevel angle of part 17 should be selected to be at least about 10°. The maximum angle of inclination is such that bending the rim at this angle does not cause the drive wheels to turn hard, which is especially important since can openers are of the manual type.

The frusto-conical portion 17 is ribbed 18 to give it a gripping force.

Referring to Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, the bottom surface of main body part 1 is equipped with the support plate 20 that is substantially planar U-shaped, and the middle part 21 of U-shaped plate is recessed and has perforation so that pin shaft 13 mentioned above passes therethrough Pass. Driving wheel 12 is contained in the U-shaped center and stretches out to a position slightly lower than the lowest surface of the U-shaped plate.

As shown in Figure 4, the shear wheel portion is located between the two open arms of the U-shape when the body portion is in the closed position, forming a gap d-d between the two wheels to accommodate the tank rim R.

As shown in FIG. 5, the support plate 20 has two opposite ends 22 which are U-shaped end arms. When the can is placed its rim R is between the drive wheel 12 and the shear wheel 7, and the end 22 rests against the top of the can with contact points 23 and 24 to ensure that the axis of the drive wheel is perpendicular to the lid or end E of the can. The contact points on either side of the shear point generate a downward pressure across the drive wheel, this force is shown in the figure as the reaction force F/2 acting on each contact point to balance the upward force F generated by the shear process .

It will be understood, however, that due to the curvature of the tank, and the offset d-d between the forces F and F/2, there is a possibility of the tank tilting, as indicated by arrow A in FIG. 4 . The tight fit of the shear wheel's sloped surface 10c against the can rim prevents undesired tilting rotation caused by these factors. Because the abutment point is against the tank rim rather than the thin wall of the tank, this tilting can be prevented without deformation of the tank. Since tilting of the can is prevented, the rim of the can remains in a stable position so that the cutting edge can cut at the correct position from the top of the rim.

As shown, the longitudinal or rotational axis of the shear wheel and the axis of the drive wheel and tank are inclined relative to each other at an angle D of approximately 8°.

When in use, the user first turns the main part to the open position, places the edge R of the tank C at the gap between the driving wheel and the shearing wheel, that is, the cutting edge gap d-d (Fig. The body part turns to the illustrated closed state.

With the body portion fully turned to the closed position, the shearing edge contacts and cuts into the upper portion of the outside of the rim R, the frustoconical portion 17 bearing the rim from the inner surface of the rim, while the tapered portion 10c below the shear point engages with the rim R. Engages the outer surface of the blade and exerts a medial force on it (Figure 3). The combination of the two handle parts acts as a lock to prevent excessive force acting on the rim and maintain the horizontal gap between the driving wheel and the shearing wheel at a fixed distance.

The drive wheel 12 rotates to drive the passive shearing wheel and due to the angle "D" the shearing edge 10 cuts a helical vertical downward cut into the rim until the blade body portion 10a pushes the top edge T of the rim upwards. Separated from the lower part of edge R. The shearing wheel continues to shear and remains parallel to the top of the rim, and the cutting edge 10 can separate the end wall E and the side wall S incision edge in the manner of an agricultural plowshare. The frusto-conical portion 17, together with the shearing edge 10, exerts an outward and downward component of force on the can rim that deforms or bends the rim R, while the reaction force exerted by the surface 10c also enhances the separating effect of the sheared rim. Such a combination of forces is effective to keep the rim in a stable position so that the cutting edge 10 can cut through the outer layer of R and cause the cut part T to warp up. The opener can then be removed from the can and the lid can be removed by hand leaving a clean cut.

Figures 6a and 6b show a comparison of cans before and after opening. It can be clearly seen from Fig. 6b that the sheared trailing edge is moderately deformed so that the end wall E can be removed from the tank by hand only without using other accessories.

Claims (11)

1, a kind of upright edge (R) that can form at an end of jar by outside incision and tin opener that end wall and tank body are separated, jar edge (R) comprises the repeatedly limit part of the end wall and the sidewall circumference of jar (C), tin opener comprises two base portions (1 that can relatively rotate installation around an axle, 3), rotating shearing wheel (7) is housed for base portion and another base portion is equipped with rotating drive wheel (12), the two-wheeled axis is positioned at same vertical plane surface (also parallel with the tank body main shaft when clipped position) parallel to each other, in use the edge (R) of jar (C) is placed the two-wheeled (7 of opener, 12) between, opener rotated around jar when drive wheel (12) rotated, meanwhile shearing wheel (7) cuts out circumferential notch in the outside of edge (R), the shape of drive wheel (12) can make a jar edge (R) be out of shape and then make the repeatedly limit interlock between jar end wall and the sidewall loosening when shearing wheel (7) is sheared jar edge (R), opener also is provided with bearing set (20), when bearing set (20) when leaning against the tank top between drive wheel (12) and shearing wheel (7) with the edge (R) of jar (C) last separated from one another two point (23,24) contact, it is characterized in that, shearing wheel (7) have be sheared the helix otch that cuts out of wheel below locate the part (10C) of the band gradient of bearing pot edge, thereby can keep jar stable, and can be with hand with cut lid by taking off on the tank body.

2, tin opener according to claim 1 is characterized in that, the cutting head of shearing wheel (7) be in the vertical plane surface with drive wheel (12) and tank body (C) axis at an angle.

3, tin opener according to claim 2 is characterized in that, this angle is between 5 ° to 12 °.

According to the described tin opener of claim 1,2 or 3, it is characterized in that 4, band gradient part (10C) is around the whole circumference of shearing wheel (7).

5, tin opener according to claim 1 is characterized in that, the lower end of band gradient part (10C) is flange or the shoulder (11) around wheel (7), vertical shaft parallel of the outside face of flange or shoulder and shearing wheel (7).

6, tin opener according to claim 1 is characterized in that, drive wheel (12) has the part (17) that its surface in use can be adjacent to jar edge inboard, this surface with respect to the inclination angle of the vertical axis of jar greater than the inclination angle of jar edge to this axis.

7, tin opener according to claim 1 is characterized in that, the rotation of drive wheel (12) can drive shearing wheel (7) and do passive rotation.

8, tin opener according to claim 1 is characterized in that, shearing wheel (7) has that (intersection, two inclined-planes forms shear blade for 10a, 10b) the annular shear blade body of Zu Chenging, and these two chamfered portions are asymmetrical shape by two chamfered portions.

9, tin opener according to claim 8, it is characterized in that, the angle of cut of lower bevel part (10b) and horizontal surface is between 45 ° to 65 °, and the angle of cut of upper inclined surface part (10a) and horizontal surface is less than the angle of cut of lower bevel part (10b) with horizontal surface.

10, tin opener according to claim 5 is characterized in that, the part (10c) of band gradient is connected with flange (11) by one section less band gradient part (10d) of short gradient.

11, tin opener according to claim 1 is characterized in that, drive wheel (12) has and jar contacted frusto-conical portion of edge (17).

Images