US20110315652A1

US20110315652A1 - Safety seal remover

Info

Publication number: US20110315652A1
Application number: US12/821,493
Authority: US
Inventors: Sharon Zeller
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-06-23
Filing date: 2010-06-23
Publication date: 2011-12-29

Abstract

A safety seal remover comprising a finger ring, and a rim ring secured to the finger ring at a connection point wherein the rim ring attaches to a rim of a bottle under a safety seal and the finger ring lies above the safety seal so that when the finger ring is pulled the rim ring lifts causing the safety seal to tear from the rim of the bottle. The safety seal remover allows for simple and effective removal of the safety seals placed on most medication bottles and food jars.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety seal remover for a bottle to allow a user to easily remove a safety seal.
2. Description of Related Art
Today, most consumers are cautious of where their medications and food products have been or who has handled them. People do not want their personal products tampered with or handled by many people, especially those products which will be ingested by the individual. Pharmaceutical companies and food production warehouses have taken the consumers concerns into consideration and provided safety seals or tamper resistant seals on the bottles of their products. These seals reassure the consumer that nobody has touched the contents of the bottles since the bottles left the manufacturer.
Even though the seals offer peace of mind to the consumer, they are also a hassle to remove. Many of the seals provide small lips around the edges so that the person can grip the lip to remove the seal. Most of the time these lips are difficult to grasp and the person merely ends up slicing the seal with a knife or another sharp object. Some seals have half moon shaped pieces of plastic or paper attached to the edge of the seal, so that the person may simply to pull off the seal. This however usually ends up in a similar fashion with the user grabbing the knife to puncture the seal because the half-moon shaped plastic tears away or rips away from the seal.
It would be beneficial in the art to have a way to easily remove the safety seal of bottle without having to resort to using a knife. It would also be desirable to have a device which is inexpensive so that it could easily be incorporated into the current production line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a safety seal remover that ensures the easy removal of a safety seal from packaged products. The safety seal may be a single ring looped into a figure-eight or two separate rings connected together. A rim ring attaches to the rim of the bottle under the safety seal while a finger ring is outside of the seal. The present invention enables a person to pull on the finger ring to lift the rim ring thus causing the safety seal to tear and the bottle contents to be exposed. The safety seal remover is beneficial and easy to use for the consumer, because the consumer is assured that their product is safe while still being able to open the container with convenience and ease.
Another object of the present invention is that the safety seal remover may be easily incorporated into the current production lines at food warehouses and pharmaceutical companies. The safety seal remover is inexpensive and offers a simple design for quick additions to the assembly line.
These together with other aspects of the present invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the present invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and form a part of this present invention. For a better understanding of the present invention, its operating advantages, and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The advantages and features of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements are identified with like symbols, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a safety seal remover in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a safety seal remover on a bottle top in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the description of several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The safety seal remover is a convenient and simple way to open bottles and jars covered with a safety seal. A person may simply pull on a finger ring attached to a rim ring glued to a bottle rim, under the safety seal, wherein as the rim ring lifts the safety seal tears to expose the bottle contents. A person does not have to struggle trying to remove the safety seal or resort to using a knife to puncture the top.
Turning now descriptively to the drawings, referring to FIG. 1, a perspective view of a safety seal remover (10) in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. The safety seal remover (10) may be a single ring twisted into a figure-eight to create a finger ring (12) and a rim ring (14). Alternatively, the safety seal remover may include two separate pieces joined at a connection point (16). The rim ring (14) has a circular shape that may accommodate a medicine bottle, a food jar or any other container which utilizes a safety seal. The finger ring (12) may have a circular or squared shape depending on the particular design, and the circumference of the finger ring (12) will be large enough to fit around an adult finger. The finger ring (12) may have a circumference smaller than or equal to the size of the rim ring (14). The finger ring (12) and the rim ring (14) may be made from a thin plastic material similar to fishing wire, a strong paper material, a thin metal or a combination of these products. The material used for the safety seal remover (10) should be strong enough so that when the finger ring (12) is pulled the rim ring (14) will lift from under the safety seal while keeping the two components joined. The connection point (16) may glue or melt the finger ring (12) and rim ring (14) together.
Referring to FIG. 2, a perspective view of the safety seal remover (10) is shown attached to a top portion of a bottle (20) in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The bottle (20) includes a rim (22) and a seal (24). The seal (24) may cover the entire opening of the upper portion of the bottle (20) and may extend around the rim (22). The seal (24) may be made from paper or a thin metal, and may protect the contents of the bottle (20) from spilling and tampering. The rim ring (14) may be glued along an upper edge of the rim (22). The seal (24) may be glued above the rim ring (14) with the finger ring (12) hanging to a side. The finger ring (12) may then be secured or folded over the seal (24) at the connection point (16). When the finger ring (12) is pulled the rim ring (14) lifts, tearing the seal (24) from the rim (22) thus exposing the contents of the bottle.
The safety seal remover may allow a user to effortlessly remove the seal from the rim of the bottles. The bottles may be medication bottles, food jars or other containers which are normally sealed with a safety seal or tamper resistant seal. The simple design of the safety seal remover may allow for easy incorporation into the assembly of medication bottles at pharmaceutical companies, food service warehouses and the like. The materials used for the safety seal remover are inexpensive and are meant to be discarded along with the seal after opening. The user will not have to struggle opening the bottles and jars because of the convenient pull and lift design of the safety seal remover.
The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The exemplary embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

1. A safety seal remover comprising:

a finger ring; and

a rim ring secured to the finger ring at a connection point wherein the rim ring attaches to a rim of a bottle under a safety seal and the finger ring lies above the safety seal so that when the finger ring is pulled the rim ring lifts causing the safety seal to tear from the rim of the bottle.

2. The safety seal remover of claim 1, wherein the finger ring and the rim ring are formed from a single ring shaped as a figure-eight.

3. The safety seal remover of claim 1, wherein the safety seal remover is made from a thin plastic material.

4. The safety seal remover of claim 3, wherein the finger ring is melted to the rim ring at the connection point

5. The safety seal remover of claim 1, wherein the safety seal remover is made of paper and a thin metal.

6. The safety seal remover of claim 5, wherein the finger ring is glued to the rim ring at the connection point.

7. The safety seal remover of claim 1, wherein the finger ring has a circular shape.

8. The safety seal remover of claim 1, wherein the finger ring has a squared shape.