US2285783A - Can opener - Google Patents

Description

June 9, 1942.

G. REENSTIERNA 2,285,783

. CAN OPENER Filed May 11, 1940 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

GUSTAF L. REENSTIER NA.

Patented June 9, 1942 UNITED STATES CAN OPENER Gustaf L. Recnstierna, Union City, N. J., assignor of one-half to Remo Aiazzone, Union City,

Application May 11, 1940, Serial No. 334,484

12 Claims.

My invention relates to can openers for piercing and cutting the top of sheet metal cans and particularly to cylindrical tin cans for domestic use and has among its purposes and objects to provide:

A can opener which cuts and forms a pouring lip.

A sanitary can opener.

A can opener which cuts the top of a metal can and bends the cut portion to provide an eutwardly extending lip for pouring.

A convenient can opener requiring little manual effort.

A can opener which permits the contents of the can to be completely emptied without dripping.

A can opener which holds the can while being opened.

A safe can opener which cannot slip and injure the user.

A can opener which partially cuts out a part of the top without bending the partly cut portion into the can.

I accomplish these and other objects by the construction herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part her of in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the swing joint.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation along the longitudinal centerline.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the end of the cutting lever.

Fig. 5 is a bottom view.

Fig. 6 i a perspective view showing the application of my device in cutting the can.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the application of my device in bending the pouring lip.

Sirnilar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the draw ing and in the specification to follow.

Can openers are so well known to the hcusewife that a statement of their disadvantages, danger, and shortcomings need not here be enumerated and the advantages of my can opener will at once be apparent to anyone when its construction and operation are understood. My device holds the can by being secured to it. The cutter is secured to a lever so that little efiort is required to cut the tin top of the can. The lip is not forced into the can when it is cut but is bent outwardly to provide a pouring lip and because the lip is bent close to the rim of the can all of the contents may be emptied from the can and most of the solid food as well as liquid is easily poured out. Beans, spaghetti, soup and many {fruits and canned vegetables may be poured out without removing the top end of the can. For liquids and pasty or gruel-like contents, the contents may be poured out without dripping or a part of the contents withheld as is the case of such material in a can when opened by a can opener which forces the lip into the can. The dirt on the top of thecan is not mixed with the contents of the can when it is opened; thus the contents of the can opened by my device is kept clean and sanitary.

I have herein illustrated and described in detail one of the constructions embodying the underlying principle of my invention. I do not wish to be confined to these details as they are 3. The lug 2 is provided with the boss 4 extended from the metal of said lug and tapped to receive the clamp screw 5 which is provided at one end with the wing head 6 and at the other end with the loose clamp plate 7 which receives the end of the clamp screw 5 permitting it to freely the opposite end of the clamp member I.

'top rim of the can is thus held between the plate revolve therein. The clamp plate 1 engages the rim 8 of the can 9 and cooperates with the downwardly depending ears iii and H which are bent downwardly from the metal of the spider H2 at The l and ears l9 and I! by tightening the screw 5 in the lug 2. The spider is preferably formed integral with the shank 3 and is cut out at I3 within its margin It to permit the travel of the cutter l5.

The spider at its center terminates into the turn table It which'thereby forms the extreme opposite end of the member i from the clamp lug 2. The turn table is apertured to receive the pin ii on which the swing joint is is swung.

The swing joint is preferably disc shaped and is provided with diametrically opposed upturned ears i9 and 29 which receive the pin. 2! on which the bearings 22 and 23 of the lever 2 is vertically swingingly mounted. The bearings 22 and 23 may be formed integral with the lever 26 and bent around and back upon the top surface of said lever. The bearings 22 and 23 are spaced apart thereby providing room between themfor the torsional spring 25 around said pin 2! causing the lever 24 to be normally held in its lowered position against the detent 26 which engages the hole or depression 21 in the center of the shank and spider and which thus holds the lever in its center position when not in use.

The lever 24 is prevented from being raised more than is necessary for its operation by the stops 28 and 29 formed on the ears [9 and 23. The lever is prevented from swinging horizontally more than is necessary by the center upturned stop lug 30 which contacts the ears l3 and 20 at each end of its swing thereby preventing the cutter from striking the cut out marginal edges of the spider.

The cutter I is preferably secured to the under surface of and swung by the lever 24 and is so shaped and disposed downwardly from the lever.

24 as to pierce the top 3| of the can 9 at or near the edge of the rim 8 as to cause the lip cut by it to turn upwardly along its edge 32. The cutter is beveled so that its cutting edge is on the side toward the pin ll around which it moves which causes the edge of the top of the can to be bent slightly downward or opposite to the upward bend along the edge of the lip which is caused by the pressure of said edge against the fiat face of the cutter between its cutting edges. This pressure is caused by the difference between the are on which the cutter travels and the flat surface of the cutter.

The cutter is disposed also on an incline rather than perpendicular to the under surface of the lever 24 thereby providing an upward pressure to raise the marginal edge 32 of the lip 33 as may be seen in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

At the end of the lever opposite the bearings 22 and 23, I have provided a tongue 34 which preferably lies on a plane parallel to the upper surface 35 of the lever 24 and spaced sufficiently above it to receive the lip which is forced between the surface 35 and the lower surface 36 of the tongue 35 which is preferably provided with a beveled end 37 to facilitate engaging the edge of the lip. The raising of the lever 34 as may be seen in Fig. '7 causes the lip to bend to the desired position for pouring; the pressure required to bend the lip as well as the curved rim of the can cause the lip to be disked thereby assisting the flow of the contents of the can on its surface which was on the inside of the can before the lip was bent.

To guide the clamp plate I and to prevent it from turning, I have provided the T head 38, the neck 39 of which travels in the slot 40 in the shank 3 of the member I.

The slope or angle of the cutter, its width and the radius on which it swings may be varied to suit the conditions and size of cans which it is desired to open. The size and shape of the parts may be also made to suit the operating conditions.

Having thus described and illustrated one of the embodiments of my invention, what I claim is new and wish to secure by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a can opener, a clamp member and means thereon detachably securing said member to a can and a lever and cutter secured thereto, said lever swingingly mounted to said member to swing on a center outside the periphery of the top of the can to cut a lip in the top of a can.

2. In a can opener, a clamp member and means thereon detachably securing said member to a can and a lever and cutter secured thereto, said lever swingingly mounted to said member to swing on a center outside the periphery of the top of the can to cut a lip in the top of a can and means positioned above said center hinging and permitting said lever to be raised upwardly.

3. In a can opener, a clamp member and means thereon detachably securing said member to a can and a lever and cutter secured thereto, said lever swingingly mounted to said member to swing on a center outside the periphery of the top of the can, said cutter having a beveled edge, the cutting edge of which is disposed on the face away from the center of the top of the can and toward the center on which said lever swings.

4. In a can opener, a clamp member and means thereon detachably securing said member to a can and a lever and cutter secured thereto, said lever swingingly mounted to said member to swing on a center outside the periphery of the top of the can, said cutter having a beveled edge, the cutting edge of which is disposed on the face toward the center on which said lever swings, said cutter having a surface, a part of which is at less radial distance than said cutting edge thereby turning the edge of the lip upwardly.

5. In a can opener, a clamp member and means thereon detachably securing said member to a can and a lever and cutter secured thereto, said lever swingingly mounted to said member, said cutter having a beveled edge, the cutting edge of which is disposed on the face toward the center on which said lever swings to bend the edge of the cut in the can top at a radius on which the lever swings downwardly.

6. In a can opener, a clamp member and means thereon detachably securing said member to a can and a lever and cutter secured thereto, said lever swingingly mounted to said member, said cutter having a beveled edge, the cutting edge of which is disposed on the face toward the center on which said lever swings, said cutter having a surface, a part of which is at less radial distance than said cutting edge to bend the edge of said lip upwardly at a radius on which said lever swings.

7. In a can opener, a member having a depending lug and clamp screw therein at one end of said member and downward disposed ears near the opposite end to engage and detachably secure said member to the top of a can and means having a cutter thereon swingingly mounted in said member to cut an arc in the top of the can and a lip formed by said are and means turning the edge of said arc upwardly when cut.

8. In a can opener, a member having a depending lug and clamp screw therein at one end of 'said member and downward disposed ears near the opposite end to engage and detachably secure said member to the top of a can and means having a cutter thereon swingingly mounted in said member to cut an arc in the top of the can and a lip formed by said are and means turning the edge of said arc downwardly in the cut out portion of the can top and the edge upwardly of the lip.

9. In a can opener, a member having a clamp screw at one end of said member and downward disposed ears near the opposite end to engage and detachably secure said member to the top of a can, a swing'joint swingingly mounted on said member and positioned outside the periphery of the can to move on a horizontal plane and a lever and cutter secured thereto said lever swingingly mounted in said swing joint to move vertically to engage the can top and to cut an are having its ends near the periphery of the can.

10. In a can opener, a member and means engaging and detachably securing said member to the top of a can and a lever having a cutting edge movable vertically and horizontally in relation to said member, said lever having its center of movement outside the periphery of the top of said can.

11. In a can opener, a member having a depending lug and clamp screw therein at one end of said member and downward disposed ears near the opposite end to engage and detachably secure GUSTAF L. REENSTIERNA.

Images