EP0011633B1 - Tube key - Google Patents

Tube key Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0011633B1
EP0011633B1 EP79900387A EP79900387A EP0011633B1 EP 0011633 B1 EP0011633 B1 EP 0011633B1 EP 79900387 A EP79900387 A EP 79900387A EP 79900387 A EP79900387 A EP 79900387A EP 0011633 B1 EP0011633 B1 EP 0011633B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
tube
legs
key
handle
springy
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP79900387A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0011633A1 (en
Inventor
Karl Göran ROSENLIND
Stig Bertil Thomas Brandberg
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
SVENSKA STRECK AB
Original Assignee
SVENSKA STRECK AB
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by SVENSKA STRECK AB filed Critical SVENSKA STRECK AB
Publication of EP0011633A1 publication Critical patent/EP0011633A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0011633B1 publication Critical patent/EP0011633B1/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D35/00—Pliable tubular containers adapted to be permanently or temporarily deformed to expel contents, e.g. collapsible tubes for toothpaste or other plastic or semi-liquid material; Holders therefor
    • B65D35/24—Pliable tubular containers adapted to be permanently or temporarily deformed to expel contents, e.g. collapsible tubes for toothpaste or other plastic or semi-liquid material; Holders therefor with auxiliary devices
    • B65D35/32—Winding keys

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a combination of a collapsible tube containing a product to be exuded from an outlet at one end of the tube and a tube key which can be engaged with the tube at its closed end and rotated to collapse the tube gradually from the closed end to exude ' the product, all as set out in the precharacterising part of claim 1.
  • the exuding tube is a hygienic, practical and economical package which is used for many different products.
  • the tubes are used to a relatively restricted extent. Tubes made of metal like aluminium or any light metal alloy are so stiff that problems appear to many people when exuding the product by rolling the tube up from the end thereof. Either the said persons do not manage to exude the product from the end and therefore the tube is squeezed somewhere close to the opening or the tube is folded or wrinkled during the attempts to roll up the tube. In both cases a substantial amount of the contents of the tube gets lost and the tube assumes an unattractive appearance.
  • Previously tube keys were often used consisting of a piece of metal plate having a punched slot or a key of a metal wire likewise providing a slot in which the end of the tube can be introduced.
  • Such keys normally are far too weak to withstand the stiff tubes nowadays appearing on the market or tubes containing stiff products. Further the said keys are supplied separately which many times causes problems in handling and supply and which often causes loss of the keys. Even if the keys actually might be reused this involves some trouble in that the tube after the content has been exuded must be unrolled, so that the end of the tube can be released from the slot of the key.
  • the said previously known keys generally are formed so that the groove is adapted to the end of the tube with a fairly good fit, and the keys have such small outer diameter that the tube, at least during the first turns, must be rolled onto the key with a very little radius of curvature. For this reason the material is easily folded or wrinkled and the tube may move sideways when being rolled up so that finally the content of a longitudinal end of the tube is left un-exuded.
  • British Patent GB-A-438.206 and French Patent Application FR-A-2.218.255 disclose another type of tube key, comprising a handle carrying two parallel side-by-side spaced apart legs which are free at the ends opposite to the handle.
  • the tube key disclosed in the first document is made of a plate material which is rather thin; the problem of this document is to avoid twisting of the legs when the contents of the tube is expelled and, to this end, the tube key is made of hardened steel.
  • the pre-characterising part of claim 1 is known from this document.
  • the two legs of the tube key are secured together by a ring, at the ends opposite to the handle, whenever used.
  • Both structures allow a removal of the tube key from the tube, when empty, without unrolling of the tube, while preserving a high rigidity of the tube key.
  • the problem solved by the invention is to provide a tube exuding key which is intended to be used with different types of tubes and by means of which the contents of different types of tubes easily can be exuded, which can easily be released without unrolling the tube when the tube is empty, and which by its special form actually contributes to the exuding of the product packed in the tube.
  • the tube key illustrated in Figure 1 is made of a round material, for instance a round bar of stainless steel or spring steel which is bent to a substantially circular handle 1 which at the ends merges in two parallel legs 2.
  • the length of the legs should be about twice the average diameter of the tube for which the key is intended to be used.
  • the least free distance 3 between the legs is at least twelve times the thickness of the material that the tube is made of, which means that the flattened tube end comprising two layers of tube material with large play can be introduced in the gap 3 between the legs 2.
  • the legs 2 which are free at the ends 4 thereof opposite the handle 1 are made of material of such thickness that the least free distance in the gap 3 between the legs 2 is 0.25-0.75 of the average diameter of the legs.
  • the legs 2 have a diameter which is between sixteen and forty eight times the width of the gap 3.
  • the legs of the key according to the invention therefore have a very large circumference and a very wide gap 3 between the legs 2 at the same time as the legs 2 are springy and are free at one end thereof.
  • This is essential to the invention in order to make it possible to pull out the tube key laterally after the tube is squeezed empty and to provide a spring action against the tube that contributes to keep the tube end well clamped between the two legs 2 and the outer turns of the tube lying thereover.
  • the tube key provides a kind of pumping activity assisting the exuding of the content of the tube at the open end thereof.
  • Figure 2 is illustrated diagrammatically a cross section of the key according to Figure 1 applied to a tube 5, and in which a couple of turns 6 of the tube have been rolled on the key.
  • the flattened end is introduced in the gap 3 and is folded about one of the legs 2a and is held secured by the thumb when the key is being rotated by means of the handle 1.
  • the tube end is laid in S-form first round one leg 2a and thereafter round the second leg 2b, whereafter the tube end is clamped between the first leg 2a and the subsequent turn 6 of the tube.
  • the legs 2 are springy they are resiliently clamped somewhat together when the tube is squeezed in connection with the exuding of the content 7 thereof, and as the rotating movement is stopped the legs 2 tend to move apart by the spring action, whereby the tube content which may be present in the part of the tube lying round the second leg 2b is pressed forwards in the tube by a pump like activity.
  • the key is easily released by simply drawn out laterally which does not cause any problems since the gap 3 between the legs 2 is substantially larger than the two layer tube material and since the legs 2 are springy and have open free ends.
  • FIGs 3, 4 and 5 are illustrated three different embodiments of tube keys according to the invention which all comprise a handle 1 and two parallel legs 2 which are springy and free at the ends opposite the handle 1.
  • Figure 6 is shown an alternative embodiment of the tube key according to the invention in which the key is formed as two halves each including a handle half 1 a, 1 b. The two handle halves are connected by an intermediate joint 8 so that the handle halves can be rotated out from each other.
  • one half is formed with a shoulder 9 which keeps the two legs 2 on a correct mutual distance from each other when the legs are moved together.
  • the legs may be formed with a cross sectional form other than the circular form, for instance with a square form, rectangular form or any other polygonal cross section form.
  • the legs can be formed with longitudinal grooves 10 as indicated in Figure 4 or one leg can be formed with a narrow slot 11 as indicated in Figure 5 in which the compressed tube end can be introduced laterally.
  • the leg 2 having the slot 11 ought to have somewhat larger diameter than the other leg so that the two legs have substantially the same spring action.
  • the embodiment illustrated in Figure 6 can be formed as a screw lid opener with the handle portion 1 a, 1 b, and the key besides can be combined with any other domestic apparatus like a tin-opener or similar means.
  • a tube key according to the invention intended for exuding the contents of for instance caviar tubes having an average diameter of thirty mm the tube key was made as illustrated in Figure 1 of stainless steel having a circular cross section form and six mm diameter.
  • the free gap 3 between the legs 2 was three millimeters
  • the length of the legs between the outer ends 4 and the point where the legs merge into the handle 1 was sixty mm
  • the outer diameter of the handle 1 was sixtyfive mm.
  • legs 2 can be given any wanted length but the least length preferably should be twice the average diameter of the tube for which the key is intended.
  • the above described tube key may be used for tubes of metal like light metal or any aluminium alloy as well as for tubes made of plastic or any other material.
  • the use of the tube key according to the invention is advantageous in that the content 7 of the tube is always pressed out from behind and that the content both at the tube end and along the edge provides a sealing which prevents air from being sucked into the tube like what may happen when pressing the content out by hand.
  • the spring action provided by the springy legs acts for this purpose even after the tube key is let free. As long as the tube key is kept on the tube it prevents the tube from unrolling depending on the large mass and the large size of the tube key, even if the tube material is very elastic and tends to regain its initial form.
  • the tube key upon need can be released even from a half emptied tube and it can easily be remounted in that the legs are pressed somewhat together to enter the spaces inside and between the tube turns.
  • the tube key can be formed of very thick material it can be used even for every stiff products like stiff paints, filler, butter or margarine, treacle and many other stiff products and products which are difficult to handle.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Table Equipment (AREA)
  • Toys (AREA)
  • Auxiliary Devices For Music (AREA)
  • Supports Or Holders For Household Use (AREA)
  • Hand Tools For Fitting Together And Separating, Or Other Hand Tools (AREA)
  • Tubes (AREA)
  • Food-Manufacturing Devices (AREA)
EP79900387A 1978-04-06 1979-11-05 Tube key Expired EP0011633B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
SE7803909 1978-04-06
SE7803909A SE7803909L (sv) 1978-04-06 1978-04-06 Tubnyckel

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0011633A1 EP0011633A1 (en) 1980-06-11
EP0011633B1 true EP0011633B1 (en) 1984-06-13

Family

ID=20334518

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP79900387A Expired EP0011633B1 (en) 1978-04-06 1979-11-05 Tube key

Country Status (11)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0011633B1 (it)
JP (1) JPS55500229A (it)
CA (1) CA1120013A (it)
CH (1) CH641110A5 (it)
DE (1) DE2945418A1 (it)
ES (1) ES250474Y (it)
GB (1) GB2035948B (it)
IT (2) IT1116180B (it)
SE (1) SE7803909L (it)
SU (1) SU936802A3 (it)
WO (1) WO1979000887A1 (it)

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB8402307D0 (en) * 1984-01-28 1984-02-29 Wilcox N T W Wind up key
EP0195014A4 (en) * 1984-08-06 1988-02-23 Robert Hill LOCKABLE TUBE REEL.
EP0752113B1 (en) 1994-03-25 2001-11-07 QUALCOMM Incorporated A position determination method for use with analog cellular system
DE19743182A1 (de) * 1997-09-30 1999-04-08 Steffen Scherbel Tubenentleerer
CA2809814C (en) 2013-03-18 2018-06-19 Richard Douglas Barkley Apparatus and method for rolling cigarette filters

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US648981A (en) * 1899-07-08 1900-05-08 Francis A Nelson Collapsible-tube attachment.
CH125349A (de) * 1927-03-19 1928-04-16 Friedrich Hediger Hermann Vorrichtung zum Herausdrücken des Inhaltes einer Tube.
GB438206A (en) * 1935-08-02 1935-11-13 Lewis Elboz Improvements in means for exuding the contents of collapsible tubes or containers
FR2218255B3 (it) * 1973-02-19 1976-02-13 Martin Lucien Fr

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB2035948B (en) 1982-12-22
SU936802A3 (ru) 1982-06-15
ES250474U (es) 1981-02-01
IT7935764V0 (it) 1979-04-06
EP0011633A1 (en) 1980-06-11
IT1116180B (it) 1986-02-10
CH641110A5 (de) 1984-02-15
WO1979000887A1 (en) 1979-11-01
IT7948665A0 (it) 1979-04-06
SE7803909L (sv) 1979-10-07
JPS55500229A (it) 1980-04-17
GB2035948A (en) 1980-06-25
ES250474Y (es) 1981-11-01
DE2945418A1 (en) 1980-12-11
CA1120013A (en) 1982-03-16

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