IES20000072A2 - A cap remover - Google Patents

Abstract

A cap remover (1) for a cap such as bottle cap (15) having a closure portion for closing an aperture defined by wall portions of a mouth of a container such as a bottle (12) on which it is placed, and deformable side walls depending from the closure portion and terminating to form a rim. The deformable side walls are press-fittable to the exterior of the wall portions defining the aperture in the container to secure the cap on the container. The cap remover has a handle (3) and a head (2). The head (2) is arranged on the handle and defines a pair of opposed jaws (19,20). The jaws (19,20) are arranged so that in an operating position of the cap remover, one of the jaws presses on a top surface of the closure portion of the cap and the other jaw simultaneously grips the rim (16) of the cap. The cap remover head may be in the form of a nut (4). <Figure 4>

Description

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for removing caps, in particular bottle caps.

Background of the Invention Containers such as bottles particularly those containing beverages such as bottles of beer, lager and the such like have long been provided with pressed-on caps, which usually have no screw thread mechanism and are usually forcibly removed from the top of the bottle or container. Such caps tend not to be reuseable. The term ‘cap’ as used herein is used to include all types lids or tops which can be removed by a cap remover. These caps usually have a closure position includes a flat disk-shaped portion which covers the mouth of the neck of the bottle and side walls which are serrated and which are press-fitted to the bottle neck, usually gripping a rim on the bottle neck to secure the cap on the bottle.

It is known to provide various devices commonly referred to as bottle openers which remove used caps.

One such bottle opener is made from a single piece of metal which defines a handle and has at one end a generally triangular portion with an aperture defined in it. The aperture is usually of an isosceles or equilateral triangular shape. The device is placed over the bottle cap so that the base of the triangular portion rests across the top of the cap while opposite internal sides of the triangle (defining the aperture) grip opposing sides of the lip of the cap. The device is then forced upwards and the sides of the cap are deformed by prising away from the bottle neck thus loosening the grip of the cap on the bottle and thus removing it.

INT GL Ά· OPEN TO PUBLIC INSPECTION UNDER SECTION 28 AND RULE 23 JNL No. OP Object of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative device for removing bottle or container caps. It is a further object of the' invention to provide a bottle cap remover which is easily operated, requiring minimum effort to use and which is nonetheless aesthetically pleasing and suitably which is simple in construction and which is easily constructed from readily available materials.

Summary of the Invention The present invention relates to a cap remover for a cap having a closure portion for closing an aperture defined by wall portions of a mouth of a container on which it is placed, and deformable side walls depending from the closure portion, and terminating to form a rim, the deformable side walls being press-fittable to the exterior of the wall portions defining the aperture in the container to secure the cap on the container, the cap remover having a handle and a head, the head being arranged on the handle and defining a pair of opposed jaws, the jaws being arranged so that in an operating position of the cap remover, one of the jaws presses on a top surface of the closure portion of the cap and the other jaw simultaneously grips the underside of the rim of the cap. The jaw which grips (the underside of) the rim of the cap grips the underside of the cap between the cap and the container.

In a preferred embodiment the pressing end of the jaw which acts on the top surface of the closure portion of the cap has a relatively small area as compared to the area of top surface of the closure portion of the cap between the wall portion of the container defining the aperture. In particular it is preferred that the jaw which presses on the top surface of the cap does so, at or close to, the centre of the cap and suitably along a line across the centre of the cap. Suitably the pressing surface of the jaw presses on a top surface of the closure portion of the cap between the wall portions defining the aperture.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention at least one of the jaws is provided with a skid or slip resistant surface.

This invention also relates to a cap remover comprising a handle and a head arranged on the handle, the head being substantially C-shaped so that opposing ends of the head each define one of two opposing jaws, the head having outer and inner wall surface the outer wall surface having a polygonal configuration. Suitably the inner wall surface is part-circular in shape.

Suitably the cap^emover comprises a handle and a head arranged on the handle wherein the head has the shape of a nut with a polygonally shaped outer wall surface, the nut having a segment of its wall removed so that the head defines a mouth between a pair of opposing jaws formed by the wall of the nut. Preferably the head is internally screw-threaded.

In a preferred arrangement the opposing jaws are defined in opposite sides of the head, the outer wall surface being substantially parallel at the jaws, one jaw face defining an angle of between 45°-60° and the other jaw face defining an angle of between 78° to 90° with the respective parts of the outer wall surface.

Suitably the handle is attached to the head adjacent to one jaw. In one possible arrangement the handle and head are each provided with co-operating threads and are thus threadably engageable with each other.

The invention also relates to a cap remover substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a top view of the bottle top opener of the invention; ΙΕ ο ο Ο ο 7 2 Figure 2 is a side view of the device of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the head of the device of Figure 1.; Figure 4 shows the device of the invention being used to remove a cap; Figure 5 shows a top view of the device of Figure 1 being used to remove a cap; and Figure 6 shows a perspective view of the device of the invention.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment The device of the invention is now described with reference to Figures 1 to 6.

The container shown is a bottle 12. The cap remover 1 has a handle 3 and head 2 arranged on the handle. The head 2 is mounted on the handle 3 by fitting the handle 3 to the head 2 for example by screw threading the head on the handle.

The head 2 is formed by a nut 4 which has been cut at two places (and a segment has been removed) to form two opposing faces 5 and 6. The type of nut in question is the type of nut which is threadible onto a threaded bolt. The complete nut has a circular inner surface about a central aperture and a polygonal outer surface. The polygonal outer surface is usually provided to allow the nut to be screw threaded onto a bolt using a tool such as a spanner (or wrench). When a piece of the nut 4 is cut free and removed, an opening or mouth 7 is defined in the wall 8 of the nut 4. The opening 7 has a shape defined by the faces 5 and 6, and by the central aperture of the nut 4. The space between the faces 5 and 6 allows opening 7 to accommodate a bottle cap 15 press fitted onto the neck of the bottle. The wall 8 thus defines both of two opposing jaws 19, 20.

Alternatively the head 2 may be moulded or otherwise constructed from a single piece or portion of material so as to have a polygonal outer wall and a pair of opposing jaws. Optionally the head 2 when so constructed is internally screw-threaded. When formed from a threaded nut the screw-threads will already be present. ΙΕ ο ο Ο ο 7 2 The handle 3 is attached to the head 2 using a thread system. A threaded hole 9 (shown in dashed outline in Figure 3) is provided in one side of the nut 4, reciprocal threads are provided on the end of the handle 3, so that handle 3 may be screwed securely into hole thus attaching the handle 3 to the head 2.

The outer face 5 of a first pressing jaw of the nut is angled so as to provide a relatively sharply angled or pressing end of the jaw 19 which is formed as a pointed tip 10. The tip has a very small surface area which extends transversely across the width of the nut 4. The term 'width’ as used herein with reference to the nut 4 refers to the transverse width of the nut i.e. the distance from a first side wall surface 11 to a second side wall surface 13.

The outer face 6 of a second gripping jaw of the nut 20 is also angled. The term ‘angled’ refers to the angle of the faces 5 and 6 to the outer surface of the nut 4 or where specified to the handle 3. The space between the jaws accommodate the bottle cap 15.

Figure 3 shows an enlarged view of the nut 4 which forms the head 2.

In particular the jaws 19, 20 are arranged at positions relative to the handle in order to allow the nut 4 and handle 3 to act as a bottle cap opener. In particular each jaw acts as different sides of the handle as the handle is located between the two jaws.

Nut 4 is an ordinary threaded nut. Therefore, when the nut 4 is cut, the inner surface of the nut (which is C-shaped or part-circular) provided with screw threads 18 is exposed. Threads 18, therefore, provide a serrated edge about the circumference of the central aperture 12. The threads 18 meet the gripping edge 21 of the inner gripping jaw 20. These threads 18 allow for a greater grip by the gripping edge 21 and thus reduce slipping along the lower rim 16 of the cap 15 when the cap remover is being used. This grip is even greater for caps such as the cap 15 illustrated where the cap 15 (of metal) has been press-folded (crimped) onto the bottle thus giving rim 16 a gripping (serrated or toothed) edge 21.

With reference to Figures 4 and 5, the bottle top opener 1 is shown in use.

A bottle 14 has a cap 15. The cap 15 has an closure portion 22 which is disk-shaped for closing the mouth of the bottle 14. The cap 15 has deformable (under manual pressure) side walls 23 depending from the closure portion 22 (in a generally circular arrangement) to form a skirt. The side walls 23 are press-fitted to the top of the bottle 14 by engagement with the exterior of the neck usually by engagement with a rim on the neck of the bottle. The side walls termate in a rim 16. The bottle top opener 1 is placed in position so that the cap 15 fits into the opening 7. Jaws 20 (particularly gripping edge 21 grips the underside of the rim 16 of the cap l^between the cap and the bottle. The tip 10 presses onto the upper surface 17 of the cap 15 at a position between the walls of the neck of the bottle.

The handle 3 is forced upwards in the direction of the arrow C in the normal manner for a cap remover. This motion causes the tip 10 of outer jaw 19 to press on the cap 15 while jaw 20 simultaneously grips the rim 16 of the cap 15. The size of the nut 4 is chosen so that the width of the nut (and therefore the transverse length of tip 10) is less than the diameter of the cap 15 and in particular less than the internal diameter of the bottle neck or mouth. The width of the nut may however extend beyond the internal diameter of the neck of the bottle. As shown in Figure 5 the tip 10 thus presses down on the cap along a line substantially across the centre of the cap upper surface 17.

Thus the pressure of tip 10 is exerted over a relatively small area at the centre of the cap 15. The small surface area of tip 10 leads to considerable pressure being exerted on the cap 15 while a relatively small effort is required to move handle 3. The cap 15 is thus deformed by the pressing motion while the jaws 20 pulls the rim 16 of the cap 15 away from the bottle neck.

The simultaneous deformation of the cap 15 and the rim 16 causes the cap 15 to be prised from the bottle. The downward force of tip 10 on the cap 15 may cause the diameter of the rim 16 to be increased, thus causing the cap 15 to be loosened.

The serrated edges present on jaw 19 increase the grip on the rim 16 and thus prevent the cap remover from slipping particularly in the event relatively large forces must be exerted on bottle top opener 1 should the cap 15 prove difficult to remove.

Many different types of threaded nut are known. In particular, the number of sides of the polygonal shape tends to vary. Any threaded nut may be used in the invention. The nut used may also have varied coarseness of screw thread. The thread on the nut used may be a 'fine' thread (i.e. having a relatively large number of threads) or a 'coarse' thread' (i.e. having a relatively low number of threads). In particular a commercially available M18 nut (metric 18mm nut) may be used to form the head. Another type of nut which may be used and is also commercially available is a UNC 3/4 inch (19mm) nut. The bottle top opener may thus be made from commercially available materials by a relatively simple process which requires no specialised equipment. Such nuts may typically be cut at varying angles. In particular with reference to Figure 3 angles A and B are respectively approximately 52° and 85°. However angle A is suitably within the range 45° -60° and more preferably 47° - 57° and angle B is suitably within the range 78° - 90° and more preferably 80° - 88°. The angles A and B are measured against the nearest straight edge of the polygonal shape. It will be noted that in the embodiment for which the angles are defined the handle is substantially perpendicular to parts of the outer wall surface of the nut. It is important that the handle and the head are arranged so that the gripping edge 21 of the jaw 20 is angled to grip the underside of the cap while the pressing edge 10 of the jaw 19 is arranged to simultaneously press on the top of the cap when the cap remover is positioned to remove a cap. In this position the handle extends to one side of the bottle usually at an angle of greater than 20° Suitably the cap remover is constructed of stainless steel or other such material which does not corrode.

IE ο Ο Ο Ο 7 2 It will be appreciated that the head 2 need not be an actual threaded nut, but may be moulded or cast in the desired shape for instance. Furthermore the serrated edge formed by the threads 18 consist of ridges which are shaped in a partial helical configuration as this is the normal configuration of threads on a threaded nut. These ridges may alternatively be concentric without the partial helical configuration. While it is preferred to provide a serrated or gripping edge on the bottle top opener it will be appreciated that this is not essential to the invention.

While the polygonal conformation of the outer edges of the cut nut is a preferred feature of the invention which enhances the aesthetic features and which provides the jaws of the bottle top opener, it will be appreciated that any device having opposing jaws as described above with or without the serrated edge, and having a handle 3 will function in a manner similar to the cap opener 1 described above.

Claims (5)

1 A cap remover for a cap having a closure portion for closing an aperture defined by wall portions of a mouth of a container on which it is placed, and deformable side walls depending from the closure portion and terminating to form a rim, the deformable side walls being press-fittable to the exterior of the wall portions defining the aperture in the container to secure the cap on the container, the cap remover having a handle and a head, the head being arranged on the handle, and defining a pair of opposed jaws, the jaws being arranged so that in an operating position of the cap remover, one of the jaws presses on a top surface of the closure portion of the cap and the other jaw simultaneously grips the rim of the cap.

2. A cap remover comprising a handle and a head arranged on the handle, the head being substantially C-shaped so that opposing ends of the head each define one of two opposing jaws, the head having outer and inner wall surfaces the outer wall surface having a polygonal configuration.

3. A cap remover comprising a handle and a head arranged on the handle wherein the head has the shape of a nut with a polygonally shaped outer wall surface, the nut having a segment of its wall removed so that the head defines a mouth between a pair of opposing jaws formed by the wall of the nut.

4. A cap remover according to Claim 3 wherein the opposing jaws are defined in opposite sides of the head, the outer wall surface being substantially parallel, one jaw face defining an angle of between 45°-60° and the other jawface defining an angle of between 78° to 90° with the respective parts of the outer wall surface.

5. A cap remover substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.