| US1628715A | 1927-05-17 | |||
| DE4401133A1 | 1995-03-23 | |||
| DE3503025A1 | 1986-07-31 |
| 1. | A bottleopener for removing a bottle cap from a bottle, the bottle cap having an upper surface and a skirt extending downwardly from said upper surface to a free end of the skirt, the upper surface of the cap having a rim portion proximate a rim of the bottle, said bottleopener comprising a grip capable of acting as a point of force and a head having a pressing portion capable of acting as a fulcrum and a lifting portion capable of acting as a point of action in lever operation, wherein said pressing portion is spaced apart from said lifting portion by a predetermined distance so that said pressing portion is capable of pressing the rim portion of the upper portion of the bottle cap and said lifting portion capable of catching the free end of the skirt of said bottle cap. |
| 2. | The bottleopener as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said head is stepped so that said lifting portion is at an elevation below said pressing portion at a vertical distance equivalent to a height of said bottle cap. |
| 3. | The bottleopener as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a restricting member formed proximate said lifting portion, said restricting member being capable of keeping an end portion of said lifting portion from making contact with the bottle. |
| 4. | The bottleopener as claimed in claim 1, further comprising guiding members formed on opposing sides of said head for securely positioning said bottleopener around the skirt of said bottle cap to keep said pressing portion and said lifting portion from wobbling left and right. |
| 5. | The bottleopener as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a restricting member formed proximate said lifting portion to keep an end portion of said lifting portion from contacting the bottle, and guiding members formed on opposing sides of said head for securely positioning said bottleopener on said bottle cap to keep said pressing portion and said lifting portion from wobbling left and right. |
| 6. | A bottleopener for removing a bottle cap from a bottle, the bottle cap having an upper surface and a skirt extending downwardly from said upper surface to a free end of the skirt, the upper surface of the cap having a rim portion proximate a rim of the bottle, said bottleopener comprising a pressed metal material portion having a pressing portion and a lifting portion therein, said pressing portion being separated from said lifting portion by a predetermined distance, said pressing portion being capable of pressing the rim portion of the upper surface of the bottle cap and said lifting portion being capable of catching the free end of the skirt of said bottlecap, and said bottleopener further comprising a covering portion covering said pressed metal material and having an opening capable of receiving said bottle cap, said pressing poition and said lifting portion of said pressed metal material portion protruding from walls of said opening. |
1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to a bottle-opener for lifting the cap off a
bottle of carbonated beverage such as cola and beer and more particularly, to a bottle-opener that makes an exhilarating popping sound that is pleasing to the ear as the bottle cap is removed.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
When a bottle of carbonated drink such as soda-water or beer is opened, it usually makes a hissing sound However, an exhilarating popping sound that is pleasing to the ear can also be made by quickly lifting the cap off the bottle. Many people like the popping sound when opening a bottle of carbonated drink or beer because people tend to think that the popping sound suggests freshness of the drink in the bottle. Therefore, there is a need for a bottle-opener which makes such sound with ease. Further, it is preferable that an opener opens a bottle without any deformation of the cap so that it can be reused to keep the leftover drink fresh.
When opening a bottle of a soda-water soft drink or beer, a conventional opener usually makes a hissing sound only and hardly makes the exhilarating popping sound. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional opener 1 is comprised of a
grip 2 and a head 3. Head 3 has an opening 4 having a pressing portion S and a lifting portion 6 formed therein, facing each other. Pressing portion 5 is apart from lifting portion 6 by a distance D so that the former presses down on the center portion 7a of the upper surface of the bottle cap 7, and the lifting portion 6 catches the bottom of the rim portion 7b of the creased skirt bf bottle cap 7, as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the operation of opener 1 relies on the lever principle in that grip 2 acts as a point of force, pressing portion 5 acts as a fulcrum, and lifting portion 6 acts as a point of action. When using opener 1, rim portion 7b on the creased skirt of bottle cap 7 is forcibly lifted off by lifting portion 6, while center portion 7a of the upper surface of bottle cap 7 is pressed down by pressing portion 5. This causes the bottle cap 7 to bend at its middle as denoted by the two-dot-and-dashed line of FIG. 2. In this way, bottle cap 7 is removed from bottle 8. As a result, since the mouth 9 of the bottle 8 opens gradually from an end thereof, the pressure inside the bottle is released gradually without making the desired popping sound. Furthermore, the opened bottle cap 7 with its bent center portion 7a cannot be re-used for closing the mouth 9 of bottle 8 again to keep the leftover fresh in the bottle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved bottle-opener that enables people to make an exhilarating popping bottle-opening sound without significant deformation of the shape of the bottle cap as it is removed from a
bottle.
To achieve the above object of the present invention, there is provided a bottle-opener comprising a grip and a head in which a pressing portion acts as the fulcrum of a lever and a lifting portion acts as the point of action thereof, wherein the pressing portion is at a predetermined distance apart from the lifting portion so that the pressing portion presses a rim portion of the upper surface of a bottle cap and the lifting portion catches the bottom of the tip of the rim portion of the creased skirt of the bottle cap.
The foregoing specific objects and advantages of the invention are illustrative of those which can be achieved by the present invention and is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting of the possible advantages which can be realized. Thus, this and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the description herein or can be learned from practicing this invention, both as embodied herein or as modified in view of any variations which may be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention
resides in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The above object and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional bottle-opener;
FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of a bottle cap being removed from a bottle by a conventional bottle-opener;
FIG. 3 is perspective view of a bottle-opener according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of a bottle cap being removed from a bottle by the bottle-opener of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bottle-opener according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of a bottle cap being removed from a bottle by the bottle-opener of FIG. 5; and
FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of a bottle cap being removed from a bottle by a bottle-opener according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail
with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 3 illustrates a bottle-opener 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Bottle-opener 10 is comprised of a grip 11 and a head 12. Head 12 includes an opening 13 having a pressing portion 14 and a lifting portion 15 formed on the inside edge thereof facing each other. Pressing portion 14 is apart from lifting portion 15 at a distance D so that the pressing ponion 14 makes contact with the bottle cap 7 at the rim portion 7c of the upper surface of bottle cap 7, and the lifting portion catches the bottom of the tip of the creased skirt 7b of bottle cap 7.
In the state shown in FIG. 4, when grip 11 is lifted upward, lifting portion 15 lifts rim portion 7b of the creased skirt of bottle cap 7 taking the bottle cap 7 off the bottle 8. The fulcrum point of the lever of bottle-opener 10 is at rim portion 7c of the upper surface of bottle cap 7 where pressing portion 14 of bottle- opener 10 presses the bottle cap 7. Therefore, unlike a conventional bottle- opener, the opener of the present invention instantaneously removes the bottle cap 7 from the bottle 8 without changing the original configuration of the bottle cap making an exhilarating popping sound.
FIG. 5 illustrates a bottle-opener 20 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Bottle-opener 20 has grip 21 and head 22 which is angled to grip 21. Head 22 has an opening 23 and is bent such that a pressing portion 24 is stepped relative a lifting portion 25. Bottle-opener 20 is further provided with a restricting protrusion 26 and guiding protrusions 27 formed on each side of the opening 23.
Referring to FIG. 6, pressing portion 24 is apart from lifting portion 25 by a distance of D' along the plane of the upper head 22 and is stepped relative lifting portion 25 by a height H. Here, the pressing portion 24 makes contact with the rim portion 7c of the upper surface of bottle-cap 7, and lifting portion 25 catches the bottom of the rim portion 7b of the creased skirt of bottle-cap 7. The restricting protrusion 26 keeps the inner end portion of lifting portion 25 at a distance from the bottle 8 so that the rounded portion 8a of the bottle 8 is safe from being damaged by lifting portion 25 as the bottle cap is removed, thus ensuring safety. Guiding protrusions 27 tightly engage bottle opener 20 to bottle cap 7 by preventing bottle-opener 20 from wobbling left and right. In another embodiment, grip 21 may be formed on the side of restricting protrusion 26.
FIG. 7 illustrates a third embodiment of the present invention. A gripless bottle-opener 30 is formed of a pressed metal material 20' and a covering material 31 which retains metal material 20' . Covering material 31 has a groove 32 for
accommodating the head of a bottle 8. A pressing portion 24 of pressed metal material 20' is exposed or protrudes in groove 32, and a lifting portion 25 of pressed metal material 20' protrudes from a wall 34 of groove 32. In this embodiment, wall 34 does the same functions as the restricting protrusion of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. Protrusions 35 corresponding to the guide protrusions of FIG. 4 are integrated into covering material 31 and protrude therefrom into the groove 32.
As described above, the bottle-opener according to the present invention is improved to enable anyone to make an exhilarating popping sound that is pleasing to the ear, without distorting the configuration of the cap so that it may be reused.
Although illustrative preferred embodiments have been described herein in detail, it should be noted and will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous variations may be made within the scope of this invention without departing from the principle of this invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages. The terms and expressions have been used as terms of description and not terms of limitation. There is no intention to use the terms or expressions to exclude any equivalents of features shown and described or portions thereof and this invention should be defined in accordance with the claims which follow.