Bottle-opener.

Application filed April 27, 1909, Serial No. 492,478. Renewed October 23, 1911. Serial No. 656,216.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that. I, Elwin K. Hill, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Openers,¹ of which the following is a specification.

The present invention is an improvement in bottle openers and it is designed primarily for use in removing and subsequently replacing the caps or closures of paperboard ordinarily employed in connection with milk bottles.

Closures of the general type above specified are fitted at their edges in circumferential seats formed ih the mouths of the bottles, and are removed therefrom by inserting the pointed end of a knife or other implement beneath the edges so as to raise the latter to an extent sufficient to permit them to be taken hold of. This method, however, is obviously unsanitary, inasmuch as the fingers of the operator must of necessity come into contact with the under surface of the closure and with the inner or pouring surface of the bottle-mouth, if not into contact with the contents of the bottle, the same being more or less true in replacing the closure. It is the object of this invention, therefore, to overcome such defect by the production of an extremely simple device arranged for engagement with the closure in such a manner that during the removal and replacing of the closure, the objectionable contact above referred to is completely avoided.

Briefly described, the device comprises a handle member provided with a toothed operating plate and with a spring-controlled presser plate which is likewise toothed and is loosely mounted upon the stem of the handle member, in contradistinction to the operating plate, which latter is rigidly secured thereto. The teeth formed upon the presser plate are arranged to take into the closure, to hold the same against rotation when the handle is manipulated, while the operating plate has its teeth arranged to penetrate and engage the closure during such time, so as to permit the latter to be readily withdrawn bodily from the bottle mouth at the conclusion of the operation.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein— 55

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved opener. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view. Fig. 4 is a view illustrating the application of the invention, por- 60 tions of the opener itself and of the bottle being shown in section. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the closure engaged with the opener and removed from the bottle.

Reference being had to said drawings, 65 and to the numerals marked thereon, 1 designates in a general manner, a milk bottle of the conventional type, 2 the mouth portion thereof, and 3 the usual circumferential seat formed on the inner surface or wall of 70 the mouth adjacent the upper edge thereof and designed to receive therein the edge portion of the circular cap or closure 4 which latter is ordinarily constructed of paper board, as is generally understood. In 75 this connection, it may be stated that the term “ paper board ” is used in its broadest sense, and is intended to include caps or closures constructed of paper, pasteboard, and compressed paper and wood pulp. 80

The opener which is employed for the purpose of withdrawing and replacing the closure, consists, as shown, of a handle member. 5, a circular main or operating plate 6, and a similarly-shaped presser plate 7, both 85 plates being constructed of sheet metal. The member 5 comprises, in turn, an eye portion 8 and a stem 9, the latter extending loosely through an axial opening 10 formed in the presser plate and having its lower or 90 free end rigidly secured in any suitable manner to the center of the operating plate, the diameter of the last-mentioned plate being somewhat less than that of the presser plate superposed thereupon. 95

The operating plate is slotted in such a manner as to form a series of spirally-arranged peripheral teeth 11, each of which preferably has its inner end slightly cut away, as indicated by the numeral 12 to pro- 100 vide lifting shoulders. These teeth, three of which are shown in the present instance, are bent downward at a comparatively slight angle. (See Figs. 2 and 4.)

The pressure plate, as above stated, is 105 superposed upon the operating plate, and is

1,024,403 provided with means arranged for engagement with the closure, to hold the latter against rotation during the manipulation of the handle, as described hereinafter. These 5 means preferably comprise a depending peripheral flange 13 formed continuously upon said plate and provided, in turn, with a series of depending teeth or spurs 14 adapted to take into the closure. The plate in ques10 tion has normally exerted thereupon a yielding downward pressure, owing preferably to the provision of an expansible coil-spring 15, which embraces the stem portion 9 of the handle and is interposed between said plate 15 and a collar or washer 16 likewise fitted upon the stem. The diameter of the presser plate is approximately equal· to or very slightly less than that of the closure.

In operating the device to remove the 20 closure, it is disposed directly over the closure and the plate 7 then pressed firmly thereagainst with the fingers of one hand, so as to cause the teeth or spurs 14 to engage the closure. The handle is then ro25 tated by the other hand in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. During this rotary movement, the spiral teeth 11 with which the operating plate is provided will penetrate the closure and will project 30 through the incisions thus formed, and extend beneath the under face of the closure, the latter being held against rotation during such time by reason of the engagement of the teeth or spurs 14 therewith, as will be 35 apparent. The rotation of the handle is preferably continued until the reduced portions of the teeth reach the incisions, the shoulders resulting from this reduction serving in a sense, to lock the closure in such 40 engagement. The closure may then be removed bodily from its seat by merely exerting a slight upward pressure upon the handle. In replacing the closure, it is merely necessary to properly seat the closure 45 and then to rotate the operating plate in the opposite direction from that above described, whereupon the locking teeth will be withdrawn from the incisions.

Both operations may be readily and 50 quickly accomplished, and in both instances the exposure of the inner surface of the bottle mouth, as well as the under surface of the closure, to contact with the fingers of the operator is completely avoided.