Patent Grant
9862583
The disclosure relates to opening devices and more particularly pertains to a new opening device for facilitating opening of various types of containers including conventional five gallon buckets, various sizes of paint cans, and the like.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a head coupled to a first end of a handle. The head has a pair of spaced flanges. Each of the flanges is coupled to and extending from a base of the head extending between the flanges. Each of the flanges has a planar distal portion positioned in spaced relationship to the base defining a gap therebetween for engaging and prying edges of a cover on a bucket. A first sidewall extends from the handle adjacent to a second end of the handle. The first sidewall has a thickness for insertion into a space between a lid and a top edge of a can to pry the lid away from the can.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A first sidewall 44 extends from the handle 12 adjacent to the second end 16 of the handle 12. The first sidewall 44 has a thickness such that the first sidewall 44 is configured for insertion into a space 46 between a lid 48 and a top edge 50 of a can 52 to pry the lid 48 away from the can 52. A second sidewall 54 extends from the handle 12 adjacent to the second end 16 of the handle 12. The second sidewall 54 is used in the same way as the first sidewall 44 but has a thickness different than the thickness of the first sidewall 44. The thicknesses of the first sidewall 44 and second sidewall 54 may be between 7/64 and 9/64 of an inch and between 3/32 and ⅛ of an inch. The second sidewall 54 is positioned in spaced parallel relationship to the first sidewall 44. A respective edge 56,58 of each of the first sidewall 44 and the second sidewall 54 adjacent to the second end 16 of the handle 12 is convexly arcuate relative to the second end 16 of the handle 12. Each of the first sidewall 44 and the second sidewall 54 extends a full length of the handle 12 between the first end 14 and the second end 16.
An aperture 66 extends through the handle 12 defining a pair of opposed barbs 60 oriented transverse to a longitudinal axis of the handle 12. Thus, the aperture 66 is configured for receiving therethrough a strip of material 62 securing the cover 34 to the bucket 36 of the type found on conventional five gallon plastic buckets. The barbs 60 engage the strip of material 62 wherein rotation of the handle 12 facilitates prying of the strip of material 62 away from the cover 34 to permit removal of the cover 34 from the bucket 36.
In use, the head 20, first sidewall 44 and second sidewall 54 may be used to facilitate removal of covers and lids from various types and sizes of containers. The aperture 58 is used as described above to remove the strip of material 62 commonly found securing the lid 34 to the bucket 36 of conventional five gallon buckets.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160257546 A1 | Sep 2016 | US |
