Patent Application
20180044156
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The disclosure and prior art relates to opening devices and more particularly pertains to a new opening device for removing a lid from a jar.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a handle that may be manipulated. The handle unit is selectively rotated in a gripping direction and a releasing direction. A gripping unit is movably coupled to the handle unit. The gripping unit grips a lid of a jar when the handle unit is rotated in the gripping direction. Thus, the lid may be removed from the jar. The gripping unit releases the lid of the jar when the handle unit is rotated in the releasing direction. Thus, the gripping unit may be removed from the jar.
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
The handle unit 12 comprises a housing 16 that has a top wall 18, a first lateral wall 20 and a second lateral wall 22. The housing 16 includes a pair of tabs 24. Each of the tabs 24 extends inwardly from an associated one of the first lateral wall 20 and the second lateral wall 22. Each of the tabs 24 is coextensive with the associated first 20 and second 22 lateral walls. Each of the tabs 24 is spaced from the top wall 18. Thus, the tabs 24 define a first channel 26 and a second channel 28 in the housing 16.
The handle unit 12 includes a handle 30. The handle 30 has a stem 32 and a grip 34. The grip 34 is oriented transverse with respect to the stem 32. Thus, the grip 34 may be gripped thereby facilitating the handle 30 to be rotated.
The stem 32 extends through the top wall 18 of the housing 16. The stem 32 has a distal end 36 with respect to the grip 34. The handle 30 is centrally positioned on the top wall 18. A gear 38 is coupled to the distal end 36 of the stem 32. The gear 38 is positioned to extend substantially between the first channel 26 and the second channel 28.
A gripping unit 40 is provided and the gripping unit 40 is movably coupled to the handle unit 12. The gripping unit 40 grips a lid 42 of the jar 14 when the handle unit 12 is rotated in the gripping direction. Thus, the lid 42 may be removed from the jar 14. The gripping unit 40 releases the lid 42 of the jar 14 when the handle unit 12 is rotated in the releasing direction. Thus, the gripping unit 40 may be removed from the jar 14.
The gripping unit 40 comprises a first rail 44 that has a first end 46, a second end 48 and an inwardly facing surface 50. The inwardly facing surface 50 comprises a plurality of teeth 52. The teeth 52 are spaced apart from each other and are distributed between the first end 46 and the second end 48. The first rail 44 is slidably positioned in the first channel 26 and the gear 38 engages the teeth 52 on the first rail 44. Thus, the first rail 44 is urged to travel in the first channel 26 when the handle 30 is rotated.
A first stop 54 is coupled to and extends away from the inwardly facing surface 50. The first stop 54 is positioned closer to the first end 46 than the second end 48. The first stop 54 extends downwardly from the first rail 44. The first stop 54 is curved to grip the lid 42 of the jar 14 when the handle unit 12 is rotated in the gripping direction.
The gripping unit 40 comprises a second rail 56 that has a primary end 58, a secondary end 60 and an inwardly facing surface 62. The inwardly facing surface 62 corresponding to the second rail 56 comprises a plurality of teeth 64. The teeth 64 corresponding to the second rail 56 are spaced apart from each other and are distributed between the primary end 58 and the secondary end 60. The second rail 56 is slidably positioned in the second channel 28 and the gear 38 engages the teeth 52 on the second rail 56. Thus, the second rail 56 is urged to travel in the second channel 28 when the handle 30 is rotated.
A second stop 66 is coupled to and extending away from the inwardly facing surface 50 corresponding to the second rail 56. The second stop 66 is positioned closer to the primary end 58 than the secondary end 60. The second stop 66 extends downwardly from the second rail 56. The second stop 66 is curved to grip the lid 42 of the jar 14 when the handle unit 12 is rotated in the gripping direction. Each of the first stop 54 and the second stop 66 is compressed against the lid 42 of the jar 14 when the handle unit 12 is rotated in the gripping direction. Each of the first stop 54 and the second stop 66 are spaced from the lid 42 of the jar 14 when the handle unit 12 is rotated in the releasing direction.
In use, the handle 30 is gripped and the gripping unit 40 is positioned on the lid 42 of the jar 14. The handle 30 is rotated in the gripping direction. Thus, each of the first stop 54 and the second stop 66 engage the lid 42. The handle 30 is further rotated in the gripping direction and the lid 42 is unscrewed from the lid 42. The gripping unit 40 enhances gripping the lid 42 for an elderly user or other physically limited user. The handle 30 is rotated in the releasing direction to release the lid 42 from the gripping unit 40.
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.
