Patent Application
20240375927
The present invention relates to a multifunctional bottle cap opener, and more specifically to a bottle opener that functions as a hook to connect a beverage bottle to a carrying device.
Traditional bottle cap openers are designed solely for the purpose of removing caps from bottles. While effective in their primary function, traditional openers often lack additional utility, thus constituting single-purpose tools that are easily misplaced or forgotten. Furthermore, when consumers are on the go, carrying bottles, especially those containing beverages, can be cumbersome. Bottles often take up valuable space inside bags or are awkward to carry by hand, leading to potential spills or damage.
Previous attempts to address these issues have resulted in products that either focus on bottle opening or on attachment mechanisms and rarely both. For instance, some bottle openers are integrated into multi-tools, providing a range of functions at a cost of increased bulk and complexity. On the other hand, bottle carriers or attachments typically require separate components that do not include a bottle opening function.
Thus, there has been a long felt and unsolved need for a compact, easy-to-use device that simplifies the process of managing bottles during travel or outdoor activities.
The present technology is a bottle opening device that not only provides a convenient mechanism to open various types of bottles but also serves as an attachment mechanism for securing bottles to bags, ropes, and other carrying devices. This dual functionality addresses the needs of consumers for both practicality and portability, especially in outdoor and travel scenarios.
The present invention has a bottle opening device with a single continuous structure featuring three midsegments, each extending linearly, and two concave bends at opposite ends. A first concave bend is disposed between the first and second midsegments, while a second concave bend is situated between the second and third midsegments. Additionally, the device includes a first angular end segment at the end of the first midsegment and a second angular segment at the end of the third midsegment. In some embodiments, the three midsegments are parallel to one another. Furthermore, a first line of tangency to a lateral midpoint of the first concave bend may be parallel to a second line of tangency to a lateral midpoint of the second concave bend. In some embodiments, the second angular segment forms a right angle with respect to the third midsegment and is parallel to the second line of tangency. For purposes of this disclosure, “concave” is defined as “facing towards and extending towards the center of a device,” while “convex” is defined as “facing away from and extending away from the center of a device.”
Additionally, in some embodiments, the device includes a first set of faces with the first and second faces being congruent and parallel. The bottle opening device may have a largest cross-sectional area along its height that is less than 5% larger than the smallest cross-sectional area along its height; the height is a shortest linear length spanning between the first face of the first set of faces and the second face of the first set of faces. “Spanning” is defined as “stretching between, thereby connecting two end structures.”
A second set of faces may span the distance between and connect the first set of faces. The second set of faces can form right angles with the first set of faces at their connecting edges. The device, in further embodiments, features a concave curvilinear edge at the second angular segment, spanning between the first and second faces of the first set of faces. The first angular segment can further comprise a first subsegment forming an obtuse angle with the first midsegment and a second subsegment forming a right angle with the first subsegment.
Embodiments of the disclosed technology may be also be described as continuous bent wire that includes a first segment at a right angle to a second segment, the second segment ending at a first 180-degree curve, a third segment extending from this first curve to a second 180-degree curve, and a fourth segment beginning at the second 180-degree curve and ending at an obtuse angle in the wire bent towards the third segment. This wire may further include a fifth segment between the obtuse angle and a right angle bend, with a sixth segment connected to the right angle bend, the sixth segment terminating the wire. The second, third, and fourth segments may be parallel to each other, and the first and second 180-degree curves can be identical in size and flipped 180 degrees relative to each other, both facing towards the center of the contiguous bent wire. In some embodiments, the first segment terminates at the end of the wire, adjacent to the third segment, with the obtuse angle bent towards to the third segment. For purposes of this disclosure, “adjacent” is defined as “having a space therebetween which is less than half a shortest distance between any two midsegments”.
In further embodiments, a method is disclosed for using the bottle opening device, comprising steps of upwardly inserting the concave curvilinear edge between a bottle top and cap, pressing downwards on at least one specific component to pry off the cap. The second angular segment may be used as a fulcrum against the bottle top. Another method of using the disclosed technology involves using the concave curvilinear edge to abut against a bottle top beneath a tamper-evident band, lowering the first concave bend into the bottle, tilting the device to secure the third midsegment with the flexible ring, and looping an attachment mechanism beneath the first concave bend to connect the device to the attachment mechanism.
The present technology is a bottle opening device and carrying hook for a bottle. The device has a contiguous and curvilinear shape having multiple linear midsegments and curves therebetween forming a hook device with fulcrum to remove a bottle cap, and then suspend from a tamper-evident band of the bottle.
Embodiments of the disclosed technology will become clear in light of the discussion of the drawings hereinbelow.
Turning to
The bottle opening device 100 comprises a single contiguous and bent structure having a first midsegment 15, a second midsegment, 17, and a third midsegment 19, each midsegment extending linearly. In embodiments of the disclosed technology, the bottle opening device 100 is formed from a single linear length of material which is bent into the shape shown and described herein. Two oppositely disposed concave bends 16 and 18 connect to the midsegments. The first concave bend 16 is disposed between the first midsegment 15 and the second midsegment 17, while a second concave bend 18 is situated between the second midsegment 17 and the third midsegment 19. Additionally, the device includes a first angular end segment 13 at an end of the first midsegment 15 and a second angular segment 21 at the end of the third midsegment 19. A curvilinear edge 22 may constitute an end of the second angular segment 21, the utility of which will be further discussed with respect to subsequent figures.
The “angular” end segments are said to be “angular” in that such segments connect to respective midsegments at an angle other than 180 degrees, thus being non-parallel and non-collinear to the respective midsegments. In the case of the first angular end segment 13, an obtuse angle 14 is formed, in some embodiments, between the first midsegment 15 and the first angular segment 13. The first angular segment 13 may connect, at a right angle 12, to a linear end segment 11. In the case of the second angular segment 21, a right angle 20 is, in some embodiments, formed between the second angular segment 21 and the third midsegment 19.
The three midsegments 15, 17, and 19 may be parallel to one another. Furthermore, a first line of tangency to a lateral midpoint of the first concave bend 16 may be parallel to a second line of tangency to a lateral midpoint of the second concave bend 18. “Lateral” with respect to the bends is defined as “a shortest linear length spanning between the two midsegments adjoined to the bend.” Described differently, the two concave bends 16 and 18 may be mirror images of one another with allowance for difference in lateral lengths of segments joining to the respective concave bends. In embodiments of the disclosed technology the concave bends 16 and 18 are identical but for an opposite orientation relative to one another. The second angular end segment 21 may be parallel to the aforementioned two lines of tangency.
The bottle opening device 100 comprises two contiguous faces 2 and 4 that are disposed on opposite faces of the device 100. The undulations and curvature of the device 100 are such that a first face 2 is disposed at an interior of the device 100 at the first midsegment 15, while disposed at an exterior of the device 100 at the third midsegment 19. The second face 4 is disposed at an exterior of the device 100 at the first midsegment 15, while disposed at an interior of the device 100 at the third midsegment 19.
The undulations and curvature of the device 100 are further such that along a majority of a longest linear length of the second midsegment 17, an intersecting line perpendicular thereto further intersects at least one of the other two midsegments 15 and 19.
The second, third, and fourth segments (19, 17, and 15, respectively) may be parallel to each other, and the first and second 180-degree curves (18 and 16, respectively) can be identical in size and flipped 180 degrees relative to each other, both facing towards the center of the contiguous bent wire 100. In some embodiments, the first segment 21 terminates at the end of the wire 100, adjacent to the third segment 17, with the obtuse angle 14 bent from the fourth segment 15 towards the third segment 17. The right angle bend 12 may be adjacent to the third segment 17.
A second set of faces (2 and 4) may span the distance between and connect the first set of faces (6 and 8). The second set of faces can form right angles with the first set of faces at connecting edges, making the device 100, excluding segment 21 with curvilinear edge 22, a right prism-a prism where the sides (lateral faces 2 and 4) are perpendicular to the bases (6 and 8). In embodiments where the second set of faces do not form right angles with respect to the first set of faces, however, the device 100, excluding segment 21 with curvilinear edge 22, may constitute an oblique prism.
A top region of the opener 100 comprising curve 16 and portions midsegments 15 and 17 is lowered into the bottle 42. Curvilinear edge 22 is abutted against the neck 30 of the bottle 42 between the lip 38 and the tamper-evident band 36, the curvilinear edge 22 adapted to fit around the neck 30. The steps of lowering the top region into the bottle 42 and abutting the curvilinear edge 22 thereagainst may occur in any order or even simultaneously. Arrow 51 is representative of the lowering of the device 100 and the abutment of the device 100 against the neck 30.
It should be understood that, for purposes of this disclosure, deviation of less than 5% from a directional and/or angular description is considered to be included therewithin. For example, an angle of 89 degrees is still considered to be a right angle.
Any device or step to a method described in this disclosure can comprise or consist of that which it is a part of, or the parts which make up the device or step. The term “and/or” is inclusive of the items which it joins linguistically and each item by itself.
For the purpose of this disclosure, the term “Substantially” is defined as “at least 95% of” the term being described” which it modifies, i.e. within the range of 95% to 100% of the term being modified, inclusive.
Any device or aspect of a device or method described herein can be read as “comprising” or “consisting” thereof.
When the term “or” is used, it creates a group which has within either term being connected by the conjunction as well as both terms being connected by the conjunction.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within understood that the phraseology or the terminology employed herein is for description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
