Patent Application
20170210607
The disclosure relates to lid removal and attachment devices and more particularly pertains to a new lid removal and attachment device for removal and attachment of screw-lids.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that is tubular. The housing has an annular wall that is deformable and extends downwardly from a top, defining a bottom that is open. The bottom, which defines a cavity positioned in the housing, is substantially complementary to a lid to be removed or attached to a container. A grip is coupled to an exterior of the annular wall. A catch is coupled to an interior of the annular wall. The cavity is configured for insertion of a lid. The grip is configured to be grasped by the user to collapse the annular wall, such that the catch engages the lid. The grip is configured to allow the user to impart a counter-clockwise force to the housing for removal of the lid or a clockwise force to attach the lid.
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 grip 24 is coupled to an exterior 26 of the annular wall 14. Preferably, the grip 24 comprises a plurality of ridges 28. Each ridge 28 extends from proximate to the top 16 to proximate to the bottom 18 of the annular wall 14. Each ridge 28 has an upper end 30 and a lower end 32. Preferably, the upper end 30 is arcuate and the lower end 32 is flat. Each ridge 28 has an outer surface 34 that extends between opposing sides 36 of the ridge 28 and from the upper end 30 to the lower end 32 of the ridge 28. Preferably, the outer surface 34 is arcuate, such that each the ridge 28 is rounded.
A catch 38 is coupled to an interior 40 of the annular wall 14. Preferably, the catch 38 comprises a plurality of cutouts 42. Each cutout 42 extends from proximate to the top 16 to proximate to the bottom 18 of the annular wall 14. The cutouts 42 are positioned to allow collapse of the annular wall 14 to engage a perimeter of a lid inserted into the cavity 20.
Preferably, the housing 12, the grip 24 and the catch 38 comprise rubber. More preferably, the housing 12, the grip 24 and the catch 38 comprise silicone.
The housing 12 may comprise a plurality of housings 44. Each of the housings 44 has a respective bottom 18 being substantially complementary to a respectively sized lid.
In use, the bottom 18 is configured for insertion into the cavity 20 of a lid to be removed or attached to a container. The cutouts 42 are positioned to allow collapse of the annular wall 14. The grip 24 is configured to be grasped by the user to collapse the annular wall 14 such that the catch 38 engages the lid. The grip 24 is configured to allow the user to impart a counter-clockwise force to the housing 12 for removal of the lid or a clockwise force to attach the lid.
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.
