Patent Application
20180104980
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The present invention relates to up-cycling beverage cans and tools and techniques for making various art objects, toys, and other useful items from them.
The prior art describes methods for up-cycling beverage cans into useful or artistic objects, such as lanterns, wind spinners, flowers, light boxes, cook stoves, ashtrays, and so on. Examples pervade Etsy and YouTube.
Typically, the first step is to cut the can with scissors, a scalpel, or an exacto knife. This can be difficult and dangerous for an unskilled, novice, or young person. So, outcomes are idiosyncratic, imprecise, wrong, harmful, and aesthetically flawed. You can easily bend, crease, rip or tear the can's metal in unintentional ways while making bad cuts and folds—particularly in the initial stages. Moreover, scissors and knives are dangerous and not kid-friendly; they have and they create sharp edges, and these edges require careful handling. They can lacerate you, but at the same time the aluminum is so flexible once removed from the supporting structure of the can that it is easy to bend or crease it unintentionally. There are limited uses for used beverage cans. So, . . . there ought to be more and better uses for used cans, beyond ordinary recycling.
I invented a system and set of tools for up-cycling beverage cans into art objects, desk toys, and other useful items. The first tool (the “Sleeve”;
The second tool (the “Slot-Maker”;
These tools provide support and protection to sensitive or dangerous areas while the metal is being manipulated; they help prevent unwanted creases or folds; they indicate what metal is to be manipulated; they protect the hands; they can contain convenient written instructions and warnings; they make communication about locations on the can precise; they accomplish reliable, repeatable results; they can induce confidence in the user; they are kid-friendly; and they are fun to use. They have all the advantages over the prior art that I have listed as needs in the last paragraph of the Description of the Prior Art section above.
The Sleeve, Slot-Maker, Elevator, and Rollers, individually and/or in combination, are useful because they can be used to make: photo-frame pinwheel; scorpion with customizable face, shield and weapons; turtle; armadillo, spider; octopus; jellyfish; elephant; giraffe; swan; crab; Star Wars AT-AT; tank; cannon; artillery piece; coin bank with simple slot-cover; coin bank with spiral ramp input; tea-light holder; floating tealight holder; Wheel of Destiny; novelty glasses; flat aluminum canvases for embossing; soap dishes; bookmarks; buttons, name tags, hangman model; Wheel of Destiny; Christmas tree ornament; slingshot; back scratcher, racetrack; train track; toy roller coaster track and its scaffolding; checkers/chess set; vase; jewelry box; cat toys; suspended target; clutch-purse; staff; picture frame; stool; table; dresser; dollhouse; “carpet rolls” of aluminum sheet metal; and many, many other items. I do not teach how to make each of these designs because the invention lies in the process and tools for making the interim products, not in the ultimate results of the interim products. I show a few of the ultimate designs only to prove the invention's utility and give insight into how the other designs might be made. Many of these items are probably featured in photographs and video by now on my website at www.aluminoids.com.
It is the object of my invention to create a set of tools and teach a system for make art objects, toys and general construction materials from beverage cans that provides predictable, reliable, and accurate results; that creates novel and useful results; that is safe and easy for the unskilled, novice or young person to do; that creates curled edges on cut surfaces, so they are safer to handle and stiffer during manual working and so that the finished product retains a stiffer, more durable shape; that makes the can itself safer to handle during metalworking; that creates a psychological separation between the user's body and the metal can; that is hand-operated, without requiring a table or desk support; that adds meaningfully to the ways in which used cans can be up-cycled; that provides a readily-accessible source of information (or a referral thereto) about how to complete a particular project; that makes communicating instructions about where to cut or poke when making designs easier; that best guides the user's hands and tools into making perfect cuts, pokes, tears, and marks; that has dual functionality as a Coozie for keeping beverages cold; that has an interesting and attractive presentation method for public performances; that has a convenient compartment for storing pushpins and small necessary tools; that is simple enough for children to do; that has tools that appear safe to use; that has tools that actually are safe to use; that minimizes the risk of injury; that provides a positive crafting experience for the user; that facilitates the process of making 2 mm to 10 mm slots in cans; that is extremely simple and intuitive; that is light; that is durable; that is very inexpensive to manufacture; that presents a compelling value proposition to the customer; that is entertaining to watch; that makes the crafting process look easy and safe; that does not simply present a potential solution for one component of a larger, unsolved and unrecognized problem; that enables simple and safe horizontal, vertical, and curved cuts and tears in cans; and that is versatile. My invention has all these advantages and solves all of these problems, which makes it a significant advance over the prior art.
Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds. To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims and/or this specification.
Various other objects, features, and attendant advantages of the present invention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:
The description given above in the Brief Summary of the Invention section is hereby and herein incorporated by this reference as if stated at length. In the drawings, similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views.
The sleeve tool 1 seen in
The Sleeve is also a teaching tool, since it is a visual and convenient storehouse of readily usable information about locating the cuts and pokes for your particular design—thereby minimizing errors. The Sleeve can bear writing, instructions, warnings, measurements, rulers (ruler 26), referrals to online videos, and passwords for online videos that will make the crafting process better, more accurate, and convenient. For example, I can say, “Make a pushpin poke at vertical marker 60 in panel 7,” or “Lift the Elevator to vertical marker 55 with a pushpin at marker 51,” or, “In your second round of slices, skip slots 1 and 9,” without having to resort to crazy diagrams. For clarity, the figures show only one ruler and elevatorhole 3 line, but it could and should be repeated on every panel of the Sleeve for ease of communication (also, a circumferential ruler could be located between the slot numbers). Finally, the Sleeve engulfs the can and locks it into place or into a particular relative orientation, thereby mechanically supporting it when needed for slot-making (slot-making puts more mechanical stress on the can than slit-making does). Support is particularly necessary for cuts into a can that has been structurally compromised by previous cuts.
The sleeve tool 1 preferentially has a wall thickness of about 2 to 4 mm, depending on the stiffness of the material used to make it. Ideally, sleeve tool 1 should be rigid enough to withstand bending, crushing and mild abuse from the average adult hand and to serve as a guiding edge during cutting. If made from ABS thermoplastic, then a thickness of about 3 mm seems to be adequate. However, the sleeve tool 1 could also be made from a slightly flexible material that is “substantially rigid,” meaning that it is difficult to deform permanently, like a hard rubber, but hard enough to use as a guiding edge for cutting and drawing. The inner diameter of sleeve tool 1 is sized to fit closely around the outer diameter of a standard-sized beverage can, which in the USA is slightly over 65 mm. The sleeve tool 1 has a bottom ledge 4 that blocks the insertion of a beverage can beyond that point and mechanically supports the can against downward forces; at full insertion, the eight slots 6 and the pushpin holes 1 are thereby aligned in the proper position relative to the top and bottom of the can, for maximum cutting range. The bottom ledge 4 could be integrated with sleeve tool 1 as shown in the figures, or it could be created with opposite holes in the sleeve tool 1 through which you insert a crossbar, or it could be made from the Elevator itself, locked with pushpin l Os into a low position.
The pushpin holes 1 can be any size, but preferentially they are about 0.9 millimeters in diameter, which thereby approximates the diameter of most off-the-shelf pushpins. Ideally the diameter of the pushpin holes 1 is slightly smaller than the pushpin 10 pin diameter so that the pushpin holes 1, made from ABS plastic, will expand to grip the pushpin 10 pins and hold them in a fixed position, with very little wiggle-room. The elevatorholes 3 are likewise sized to hold standard pushpins, for identical reasons.
The pushpin holes 1 serve several purposes. First, when a pushpin 10 is inserted through both them and the can metal behind the hole, it holds the beverage can in a non-rotating and non-elevating position while you work on cutting, poking and marking the can. Second, it indexes the original cutting position if you need to rotate the can to make new cuts or if you need to take the can out and then replace it to its original position. For example, if you need to rotate the can by 22.5 degrees, you need only move the hole that the pushpin hole 2 made in the can to its neighboring pushpin hole 1. Third, as mentioned above, they help support the metal when it is structurally compromised. A pin placed through pinhole 1 helps keep the can's metal from bending too much inward while downward pressure is applied to the metal exposed by the slot 8 beneath it. This feature is advantageous in some designs for aesthetic or functional reasons. Fourth, they can hold the Elevator in place at a particular elevation in the sleeve. Fifth, where a custom Sleeve is used, pushpin holes can be placed anywhere on the body to indicate the beginning and ending points where scissor-cuts will be needed later in making a particular design or where marks need to be made.
The sleeve tool 1 shown has eight slots 6 equidistantly and equiangularly placed around its circumference. [By “equiangularly,” in both this specification and the appended claims, I mean that, as measured from the center axis of the can, and taking a cross-sectional center point as the vertex, each of the slots 6 is positioned an equal number of degrees (here, 45 degrees) away from its neighboring slot 8; by “equidistantly,” in both this specification and the appended claims, I mean that the distance from one parallel slot to its neighboring slot, as measured from the center of its contact points with the can, is a constant number; see
The rodhole 6 in sleeve tool 1 could be anywhere it is needed, but in
As an alternative to using rodholes 9, you can use the elevatorholes 3 and two pushpin 10s with the elevator 9. In the preferred embodiment, elevator 9 is sized with an outer diameter that equals the outer diameter of the standard-sized beverage can. Elevator 9 should slide easily through sleeve tool 1. By lining up the elevatorhole 3s on sleeve tool 1 with the desired elevatorhole 3 on elevator 9, a set of pushpins run through elevator 9 [one or more on each side of elevator 9 (i.e., 180 degrees around sleeve tool 1)] should make elevator 9 function like a new bottom ledge 4. Ideally, though, the Elevator should be sized to elevate the can exactly where needed, so that using the elevatorholes 3 is not necessary (see
Preferably, you use the Sleeve with the special cutting/tearing tool (the Slot-Maker) that I have designed for it. See
In some instances one directly inserts slot-maker 11 through slot 8, using its sharp point to penetrate the can, but for some applications where the metal is relatively unsupported, it is best use a pushpin 10 first to make a pilot hole for the slot-maker 11. The business end 13 of slot-maker 11 ideally has a width that nearly matches the width of the slot 8s. This minimizes lateral drift during cutting—keeping slot-maker 11 on the path laid out for it by its slot 8. The upsloping shape of business end 13 helps to expand the initial hole made in the can and to keep the user from rotating the slot-maker 11 during use. The barrier 7 of slot-maker 11 serves several functions. First, it separates the handle 12 from the business end 13. Second, it encourages the user to maintain contact between barrier 7 and sleeve tool 1, thereby aligning the cutting surface 14 with the edge of the hole in the can at the proper location and at the proper perpendicularity (or near-perpendicularity). Third, its design increases the perception of safety (and actual safety) to one's fingers as compared to a knife, scalpel, scissors, or other cutting tool, since the depth and length of a stab wound from it would be limited by the barrier. Fourth, the barrier has a psychological effect on the user. It, as well as the fact that the walls of the sleeve nearly enclose the can, create a separation in the user's mind between the allegedly “dangerous” metal can and the user's hand.
Cutting surface 14 is pressed downward, thereby pushing a strip of metal away from the can which curls into a roll. For durability, I like to manufacture slot-maker 11 with a sharpened nail running through its central axis to make the point; and I adhere 4 or 5 steel staples from a staple gun to the underside of business end 13 to make cutting surface 14. The remaining parts of slot-maker 11 are made from ABS thermoplastic for cost savings. The handle 12 could be any practical design, but a wide, flat top and bottom in parallel alignment is preferred so that its shape induces the user to apply downward pressure on slot-maker 11.
The Slot-Maker is superior to the prior art because it basically yanks the metal strip away from the can's surface on two of its sides as it tears its “cut.” This gives the cut edge of the metal a tiny, rounded, curled shape down the length of the cut. This imbues the edge with a desirable stiffness that enables the cut material to hold the shape it is later given. Also, it makes the edge safer to handle, since the rounded part of the edge will not cut fingers; you can grip the strip by its sides without encountering a sharp edge. Of course, the rounded edge creates a tiny, sharp projection in a roughly 90 degree orientation, but happily its height is typically less than a millimeter, thereby limiting the damage from a potential laceration. [If the rounded edges are undesirable for a particular application, it is easy to smooth them out with a metal object.] The Slot-Maker also creates a gap in the can through which scissors can fit as needed. Another advantage of slot-making over slit-making is that it creates gaps between the panels created by vertical slots/slits. This makes the panels more flexible, particularly near their base, which is important in making some of my designs. The Slot-Maker itself is attractive, easy to use, multifunctional (poking and slot-making), kid-friendly, apparently safe, actually safe, and fun.
The rollers are used for rolling the strips of metal can (the “panels”) that come out of the Sleeve into wound rolls (“carpet rolls”) that are a few millimeters in diameter. Basically, these tools are hollow tubes through which you repeatedly pass the panels in order to make the carpet roll. Were you to try to make carpet rolls without the Rollers, you would quickly tire your hands, and you would get defects in the rolls like bends, creases, accidental flattening, or uneven curling, and you might even cut yourself or abrade your skin.
The rollers can have a variety of possible configurations. For the most part, the outer configuration of frustum roller 16 doesn't matter, but I like to have the outer shape be cylindrical so that I can press an aluminum strip around it to begin shaping/curving the metal. The outer shape of frustum roller 16 could also be rectangular or square in cross-section, since that would help my fingers to rotate frustum roller 16 when needed. The inner cavity of frustum roller 16 could be cylindrical or sloping, shaped like a frustum of a right cone, but I prefer it to be shaped like a frustum of a right cone. The rollers are preferentially made from clear plastic, but any rigid material will do. The smaller hole in the frustum roller 16 is ideally sized so that, when one inserts a panel of aluminum made from the sleeve tool 1 through it many times, the panel will curl into a cross-sectional c-shape that nearly forms an o-shape.
As for the cylindrical roller 17, it is used similarly to its sister, frustum roller 16. One manually rolls the panel (or most of it, or an edge of it) to the requisite diameter and repeatedly inserts it through cylindrical roller 17 to fatigue the metal strip into its desired “carpet roll” shape. I find that a cylindrical inner cavity on cylindrical roller 17 makes the process easier. The cylindrical roller 17 has the flange 19, which could be any shape of outward projection from cylindrical roller 17's side outer surface. The flange 19 make it easier to rotate the cylindrical roller 17 when needed, and the flange 19 help you to shove the cylindrical roller 17 down against the carpet roll (during formation) and a table when that is helpful. Frustum roller and cylindrical roller 17 are preferentially separate, but they could be set side-by-side in one structure for convenience and cost savings. Also, you could graduate the two Rollers' function into three or more Rollers that, used sequentially, help the user make the carpet rolls more gradually. Better still, the Rollers could be sized to fit alongside (or integrated within; see
Now let's consider my preferred embodiment of the Sleeve.
You use the Sleeve as follows. First, you insert an empty aluminum beverage can into the Sleeve until its bottom rests against the bottom ledge 4. You push a pushpin 10 into pushpin hole 2. If necessary for extra holding power, you can insert a second pushpin 10 into a second pushpin hole 2 on the opposite side of the Sleeve. Then, you press the business end 5 of the Slot-Maker through the can at the top of slot 8 until barrier 7 is flush against the Sleeve. You slide the cutting face 10 of the Slot-Maker down an edge of slot 8 until you feel a stopping resistance from the can, thereby opening a perfectly vertical slot in the can. As
Horizontal slices and strips can be made from the generic Sleeve fairly easily. You first fix the can in the proper position using pushpin 10s and the pushpin holes 1 (or, use elevator 9). Then use slot maker 11 as explained above, treating the top ledge 5 as if it were an edge of a horizontal slot. [The top ledge 5 helps to maintain the proper alignment of the slot maker 11 as it cuts.] Flip the process to remove the bottom of the can, if needed, using its bottom rim 7 as if it were the top ledge 5. If the final part of the cuts prove difficult, you can use scissors to cut off the top and bottom of the can. Alternatively, to make the bottom cut for example, you could elevate the can into a proper height using the elevator 9 (
If further slicing is required, you can elevate the can in the horizontal Sleeve using the elevator 9 (
The 8-slice can made by the preferred embodiment of the sleeve (
Other designs are made from a 16-slice can (a jellyfish, or an octopus, using alternating panels to make the legs and head) or a 14-slice can (a scorpion, turtle, armadillo, and spider) or a custom Sleeve (the elephant, giraffe, and Star Wars AT-AT). A custom Sleeve would have pushpin holes for physically indicating where later, scissor cuts are to begin or terminate or pass through. It might have extremely narrow slots, so that a pushpin 10 can be dragged through it to scratch elaborate marks in the can's paint for indicating later scissor work. Arrows and labels written on the Sleeve might explain the purpose, nature, and location of supplemental working areas (e.g., bend the Elephant's trunk out here with a ribbon curl.”) Designs embossed on the Sleeve might indicate what later cut-outs should look like or where components are to be glued in place.
For purposes of showmanship and convenience, the Sleeve could be inserted in a cup-shaped partial cover (the “Coozie”;
Now let's consider the Rollers. The first Roller (the frustum Roller) (
You then manually roll the interim result into an tube-ish shape with overlapping layers and repeatedly feed it through cavity 20 of the next cylindrical roller 17 (
Carpet rolls can be integrated into larger structures having other components made from wood, metal, 3-D printed thermoplastic, wire, string, and so on (e.g., dollhouse, scaffolding for supporting a roller coaster track, roller coaster track, checkers board, jewelry box, metal straw, picture frame, stool, table). The carpet rolls themselves are versatile, too. You can shorten them with scissors. Or, you can effectively lengthen them by inserting one tube's end into another tube's end and locking them together with adhesive or a crosspin (such as staple that penetrates the crossed area perpendicularly). If additional strength is needed, one or more carpet rolls can be pulled into a smaller diameter and inserted completely into another. Carpet rolls can be combined in other orientations using plumbing-like or Tinkertoy-like connections that are made from a 3-D printer. [For example, consider two rings in a figure-8 configuration that have been twisted so the top and bottom rings face in different directions (say, at a 90 or 45 degree angle to each other); and the rings have crosspin/staple holes at the top and bottom of the 8].
Now let's consider the toy tank, which is a good example of how all these tools often work together. You first use the Sleeve and Slot-Maker to create tube-shaped, horizontal cross-sections of can (“H-slices”), as explained above. Two H-slices of about 15 millimeters height each will be manually pressed into eccentric ellipses to make tank treads. Two H-slices of about 65 mm in height will be put together crosswise (one inside the other in perpendicular orientation) and creased in correct places to make a tank body that is approximately brick-like in shape (but with a slanting front and a less-slanting back). The turret is made from the top 25 millimeters or so of a beverage can; and naturally a hole is cut in its side to fit the barrel of the tank gun. The barrel is made by cutting a H-slice on its side and rolling it up into a large carpet roll using appropriately-sized Rollers, as explained above.
2 mm. holes are poked into the center of the tank body and the turret; and a toothpick is run through the center axis of the tank through the tank body and the turret, thereby aligning and adhering the turret with the body and enabling the turret's rotation with one degree of freedom. Tiny plastic nuts on the toothpick around the turret-hole and the body-hole provide a friction-fit hold the toothpick in place. A plastic piece of my own design wraps around the central toothpick on one end; and on the other end, it wraps around an end of the barrel. The plastic piece permits the barrel to change its firing attitude and to rotate with the turret. The tank treads are affixed to the lower side of the tank body, naturally. Load and light matchheads or Bank Snaps in the barrel for extra fun. Other designs that require the use of the Sleeve, Slot-Maker, and Rollers collectively include the artillery piece, the roller coaster, the hangman, and everything that uses a carpet roll.
It is essential to realize that the Sleeve/Slot-Maker and Rollers are symbiotes, in a manner of speaking, even though they can have independent uses. The Rollers needs the Sleeve/Slot-Maker because (i) it produces the panels that are the raw inputs for the Rollers and (ii) because the rolled edges that the Sleeve/Slot-Maker produces in the panels make the Rollers easier and safer to use. The Rollers are adapted to the Sleeve, since they are particularly-sized for the width and length of the panels. The Sleeve needs the Rollers because they are the best tool for making many designs deriving from the Sleeve (e.g., the tank gun, cannon barrel, hangman, the scaffolding and track for the racetrack and roller coaster). Finally, the Sleeve and Slot-Maker and Elevator are likewise symbiotic, for obvious reasons. So, this is essentially one invention, even if its main components can also have extra, independent utility.
