US1361639A - Vacuum-jar opener - Google Patents

Description

' A. W. STEVENSON.

VACUUM JAR OPENER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-13. 1918.

1,361,639, Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT W. STEVENSON, OF CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK.

VACUUM-JAR OPENER.

I Application filed November 13, 1918.

. and useful Improvements in Vacuum-Jar Openers, of which the following is a specification.

The purpose of the invention is to provlde an implement for attaching or removing the caps of preserving jars. The implement is particularly designed for use to raise the jar cap from the rubber sealing band to admit air from the outside into the jar so as to equalize the air pressure both in and outside of the jar after which the cap may be readily removed by the implement. The means for breaking the rubber seal are movable into and out of operative position so that when it is not desired to use the same they may be moved out of the way when the implement may be used for the purpose of turning the ar cap. I

To the exact construction in which it is shown and described, the invention is not to be restricted. The right is reserved to make such changes or alterations as the actual reduction to practice may suggest, in so far as such changes or alterations are compatible in spirit with the annexed claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved tool with the seal breaking elements in their operative positions and their inoperative positions shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of is shown, the invention comprises two combined jaw and handle elements each formed with a semi-circular aw l terminating in the handle 2. The two elements are pivotally connected together by means of a pin or stud 3 which interconnects the two jaws 1 at their ends. On their inner edges the jaw elements are roughened by knurling or corrugating thus providing the gripping faces 4. Pivotally mounted on each jaw 1 adjacent the point where it connects with the handle 2, there is a lever 5 which is disposed in a slot formed in the jaw and carries at its free end a wedge 6 of semi-elliptical shape in plan and of tapering thickness Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

Serial No. 262,337.

from its point to its line of juncture with the lever. The levers 5 may be swung on their pivotal connection 8 so that the wedges 6 may be placed over the handles 2 or these levers may be swung back to abut the slanting ends 7 of the slots in which positions the wedges project beyond the gripping edges 4.

In the use of the tool, the wedges 6 are designed to engage underneath of or on top of the rubber sealing band commonly employed in conjunction with preserving jars. In preserving jars which contain fruit there is more or less of vacuum and, if the tool be placed around the jar adjacent the cap so that the wedges 6 may engage the rubber sealing band, the pressure exerted on the handles 2 to force the same toward each other will force the wedges in underneath the cap and thereby raise the same enough to permit the outside air to find its way into the jar, thus equalizing the pressure inside and outside of the jar. After this condition obtains, the levers 5 may be swung back to the position shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the gripping edges 4 made to engage the periphery of the cap of the jar by pressure exerted on the handles tending to force them toward each other. The imparting of an angular movement to the tool as a whole will then serve to remove the cap of the jar easily.

In attaching the jar cap the tool is intended to be used in the same Way as in un screwing or removing the cap.

The invention having been described what is claimed as new and useful is:

A tool of the character described comprising a pair of combined jaw and handle elements pivotally connected together, and a lever pivotally mounted on the jaw portion of each element, the lever being formed at one end with a laterally projecting wedge member, each jaw portion having an abutment against which the lever may engage to cause the wedges to project beyond the jaws, the levers being swingable to positions over the handle portions of the elements, whereby the device may be used to initially raise the cap of a preserving jar and thereafter remove the same by clamping the cap between the jaw portions of the two said ele-

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