Patent Publication Number: US-2018044156-A1

Title: Jar Opening Assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIE THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     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. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     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. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       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: 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a jar opening assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1  of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3  of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, a new opening device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the jar opening assembly  10  generally comprises a handle unit  12 . The handle unit  12  may be manipulated to position the handle unit  12  over a jar  14 . The jar  14  may be a food jar  14  or the like. The handle unit  12  is selectively rotated in a gripping direction and a releasing direction. 
     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.