Abstract:
An opening mechanism having a base, a lever member movably mounted to the base and a housing is disclosed. The lever member has a first arm and a second arm, which pivot from a first position to a second position,. The movement of the arms from a first position to a second position causes one of the arms to cause an article to move from a closed position to an open position.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims priority on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/636,825 filed Dec. 16, 2004, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION  
       [0002]     The invention relates to a hands-free device for conveniently and easily opening an article such as a door or cover and the like. More particularly the present invention is directed to a door opener device which may be activated readily with one&#39;s foot, body or hand.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     There may come a time in a person&#39;s life where it is almost impossible to open a door; generally caused by the lack of a free hand. In one instance this may be the result of carrying, for example, groceries, clothes or other types of packages. In order to open the door, one would have to put whatever they were carrying down and pull the door open. In another instance, one may be cooking and working with a product that may cause cross contamination, such as raw chicken, or beef. When working with such food it is important to wash one&#39;s hands before touching other objects, such as the handle on a door of lets say a refrigerator or pantry. Prior art opening devices tend to be complex mechanical devices. One prior art foot operated device is used for opening a lid to a waste receptacle. There is a foot operated member that is depressed. A linkage is operated by the depression of the member. The linkage causes a lid to be raised for use.  
         [0004]     A basic lever (from old French levier, the agent noun to lever “to raise”) is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object. This is also termed mechanical advantage, and is one example of the principle of moments. The principle of leverage can also be derived using Newton&#39;s laws of motion and modern statics. Levers have been around for centuries, from the ancient Egyptians, who used the levers to move and uplift obelisks weighing more than 100 tons, to the modern construction worker, who use levers for a variety of different tasks every day.  
         [0005]     In normal operation the force applied (at end points of the lever) is proportional to the ratio of the length of the lever arm measured between the fulcrum and the application point of the force applied at each end of the lever. There are three types of levers, and all follow this same principle: First class levers, as in the present invention, which include, seesaw, crowbar, pliers, scissors, oar, wheel and axle, trebuchet; Second class levers, which include, wheelbarrow, and nutcracker; Third class levers, which include, human arm, tongs, catapult and fishing rod, hoe, rake, baseball bat, and broom.  
       OBJECTS OF INVENTION  
       [0006]     It is an object of the invention to provide an opening device for opening an article.  
         [0007]     It is an object of the invention to provide a device for opening a door, cover or the like.  
         [0008]     It is an object of the present invention to provide a door opener which will allow one to open a door without the use of one&#39;s hand.  
         [0009]     It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic door opener that is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to install.  
         [0010]     It is still another object of the present invention to provide an automatic door opener that provides a means for opening a door with minimum effort on the part of the user.  
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
       [0011]     In the present invention a lever mechanism is mounted on a floor, wall or other surface. The lever mechanism has a first end and a second end that are generally transverse to each other. As one end of the lever mechanism is activated, usually by applying force to the end, the opposite end moves outwardly forcing the article to be opened. In a preferred embodiment, one end of the lever mechanism is positioned behind the door to be opened, usually the body of the object the door is used with. Some examples of where the door opener mechanism of the present invention may be of use are: cabinets, appliance doors, and closet doors, etc. These examples are for illustrative purposes and are in no way to be viewed as limiting. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the opener device of the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the opener of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the opener of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is an end view of the door opener of  FIG. 3 .  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view of the door opener of  FIG. 4  taken along A-A.  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the door opener of  FIG. 1  ready to open an article.  
         [0018]      FIG. 7  is an end view of the door opener mechanism without the cover assembly.  
         [0019]      FIG. 8  is an end view of the lever mechanism from the opposite end of  FIG. 7 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 9  is a side view of the mechanism after opening an article.  
         [0021]      FIG. 10  is an end view of the mechanism of  FIG. 9 .  
         [0022]      FIG. 11  is a view of the mechanism of  FIG. 10  taken along B-B. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]     As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.  
         [0024]     The door opener mechanism  10  of the present invention includes a lever member  11 , a cover assembly  12 , and a back mounting plate  13 , as seen in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0025]     Lever  11  has a generally “L” shape, as seen in  FIG. 2 . The lever  11  has a first arm  14  and a second arm  15 . The first and second arms are generally at about right angles to each other, although there can be other angles that will work as well, depending on the length of the arms and the amount of movement that each arm must undergo to open an article. At each end of the arms  14  and  15  there is a plate portion  16  and  22  respectively. Plate portion  16  is generally positioned between, under or on the side of the article to be opened and whatever the article is being held closed against. The plate portion  16  has a top surface  18  that is generally in the same plane as the top surface  19  of the arm  14 . Arm  14  and plate portion  16  are shown with a top surface  19  and  18  respectively and a rear surface  20  that meet in an apex  21 . While the arm and plate portion have a generally triangular cross section, other configurations are possible. For example, the arm  14  and plate portion  16  can be a relatively thin stiff member or curved member if desired.  
         [0026]     Arm  15  ends in plate portion  22 . While arm  15  and plate portion  22  can have the same configuration as arm  14  and plate portion  16 , it is preferred that plate portion  22  be slightly angled upwardly for ease of use.  
         [0027]     Arm  14  has two sections, a first leg  23  and a second leg  24 . The legs  23  and  24  are connected to respective legs  25  and  26  on arm  15 . The legs of each arm meet at center section  27  and  28 . The legs of each arm form a generally open area  29 . Between the arms in the generally open area  29 , the housing or cover assembly  12  is positioned to hide the mechanism and provide a clean look to the device. The article of the present invention is preferably secured to a surface by means of a back mounting plate  13 . The back mounting plate  13  may have a plurality of orifices to assist in securing the plate to a surface by means of screws, nails, bolts, etc. It will be appreciated that the back mounting plate  13  may be secured to a surface by any suitable means, including but not limited to an adhesive.  
         [0028]     As seen in  FIG. 7  underneath the housing or cover assembly  12  the lever member  11  is rotatable about an axle  30 . The axle may extend from one leg to the other leg or there can be two axles that the legs pivot about. The axle(s) have a pair of raised rings  31  and  32  extending from the axle and secured thereto. The rings are generally of a greater diameter than the axle  30 . The cover assembly  12  preferably snaps over the axle and the rings  31  and  32  help secure the cover assembly  12  to the lever member  11 .  
         [0029]     Also connected to the axle  30  usually between the two rings  31  and  32  is an arm  33 . If there are two axles there can be a single ring on one axle and the arm can extend from the other axle. The arm  33  moves as the lever member moves. One end  34  of the arm  33  is secured to the axle  30 . The other end  35  has an extension  36  extending at generally a right angle from the arm end  35  to a portion of the interior sidewall  37  of one of the legs of the lever arm  15 . Attached to extension  36  is one end  38  of a spring  39 . The other end  40  of the spring  39  may be secured to an inside surface of the cover assembly. Alternatively, the cover assembly may have an axle, rod or pin  41  extending from one side wall  42  to the other side wall  43 . The second end  40  of the spring  39  may be secured to the pin. The article of the present invention is shown in an “at rest” position in  FIG. 3 . In this view, arm  15  extends generally outwardly from the door or other article to be opened. Arm  14  is positioned behind a portion of the door. As the arm  15  is moved, in this example, downwardly, arm  14  moves outwardly. The outward movement causes the door to be pushed outwardly as well, thereby opening the door.  
         [0030]     As arm  15  moves downwardly or outwardly, the spring  39  expands as the arm  33  moves along with arm  15 . Since the end  40  of the spring  39  is secured to the housing, the movement of arm  33  expands the spring. When the door or other article is opened, the spring  39  retracts to its at rest position when the force is released, thus causing the arm  15  to return to its original position.  
         [0031]     The housing or cover assembly being positioned between the two legs of each arm does not interfere with the movement of the lever member. As each side moves toward the housing, the legs pass on either side of the housing. This provides a lower profile assembly than you would otherwise have.  
         [0032]      FIGS. 3 and 6  show the configuration of the opener of the present invention ready to open an article. As the arm is moved downwardly, the other arm moves outwardly. As seen in  FIG. 5 , the spring  39  is in a resting position in this configuration.  
         [0033]     When the lever members pivot 90° as seen in  FIG. 1  and  9 , the spring  39  extends as seen in  FIG. 11 . The spring forces the arms to pivot back to their original position when the force is removed from the arm.