Abstract:
A rugged, heavy duty, industrial-type hand held can opener tool is provided with a male drive formation to which a battery operated power drill or the like may be connected so the tool may be held in one hand, and may be operated by a power tool held in the other hand. When two pivotally connected handles of the can opener close toward each other, a cutting formation carried on one handle and a toothed drive wheel carried on the other handle grip the can. As the handles close, the cutting formation punctures the lid of the can adjacent the rim of the can. As the drive wheel rotates causing the can to turn, the cutting formation smoothly circumferentially severs the lid from the rim. The severed lid and the burr-free de-lidded can fall free when the handles are opened.

Description:
REFERENCE TO PROVISIONAL APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of the filing date of provisional application Ser. No. 61/966,284 filed Feb. 21, 2014 entitled HEAVY DUTY HAND HELD CAN OPENER WITH POWER DRIVE CONNECTOR FOR REMOVING RIMS FROM PAINT CANS AND THE LIKE (Atty&#39;s Dkt. 6-600), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to an improved, hand held can opener tool that is provided with a drive connector to which a battery operated power drill or the like can be drivingly connected so the can opener tool can be gripped in one hand and driven with a power tool held in the other hand to cleanly sever, with relative ease, the lids of typically heavily constructed gallon paint cans and the like from the upstanding sidewalls of the cans when the can opener tool is brought into gripping engagement with, and is then effectively caused to travel smoothly around the circumference of the rim of each of a sequence of gallon paint cans or the like. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Hand held, hand operated can openers are well known that have knobs or other forms of graspable handles that can be manually twisted or manually turned to apply torque as may be needed to sever lids from the relatively lightweight kitchen cans that commonly contain such edible commodities as fruits and vegetables. The conventional kitchen can opener is designed to grip, one at a time, the top portions of a sequence of relatively thin-walled cans, and to create circular lines of cut as lids are severed from the upstanding side walls of the kitchen cans. 
         [0004]    One inexpensive, manually operable, hand held can opener that has gained wide acceptance and has sold in sizable quantities year after year is offered by Swing-A-Way Products LLC of Vernon Hills, Ill. under the registered trademark SWING-A-WAY. Although the relatively light-weight, hand held SWING-AWAY can opener is well suited to open such relatively lightweight can-type containers as are commonly used to package fruits, vegetables and other edible commodities, such lightweight can opener tools as the SWING-A-WAY can opener can be quite difficult if not impossible to use as a tool for sequentially removing a series of inwardly-extending rims from such heavily constructed tops as are found on gallon cans, in which paint and other coating materials are sold. 
         [0005]    If an attempt is made to use the SWING-A-WAY can opener to remove the heavily constructed, inwardly extending rims from gallon paint cans, a great deal of torque must be applied to the can opener—often manual force of such a magnitude as can cause pain or do injury to the hands of elderly persons or others who do not have strong hands that are well suited to the task. Use of such a conventional kitchen can opener in an attempt to sever the inwardly extending rim portions of a sequence of gallon paint cans tends to cause rapid deterioration of the tool. 
         [0006]    Recognizing that manually applying strong torque to a can opener can significantly strain one&#39;s hands, some manufacturers of hand held can openers have provided can openers with ratcheting mechanisms that enable torque to be applied a little at a time in a series of start-and-stop forward turning motions as one grips, twists, and then backwardly turns a knob or handle of the can opener before resuming the forward turning of the knob or handle. A problem with applying torque in a series of bursts is that the resulting line of cut along which the top of a can is severed from the upstanding side wall is often quite jagged and populated by nasty by splinter-like burrs that appear at closely spaced intervals. A far more desirable line of cut that is less likely to carry unwanted burrs results if a can opener can be kept in continuous motion as a circular line of severance is created where a can lid is disconnected from an upstanding side wall of a 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention addresses the foregoing and other drawbacks of the prior art by providing a hand held can opener with a toothed drive wheel carried on a drive shaft having a male drive formation to which a battery powered portable drill or the like can be quickly and easily connected—so a sequence of gallon paint cans or the like cans can be smoothly and easily de-lidded as the can opener is driven by the power tool held in one hand to cause the can opener held in the other hand to effectively move the toothed drive wheel around the underside of the rims of the cans while a cutting formation of the can opener smoothly severs the lids of the cans from the upstanding sidewalls of the cans. 
         [0008]    The rim region of each can is gripped between the toothed drive wheel and the cutting formation as the two elongate, pivotally connected handles of the tool are closed toward each other—which causes the cutting formation to begin lid severance by piercing a perimeter region of the can&#39;s lid, at the same time that the toothed drive wheel is being clamped firmly into engagement with an underside of the can&#39;s rim. As the power tool turns the toothed drive wheel, relative movement takes place between the securely gripped can and the can opener—which draws the cutting formation smoothly around the circumference of the gripped can&#39;s rim, severing the lid from the rim. When the handles are pivoted apart or opened, the severed lid and the burr-free de-lidded can fall free. 
         [0009]    In all embodiments of the invention, a male drive formation is provided on a drive shaft that is securely drivingly connected to a toothed drive wheel. In all embodiments, the drive shaft is rotatable relative to the handle on which it is carried. Being able to drivingly couple a power tool to the toothed drive wheel that turns a gallon paint can or the like relative to the can opener is an important feature of the invention. 
         [0010]    In all embodiments of the invention, the cutting formation is carried on the handle that does not carry the rotatable toothed drive wheel. This arrangement is of importance to the invention because, as the pivotally connected handles of the can opener are gripped and squeezed toward each other (i.e., as the handles are “closed” together) the cutting formation needs to puncture a peripheral portion of the lid of the can that is being gripped by the opener; and, as the can is turned, the squeezed-together handles need to maintain the position of the cutting formation, so it will circumferentially sever the can&#39;s lid smoothly and cleanly, leaving a burr-free de-lidded can. 
         [0011]    In some embodiments, the cutting formation takes the form of a cutter wheel that is rotatably carried by the handle on which the rotatable cutter wheel is carried. The cutter wheel turns about an axis that is slightly inclined relative to a pair of parallel-extending axes about which the handles pivot relative to each other, and about which the toothed drive wheel rotates relative to the handle on which it is carried. Gears carried on the shafts on which the cutter wheel and the toothed drive wheel are mounted are caused to drivingly engage when the handles are pivoted toward each other cause the cutter wheel to turn as the toothed drive wheel turns. 
         [0012]    However, in a much preferred embodiment, the cutting formation takes the form of a hardened metal edge formation carried on the handle that does not carry the toothed drive wheel. There are no gears that need to drivingly engage as the handles close toward each other, and there is no cutter wheel that needs to turn as the toothed drive wheel turns. This much simpler arrangement does not consume torque that is applied to the drive shaft—all of which torque is transmitted directly to the toothed drive wheel and is used to turn, relative to the can opener, a can that is being de-lidded. 
         [0013]    In a preferred embodiment, both of the distal end regions of the handles (i.e., the end regions that are not pivotally connected) are provided with ergonomically configured hand grips that aid the user in gripping and efficiently and comfortably applying force to the pivotally connected handles. 
         [0014]    In a preferred embodiment, a spring is interposed between the two handles to bias the handles away from each other—to assist the handles move apart or “opening” once the handles are no longer being squeezed together, which signals the completion of a de-lidding task. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    Such features as are described above, and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the description and claims that follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a left side elevational view of a hand held manually operated kitchen can opener of a PRIOR ART type sold under the registered trademark SWING-A-WAY by Swing-A-Way LLC of Vernon Hills, Ill. 60061, with the view showing the pivotally connected elongate arms or handles of the can opener in a spread apart or open state; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a front end elevational view of the PRIOR ART hand held kitchen can opener of  FIG. 1 , with the elongate arms or handles of the opener pivoted toward each other and shown in a closed state; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a schematic depiction showing how the PRIOR ART kitchen can opener of  FIGS. 1 and 2  typically cuts through a perimeter part of a lid of a conventional relatively lightweight kitchen can such as is commonly used to contain fruits, vegetables and other edible foodstuffs, with the view showing an inclined axis A about which a cutting formation (namely a cutting wheel) of the can opener rotates as the cutting formation severs a lid from the depicted kitchen can shown in cross-section; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a schematic depiction similar to  FIG. 3  but showing how a an industrial type of can opener utilizing a larger cutting formation (namely a larger diameter cutting wheel) is used to cut through an inwardly extending rim part of a relatively thick gallon paint can, with this view also showing an inclined axis A about which the depicted cutting wheel rotates; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a left side elevational view similar to  FIG. 1  but showing the left side of the industrial—type can opener of  FIG. 4 , with the view showing the pivotally connected handles or arms of the can opener in a spread apart or open state wherein the cutting formation (i.e. the cutting wheel) is moved away from the toothed drive wheel that causes relative movement of a gripped can and the can opener; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing a portion of the right side of the heavy duty can opener of  FIGS. 4 and 5  with the pivotally connected elongate handles or arms in a moved-together or closed state, with the view showing how the shaft that carries a toothed engagement wheel on the left side of the opener is extended on the right side of the opener to provide a drive formation that can easily be grasped and turned by the chuck of a battery operated power drill or the like; 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is a left side view of an industrial type of can opener similar to  FIG. 7  that has its pivotally connected handles or arms provided with ergonomically configured hand grips, with a torsion spring being interposed between the pivotally connected handles or arms to assist in opening or moving the handles or arms apart, and with the depicted can opener having a cutting or piercing formation that again takes the form of a rotatable cutting wheel; 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  is a left side view similar to  FIG. 7  but showing an industrial type of can opener that has its pivotally connected handles or arms provided with ergonomically configured hand grips and a spring that are similar to these same features as shown in  FIG. 7 , but with the depicted can opener having a cutting or piercing formation that takes the form of a hardened cutting edge or surface instead of a rotatable wheel; and, 
           [0024]      FIG. 9  is a foreshortened end view of an upper portion of one of the handles or arms of the can opener shown i  FIG. 7 , showing the toothed drive wheel and a rotatable shaft that is drivingly connected to the toothed drive wheel. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0025]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a hand held can opener of a type sold by SWING-A-WAY LLC of Vernon Hills, Ill. is indicated generally by the numeral  100 . The can opener  100  includes an upper arm  110  and a lower arm  120  that are pivotally connected by a pivot shaft  130  that extends through aligned holes (not shown) near a front end region  140  of the arms  110 ,  120 . Relatively plain plastic hand grips  112 ,  122  cover distal end regions of the arms  110 ,  120 . 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a small, transversely extending bottom part  150  of the lower arm  120  is provided to engage an upstanding sidewall  175  of a conventional kitchen can  170  as shown in  FIG. 3  to assist in properly positioning the can opener  100  (in the manner depicted in  FIG. 3 ) for use in severing a lid  185  from the conventional kitchen can  170 . 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a left side portion of the upper arm  110  defines a leftwardly extending bulged region  125  from which a an upper drive shaft  180  extends leftwardly at an inclined angle represented by an axis A in  FIG. 3 . The upper drive shaft  180  is located above the transversely extending projection  150  of the lower arm  120 , and is inclined slightly downwardly as can best be seen in  FIG. 2 , and as is represented by the axis A in  FIG. 3 . A cutting or piercing formation that takes the form of a hardened circular cutter wheel  200 , together with a gear  210  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) are rotatable with the upper drive shaft  180  when the upper drive shaft  180  turns about the axis A. The cutter wheel  200  and the gear  210  are interconnected for concurrent rotation by the upper drive shaft  180 , which turns about the axis A of the upper drive shaft  180 . 
         [0028]    A lower drive shaft  190  extends (leftwardly as viewed in  FIG. 1 , but rightwardly as viewed in  FIG. 2 ) from the lower arm  120  at a location between the upper drive shaft  180  and the transversely extending projection  150 . A gear  220  and a toothed drive wheel  230  drivingly connected for concurrent rotation about the axis of the lower drive shaft  190 . 
         [0029]    When the upper and lower arms  110 ,  120  are pivoted and closed toward each other to bring the gears  210 ,  220  into meshed driving engagement, rotation of the lower drive shaft  190  in a selected clockwise or counterclockwise direction causes counterrotation of the upper drive shaft  180  in the opposite clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. The oppositely turning drive shafts  180 ,  190  cause the cutter wheel  200  and the toothed drive wheel  230  to also turn concurrently, but in opposite directions of rotation. 
         [0030]    When brought into gripping engagement with the kitchen can  180 , the toothed drive wheel  230  bites into the underside or small downwardly-facing surface  176  ( FIG. 3 ) located near where the upwardly extending sidewall  175  joins a perimeter of the lid  185 , so that relative motion will occur between the can  180  and the opener  100  as a handle  195  also connected to the lower drive shaft  190  is turned to cause rotation of the toothed drive wheel  230 . 
         [0031]    When the can opener  100  is properly positioned to engage and sever the lid  185  from the kitchen can  170 , the cutting wheel  200  of the can opener  100  is oriented at an inclined angle (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) to rotate about an axis A that also is oriented at an inclined angle so a sharpened cutting edge  205  of the cutting wheel  200  has a surface  215  that extends relatively nearly parallel to the upstanding sidewall  175  of the kitchen can  170 . 
         [0032]    As is best seen in  FIG. 1 , the conventional kitchen can opener  100  may be provided with other features such as a hook formation  160  defined by a bottom portion of the lower handle  120 . The hook formation  160  may be used to remove conventionally crimped caps (not shown) from soda pop bottles, or beer bottles, or the like. 
         [0033]      FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  6  are provided to illustrate features of an improved, strengthened, heavier duty industrial can opener that is designated by the numeral  1100 . Because the improved heavy duty can opener  1100  has many components and features that are very similar to and correspond to already described components and features of the conventional kitchen can opener  100  shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3 , components and features of the industrial can opener  1100  that correspond to the already described components and features of the kitchen can opener  100  are designated by numerals having a magnitude greater by a quantity of one thousand—thereby eliminating a need to repeat the description of such corresponding components and features of the industrial can opener  1100  that correspond to the already described components and features of the conventional kitchen can opener  100 . 
         [0034]    Similarly, many of the components and features of a relatively heavier gallon paint can  1170  shown in  FIG. 4  that correspond to components and features of the relatively lightweight conventional kitchen can  170  shown in  FIG. 3 , are designated by numerals that have magnitudes that are greater by a quantity of one thousand than the numerals used with the conventional kitchen can  180  shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0035]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , a transversely extending lower handle portion  1150  of the opener  1100  is configured to engage an upstanding sidewall  1175  of the heavy duty can opener  1100  to assist in properly positioning the can opener  1100  during removal of an inwardly extending rim part  1185  from the gallon paint can  1170 . 
         [0036]    As also can be seen in  FIG. 4 , when the heavy duty can opener  1100  is properly positioned to engage and sever an inwardly extending rim part or portion  1185  from the upstanding side wall  1175  of the paint can  1180 , a more robust and larger diameter cutting wheel  1200  (in comparison with the smaller diameter cutting wheel  200  shown in  FIG. 3 ) is oriented at an inclined angle to turn about an axis A that is positioned at an inclined angle so a sharpened cutting edge  1205  of the cutting wheel  1200  has a surface  1215  that extends nearly parallel to the upstanding side wall  1175  of the paint can  1180 . 
         [0037]    As is shown in  FIG. 6 , the heavier duty opener  1100  is provided with an rightward extension  1300  of the lower drive shaft  1190  that carries the toothed drive wheel  1230  on the left side of the can opener  110 . The shaft extension  1300  has a grooved end region  1310  that is well suited to be engaged and turned by a conventional chuck (not shown) of a conventional battery powered drill (not shown) or other similar power tools that are designed to engage a drive shaft extension (such as the extension  1300 ) and grip a groove (such as the groove  1310 ) near the end of the gripped drive shaft extension  1300 —with the power tool (not shown) being conveniently held in one hand while the heavier duty industrial can opener  1100  is held in an opposite hand. 
         [0038]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , a still more improved and strengthened industrial-type can opener is indicated by the numeral  2100 . The can opener  2100  has a somewhat enlarged toothed drive wheel  2230  intended to provide a better grip on the underside of the rim (such as the rim surface  1176  shown in  FIG. 4  that is commonly found on gallon paint cans and the like) to enable the toothed drive wheel  2230  to turn a gripped gallon paint can or the like as a cutting formation of the can opener (in this case, the depicted cutting wheel  2200 ) to sever the a lid circumferentially from a paint can or the like that is gripped by the can opener  2100 . 
         [0039]    The can opener  2100  depicted in  FIG. 7  also has much improved, ergonomically configured hand grips or handles  2112 ,  2122  on distal end regions of the arms  2110 ,  2020 , respectively, that considerably aid one in properly gripping the arms  2110 ,  2120  when squeezing together or closing the handles  2110 ,  2120 . Furthermore, a torsion coil spring  2500  that is interposed between the handles  2110 ,  2120  biases the handles  2110 ,  2120  apart so that, when a de-lidding of a gripped gallon paint can or the like is completed, releasing ones squeezing grasp on the handles  2110 ,  2120  will permit the smoothly de-lidded can and the burr-free lid to fall free. 
         [0040]      FIG. 8  shows still a further improved embodiment of a heavier and more efficiently operating can opener which is designated generally by the numeral  3100 . The can opener  3100  has two arms  3110 ,  3120  pivotally connected at  3130 . The arm  3110  carries a rotatable drive shaft  3300  that extends therethrough. A toothed drive wheel  3230  is securely connected to the drive shaft  3300  at a location on one side of the arm  3110  (as is shown in  FIG. 9 ). A male drive formation—typically a hex shaft having a circumferentially extending groove  3310  (in the manner of the drive shaft  1300  shown in  FIG. 6 ) is provided at a location on the other side of the handle  3310 . When the arms  3110 ,  3120  are squeezed toward each other or are closed, a cutter formation (namely the metal edge  3200 ) moves toward and then alongside the toothed drive wheel  3230  just as the edge  205  of the cutting wheel  200   FIGS. 1-3  and the edge  1205  of the cutting wheel  1200  shown in  FIGS. 4-5  move toward and then alongside the toothed drive wheels  230 ,  1230 , respectively when the handles  110 ,  120  and  1110 ,  1120  are moved toward each other, respectively. 
         [0041]    Although the can opener  3100  of  FIG. 8  might appear to be of a lesser industrial construction and might appear to be less able to de-lid gallon paint cans and the like than are the can opener  2100  of  FIG. 7 , tests have shown that the simpler and less costly to construct can opener  3100  of  FIG. 8  actually will de-lid gallon paint cans and the like somewhat more easily and somewhat more efficiently than will the improved can opener  2100  shown in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0042]    What has proved to be a significant advantage possessed by the somewhat simpler can opener  3100  of  FIG. 8  (in comparison with the already improved can opener  2100  of  FIG. 7 ) is that the embodiment of  FIG. 8  has no gears to drivingly connect for concurrent rotation such gear-carrying shafts  2180 ,  2190  as are utilized by the embodiment  2100  of  FIG. 7 . None of the torque applied to turn the toothed drive wheel  3230  in the embodiment  3100  of  FIG. 8  is diverted through gears to drive or turn a cutting wheel or cutter formation. All the torque that is applied through a male drive formation  3300  (shown in  FIG. 9 ) to turn the toothed drive wheel  3230  is, in fact, used to turn the toothed drive wheel  3230 —which preferably has hardened teeth that bite into the underside of the rim of gallon paint cans and the like that are gripped by the opener  3100 . 
         [0043]    The improvements noted just above, taken in combination with the ergonomically configured hand grips  3112 ,  3122 , have given the simple yet heavily constructed can opener embodiment  3100  of  FIG. 8  a much improved capability to sequentially open a series of gallon paint cans for use by painters—and other similar heavy duty cans that, when smoothly de-lidded, are suitable for many other uses by mechanics and others. 
         [0044]    Because the elongate arms  110 ,  120 ,  1110 ,  1120 ,  2110 ,  2120 ,  3110  and  3120  are sometimes referred to by those skilled in the art as “handles” rather than as “arms,” the terms “handles” and “arms” are used somewhat interchangeably in the foregoing description, and in the claims that follow. Likewise the cutting wheels  200 ,  1200 ,  2200  and the cutting edge  3200  are somewhat interchangeably referred to as “cutting formations” and as “puncture formations”—and the drive wheels  230 ,  1230 ,  2230 ,  3230  are somewhat interchangeably referred to as “drive formations.” 
         [0045]    Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts and the manner of operation may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.