Improvements in Can Openers.
Year: 1893

page_text: the invention is to enable a can after being cut to be readily
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Can Openers.
We, CHARLES MORGAN, and WILLIAM REID HAMILTON, of Latah, in the
County of Spokane, and State of Washington, United States of America,
Gentlemen, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
The invention relates to improvements in can openers.
The object of the present invention is to simplify and improve the construction of
can openers, to prevent the top of a can being forced inward during the operation
of cutting, and to draw the can top outward after the operation of cutting has been
completed.
A further object of the invention is to enable a can after being cut to be readily
freed from the knife.
The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement
of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings
and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.
In the drawings:-
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a can opener constructed in accordance with this
invention.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same.
Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the knife.
Fig. 4 is a similar view of the clamp.
Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of a can illustrating the form of the cut prior
to the operation of the inner blade.
Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the
drawings.
1 designates a frame, preferably constructed of metal and designed to be secured
to a wall, table, or other suitable support, and consisting of a plate and integral
arms 2 and 3 arranged at the ends of the plate: The upper arm 3, has secured
to it a knife 4, and the lower arm 2 is provided at its outer end with bearings 5,
in which is arranged a cylindrical plunger 6, carrying at its upper end a circular
can-support 7. The cylindrical plunger is provided with a longitudinal series of
teeth 8, forming a rack and meshing with the cog-wheel 9, which is mounted on a
short shaft 10, and arranged in a recess of the lower arm 2. The lower arm 2 is
provided with a removable plate 11, which covers the recess and forms, with the
arm, a casing or housing for the cog-wheel; and the arm and plate are provided
with bearing-openings to receive the shaft, which has one end squared to receive
a rectangular socket of a crank-handle 12. When the cog-wheel is rotated by
means of a crank-handle the plunger is raised and lowered to carry a can in contact
with the knife for cutting and to remove the same after the operation of cutting
has been completed.
The upper face of the circular can-support is provided with a series of concentric
circular recesses 13, adapted to receive cans of different sizes to enable the same to
be held against lateral movement on the can-support during the operation of
cutting.
The knife 4 is approximately cylindrical and is provided with opposite tapering
knives 14, which are separated at their points by an approximately Y-shaped
opening 15 forming an inner blade 16.
The space between the blades of the knife causes, during the operation of
cutting, a narrow portion of the top of the can to be left uncut while the can is cut

page_text: on each side of this narrow portion, as illustrated in Fig. 5 of the accompanying
drawings.
The narrow uncut portion 17 prevents the top of the can being forced inward
during the operation of cutting, and after the blades 14 are at the end of their cuts,
the narrow portion is severed by the inner blade 16, which curves inward, and when
the can is withdrawn from the knife, lifts the cut portion of the top from the can, so
that the top of the can may be readily turned back after it has been removed from
the support. The cylindrical knife is secured by screws to an annular flange 18,
formed integral with and arranged at the periphery of a disk 19, which is provided
with a central threaded stem 20, secured in an eye 21 of the upper arm by a
nut 22.
After the operation of cutting has been completed the can is freed from the
knife by a spring-actuated clamp 23, secured to a longitudinal rod 24, and consisting
of a stem and a curved portion or arms for engaging the edge of a can at the top
adjacent to the knife. The shank or stem of the clamp is provided with a sleeve
which is secured on the rod 24 by a pin 25. The rod which is preferably
cylindrical, is arranged in bearings 26 and 27 at the inner ends of the arms 2 and 3,
and has disposed on it a spiral spring 28 which has one end secured to the lower
arm and its upper end attached to the stem of the clamp. The downward movement
of the longitudinal rod is limited by a stop-pin 29 arranged at the upper end of the
rod and adapted to engage the upper arm. As the can is forced upward on the
blades of the knife, the clamp is also carried upward, whereby, when the can-
support is lowered, the spiral spring will return the clamp and free the can from the
blades. The clamp is prevented turning on the rod by a longitudinal rib 30 of the
plate of the frame which rib engages a recess 32 at the inner end of the stem of
the clamp.
The upward movement of the can and the length of the cuts are limited by an
adjustable screw 31 arranged in a threaded opening of the upper arm and extending
downward therefrom in position to be engaged by the spring-actuated clamp to
form a stop for the same.
It will be seen that the can opener is simple and inexpensive in construction and
effective in operation that it prevents in an effective manner the top of a can being
forced inward during the operation of cutting that a can is readily freed from the
knife after the cutting has been completed, and that the severed portion of the top
of a can is lifted out of the latter when the cutting is finished.
Changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be
resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages
of this invention.
It will also be apparent that the space at the back of the blades of the knife
will, after the operation of cutting has been completed, leave a small uncut
portion, which may be readily bent to turn the severed portion back to empty the
contents of the can.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In a can opener, the combination of a frame, a stationary depending knife, a
vertically-movable plunger provided with a rack and having at its upper end a
horizontal can-support located beneath the knife, a cog-wheel mounted on the frame
and meshing with the rack of the plunger, a shaft secured to the cog-wheel and
means for turning the shaft to operate the plunger, substantially as described.
2. In a can opener, a knife provided with tapering blades and having an inter-
vening space and provided at the inner end of the space with a blade, substantially
as described.
3. In a can opener, a knife having tapering blades and provided with an
intervening space and having at the inner end thereof a depending cutting blade

page_text: curving inward and adapted to complete the cut and to lift the severed portion of
a can, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
4. In a can opener, a knife approximately cylindrical and provided with integral
tapering blades and having an intervening Y-shaped opening forming an integral
inner blade curving inward, substantially as and for the purpose described.
5. In a can opener, the combination of a frame having arms arranged opposite
each other, a knife secured to one of the arms, a plunger mounted on the other and
provided with a can-support, means for operating the plunger, and a spring-actuated
clamp mounted on the frame and arranged adjacent to the knife and having a
movement longitudinal of the knife to free a can, substantially as described.
6. In a
can opener, the combination of a frame, a curved knife, a plunger
carrying a can-support arranged opposite the knife, means for operating the
plunger and a spring-actuated clamp provided with curved arms fitting around the
knife and adapted to engage the top of a can, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
7. In a can opener, the combination of a frame, a knife, a plunger mounted on
the frame and carrying a can-support, means for operating the plunger, a longi-
tudinally-movable rod arranged in bearings of the frame and having a limited
movement, a clamp secured to the rod and carried by the same and arranged to
engage a can, and a spring for returning the clamp, substantially as described.
8. In a can opener, the combination of a frame, provided with a longitudinal rib,
a knife secured to the frame, a plunger mounted on the frame and carrying a can-
support, means for operating the plunger, a rod arranged in bearings of the frame
and having a limited movement and arranged parallel with the rib, a clamp secured
to the rod and provided with a recess receiving the rib, and a spring for returning
the clamp, substantially as described.
9. In a can opener, the combination of a frame, a fixed knife, a plunger carrying
a can-support disposed opposite the knife, means for operating the plunger, a
spring-actuated clamp having a movement on the frame, and an adjusting screw
mounted on the frame and arranged to engage the clamp at one end of the
novement of the latter to limit such movement, substantially as described.
10. In a can opener, the combination of a frame, provided at its ends with arms
and having bearings at the inner ends of the arms, said frame being provided with
a longitudinal rib arranged between the arms, a knife fixed to one of the arms, a
plunger mounted on the other and carrying a can-support and having a rack, a
shaft journalled on the frame and having a cog-wheel meshing with the rack,
a cylindrical rod mounted in said bearings, a clamp secured to the rod and having
a recess receiving the rib, a stop-pin arranged at one end of the rod, a spiral spring
disposed on the rod and connected to the frame and to the clamp, and an adjustable
screw mounted on the arm having said knife and arranged to engage the clamp,
substantially as described.
Dated this 7th day of November 1893
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicants.