Tools – Receptacle closure remover – Combined or plural
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-29
2001-09-18
Meislin, D. S. (Department: 3723)
Tools
Receptacle closure remover
Combined or plural
C081S003350, C081S003450, C007S128000, C007S155000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06289768
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to multipurpose folding tools, and in particular to such a tool incorporating a corkscrew and other tools useful in connection with packaged foods.
Corkscrews, bottle openers, and can openers of various types have been known for many years and long have been included in multipurpose folding tools. More recently, multipurpose folding tools including pliers, as well as various other tool blades and bits, have been available, as disclosed, for example, in Berg et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,997.
Some previously available tools including corkscrews have either had very limited capabilities with respect to tasks other than opening bottles, or else have been undesirably bulky and heavy to carry in view of the tasks which such tools have been capable of performing. Other previously available tools including corkscrews have been incapable of being folded into a compact configuration free from sharp edges or elements which could become snagged in the pocket of a person carrying such tools.
What is desired, then, is an improved multipurpose folding tool that includes a corkscrew, which can be placed into a compact configuration, and which functions conveniently and adequately to remove corks from bottles, to remove crown caps from bottles, and to open cans having metal lids attached by crimped rims. Such a multipurpose folding tool should also be capable of performing other routine tasks common to small hand tools.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a multipurpose folding tool which overcomes the previously-mentioned shortcomings and the disadvantages of some previously-known multipurpose tools by providing a multipurpose folding tool incorporating a corkscrew housed in a handle of such a tool in a location making the corkscrew readily available for use, together with a brace for use together with the corkscrew to provide necessary leverage to remove a cork from a bottle neck.
As one aspect of the present invention, a multipurpose folding tool includes at least one handle housing a tool blade which is movable with respect to the handle about a pivot, between an extended position and a folded position within the handle, a corkscrew attached to the handle and movable with respect to the handle about a pivot, between respective folded and operative positions, and a spring located within the handle and extending to the base of the corkscrew to hold the corkscrew in place in its folded position.
In one preferred embodiment of such a tool a folding brace for use with the corkscrew is attached to the handle by a pivot connection spaced apart from the pivot connection to which the corkscrew base is attached, and such a brace is movable between an extended position and a folded position extending along the handle.
As another aspect of the present invention, a combined bottle opener and can opener in the form of a channel-shaped member is attached to the handle of a multipurpose folding tool by a pivot and includes a pair of sides, one of which includes a hook and a can-piercing point, while the other side includes another hook and a rocker located so that both hooks can be used to engage a crown cap to remove it from a bottle.
In one embodiment of the invention the combined bottle opener and can opener incorporates a spring which follows a cam to limit the movement of the opener in connection with use of the can opener or bottle opener features of the invention.
In one embodiment of the invention, a spring mounted in the multipurpose folding tool's handle includes a base incorporating such a cam.
As a third aspect of the invention, a handle for a multipurpose folding tool defines an opening extending longitudinally along an angle portion defined where a side of the handle meets the back of the handle, and a corkscrew is attached to the side of the handle by a pivot connection so that it is rotatable, between an extended position and a folded position in which the corkscrew is located partly in the opening and extends partly within the handle.
In a preferred embodiment of that aspect of the invention a brace is also attached to such a handle and is rotatable between a folded position close to the handle and an extended position in which it aids in use of the corkscrew.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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The Original Leatherman PCT II™At least as early as 1995.
At least as early as 1995.
Anderson Craig J.
Rivera Benjamin C.
Chernoff Vilhauer McClung & Stenzel LLP
Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.
Meislin D. S.
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