Receptacles – Closures – With closure opening arrangements for means
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-06
2001-03-20
Newhouse, Nathan J. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Closures
With closure opening arrangements for means
C220S906000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06202880
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to openable can ends for beverage cans, which cans are made of sheet material, and to the design of such can ends.
Such openable can ends are usually provided with a score line defining an area in the central panel, the score line serving for opening the can end by tearing and providing an opening for drinking or pouring out the content. The area in which said tear-out score line is located usually is stiffened by beads or ribs (line deformations) or a two-dimensional deformation. In the area of this stiffened tear-out portion a lever-type tab, mostly made of sheet material, is attached, mostly by means of a rivet. With said lever-type tab, the tear-out portion firstly is broken in and then at least partly torn out in order to provide an opening for pouring out or drinking.
It is the object of the invention to provide a simple means for surprising the user when he opens such a beverage can, without impairing the simple and reliable opening of the beverage can.
This problem is solved according to according to the invention.
A can having an end according to the invention can at first sight practically not be distinguished from a “usual can”. Like a usual can, the central panel comprises an area stiffened by beads, ribs or deformations which may also have a kind of score line. The lever-type tab also is of usual form and is attached in a usual fashion by a rivet. When opening the can end, the user expects that the central panel breaks in, tears and continues to tear at the visible portion usually provided for opening and that, in this area, which is characterized by the stiffenings, the opening for the removal of the liquid is thereby provided. But in fact, the score line—if visible from outside in the stiffened area—is provided in such a way that it does not tear when opening, i.e. when actuating the lever-type tab. Instead, a score line for opening—which for the user is not or only hardly visible when the can is closed—is provided near or outside the usual and stiffened area, and also independent of it, so that, when opening the can with the lever-type tab, the opening for pouring out is provided at a portion completely different from the stiffened area.
In order to make the tear-out score line invisible or only hardly visible for the user, said score line may be provided at the backside or underneath the can end or it may be embossed/stamped from the backside. However, a score line may be located on the upper side or top surface in such a way that it is hidden or covered by said lever-type tab. Said score line may be covered either completely or partly. If it is partly covered—if the lever-type tab covers only a section of the score line—at least that portion of both score lines is covered—and thus hidden from the user's eye—which allows the initial break-in by its design. Therefore, it is not obvious which one of the two (or more) score lines starts to break in, although a number of possible opening portions are visible.
The invention may serve to provide a delimited opening portion, as it is usual with beverage cans, particularly having exactly the usual standard score line in the stiffened area. However, a score line provided underneath said lever-type tab may be positioned in the central panel in such a way that, when tearing out, this portion delimits a rupture tongue with which and with a score line extending along the edge of the end, the central panel may be torn out as a whole to provide an opening. In this case, it is a full opening end.
The torn-out can end portion may comprise a mark (symbol or pattern; on the backside), which mark may also be well-hidden on the backside of the tab. Said mark should only be visible when the can has been opened at a surprising portion. Said surprising portion may be a tear-out opening segment, thereby being expressed that a complete portion of the can end is torn off in outward direction, no longer being connected with the remaining central panel. The segment inviting to be opened, which shall be caused to pivot inwards like a lever by means of the lever-type tab and which surprisingly does not open, remains a standard opening segment pivoting into the can (in direction of the backside of the end). In case of those can ends, for which the surprise is not intended, which therefore should open like a usual can end, the alleged pivoting (virtual) opening segment is a real opening segment, the surprising opening segment not being torn out. As distinguished from the tear-out (surprising) opening segment, the pivoting opening segment works with an initial break-in portion, where the ends of the score line are positioned the most closely together, where the initial break-in portion is formed by the shearing force of the opening lever. The continuous tearing of the standard score line causes the opening portion to pivot inwards. In case of the intended surprise, for example in case of only a few cans out of a large charge, the break-in process is initiated by tearing out. Correspondingly, this is to express, that in general terminology, opening by tearing (“Aufrei&bgr;en”) comprises breaking in (“Einbrechen”) as well as completely tearing out (“Ausrei&bgr;en”), breaking in comprising the component of a movement in inward direction and tearing out the component by a movement in an outward direction.
Further symbols or patterns may be incorporated in the end, to appear only when the closed can is pressurized. These non-tearing “score lines” may be applied by laser.
In an embodiment having two opening portions visible to the user from outside, that portion of said several portions which is located under the lever-type tab defines which one of them breaks in and continues to tear when the lever-type tab is actuated. Said covered portions are advantageously provided in the attachment area (at the rivet) of the lever-type tab, where the lever-type tab has the largest coherent surface area and where it is least moveable in upward direction (to avoid “kibitzing” of curious people).
In an embodiment where there is provided a greater number of opening portions than ends are present at the lever-type tab (on both sides of the rivet), the lever-type tab is provided pivotably (around the rivet), so that more than two opening segments may be achieved. They may consist of pairs of pivoting segments and tear-out segments being distributed symmetrically around the center of the central panel. For selecting the desired pair, the lever-type tab is turned like a wheel of fortune.
The portion being designed as surprising opening portion may have the shape of a bottle, other shapes also being definable by score lines (stars, cricket sticks, hockey sticks), particularly sports motifs. If a bottle shape is selected to constitute the tear-out segment, the shape of the bottle may approach a bottle shape well-known to the user, with which bottle shape the user associates the content of the sheet can. Nowadays, common beverages are bound to common bottle shapes, and the user recognizes these bottle shapes without particular trade names having to be indicated. These bottle shapes may be attributed to the surprising tear-out portions in case the beverage contained in the metal can corresponds to the beverage usually sold under and with this bottle shape.
The invention is described in detail on the basis of schematic drawings with several embodiments.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4872597 (1989-10-01), Hanafusa
patent: 5494184 (1996-02-01), Noguchi et al.
patent: 5555992 (1996-09-01), Sedgeley
patent: 5695085 (1997-12-01), Hadener
patent: 472462 (1974-06-01), None
Reichinger Richard
Strube Lutz
Duane Morris & Heckscher LLP
Newhouse Nathan J.
Schmalbach-Lubeca AG
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